Review: Winter Wishes Anthology

Title: Winter Wishes
Authors: Vivian Arend, Vivi Andrews & Moira Rogers
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 12/06/2010
My Copy: NetGalley

From Goodreads: A woman has the Christmas Eve from Hell. Two cat shifters play naughty games. And a witch brings out the beast inside the man. The magic of the season takes on a whole new meaning in these three fantastic—and festive—novellas from some of the best voices in paranormal romance. Anthology includes: Tangled Tinsel by Vivian Arend No Angel by Vivi Andrews Freeze Line by Moira Rogers

I picked up this book because it’s been forever since I read a holiday themed book. Also, I hoped it would put me in the holiday spirit. It achieved at least one of my two objectives! The three tales in this anthology occur “around” Christmas but that’s where the theme ends. Not to say that that’s a bad thing! All three stories were fun reads with steamy r-rated action.

Tangled Tinsel is the first tale and my second favorite of this anthology. Two cat shifters find themselves stuck with each other under unusual circumstances. Their first meeting was pretty hot but somewhat anti-climatic as the true reason of why El lures Kyle back to her place comes to light. It is however a nice foreshadowing of things to come! The power-play between the two main characters was quite entertaining. Kind of like good cop vs naughty cop. El’s trying to be all professional while Kyle is constantly trying to jump her bones. I’ll let you figure out for yourselves how that turns out! Shifter related content was scattered through the story and was a great addition. Believable but not too overdone.

Next up was my favorite out of the three: No Angel. The lead female character’s name is Sasha, same as my dog. Does that make me biased? Hmm… perhaps. Regardless, it’s a really great read. I actually finished it wishing that it was a full length book! In this story Angels and Demons are a common part of humans’ daily lives. Sasha happens to be unknowingly dating one. That is until the shit hits the fan. Jay gets called back to hell. Although No Angel is only about 100 pages, it’s action packed with lovable characters and hot booty time. How Vivi Andrews managed to pack that munch punch into such a short story eludes me.

Last but… yeah, kinda least, was Freeze Line by Moira Robers. I expected great things after having seen this author’s name the most over the rest while researching the book. The tale itself was good, I just don’t think that it was appropriate for a short story. The sheer size and depth of the world created in Freeze Line was impossible to grasp in less than 100 pages. It left me confused and with too many unanswered questions. Which was disappointing for me, this being the tale that included werewolves. Another huge oversight was that Nadia and Shane didn’t get it on until the very end. I expected toe curling goodness in-line with the two previous tales and had to wander around confused for 90% of the story with no sexual distractions. Don’t get me wrong, if Free Line was 300 pages I think it would probably be an excellent novel. The premise is original and the characters are charming but 100 pages just didn’t cut it.

Winter Wishes is a light read that’ll get your mojo going. As for getting you in the “Christmas spirit”? Not so much. But in this case, who cares!? It has variety, great tales and isn’t overly complicated. A great read for anyone looking for a nice combination of sex and paranormal without the commitment involved in a full length novel.

GoodReads
Vivian Arend’s Website
Vivi Andrews’ Website
Moira Rogers’ Website
Buy on Amazon

       

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