Entangled’s Indulgence line is releasing four holiday novellas this month in a series entitled Baby It’s Cold Outside. Four heroes and heroines plus one snowy Christmas Eve equals four steamy Christmas stories! Here’s the first two offerings from authors Kate Hardy and Heidi Rice:
Title: ‘Tis the Season to Kiss Santa
Author: Kate Hardy
Series: Baby It’s Cold Outside
Genre: Contemporary romance
Published: 2013
Pages: 95
Format read: ebook
Rating: C+
Mitch Carter hates Christmas. He had a rough childhood, and Christmas never brought him anything more than another chance to be miserable. Even as an adult, he’s never wanted to celebrate the holiday. He needs to prove to his soon-to-retire boss that he’s got a bigger heart than Scrooge, though, which is why he finds himself dressed as Santa at a hospice party for the siblings of terminally ill children.
Ellie Brown loves Christmas. Dressed as an elf, planning and holding a holiday party for a group of special children–the only way her Christmas could be better is if she could spend it with her family too, but they’re four thousand miles away, back in England. Still, her party is going beautifully–until the grumpy stand-in Santa arrives. She doesn’t care what the guy’s problem is, though, so long as he doesn’t manage to ruin the holiday for the children.
The party isn’t a complete disaster, fortunately–unfortunately, a freak snowstorm makes getting home impossible for both of them. Looks like they’re going to be stranded together for the night….
‘Tis the Season to Kiss Santa was a cute read, though as fluffy as a snowy night. There wasn’t a whole lot of justification given for the immediate prejudice both Mitch and Ellie feel for one another, and their capitulation into something more is fairly sudden, even for a novella. It wasn’t a bad way to spend an hour or so, though, and it definitely had me looking forward to hot chocolate and making snow angels.
And snow days. So I can catch up on my reading, of course.
C+ rating.
Title: ‘Tis the Season to Get Lucky
Author: Heidi Rice
Genre: contemporary romance
Published: 2013
Pages: 70
Format read: ebook
Rating: B+
Recently dumped–via email, nonetheless–British transplant Kate Braithwaite has decided that work is the perfect antidote for her ruined-already Christmas. What she doesn’t expect is to run into her boss’s spoiled playboy of a son when she gets there. What she expects even less is to be so inconveniently attracted to the man…and snowed in with him overnight at her place of employment.
Ryder Sinclair was looking for a present for his eight-year-old daughter at his father’s closed-for-the-holiday department store when he inadvertently knocked over an entire store display, sending–Santa’s lap dancing elf to the rescue? Surely that can’t be right…he can’t be that lucky, can he?
Somehow, even though ‘Tis the Season to Get Lucky is even shorter in length than the first book in the series, ‘Tis the Season to Kiss Santa, it didn’t end up feeling nearly as rushed. I found the initial antagonism between the two characters much more believable, and their gradual giving in to their attraction more realistic. Plus, they got to indulge in every woman’s secret fantasy–“shopping” in a closed department store. (Seriously. With a hot guy, too. Who doesn’t want that? Dream. Come. True.)
The ending falls victim to the it’s-a-novella-end-it-quickly syndrome, but was still eminently enjoyable. (Have I mentioned the secret shopping fantasy? Yes? Well, then…) I’ll definitely be picking up more from this author in the future. B+ rating.
Eagerly anticipating the next two novellas in the series–let it snow, indeed!
I received ARCs from the publisher in exchange for honest reviews.
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