Review: 12 Stocking Stuffers

I'm going to do this review just a little bit differently, since this Harlequin Christmas Anthology has 12 different books included in it and over 1467 pages. First I will give a run down on the titles and authors and then give my thoughts about the stories I liked best and the stories I didn't.

1.) Faith, Hope and Love by Beverly Barton

2.) The Christmas Bride by Heather Graham Pozzessere

3.) Christmas Passions by Catherine Spencer

4.) A Seasonal Secret by Dianna Hamilton

5.) Return of the Light by Maggie Shayne

6.) Star Light, Star Bright by Anne Stuart

7.) Naughty or Nice? by Stephanie Bond

8.) Christmas Fantasy by Janelle Dennison

9.) A Christmas Marriage Ultimatum by Helen Bianchin

10.) A Prince for Christmas by Rebecca Winters

11.) The Millionaire's Christmas Wish by Lucy Gordon

12.) Merry Christmas, Baby by Monica Jackson

My Thoughts:

Out of all 12 stories I can definitely pick the ones I liked best and let you know why.

Faith, Hope and Love starts off the anthology and lets the reader kind of get a feel for how all the stories are going to be. Faith Sheridan and Worth Cordell have a date to keep, in the town square on Christmas Eve. When Worth doesn't show up Faith has to figure out where her life goes from here, now that she's pregnant and alone. A year later Faith is kidnapped and Worth reenters her life and meets his daughter, Hope.

I liked this one. A good love story about what happens when people miscommunicate and try to assume what the other is thinking.

Return of the Light by Maggie Shayne was definitely an interesting one. Dori left home to seek her fortune in the big city and found a whole lot more. When everything she's worked for goes down the tubes and she returns home, she finds Jason her old beau still waiting. He and the whole town have a lot to absorb when they find out that Dori is a Wiccan, a priestess even, who has helped the police in several missing person's cases.

I wasn't sure how to take this one, when I first started out. But, it ended up being one of my favorites in this anthology. I am very open minded and I found this one very interesting.

I liked Christmas Fantasy a lot. Teddy Spencer has a problem. Her boss is after her and her family wants to see her settle down, when all she wants is her independence and her career. When her best friends get her, her own private fantasy for her birthday, Teddy meets Austin McBride. Austin could be the answer to all her problems, but he definitely creates a few of his own.

This was the most erotic of the stories in this anthology and let me tell you, it packed the heat LOL. It also had a lot of humor and some real emotion thrown in the mix.

A Prince for Christmas was my favorite story in the whole anthology. Kristen Remmen and her beautiful niece Sonia travel across the ocean to meet a prince. Eric Thorvaldsen is fifth in line for the Frijian throne and takes his responsibilities seriously. When he discovers that Sonia is blind he goes out of his way to make her visit and that of her Aunt Kristen one of enchantment.

Not a single sex scene in this one and it's still my favorite, LOL. Just an all around feel good love story. Love at first site and a prince to boot.

There were not too many stories in this one that I didn't like. Though only those few did stick out. There was only one that I didn't care for and that was the last story, Merry Christmas, Baby. I'm not really sure why I didn't care for it, but it just didn't strike a romantic cord I guess.

Overall this was a huge book at 1467 pages, but each story can be taken separately and read accordingly. I liked almost all the stories and it didn't seem taxing to read them all.

I give this one 3 out 5 apples from my book bag. It was good, but it was not the stuff of greatness!