Anti-boyfriend by Penelope Ward

 

3.5 Stars

Having very thin walls makes life interesting for Carys and her manwhore next door neighbor.  When she finally tells him she can hear him through the wall instead of brushing it off Deacon takes steps to make Carys more comfortable.  When her daughter Sunny wouldn’t stop crying one night he came over and got her to settle and go to sleep.  As time passes Carys falls a little bit more in love with him but they are strictly friends…or are they?

I wanted to like this book more than I did.  It was enjoyable and I liked the couple for the most part.  I liked that it wasn’t insta relationship that it was a slow build into a relationship.  What I didn’t like was when Deacon walked away.  It seemed very abrupt in the story.  I actually had to go back and reread because we literally had him saying he loves Carys and Sunny and then we jump ahead 2 months and he’s gone.  It wasn’t that he left because I get where he why and it made the story better.  However, the author could have put in the scene between Carys and Deacon where he leaves instead of telling me it by a conversation between her and her friend.  That bit of the book really confused me and I had to reread to see if I missed something.  The author handled the making up really well.  There wasn’t an insta forgiven.  He had to work to prove he wasn’t going to leave her again.  I also really liked how the Charles situation was handled.  I was not expecting that arc to work out the way it did and it was a very nice surprise.  Overall, check out the book as it was a really good friends to lovers story just with a minor hiccup.

All Wrapped up for the Holidays by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward, Colleen Hoover, Kristen Ashley, Jill Shalvis, Elle Kennedy, and K. Bromberg

Collection review 4 Stars

This is a collection of short stories.  I’ll be reviewing each of them for this post.

The Merry Mistake by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

4 Stars

Piper mistakenly thought Mason was a homeless man in need of a meal.  Thinking she was doing something nice she got him some food only to be yelled at not to judge people.  Mason never thought he would see Piper again after going off on her until Christmas Eve she shows up at his father’s door with a pie.  It’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship

This was a nice short story about a really cute first meetings leading into a relationship.  There weren’t any pacing issues even though it was only 44 pages.  I wouldn’t mind reading another book with these two to see where they end up.

Finding Perfect by Colleen Hoover

4 Stars

From Daniel’s POV his Christmas at home with his friends and family.  You should definitely have read the 3 other books in the series.

I enjoyed this story but was very confused.  I have never read any books by Colleen Hoover but this one makes me want to read the rest of the books in the series.  Even with this I could easily follow along with the story.  Will be checking out the other books ASAP!

A Rock Chick Christmas by Kristen Ashley

2 Stars

Christmas with Starks.  A glimpse to see what Ava and Rock are up to this holiday season.

This book confused me so much.  There were so many characters mentioned that I couldn’t keep track of who was who.  This was another one where you needed to have read the books in the series which I get but even though most of these books are part of a long standing series I could still follow along.  This was not one of those.  The writing and pacing in the story were spot on but I probably won’t be checking out the rest of the series.

Just Say When by Jill Shalvis

5 Stars

Can love conquer all?  That is the question James has about Julia.  They have been dating for 6 months but she never spends the night.  This makes James question if all they have is sex.  He wants more than that but isn’t sure how to get what he wants without pushing her.

I loved these two.  They both had issues in their past that has clouded their reaction to a relationship.  Once they talk it out it works out in the end but getting there was an interesting journey.  The writing was spot on like always.  As well as the pacing.  Even though it was a short story it didn’t feel rushed in any way.  This makes me want to go and reread the series.

The Pact by Elle Kennedy

4 Stars

Logan and Grace haven’t had a lot of time together since he entered the NHL.  They both feel like they are drifting apart and neither wants that to happen.  After taking some advice from a friend Logan books them into a nice B&B for New Years Eve.  What he doesn’t plan for is getting trapped in the car during a blizzard.

I’ve read the whole series these two came from and I loved seeing a short story with them in it.  Even though I have read the series I don’t think you need to read the rest of them to understand this story.  There weren’t a lot of extra characters it was mostly just Logan and Grace.  It was worth reading and I enjoyed it.

The Package by K. Bromberg

5 Stars

Jules Jilliland is having a crap day.  She’s been dumped, rear-ended, and fired from her job.  She has one last task at her job to complete and she gets stuck in an elevator.

I really enjoyed this story.  The story was only 32 pages.  There isn’t a lot you can do in so few pages but this story felt way longer than 32 pages in a good way.  It is a really good beginning to a new story and I really really want the continuation of Jules and Archer’s story.  This was also one of the few stories that I didn’t feel like I was missing something while reading the story.  Highly recommend this story.

Overall this was a really nice collection of stories but to really enjoy all of them you will need to have read the book/series they are associated with.