Santa, Honey

One great story and two stinkers

2 Stars

HO, HUMBUG, HO – Kate Angell

As community service for speeding in a school zone, hotshot baseball player Alex Boxer is stuck playing a mall Santa right before Christmas. It’s lucky he’s got cute little elf Holly McIntyre to keep him company.

I have read Kate Angell before and thought she was okay but this story read like a proposal rather than a finished story. There was absolutely zero emotional depth to the characters and I neither believed nor cared in their love.

NAUGHTY OR NICE – Sandra Hill

Luke Carter thinks his luck is out when he’s taken hostage by a gun-wielding Santa on Christmas Eve. But when the Santa turns out to be desperate Jessie Jones, he realises his luck might be in after all.

This story was originally published in 1996 (in The Night Before Christmas) and it really doesn’t stand the test of time. The hero is said to be a Brad Pitt wannabe – only older and with a long ponytail. Not my kind of hero at all! The storyline was far fetched but when Janet Jackson showed up in the story I knew it was just too ridiculous for my tastes.

CHRISTMAS UNPLUGGED – Joy Nash

The only thing Casey is worried about over Christmas is the deadline for her newest interactive marketing campaign. That’s until her sister drags her up to a snowy lodge in the middle of nowhere that doesn’t have anything – not even electricity. Luckily for Casey there’s a sexy outdoorsman who’s happy to keep her warm for the holidays.

This is, hands down, the best story in this book and one that I actually very much enjoyed. Casey is such a likeable, realistic character and could barely put the book down as she and Matt fell in love. Sexy and sweet – a perfect, quick Christmas read.

Overall, this really isn’t an anthology I can recommend. The third story is a definite winner but the two quite terrible first stories really bring this book down. There are some much better Christmas romantic anthologies out there and I would think any of those would be a much more satisfying read. 2 stars and both of them are for the Joy Nash story.