The Naughty List by Donna Kauffman, Cynthia Eden & Susan Fox

Mixed bag Christmas romance

3 Stars

This is Brava’s annual Christmas story anthology featuring three authors and three different stories all focussing on romance, heat and Christmas time.

Naughty But Nice – Donna Kauffman

Irishman, Griff, is in small town Hamilton to head up a corporate town-wide makeover. Baker Melody has given up her high flying career and now simply wants a quiet life so the pair are bound to cause sparks when they meet up.

This must be part of a series by Kauffman and I remember having similar problems with another of her stories in a previous anthology. It was so bogged down in detail about other people and back story that I got very bored very quickly. And Griff’s “Irish” accent was cringe-worthy in the extreme. Not good.

All I Want for Christmas – Cynthia Eden

Christie Tate is fed up with always being the good girl. So at the office Christmas party she decides to ask Santa for what she really wants – a really good time. But that’s before she realises that Santa is Jonas, her brother’s best friend and the guy she’s had a crush on since childhood.

This was a sweet, enjoyable and romantic story that’s perfect for this kind of anthology. It’s light and frothy with enough heat to keep you warm on a winter night. I liked both Jonas and Christie and it had a sweet happy ending.

Charlotte “Charlie” Coltrane is back in Whistler after promising herself she would never return. She’s immediately captivated by hot contractor, L.J. and is surprised to discover he’s the geeky kid she remembers from high school.

This was a sweet and slow paced story about a couple of misfits that find love. It wasn’t earth shattering but I enjoyed it and was happy at the outcome.

This book had, for me, one great story, one good and one bad. It’s a good read for a cold winter night or just for taking a break from things but nothing extraordinarily special or romantic. Only the middle story was the light, fluffy romance that I was expecting but the last story was still enjoyable while the first was just bad. Still, worth a look if you like Christmas romance despite the festive content being at a minimum. 3 stars.