Aisling Mancy

Gifts from the Tree by Kay Berrisford - 2 stars
Christmas in Hawaii by Valynda King - 2,5 stars
Christmas Tree Magic by Amber Kell - 2,5 stars
Mistletoe and YouTube by Francis Gideon - 1,5 stars
Josh's Christmas Angel by A.T. Weaver - 1 star
Deefur and the Great Mistletoe Incident by RJ Scott - 2,5 stars
A Jaguar for Christmas by Caitlin Ricci - 2 stars
Christmas Reunion by AJ Henderson - 2,5 stars
Spiced Apple and Cinnamon by Meredith Russell - 2 stars
Ivy Park by Tom Alexander - 2,5 stars
Our Best Christmas by Gary Hendrickson - 2 stars
Two for Hooking by Christopher John - 2 stars
Once you go Black Friday by John Wiley - DNF
The Christmas Mansion by Hollis Shiloh - 2 stars
Love Delayed by Abigail Winters - 2,5 stars
Christmas Lightning by Diane Adams - 3 stars
Joyeux Noel by Aisling Mancy - 1,5 stars
Christmas Angel by Allan Jay - 1 star
Waiting for Snow by JC Wallace - 2 stars
Paid with a Full Moon by SA Garcia - 2 stars
Christmas Promise by Nicole Dennis - 2 stars
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Chance is an Assistant DA determined to get drugs off the streets of his county despite his boss' apparent disinterest in anything that isn't for his political gain. Xav is a former FBI agent and the newest addition to the County Sheriff's department seeking resolution of a child sex trafficking ring which seems to stem from a very unlikely small town. A steamy one night stand turns to a surprising working relationship between the two men as they find that their respective paths of crime and prosecution may be one and the same.

This was a decent story about a truly horrifying subject. I did feel as though the author over did the fatality count to make the story seem more tragic/disturbing. I could be wrong, I suppose, having never researched such a thing myself, but it seems (and this is a horrible way of putting it) that if you want to ship product, destroying said product before it gets to the buyers seems counter-productive to the people selling if making a profit is the intended goal. It troubled me that I felt that the author was trying for more of a "shock value" by the volume of deaths. This may be an unfair analysis to the author, but it did bother me.

I enjoyed the burgeoning relationship between Xav and Chance. Xav sometimes felt "too perfect" of a character, but I liked him anyway. I liked that he was able to help Chance overcome the demons of his past and in counterpoint to the plot of the story, the romance served as a nice relief to the more gruesome aspects of it all. Loved the ending.… (more)

It starts off a bit slow as we get to know the main characters and the background story that puts Xav in a role that he never expected to be a part of. It quickly speeds up once they get together. Xav and Chance have chemistry from the beginning but neither is ready to admit that they have had anything resembling a relationship. Both of them hold very public positions and they live in a small southern town inhabited by very conservative people. As they both fight the whole idea… they find that their relationship is not going to wait or just go away and it only gets stronger as they are forced to pull together and combine their resources to combat the true evil,… the selling of children and the cold blooded murder and attempted murder of a pair of 11-year- old twin boys that tried to escape their awaited fate. It’s a good mystery story as well as a romance. I know that it won’t be right for everyone and don’t expect that all will be comfortable with it. I have two wonderful, loving gay friends that have been legally married for several years now and are the parents of a 17 year old son that is hoping, and has a good chance, of getting into Harvard. The characters of Chance and Xav remind me of my friends and that love sometimes just happens and we don’t always get to choose the “who” in our lives.… (more)