Jennifer St. Giles

Honestly more of a 2.5.

Yep definitely a gothic inspired romance complete with the sometimes annoying habit of the heroine/narrator to overly describe scenes or people in a way that doesn't actually paint me a picture.

Standard fare - girl mysteriously goes missing, but more importantly the Hero lusts for the heroine but IT CAN NEVER BE.

Ever. Except if she sneaks into his bedroom without permission. Or he wants to prove its wrong for them to be together. Or she has too much "spiced wine".

Seriously. They can't be together!

The ending here was less buttoned up than I'm used to with my romances, likely because the next book is so closely linked to it.

Overall, not bad just not what I was hoping for.… (more)

Christmas Shorts by Mimi Barbour, Mona Risk
The book out of the collection that I was given to review:
.
The Chocolate Box Christmas by Josie Riviera
This short story is about Maise who's relocated from Alaska to CA and she's taken a job being a food/writer reporter.
On this assignment she must judge the chocolate contest at a nearby shelter. She knows many of the contestants as she's been around town.
She is able to meet Ben and she discovers his secret as to why he is there. He also finds out why she doesn't really want to be a judge, especially with anything to do with chocolate.
Fun Christmas read, enjoyed it.
Book ends with a note from the author, recipes, and about the author, other works by the author in series format but all can be read as stand alone.
Received this review copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.… (more)