An Enchanted Season (4-in-1)

An Enchanted Season - Maggie Shayne, Nalini Singh, Erin McCarthy and Jean Johnson (8/10)
Paranormal romance anthology; Psy/Changeling short story by Singh.
As is usual for me, I only read the story in this anthology that interested me, which was Singh's short story. In fact, I won a copy of the book from Singh's blog, which was totally cool. The story is lovely, about the meeting and courtship of a well-established couple in the main books of the series. It is very nicely told and lets a female reader mutter "men are so stupid" with a satsifying sense of superiority as Nate takes his time figuring out what it is he should be doing. I don't know how a male reader would take it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. (And for anyone wondering why I show more never bother with other stories in anthologies, I actually struggle to read short stories. I have no idea why, but I do. So I prefer ones that fill in gaps in a world I already know to starting something cold, although I'll do it if it's an author I trust. But mostly, short stories just aren't for me.) show less

Enjoy the Magic of the Season!

The holidays are a time of magic and good cheer. So what better time for four tales of romance influenced by paranormal means? I have yet to read any of the four authors outside of anthologies so this was certainly a good sampler for me. As a lover of holiday tales this appealed to me when it first hit shelves but I waited and found a used copy on Ebay which I don't think the previous owner realized was not only in mint condition but signed by Shayne. I wanted to read it then (spring) but held off so it could be enjoyed over Christmas.

Melting Frosty by Maggie Shayne (Wings of the Night series) is a very traditional romance short story. A bah-humbug meets a free-spirit and the two get snowed in at the show more house she grew up in and he wants to buy. Despite how much they dislike one another's outward attitudes they are very attracted to one another. With a little Christmas magic and a little love even the iciest heart can be melted. I think this one was a little too silly for my tastes and somewhat implausible in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on. But I liked the idea a lot and it made for a nice read after I decorated. 4/5 stars

Charlotte's Web by Erin McCarthy (Vegas Vampires series, 7 Deadly Sins series) is a lusty romp through the tangled web of best-friends suffering from attraction. Will wants Charlotte but doesn't know how to tell Charlotte how he feels. Charlotte's sister insists that she too is a witch and they're going to prove it by casting a lust spell on Will. When Charlotte drops by Will's to help him decorate for the holidays how can they tell whether it's the spell or their own natural attraction drawing them together? This one was a cute, fun play on the 'love spell gone wrong' tale. The HEA was a little too abrupt and sugary but even I (the cynic) couldn't help but find it sweet. 4/5 stars

Beat of Temptation by Nalini Singh (PsyChangeling series) is set in her PsyChangling world. Tamsyn is destined to be Nate's mate, if only he would let her. At nineteen years old she might be a bit young for her role as senior healer for the DarkRiver leopard pack but she knows what she wants. Nate on the other hand, fears that if he takes her, he will be ruining her life. When throwing herself at him brings no results Tammy has to resort to other tactics but will pushing him away bring him closer or destroy the bond between them? The least Christmasy of the four stories this one gave me a little look at a series I have sitting waiting to be read. It didn't get me in the holiday spirit though which was a little dissapointing. Set at another time in another anthology I would have enjoyed it much more. 3/5 stars

Gifts of the Magi by Jean Johnson (Sons of Destiny series) is an unusual mix of romantic love and holiday spirit. What happens when a Buddhist, a Muslim and a Reform Jew visit a tiny B&B in rural Iowa during a blizzard? Rachel and Steve, the engaged owners of the inn, are about to find out. Through the rough days ahead, snowed in with strangers and a trio of young trouble-makers, the two are strengthened by the depths of their love for one another. This was my favorite of the four. It was both romantic and amusing as Rachel and Steve dealt with the situation they found themselves in. It also warmed my heart that the three young men were also changed by their stay. 5/5 stars show less

An Enchanted Season is a short fiction anthology by authors Maggie Shayne, Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh, and Jean Johnson. The four stories featured all revolve around Christmas and are firmly set in the (paranormal) romance genre.

I’ll go through them story by story.

Melting Frosty by Maggie Shayne

Matt hates Christmas because his father died in the holiday season, when Matt was a little boy. Holly loves Christmas, remembering her whole family, who died in a car accident in the holiday season, when Holly was a little girl. This Christmas, they meet. It’s a coincidence. Or is it?

Maggie Shayne doesn’t really break new territory here. Reading the first couple of pages, you know how this is going to end. This gives it the quality of a show more comfort blanket. You don’t really need it anymore, but it’s nice to have every once in a while anyway.
Her story is more magical realism than paranormal, but I’ll let this one slide. :)

Charlotte’s Web by Erin McCarthy

Charlotte is in love with her best friend, Will. Will loves her, too. But both are afraid to move on it, not knowing what the other feels. How good that it turns out that Charlotte’s sisters Bree and Abby really are witches and not only say they are! Together, they uncover Charlotte’s powers and love.

Again, the story won’t surprise the hell out of you. But the characters are good and it seems part of a bigger thing (but apparently, isn’t. At least I could find no hint to a series on Erin McCarthy’s homepage). I really liked the sisters. And Will. Though I didn’t completely fall in love with Erin McCarthy’s writing, I can see myself reading more by her.

Beat of Temptation by Nalini Singh

Ah, yes… we’re back in the world of Psy and Changelings. This time we get Tamsyn’s and Nate’s story. It’s a prequel to the other books in the series.
Tammy and Nate both know that they are meant to mate since Tammy’s fifteenth birthday. Now, she’s nineteen and Nate – afraid that he’ll make Tammy feel locked in and rid her of her youth – still keeps his distance. Which drives Tammy absolutely insane.

It was interesting to get the backstory of the pack . I mean, you know from the books what has happened, but here Nalini Singh explores the impact this had on the pack. And it was so sweet to see all the guys I know from the other books as teenagers. And Nate’s and Tammy’s story – the flowers! – struck every romantic chord in my heart. *sigh*
Perfect to cuddle up with, but unfortunately, much too short.

Gifts of the Magi by Jean Johnson

Three strangers, three local boys and the struggling owner of a bed-and-breakfast and his fiancée are stuck in the b-n-b. While a snowstorm rages outside, conflicts get solved inside. Probably.

I have to be honest, I didn’t finish this story. Apparently the three strangers are magi or angels or something and their holier-than-thou talking went terribly on my nerves. show less

I have recently found that I read compilations much faster than other stories, so I wanted to get through as many of the ones in my library as I could. I started with this one because it's a little late in the season for it and I have always like Erin McCarthy. I was however extremely disappointed with these stories. I never felt like I cared about the characters. Here is a brief overview of the four stories that are included in this book:

Maggie Shayne's "Melting Frosty" brings two opposite characters together. They both have lost their families early in life around the holiday season, but they take this loss very differently. Matt feels like the holidays are the worst time of the year and that there is nothing special to be happy show more about, where Holly feels like her mother would want her to make sure each holiday was just as special (if not more) than the ones that they celebrated together. For this holiday, Holly follows the signs back to her old home, where Matt plans to purchase that home. There is a blizzard and the two of them end up stuck in the home together. As any true romance story, this is all that it takes to ensure that they will end up being happy together for a lifetime. As I mentioned, I just didn't get caught up in the characters. The premise that both people were damaged at the same type of year when they were younger leads to no sympathy or even lasting connection between these two characters. Also, I had to go back and flip through this story before writing this because I could not remember it.

The second story is by Erin McCarthy. It is another addition to her characters from her ghost town city boy falls in love with country girl type series. In this case, the two lovebirds end up being best friends that grew up together in this country town. So, we end up getting two country kids instead of the normal ones. The best thing about this story is that it is a quick read; it is the shortest of the stories in this book. McCarthy does not have to build much on the setting or characters because she has referenced it all in other books. So, she spends more time describing Christmas decorations and special powers that the main character ends up with. Erin is pretty good at describing sex scenes and she has a few good ones in this story. I remembered it, so it obviously was better than the first tale.

The third story is by Nalini Singh called "Beat of Temptation." This is the first time I have read anything by her. I actually found the characters in this story more interesting than the plot. The development of the instinctual mating between Nate and Tammy is described very well. The plot is rather pointless though. They put in the problem of someone trying to take the pack's land, but there is no point in doing so. The more interesting conflict is between the two main characters, everything else is just ancillary. With that being said, this was by far the best story in the compilation.

The last story in this book is by Jean Johnson. The three magi show up to help out a couple that seems to have everything going wrong. The couple runs a bed and breakfast that is not doing as well as it used to. They are on the verge of loosing everything and the three local punks have showed up to make everything worse. However, three other guests show up to make everything better. The three local punks end up being reformed sweethearts that help out as much as possible. The couple ends up getting married and their money problems are completely solved. It's amazing what a blizzard and three strangers can do. I know it seems like I just gave you a huge spoiler, but the story is projected from the beginning. I didn't spoil anything for you that you wouldn't have figured out within the first sentence or two. I don't expect these types of stories to be completely surprising, but sometimes it is nice to have a few shockers in there.

I think most of the time I read paranormal romances because they offer some fun, humor, and interesting sexual encounters. This book didn't offer much of that. I suppose you could say that it was a fun read, but there was very little humor or sexual encounters involved. I'm just not really interested in it and I wouldn't recommend it. show less

Light romance for the holidays. No need to know or understand the worlds these stories are placed in. I really enjoyed the last story in the book; Jean Johnson did an excellent job causing her characters to reconnect with each other.

Enjoyable but nothing outstanding, 1) Holly who loves Christmas is snowbound with Grinch Matt , 2) Witch Charlotte and cop Will are afraid to admit long suppressed love, 3) Leopard-man Nate waits for his life mate Tamsyn to mature, 4) Engaged Steve & Rachel down on their luck shelter travelers and teen boys during snowstorm.

To see the review with all the Glitz and Glam drop by My Blog and check it out

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

An anthology of Christmas stories, perfect for the holiday season. It includes four shorts: Melting Frosty by Maggie Shayne, Charlotte’s Web by Erin McCarthy, Beat the Temptation by Nalini Singh, and Gift of the Magi by Jean Johnson. Because these are short stories I can’t really tell you what they are about without risking revealing the whole thing up, but I’ll do my best to review them without spoilers.

So I read this book due to the Vet VS Newbies challenge at Goodreads’ Gotta Have Paranormal Romance with a Kick Group. The book showcases spirits, witches, werewolves, and the magi and I totally love it. I usually stray show more away from Christmas books unless I want to read a story from a particular author. It’s nothing against the books, just not what I normally read. Which is why I’m so glad that I was given this book as one of my alternatives, otherwise I would have missed it completely. All four stories are worth the time and can be read in one sitting.

Here is the breakdown:

Title: Melting Frosty
Author: Maggie Shayne
Individual Rating: ★★★★☆

Do you believe in the future, your future, to be pre-ordained? Would you follow the signs if you knew someone was giving you directions from the hereafter? There are three main characters: Mathew, Holly, and the fedora hat. Mathew lost his father one fretful Thanksgiving eve. The last reminder of his father’s presence –a fedora hat– was also lost that time; as a consequence he has hated Christmas ever since. Meanwhile, Holly lost her entire family during Christmas as well, and even though she lost everything, her mother’s love for the holiday has kept her going on strong ever since. Now Fate has found a way to put these two together and the result is a beautiful, sweet, feel-good type of story that just warms you up and keeps you smiling as you read it through.

It’s a very quick read, as is just a short story –you can finish it up in one sitting. I highly recommend it, especially since we are in the holidays.

Title: Charlotte’s Web
Series: Murphy Sisters, Book 1
Author: Erin McCarthy
Individual Rating: ★★★½☆☆

I enjoyed the story, the dynamic between the Murphy sisters reminds me a lot of the dynamic between the Halliwell sisters from the TV series Charmed; the same type of banter and strife. It was a good story but I didn’t connect with Charlotte as much as I would have loved to. In fact, the moment Bree (the second sister) crosses paths with the uptight guy at the coffee shop I wanted to switch story and follow hers instead. In all, the story is sweet, fulfilling, nice, and fun at times.

Title: Beat of Temptation
Series: Psy-Changeling, Book 0.5
Author: Nalini Singh
Individual Rating: ★★★★★

A great story that keeps you glued until the very end. Although I have read books by Nalini Singh before this is the first story I read about her Psy-Changeling series. I am officially hooked; I want to read more about it. The story has great characters and interesting plot.

I do have to say that I felt like I needed some parts explained better, so I guess that this story is best read after one has begun the actual series, were more information about their universe is given. The truth is that I didn’t really need it to understand the story –it’s a solid standalone– but I felt slightly like I was reading a story from the midpoint onwards.

Title: Gifts of the Magi
Author: Jean Johnson
Individual Rating: ★★★★★

I haven’t read anything from Jean Johnson until this point, but I will make a point about getting more books from her. This is by far the best of all the stories in this anthology, to the point that it made me cry; that’s how good it is. The Three Magi is a beautiful story about the miracle that is love in everyday life and how one must keep it alive with the help of simple, little actions. It takes the story of the Three Wise Men and extends it into modern times. I definitively believe that this one is worth reading; especially on this season.

WARNING
I bought the Kindle Edition for this book and there was a glitch of sorts with this particular edition. I don't know if it's limited to my copy of the book or if it happens to every single one; but just in case here is the glitch:

As I finished the third story (Beat of Temptation) and I was clicking through to get to the next story the pop-up window that allows you to rate the book after you have finished it comes up. I recorded the glitch with my phone, watch the YouTube video to see it in action. I tried it several times and is always on the same spot, plus it comes back up at the end (where it should do normally). I reported it to Amazon, but I have no way to know if they'll fix it. show less