Naughty & Nice

I had wanted to read this anthology because I have been wanting to read some good contemporaries lately and I have heard good things about Ruthie Knox and Molly O'Keefe and have enjoyed Stefanie Sloane's historicals so I was very happy to win a print copy from Goodreads First Reads program!  It gave me a great taste of each authors writing and I will be on the lookout for their full lengths now for sure!

Room at the Inn by Ruthie Knox
Carson and Julie have a past and every time Carson returns home, he ends up in Julie's bed...and then leaves her.  Well, Julie has had enough of her heart being battered and tries to take a stand against Carson but as he spends time helping her fix up her inn, the mutual feelings become far to evident again.  Will Carson chose his job or Julie?  This was the longest of all the stories so there was more time to explore the feelings and I really enjoyed it.  Yes, it is a story told many times over but if this is a taste of Ruthie Knox's writing, I know I am in for a treat!  Heartwarming, sexy and a delight.  4 stars

All I Want for Christmas is You by Molly O'Keefe
Maddy is about to turn eighteen and marry her hockey player boyfriend, Billy.  All she needs to do is tell her parents, who want her to go to college and follow her dreams, not set them aside for Billy.  Will Maddy follow her heart and defy her parents wishes or take a new path?  This was a prequel of sorts for Maddy and Billys full length story, Crazy Thing Called Love (out Jan 29th) and I will definitely be picking it up now to see how this couple grows and finds each other again.  It is short but sexy and has good writing and a nice sense of family.  Looking forward to more.  3 1/2 stars

One Perfect Christmas by Stefanie Sloane
I did think it was odd having two contemps and then a historical romance but as Stefanie Sloane was the only author I was familiar with beforehand, I was looking forward to it.  Lucas and Jane are friends but when Jane gets jilted she drinks a bit too much and confesses her true feelings for Lucas...whose feelings just happen to be the same.  Yet Jane bolts early in the morning and refuses to talk to him.  What becomes clear to all around them is the feelings between Lucas and Jane and they do what they can to push them together.  A sweet, delightful Regency Christmas tale that could definitely have benefited from being a bit longer and having more of their backstory told.  Still, I liked it!  3 1/2 stars

Overall, a nice blend of Christmas romances and samples of these talented authors writing.  I know I will be picking up more from each one of them