BOOK REVIEWS: Sleighed by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward and The Holiday Trap by Roan Parri

Sleighed by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Get Sleighed
When my ex dumped me right before Christmas, I was left with a luxury, all-expense paid trip for two to Cabo—private jet and all. Somehow, my best friend roped me into giving away the other half of the trip as a contest prize on her podcast. Kelly won the “World’s Worst Dump Story.” She and I didn’t meet until we arrived at the airport, which was when I discovered she was actually a he. Apparently we’d forgotten to include open to women only in the rules. My trip to Cabo started as a disaster, but as time went on Kelly and I grew close. Until someone unexpectedly showed up…

Lights out Love
Cole is utterly annoyed by his neighbor Josie’s obnoxious Christmas display. When she blows out power on the street, he marches over and lets her know what he thinks of the mess she’s made. But when the only generator in town brings the two nemeses together…the Christmas display isn’t the only thing burning bright.

Hot Item
Getting into a fight with a sexy stranger over the last hot toy on the shelf was not the way I intended to spend Christmas Eve. And I certainly didn’t plan on spending hours more trying to win a contest to decide who would get to buy it. But when our time is up, would the toy be the only hot item I wanted to take home?

Review:

Sleighed was filled with three short holiday stories that were a quick, fun read!  Here’s my quick thoughts on each story….

Get Sleighed
Rating: 4 stars

We sat there with our battery- operated Santa playing music and sipped our eggnog while munching on cookies. Despite being too hot, this was my favorite Christmas in a very long time.

This was my favorite and I wish it was a full length novel.  It was fun, flirty and made me smile so much!  I adored Kelly, who was a quirky book boyfriend that was impossible not to fall in love with.  He added so much joy.  I loved his dancing Stanta playing music haha.  And the necklace ohhhh so sweet!  This was a cute story and while there was talk of sex, there was no steam on the pages.

Lights Out Love
Rating: 3.5 stars

“Cole here is going to help us lift out those heavy nutcrackers.”
I smirked at him. “Cole? Is that your real name or what old Saint Nick leaves in your stocking because you’re such a scrooge?”

This story dealt with a scroogey man named Cole, who was jaded from  his ex.  And then there was Josie who had all the Christmas joy in the world.  I loved how she started to help Cole find the Christmas spirit.  And his manger scene was absolutely hilarious!  Their story was cheesy, adorable goodness, and will warm your heart!

Hot Item
Rating: 3 stars

Out of the three stories, this one had the best banter that was also so much fun!  This story was about a single mom and a man who brought joy to her family.  Their story is one I felt like could have benefited the most with a longer story.  But it was still heartwarming.

 

 

The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Greta Russakoff loves her tight-knit family and tiny Maine hometown, but they can't seem to understand what it's like to be a lesbian living in such a small world. When an act of familial meddling goes way too far, she realizes just how desperately she needs space to figure out who she is.

Truman Belvedere's heart is crushed when he learns that his boyfriend has a secret life including a husband and daughter. Reeling, all he wants is a place to lick his wounds far, far away from Louisiana.

Enter a mutual friend with a life-altering idea: swap homes for the holidays. For one perfect month, Greta and Truman will have a chance to experience a whole new world…and maybe fall in love with the partner of their dreams. But all holidays must come to an end, and eventually these two transplants will have to decide whether the love (and found family) they each discovered so far from home is worth fighting for.

Review:

I think I need to make a resolution not to read books that have below a 3.6 rating on Goodreads.  I felt like this book dragged on, I wasn’t a huge fan of some of the characters, and I couldn’t ever find it in me to care.

I wasn’t ever a fan of Greta or Carys.  Greta was awkward and as someone who doesn’t mind cussing, here’s a heads up that she cusses and says wow a lot.  I wish I wasn’t listening to the audio format so I could have searched how many wow’s there were in this book lol.  But one of the things I struggled with the most, was I kept wondering what Greta ever saw in Carys.  Yes she was pretty and there was passion between them, but that’s it.  And while Carys could be kind, when she wanted to, she was finicky more times than not.  Her explanations could be seen as condescending and she could be rude without even trying.  Also I have to say that being pressed up to a tomb is not hot imo.  That gave me a huge ick factor.  

We also got a second romance in this book, which was Truman’s story.  And I adored his romance, it was sweet and charming.  When he met Ash, oh my heart it was so adorable and the two of them together balanced each other out so perfectly.  They were kind, thoughtful and truly wanted the best for each other.  But, here’s where the huge but comes in.  Truman did something at the end of the story that is a huge NO in my world.  Stalking is never okay!  Imagine if you did what he did?!  And then for it to be cheered for?  That was not okay.  I lost all the respect and love I had for Truman.

So this Christmas romance story, filled with two love stories, was not a hit for me.  I won’t be reading any more of Roan Parrish’s romance stories.

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