Title: Christmas on Main Street
- Christmas in Shelter Bay by JoAnn Ross
- A Seaside Christmas by Susan Donovan
- Mistletoe on Main Street by LuAnn McLane
- The Christmas Gifts by Alexis Morgan
Genre: Contemporary
‘Tis the season to fall in love in these four small towns.
In “Christmas in Shelter Bay,” New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross returns to Shelter Bay, where Kelli has long tried to keep her feelings for her friend Cole a secret. But when the local matchmakers conspire to send them to a secluded lakeside cabin, the two friends soon discover that a little love will keep them warm.
TV producer Nathaniel Ravelle knows the Bayberry Island mermaid legend is a joke— how could a statue grant a wish for true love? But when a Christmas Nor’easter lands him in close quarters with local Annie Parker, they see magic at work in matters of the heart in New York Timesbestselling author Susan Donovan’s “A Seaside Christmas.”
In LuAnn McLane’s “Mistletoe on Main Street,” Clint isn’t sure how to rekindle his romance with high school sweetheart Ava—until his father bows out of playing Santa at the annual Cricket Creek holiday parade and Clint gets the chance to make this Christmas one to remember.
And in Alexis Morgan’s “The Christmas Gift”, business is booming at Bridey Roke’s pastry shop. Everyone in town stops in to sample her holiday treats. But in her spare moments, she’s perfecting a special recipe to charm the handsome new neighbor—who has his own surprise gift for her come Christmas Eve!
THOUGHTS: I’m a sucker for a good Christmas story. Some of my favorite authors I’ve found because of reading them in a Holiday Anthology. So when I got this anthology I knew it was was going to be good. For one I was FINALLY going to read Cole and Kelly’s love story.
I normally break up the individual stories when reviewing an anthology because sometimes there is one book that is just meh, but I have to say that I loved all the books in this collection. They flowed almost seamlessly into each other, even though they all tool place in different parts of the country.
There was a recurring theme through out them all, that of second chances. Oh and they all took place in a small town.
In JoAnn Ross’s Christmas in Shelter Bay we finally get the story of the oldest Duchett brother Cole and his love Kelly. What I loved about this book is that Cole realizes almost immediately the mistake he’d made the previous year when he was home on leave in regards to Kelly and sets out to correct it…with the help of his grandmère and Kelly’s family.
When Susan Donavon’s A Seaside Christmas opened I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, 3 pages in however I knew I was. It’s a cute, fun, quirky story with a cast of secondary characters that makes your head shake and double to check to make sure your grandma and her cronies are safe and sound in their homes and not out causing mischief.
I’ve never read LuAnn McLane, and after reading Mistletoe on Main Street I will be correcting this. Her story of high school sweethearts who reconnect years later, and realize that it’s only ever been and only ever will be each other, was the perfect Christmas story. It had everything I love and look for in a contemporary romance.
Alexis Morgan’s, The Christmas Gift while it was enjoyable didn’t draw me in as much as the other books. I think it was more the fact I simply didn’t connect with the characters. I had no point of reference for them. This doesn’t mean the story wasn’t worth reading, it was, as the story was really good.
Overall this is a great holiday collection to have.
Grade B+
