This month's prompt for #TBRChallenge was Festive. I'm not the best with shorter stories but for some reason I've really felt the need to collect holiday anthologies over the years, so I've been using this challenge and Dec. prompt to make sure I read one. Kissing Santa Claus had three authors that I've read before and two, Jill Shalvis and HelenKay Dimon, that have written some of my favorite or really enjoyed books. Overall, I'd have to say this was a bit disappointing. The short story syndrome really hit me hard and the stories seemed to lack some oomph. I'd give it a 2.5 rating as a collection.

Lock, Stock, and Jingle Bells by Donna Kauffman 3 stars

Holly Berry Bennett hated Christmas.

I think this was the longest story and definitely felt the most complete. Holly is heading back home after her mother dumps her Christmas themed store on her while she and Holly's father decide to enjoy retirement and take a cruise. Holly has never really enjoyed Christmas because of how she had to live it 24/hrs a day because of her mother's love of it. When she gets back home, Sean, who runs his family restaurant across street from Holly's mom's store sees her and is instantly drawn to her. Sean had a crush on Holly in school but was scared to be rejected. Guess what? Holly had a crush on Sean in school but was afraid to be rejected too!

Sean brings Holly food, they admit their crushes, Holly just wants to be friends as she figures out what she wants from life, and there's a historical secret baby. Record scratch! Yup, suddenly there's a mystery from an old journal Holly finds and it involves richie rich scandals and ties in with Sean's family. I feel like these characters are from a series and this was used to lead into the next in the series. Anyway, Sean was hot, nice, and could cook, I bumped it up a half a star.

Bah, Handsome! By Jill Shalvis 2 stars

Hope had always been a sucker for the bad boy.

This one was a rushed mess of bad '90s sexist takes and language. Hope runs a bed and breakfast and had taken out a loan from her step-brother. She's late on the payment and knows her evil step will end up taking the inn if he can. Winter's come and so has O Danny boy, who is the evil step's CPA. He's there to check on evil step's investment and negotiate a worse deal for Hope or just take the inn. Danny's a cute sweater adorned, glasses wearing geek that Hope can't help finding attractive. But he works for the enemy! Danny is also attracted to the flailing inn owner and has a crisis of conscious while he's snowed in at the inn.

They get locked in a cellar, there's mistletoe, meddling friends, forced proximity, an angry mama bear, and sex in a shed. Danny turns from heel to savior and I felt the love from the angry mama bear protecting her cubs more than I did between these two.

It’s Hotter at Christmas by HelenKay Dimon 2.5 stars

She was one good-looking woman under all of that bad luck.

This one was obviously from a series too. Ted (I feel like we don't get a lot of heroes named this) is the deputy police chief of Kauai and has been called to the hotel his sister manages to deal with a guest that has had some serious bad luck. Marissa is on a work assignment with a coworker and they're supposed to be in competition to produce the best marketing plan for the hotel. When Marissa tried to leave Kauai she realized her ID had been stolen and she had a run-in with TSA and they wanted to call the FBI on her but Ted came to the rescue and calmed it all down. Now Marissa's hotel room has been robbed and she can't possibly think of any suspects. The in competition with co-worker? No way. The same in competition co-worker who also has exhibited growing stalker-ish, I want you vibes over the year? COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE. Yeah, the “mystery” of Marissa's bad luck was obviously to put her in Ted's orbit; their instant lust felt empty of substance.

Ted's been divorced and felt lied to about what his ex-wife wanted, he's scared to trust. Marissa grew up with a mom that lead her to be scared to ever be reliant on a man. Ted doesn't believe Marissa could ever be truly happy in Kauai and Marissa isn't sure she should give up her job for Ted. It was insta lust, insta sex, fast, and had kind of a cranky tone, if you're into those sort of vibes then Happy Holidays! ( )

Danny is sent to Hope to determine if she was going to default her loan. He likes her and wants to help but she doesn't trust him, but his actions prove his intent in the end.
( )

I'm a fan of Jill Shalvis, have recently read and enjoyed Helenkay Dimon, so figured I had a two out of three chance of loving this anthology.

Lock, Stock, and Jingle Bells by Donna Kaufman
Holly Berry Bennett, a late-in-life Christmas baby, has been surprised by her mother, who was crazy about all things Christmas, with the "gift" of her boutique Christmas store in small-town South Carolina. She's free to continue to operate it, or sell it, her choice.

I simply didn't find Holly a compelling or passionate character; more of a jellyfish, swept along by whatever tide. She paints, but has made a life for herself in London in an ad agency, which she doesn't love, doesn't hate. She doesn't WANT the store, but she doesn't want to work proactively at closing it and moving the stock, even though it is the middle of the Christmas season. She always had a mad crush on Sean Gallagher, who now owns the restaurant across the street, but it's not like she's going to even cross the street.

Sean, on the other hand, is hot and sexy and SOOOO interested in Holly that he'll cross the street, 2-3 times a day, bringing her food and making speeches. He spends about three pages trying to convince her that he had a crush on her way back when, which I found totally unbelievable; sexy, experienced thirty-something guys don't MAKE long rambling high schoolish speeches like that. There's a side plot about an illegitimate heir who's not too closely related to Sean which adds nothing to the story. The sex scenes were well-written, but since I didn't feel emotionally invested in the characters, it was hard to have more than a clinical interest.


Bah, Handsome! by Jill Shalvis is now also included in her "Merry and Bright" anthology. Since I really liked this story, I suggest going in that direction, instead of this collection.
Holly O'Brien owns a struggling B & B in Colorado, which is CLOSE to turning the corner and making a profit, allowing her to pay back her Grinchly stepbrother, from whom she took a loan. But the Grinch has even sent his accountant, Danny Shaw, to make sure she pays up. Danny, sexy guy even with his glasses, finds his sympathies - and his libido - are strongly with Hope; she doesn't want to acknowledge it, since he represents the enemy. It's cute and funny and sexy, and there's mistletoe and snow and bears.


It's Hotter at Christmas by Helenkay Dimon
Ted Greene is a detective in Kauai, assigned to investigate robberies happening to a particular tourist, Marissa Brandt. Problem: he wants to boink her lights out. Problem solved: chief of police gives him a green light to go ahead, and DOESN'T take him off the investigation (would this really happen, even in a small town?). Ted is an appealing enough character, but I didn't get much about Marissa except that she was peeved enough to kick a TSA officer in the shins when he wouldn't let her board the plane without ID (cute? not so much). I got more personality from Ted's sister Nicki, the hotel manager. What I wanted was to see Marissa falling in love with Kauai, and Ted, not necessarily in that order, as well as Ted lusting for her, but I wasn't feeling it. Well-written sex scenes, but again, I wasn't invested, so meh.

I hate to bah humbug any book, let alone a holiday one, but this is one I kept putting down and struggling to pick back up, except for the Shalvis story. ( )

Cute, but I really wish Jill could write about a "nerd" without beating that fact like a dead horse and explaining over and over why that "nerd" could be hot. Not everyone's version of a sexy man is someone who's a badass with callouses on their fingers. Not from playing guitar. ( )