Review: A Christmas to Remember by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Hope Ramsay, Molly Cannon, and Marilyn Pappano

Rating: ★★★★ stars
Date published: December 3rd, 2013
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Synopsis: Curl up with this heartwarming Christmas collection!

Jill Shalvis, Dream a Little Dream: Melissa has kept every man at a safe distance-especially firefighter Ian, a sexy friend with sexy benefits. But Ian secretly longs for more. Luckily, 'tis the season for giving love a chance . . .

Kristen Ashley, Every Year: Holidays don't come easy for Shy and his brother, Landon. But with the magic of Christmas, along with a little help from Tabby and her family, the Cage brothers are about to get the gift of a lifetime . . .

Hope Ramsay, Silent Night: Down on her luck and evicted from her apartment, single mother Maryanne hopes to start over in Last Chance. When the snow begins to fall, it looks like her baby might literally spend Christmas Eve in a manger. And Maryanne might celebrate the holiday with a handsome stranger.

Molly Cannon, Have Yourself a Messy Little Christmas: Lincoln is a bachelor who's set in his ways-until a professional organizer dressed up as Mrs. Claus changes his life, one tip at a time. . .

Marilyn Pappano, A Family for Christmas: War widow Ilena doesn't mind spending Christmas alone. But when a new doctor blows into town with the winter wind, will she get her secret Christmas wish?

What I Thought:

I'm undecided on whether or not I really like anthologies.  Usually there's an author whose books I'm familiar with, so they're the reason why I pick it up.  There's not always a guarantee I'm going to enjoy all of the stories, but more often than not I do, and find new authors to read in the process.

From this anthology, I loved the wide range of stories.  I don't think it'd be fair to go through and rate each story individually, but I'd like to write a few lines about what I thought about each one.

Jill Shalvis's Dream a Little Dream: I really liked how the story came full circle for Melissa and Ian, from being friends with benefits to nothing, to find each other again, but in a better way.  The story was very fast paced and I really enjoyed it.

Kristen Ashley's Every Year: This story made me cry.  I'm familiar with Tack, Tyra, Shy, Tabby, and now a little with Landon.  I loved seeing the Christmas Day they had and seeing the guys all go out and put together a Christmas gift for the little ones.  I loved seeing the love in the family and knowing Shy and Landon would once again be part of a family.

Hope Ramsay's Silent Night: My favorite thing about this story was the magic of a Christmas miracle.  My heart really went out to Maryanne and all she was struggling with.  I did think however the relationship moved too fast, but I tend to be a little skeptical like that.

Molly Cannon's Have Yourself a Messy Christmas: I thought this story was adorable.  I liked seeing Lincoln come to realize change wasn't so bad.  It was cute and funny, and there was some steam too.

Marilyn Pappano's A Family for Christmas: This was just so precious.  It's the first story I've read by Marilyn, but it quickly became apparent Ileana had been mentioned previously in other books.  I really enjoyed seeing the good doctor realize maybe not everything he wanted and needed was in New York.

Purchase Links:

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About the Authors

To find out more about the authors and other books they've written, please visit their websites.

Jill Shalvis: http://jillshalvis.com/

Kristen Ashley: http://www.kristenashley.net/

Hope Ramsay: http://www.hoperamsay.com/

Molly Cannon: http://www.mollycannon.com/

Marilyn Pappano: http://marilynpappano.blogspot.com/index.html

* Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for them in any manner.*