Author Archives: karenjvjohnson

Unknown's avatar

Bah, Humbug!

by

Bah, Humbug!
(Christmas Street #1)
by Heather Horrocks

This is an author I have never read before but I really enjoyed this and plan on reading more of these stories in the future. The characters were all likeable and easy to relate to. There was a lightness and sweetness to the story that made it feel like the holiday and not just a title.

Lexi Anderson and her children move onto Christmas Street and they fit right in. Lexi has been touted as the next Martha Stewart and has the television show to prove it. Kyle Miller is an author of a successful series of books who unfortunately finds himself with writers block. When he destroys the snowman of the people next door, thinking it is for him, he finds himself getting in deeper than e expected with his new neighbors.

I just found this to be a quick, fun read that had me from the first page. I could not put it down until I finished!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“The grieving has been going on long enough, Kyle. It’s been twenty-two years. It’s time we get over it. Alyssa would like this to be a healing Christmas for our family. Mama would want it.” If there was anything Kyle didn’t want to do this year, it was deal with that particular hurt. “I’m going to hang up now.” “Okay. Hey, I’ll see you next spring at one of your book signings. It might come as a surprise to you to know that some people don’t care about books, and not everybody in the world cares that you’re a bestselling author. And maybe one day you’ll learn that there’s more to life than deadlines. Like family.” Kyle fought back his irritation. “I bet the next person I speak to knows my name.” “That’s really nice. Too bad so few of your family can remember it.” A click told Kyle that Keefe had gotten the last word in their conversation.

Unknown's avatar

Vampire for Christmas

by

Vampire for Christmas

by Felicity Heaton

I liked this book a lot more by the end of it because it did not really start off very strongly. The characters started off doing a lot of internal monologues even though they were together and you really did not get a sense of who they were. The story moves fairly well though there is not a lot of action involved. I was really happy with the fact that Christmas was a fairly important part of the story and not just in the title.

Shannon is a demon hunter who wants to be transferred away from her current partner, who happens to be a vampire. Rafe is a vampire doing time with the agency for misdeeds in his past. He and Shannon have been partnered for two years and are going on their last mission before they are to be split up. Rafe wants to convince her that they should stay together.

When a demon threatens Christmas, the season of peace and goodwill, its the chance Rafe needs to show Shannon what is real.

Rafe is a little bit of a stalker, Shannon is a bit of a bi**h a good deal of the time, but they have a serious chemistry. This is a nice read for the holiday.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“The demon began to bubble and melt into a big pile of ooze. Rafe looked confused, but he was staring at her, not the demon. “I saw you stick your fingers in its eye,” she said and ran her hands down her chest and legs, squeezing some of the slime out of her clothes. “That was disgusting.” He smiled and shrugged. “It was the only weapon at my disposal, and it weakened it enough for you to kill it.” Shannon frowned. “What do you mean by that? That I couldn’t kill it without your help?” He shrugged easily again. “I could have killed it… although, your distracting it by letting it play with you like a ragdoll was appreciated.” She smiled and then it fell away when she caught a flashback of how violently the demon had tossed Rafe around. “You okay?” He”

― Felicity Heaton, Vampire for Christmas

Unknown's avatar

Eve’s Gift

by

Eve’s Gift
(A Christmas Tale #2)
by Nicole Garcia

This second book in what I believe will be a trilogy was a little predictable but no less entertaining than the first book. I like that the female characters are not completely about having a man but only want a partner. The characters are interesting and intelligent which makes them easy to relate to. Once again there is an issue with misused words, grammar, and punctuation which can be somewhat distracting as you read.

Eve McIntyre is happy that her best friend Noelle has found her happily ever after, even if she does not really believe in it. She wishes she could find that type of love but feels that it will not happen. So she just continues to work and go about her life not expecting to ever find what her friend has.

Adam Winter is a rich, powerful, sexy man who comes with a bit of baggage. He does not start out looking for love but sometimes things just happen. He is partnering with Parker Industries for a charity event which will be good for his company as well as the charity Parker has set up. But can he get through Eve’s barriers to find a little happiness.

This was another sweet story with a little edge to it. The sex scene was pretty hot, though the one in the first book was luke warm. The Christmas spirit is on display here as well.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Great. Just fucktabulous. Look at all this! It’s going to take me hours to get it all organized again.” Well, I guess I better get started. Mr. Winters will be here in two hours and I don’t have any time to waste.

Unknown's avatar

A Christmas Cackle

by

A Christmas Cackle: F*cked-Up Festive Shorts

by Matt Shaw

This book has a parental advisory on the cover because of language but it is fairly mild in actuality. The stories themselves though could be a bit offensive to some people. There is no character development just descriptions of who the people are and what they are like. The language is rough but not totally crude like I expected it to be. These were not even shorts, more like micro stories. It was not scary or edgy or really even that interesting to me. It was however very much about the holiday and what it has become.

Our narrator is on the first floor of a families home as they sleep upstairs on Christmas Eve. He wants to be present for the arrival of Father Christmas, who he wants to see taken out for making Christmas about gifts. He wants it to go back to being about the religious day it had been before his advent.

It was a quick read.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My name is Jesus and I hate Christmas. I used to love it when it was all about me. It was, after all, my birthday, but then this big, fat cunt came along and stole the limelight from me by giving everyone else presents.

Unknown's avatar

Noelle’s Wish

by

Noelle’s Wish
(A Christmas Tale #1)
by Nicole Garcia

This started a little slow but picked up pretty quickly and pulled me right along with it. The characters are interesting and well crafted enough that you cannot help but like them. I was even happier that it actually had a lot to do with the season itself and not just a title. There are some issues with grammar, word misuse, and missing words which kind of make you stumble as you are reading.

Noelle Andrews attends the Christmas party given by her employer with her best friend Eve but is not particularly happy about it. Noelle’s mother died during childbirth on Christmas day but had already named her baby and loved her. Noelle’s life after that was less than pleasant until she met Eve and her family who have made her a part of their lives. She wishes for the fairy tale but does not expect to get it.

This is a sweet story about a girl who had nothing and wanted only what she felt she was worth. Sometimes the fairy tale does come true.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I turned to walk out of the room, but he grabbed my arm preventing me from leaving. “There’s no need for you to leave. I enjoyed watching your eyes widen and the expressions you made when you saw all the books. I think you’re beautiful,” he said in a raspy voice.

Unknown's avatar

Ghost Story

by

Ghost Story
(The Dresden Files #13)
by Jim Butcher,
James Marsters (Narrator)

I have been reading the Dresden files for years and still cannot get enough. This is my second time around with this particular title having read it for the first time in 2012. I even watched the short lived television series, which may not have been perfect but was nice for those who wanted to see Harry brought to life. He truly lives in these books however with James Marsters as his voice.

While this may not be the best of the series it still gives us the true feeling of who Harry and his friends are. We have a lot of growth from characters that we have seen in the past for a short time. A lot of the usual characters are only seen sporadically in a limited capacity. I would have liked to get more from Murphy and the Alphas as well as Thomas, though it was nice to have Butters in a more active role. This picks up from the end of book 12 with Harry realizing what has happened.

Harry Dresden once a Warden of the White Council and the only practicing wizard in Chicago finds himself on the other side of the veil. There he is met by several people who he knew in life who inform him that he has to go back and identify his killer or some of his friends will die. In order to communicate he has to go find Mortimer Lindquist who is an ectomancer (?), he can see and speak to ghosts. What Harry does not know is that with his death all the power hungry supernaturals have converged on Chicago and his friends are the only thing standing between them and a nightmare.

Yeah, like I said it may not be the best but a true Harry Dresden fan will still have to read/listen to it. If you have not tried the audible book version I would suggest you do just that, the narration is well worth doing this again.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unknown's avatar

Naughty Christmas Eve

by
Naughty Christmas Eve
(Eve #1)
by Olivia Rigal

I liked this until the end where it just ended abruptly with no further explanation. The characters were three dimensional and had a life that seemed good. The background characters were not well defined in this book but maybe will be later. The only location to get any real description was the courthouse in Paris but the locations were secondary to everything else anyway. The writing was sometimes a bit awkward but smoothed out mostly, except for that ending.

Eve Stevens lives and works in Paris as an attorney. Her main focus had been helping other Americans moving or living there with things like finding homes, or other personal things. She takes a divorce case from a young couple that is simple and amicable, and later finds herself handling divorce cases almost exclusively. She wants to stop and with her vacation to Florida coming up she makes the one she is on her last.

Guillaume De La Landrerie is a Corporate attorney who happens to be in the family court and spots Eve. He is there to help out his ex-wife, though Eve thinks differently, and decides he must get to know the beautiful lawyer. But that will have to wait because he is on his way to Florida on business and so will have to look her up when he returns.

I was totally into the story, though the sex was only luke warm, and could not wait to see where it was heading. Turns out it was heading nowhere because the story just ended, no noticeable cliff hanger or anything, just done. I really hated the ending! I went to try and find the last two books and am not able to find them anywhere at any book seller, so I cannot even finish it. Though I guess I know where it was headed just not who she chose. The sex is responsible however, I am always happy to see condom use when the people have just met.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unknown's avatar

Willow Brown

by
Willow Brown, Christmas Fairy
(The Willow Brown Stories #2.5)
by John Osborne

True rating is 3.5 stars. This was a nice enough story though it also says that there is an erotic component. There is a light sex scene in the book but nothing to worry about if you prefer none. The characters are fairly well presented though they could be more fleshed out. The fairy in this case is kind of different from what I am used to.

Willow Brown is a human sized fairy who also has wings and can fly. Noah Phelps is human and Willows boyfriend. They share a special relationship wherein they have a psychic link and are semi-telepathic. Noah was not with her the previous Christmas and she was very upset with him, this year he will give her more than she could have expected.

A short story that is entertaining but nothing particularly special. I would say for the season it would be a nice diversion on a slow night.

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Unknown's avatar

Without You

by
Without You
by Adrianne James

This was super short but was more than able to convey its story in an emotional way. I felt very close to the main male character right away. There is not a lot of character development but you still feel that you can relate to them. The language and sentiment of the piece is wonderful.

Logan has gotten a leave from the military in order to go home for Christmas to see the girl who he loves who does not want to be with him because he is in the military. Serenity does not want to be a military wife and would rather lose the love of her life than try.

This is a sweet story that gives you a feeling of Christmas, patriotism, and love. I did not particularly like Serenity even though she was not even in it until the very end. I would still recommend this to anyone looking for a nice holiday story.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was as if this one Christmas was the perfect day to their wonderful families and they could all for one day pretend that they hadn’t a worry in the world.

Unknown's avatar

Firecracker

by
Firecracker
(Last Call #6)
by Moira Rogers

This is the last book in the Last Call series and I am hoping that maybe another will turn up at some time. This short form erotica has worked for me partly because of the use of paranormal characters and a drink that can get them together. While it at first seems that it is about one night stands there is a serious element of romance behind the pairings.

Firecracker: Too hot to handle. Looking for a fireproof lover.

Phoebe Capello is the mythical Phoenix. She is lonely and has been celibate for years because it is almost impossible to find a lover who can handle fire. Jarrett Chance is a stunt driver and a Hell hound who has no problem with fire. He lives danger every day and finds a night with Phoebe to be both thrilling and dangerous.

If you have not tried this series you should definitely give it a look. Kamikaze will get you started and you may not stop until you get here. Enjoy!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars