Hockey Holidays by Various Authors

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Title: Hockey Holidays
Author: Toni Aleo, Jami Davenport, Shannon Stacey, Jaymee Jacobs, Jean C. Joachim, Jennifer Lazaris, Kat Mizera, Kate Willoughby, Lily Harlem, Lisa B. Kamps, Mary Smith, Melanie Ting, Melody Heck Gatto, R.J. Scott, Stephanie Julian, Stephanie Kay, Susan Scott Shelley, V.L. Locey
Published by: Indie
Release Date: November 13, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 1120
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports Romance, LGBT, Holiday
Source: L. Woods PR
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 HoHoHo Readathon, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

HOCKEY HOLIDAYS (A Hockey Romance Holiday Anthology)

**100% of the proceeds from sales of this anthology will be donated to charity.**

This holiday season unwrap a brand-new collection of hockey romances that includes humor, drama, love, and - of course - hockey!

Each book is EXCLUSIVE to the anthology and NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED by USA Today, New York Times, and all your favorite bestselling hockey romance authors.

How We Fell in Love by Toni Aleo He knew she was the one, she wasn't so sure, which is why Grace and James' love story is one for the ages.

A Second Shot by Shannon Stacey She was the one who got away, but when their paths cross once again, all he wants for Christmas is the chance to take another shot at love.

A Wolfe Brothers Christmas by Jami Davenport Spending their first Christmas together in years, the Wolfe brothers fumbling attempts to create good memories go awry.

Christmas Crosscheck by Jaymee Jacobs Bryan's planning to propose to Georgiana on Christmas Eve, but will the chaos of their families’ first holiday together ruin their special moment?

The Final Slapshot by Jean C. Joachim Harry "Deke" Edmonds hides his secret, hoping for a Christmas miracle. When confronted with the truth, will his heart-breaking decision cost him everything?

Lucky Holiday by Jennifer Lazaris Tyler Quinn made the biggest mistake of his life when he broke Ella’s heart, and he’ll need more than an ace up his sleeve to win her back in time for Christmas.

Dmitri's Christmas Angel by Kat Mizera Two women. Two surprise pregnancies. Dmitri Papadakis is screwed.

His Christmas Cinderella by Kate Willoughby When Gideon Aguilar mistakes Bailey Peng for his Uber driver it leads to a night he can’t forget. But after she disappears the next morning will he be able to find his perfect fit?

Red-Hot Trouble by Lily Harlem Sophie Delaney never intended to walk into ‘that’ locker room, at ‘that’ moment, but she did, and now she’ll never be the same again.

Christmas Interference by Lisa B. Kamps Shane Masters no longer believes in happy-ever-afters. Can the woman who knew him best thaw his heart with a little holiday magic before it's too late?

The Devoted Father and the Introvert by Mary Smith Elexis Dunaway loves Twitter and work. Dag Limon loves his twin boys and playing professional hockey. Soon their worlds will collide with one simple tweet.

Her Best Worst Boyfriend by Melanie Ting This Christmas, Em Davis is bringing Mr. Wrong home to prove a point to her parents, but Ian Reid might turn out to be Mr. Right.

Icing isn't Only for Cookies by Melody Heck Gatto Avery James wasn’t looking for love when tall, dark, and deliciously handsome hockey player Kyler Wilson walked into her bakery.

Dallas Christmas by RJ Scott Logan knows lusting after his captain's brother can only lead to trouble. But when fate throws them together, it’s hard not to fall in love.

The Playboy by Stephanie Julian Kyle is back in the minors to rehab his career but that's not all he's hoping to fix. Convincing the girl he left behind to take another chance on this former playboy will be harder than resurrecting his career.

All I Want by Stephanie Kay When fate brings first loves Maggie and Alex back to the same city, will Maggie be brave enough to give the relationship she never forgot a second chance?

Holding On Tight by Susan Scott ShelleyFor defenseman Vince Forsberg and his boyfriend Joseph Parelli, the pressure to make their first Christmas together perfect leads to a lot of chaos, holiday mishaps, and some unexpected results.

A Star-Crossed Christmas by V.L. LoceyTwo years ago, Mitch shared an explosive kiss with his childhood friend Shaun. Will Christmas be the time for the two men to find a future together that works?

My Review:

I received a free copy through L. Woods PR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

OVERALL: 4 stars — As with all anthologies, there are going to be hits and misses.  I actually expect that, because I don’t match up with every author.  Sometimes there are more misses than hits.  This one had a pretty good balance actually.  I think only 1 or 2 really missed.  And for the ones that hit, WOW did they hit!  I have at least 4 new-to-me authors I want to check out more of, and that is what I call success!!  My faves were the novellas from Lisa B. Kamps, Kate Willoughby, Stephanie Kay, and Jennifer Lazaris!

I will note that if you are a hockey snob (I’m Canadian, I apologize), and the accurate details of hockey matter to you, there were a few that didn’t do enough research.  But less than a handful were noticeably not hockey watchers, so I guess that’s not bad.  😛

A Second Shot by Shannon Stacey
4 stars — This one was super cute! I really liked both Erik and Andrea! Erik was pretty sweet, if a little clueless. I didn’t feel like I learned as much about Andi. Their romantic issues resolved rather quickly, but that’s kind of the nature of a novella you know? Peanut was a total show-stealer, and I loved the way Erik interacted with her.

Christmas Crosscheck by Jaymee Jacobs
3 stars — The conflict in this one made me a bit uncomfortable…Georgiana was more high-strung/dramatic than what I’m usually interested in in heroines. Bryan was pretty low-key actually, and I loved the way he supported Georgiana. I was *not* a fan of Bryan’s mother though.

A Wolfe Brothers Christmas by Jami Davenport
3 stars — I was unreasonably disappointed in the brothers’s behavior in this one. I know I’m supposed to be, but they were behaving a bit too beyond awful that I found it hard to believe in the turnaround. Now, I haven’t read any of Ms. Davenport’s books, and thus not any of the Wolfe brothers’s books, so I don’t know the extent of the damage. But it just went too far after Sadie went missing…that’s when I wrote them off. The writing however was really good and engaging!

The Playboy by Stephanie Julian
4 stars — I was a bit reluctant to like Kyle, but he totally won me over. I really felt like you could see his growth, even though we didn’t see the 18 months ago Kyle. He definitely wasn’t perfect, but I appreciated how he tried. I also appreciated that Leah didn’t just roll over for him. She may have had insecurities, but there was an inner strength there. Basically it was satisfying for a novella.

Dmitri’s Christmas Angel by Kat Mizera
3 stars — So the writing was good, and fairly engaging. But one thing you should know about me is that I really don’t like cheating. And while there’s technically no cheating in this book, I just can’t get into a romance where the hero sleeps with another woman to make sure that his feelings for the heroine are true (prior to which they weren’t dating exclusively). Nope.

A Star-Crossed Christmas by V.L. Locey
3.5 stars — Pretty cute M/M friends to lovers story. It was nice to have a story where I really believed in their feelings and the development of their relationship. Also nice to see bi representation.

Red-Hot Trouble by Lily Harlem
3 stars — Not super great on the hockey part…just little things, but you could tell the author’s not super well-versed in the sport. I was enjoying the romance in general, but then Sophie had to fall into the literary trap of jumping to conclusions, and I just wasn’t in the mood. Also, wtf is a snug room? Could definitely tell the author was from overseas.

Dallas Christmas by R.J. Scott
4 stars — While Logan made me want to smack him for most of this book, I felt a LOT of emotions in this one. I hate that I understand his fears. I loved all the little moments with the young hockey guys.

Icing isn’t Only for Cookies by Melody Heck Gatto
3.5 stars — Pretty cute little novella. I had a harder time feeling the connection between Kyler and Avery, probably because I never understood Avery’s embarrassment. Something was missing to get me to understand her motivations. Too bad, it was fun otherwise.

The Final Slapshot by Jean C. Joachim
2 stars — I couldn’t relate to either character at all. Both Harry and Kitty came across way older than they were, and kind of snobby. And if not older, than seriously old-school. There were shades of toxic masculinity in this story, I just did NOT feel any sympathy for Harry at all, even though I was supposed to. Obviously not a good match for me. Also, continuity problems and repetitiveness.

Christmas Interference by Lisa B. Kamps
4.5 stars — Oh wow. I felt all of the feels in this one. And like, right from the beginning. I was drawn to both Shane and Chloe, and I felt their heartbreak and struggle. And a satisfying ending for me! Will definitely be checking out more by this author.

Holding on Tight by Susan Scott Shelley
4 stars — This one packed in so much emotion with its ups and downs! It was hard watching both Vince and Joshua behave somewhat badly because of their own fears, but ultimately it was a very satisfying read. Makes me want to read their original love story!

His Christmas Cinderella by Kate Willoughby
4.5 stars — Well damn, now I’m going to need to read the next book! Bailey and Gabriel were super adorable, and I really enjoyed their little meet-cute!! I thought the roof scene escalated a bit quickly, but for some reason I’m okay going with it.

All I Want by Stephanie Kay
4.5 stars — Yup, everything I want in a Christmas novella. Two characters that you can love in Maggie and Alex, some struggle, great chemistry, and fabulous secondary characters.

Lucky Holiday by Jennifer Lazaris
4.5 stars — Wow, that one packed a more serious punch than I was expecting! Really gave the story depth, and I truly felt all the emotions. I also appreciated and believed the pace with which Ella and Ty came back together.

Her Best Worst Boyfriend by Melanie Ting
4 stars — This one totally surprised me! It was seriously completely different from the other novellas, the characters were more…normal? Less celebrity. Honestly, I started off disliking both Em and Ian at the start, but they grew on me! I loved that it wasn’t the same old same old hockey story, you know? Also, shout out to all the Ottawa references that reminded me of living there!

The Devoted Father and the Introvert by Mary Smith
3.5 stars — This novella was in the roughest shape editing-wise (lots of tense trouble), but the characters were super cute that it kind of made up for it. It would have been a solid 4 stars, but I felt like I was left hanging at the end of the novella, I expected a neater wrap up! I guess it’s a good thing that I wanted more Dag and Lex!

When You’re Ready by Toni Aleo
3.5 stars — I’ve already discovered that I’m not really a match with Ms. Aleo. I find her heroines hard to connect with, and Grace was no exception. I didn’t really understand her, and there were hints of slut-shaming (with Jackie) at the beginning. However, James was amazing. Like book boyfriend material amazing. He made me invested in their story.