Merry Ever After by Various Authors

Title: Merry Ever After
Author: Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Lucy Score, Tijan, Kennedy Ryan, Marie Force
Published by: Indie
Format: ebook
Genres: Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
Source: Book Funnel
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2022 Bookish Resolutions Anthologies, Lenoreo's 2022 COYER Fall, Lenoreo's 2022 HoHoHo Readathon

My rating:

Blurb:

FIVE BRAND NEW HOLIDAY STORIES

Hot Item by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

Getting into a fight with a sexy stranger over the last hot toy on the shelf was not the way I intended to spend Christmas Eve. And I certainly didn’t plan on spending hours more trying to win a contest to decide who would get to buy it. But when our time is up, would the toy be the only hot item I wanted to take home?

One Night Only by Lucy Score

After a Christmas Eve concert mishap, divorced Brooke finds herself snowed in with the silver fox retiring rocker she’s been trying to interview. Will it take a Christmas miracle to get him to open up to her or does the tattooed bad boy of punk rock have other ideas on how to pass the time?

A Kellan Holiday by Tijan

Humans are so simple with their holiday traditions.

They are ignorant of the powerful and majestic creatures among them, like me.

I am the most powerful demon above the surface.

Nothing can stop me...except, well, some stupid prophecy.

Holiday Swing by Kennedy Ryan

For our five-year wedding anniversary, my husband decides he wants another woman.

The traditional gift is wood, but okay.

After trying everything with little improvement, our marriage counselor suggests we experiment to reignite our sex life. A swing party is my husband’s adventure of choice.

Once inside, I can’t go through with it. Seeing him walk off with someone else, I realize we want very different things. Our marriage is over, and I have no intention of having a random hook up with a stranger.

But then away from the noise and revelry, I find him.

It’s one illicit encounter. A night with no names and no inhibitions.

I don’t hold back, knowing I’ll never see him again.

And I don’t…until my parents’ Christmas party…

Nochebuena by Marie Force

Nochebuena is the Cuban community’s Christmas Eve celebration, and in this short story, the cast of Marie Force’s Miami Nights Series comes together to mark the holiday after a year of change that's touched nearly every member of the family. Catch up with the characters from How Much I Feel, How Much I Care and How Much I Love and get a sneak peek at the couple that will headline book 4, How Much I Want. If you haven’t read the books yet, you’ll still enjoy this short story set in the Miami Nights world!

My Review:

OVERALL: 4 stars — 3 solid stories that actually made me happy?  Not a bad ratio IMO.

HOT ITEM by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
4 stars — I almost DNF’d this one in the first few pages!!  Holly and Bryce don’t start this book off on the best foot, and they gave me a very bad impression…basically everything I’m not too impressed with in this holiday.  But slowly we peel layers off both of our characters, they soften up, until the end where my heart is melting and gushy…gotta love a book that turns your mood around so profoundly.

ONE NIGHT ONLY by Lucy Score
5 stars — Well shit, that one surprised and delighted me from start to finish.  I connected to the characters almost instantly, and while I was expecting the humour and the steamy times, I wasn’t expecting the depth for a short story…I almost teared up.  Now I just want more…gotta find that bonus epilogue!

(found it, read it, loved it)

A KELLAN HOLIDAY by Tijan
2 stars — Eh, for starters this one was a short story about an established couple, so I’m sure those who already read that book and loved it would have felt much differently than me.  I just couldn’t understand the connection between Kellan and Shay, and the world was a bit confusing for me as well.  *shrugs*  Didn’t really pull me in and make me curious about their story, but that’s personal taste.

HOLIDAY SWING by Kennedy Ryan
4 stars — This one started out a bit hard to read because of Sinclaire’s toxic marriage, but that immediate steamy scene was pretty freaking hot.  I wasn’t sure where it would go after that, but I appreciated the way it played out between Sin and Parker.

NOCHEBUENA by Marie Force
3 stars — This was a short featuring a lot of characters from an established series by this author, and yet again that left me a little outside.  I was able to see the connection of the couples, but each one basically got a chapter.  For a fan, this would have been an awesome epilogue…for me, it was just okay.