Browning Books

Since the back cover description is already included on this page, I'll skip straight to my review:

Both of these stories are reissues, and old ones at that. Judith Arnold's COMFORT AND JOY was originally published in 1987, and Pamela Browning's MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY was originally published in 1993. Pamela Browning's story also appeared Harlequin's A DADDY FOR CHRISTMAS collection, released in 1998.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Judith Arnold. She often writes some amusing moments, but some of them go over-the-top and end up feeling contrived or silly. However, silliness wasn't the problem in COMFORT AND JOY, creepiness was. The hero becomes almost instantly fixated on the heroine's son, and that ends up being what draws them together. I can tell you, if I was a single mother and a man that I had just very briefly met the day before started earnestly asking if he could come to my house and meet my son, I'd have alarm bells going off in my head. Do I just watch too much Law & Order, or doesn't that sound like something a child molestor would do? Absolutely NO WAY would I bring a strange man home to spend time with my young (2nd grade!) child. Honestly, the hero came across as obsessed with this kid, and I never understood why. It's not like he suspected it was his son, (and it wasn't!), since he'd never even met the kid's mother (the heroine) before. So what was with his obsession. Unfortunately, I was too bored by this point (and weirded out) to keep reading. Two stars.

I've already reviewed Pamela Browning's MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY from when I read it in the A DADDY FOR CHRISTMAS collection, but I'll include the review here to help you out. It started out well. It captured my attention and was quickly becomming a "can't put it down" book. I loved the touch of magic woven into the pages. Santa kept appearing, then disappearing, leaving the heroine to wonder if he'd ever been there at all. Intriguing. But then it sort of fell apart at the end. I felt that the reason she felt that she and the hero couldn't be together to be very weak, and that really detracted from the story. Three stars.

Neither story was very good, so I can't recommend ALL THEY WANT FOR CHRISTMAS. There are better Christmas romance anthologies out there. [...].

This pamphlet is full of material pulled from the internet. The diagrams are hard to read because of small print, and it only provides basic information. I recomend this pamplet to people who lost their owners manual or don't have access to the internet. I'm sure their are better manuals out there for the hi power. The search continues. I would have givin this one star but because it's printed in english I give it two.

From the back cover:

'Tis the Season...

Christmas is a time for family--a time for joy and celebration. And sometimes it's a time for miracles. Even the loneliest Scrooge isn't immune to the magic...if he happens to meet the right family.

In "Merry Christmas, Baby" by Pamela Browning, baby Jessica is too young to harbor bad feelings herself, but if she could talk, she'd wish the two grown-ups in her life would sort out their problems and succumb to the magic of the season...and to each other.

In "The Nutcracker Prince" by Rebecca Winters, young Anna is about to realize her dreams...but at what cost? Her father has come all the way from Russia for Christmas--and her mother doesn't even want to see him!

Jule McBride presents a third story of Christmas in "The Baby and the Bodyguard". Pint-sized Amanda thinks Santa had finally sent her what she really wanted. A daddy. But what Santa had brough was a bodyguard--who just might be her father after all!

Make your Christmas merry and bright with three of your favorite authors!

And my review:

I believe all of these stories are reissues, but I'm not positive.

The first story started out well. It captured my attention and was quickly becomming a "can't put it down" book. I loved the touch of magic woven into the pages. Santa kept appearing, then disappearing, leaving the heroine to wonder if he'd ever been there at all. Intriguing. But then it sort of fell apart at the end. I felt that the reason she felt that she and the hero couldn't be together to be very weak, and that really detracted from the story. Three stars.

I had high hopes for "The Nutcracker Prince". So far, I'd never read a book by Rebecca Winters that I didn't like. This one changed that. It was interesting, but I couldn't like him. I'm so sick of reading about high-handed males thinking "I know better than you what you want, so I'm going to force myself into your life, whether you like it or not! And not only that, but I'm going to use your daughter to do it!" Gag! I think that this is enough of a problem in the real world. Who wants to read about people who try to dominate relationships, as if it's a good thing? I got so disgusted with him that I didn't even finish this story. One star.

The third story was all at once confusing, boring and annoying. The author put out so many story threads at once that I had a hard time keeping them all straight. The main characters were not likable, not even the little girl. I pushed through the the end of the second chapter, but the story did not hold my interest. One star.

In the hit and miss world of romance anthologies, this one was a miss. I love Christmas romance anthologies, but this one ended up in my donation pile. There are far better collections out there worth reading to waste any time on this sub-par one.

From the back cover:

Three brand-new stories about getting that special man to the altar!

USA Today bestselling author Sharon Sala
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT that Georgia society belle Harley June Beaumont went to Vegas--and woke up married! How could she explain her hunk of a husband, Sam Clay, to her family back home when she could barely explain to herself why this sexy stranger made her heart beat so madly?

Award-winning author Dixie Browning
MARRYING A MILLIONAIRE was exactly what Grace McCall was trying to keep her baby sister from doing. Not that Grace had anything against the groom--it was the groom's arrogant uncle Chandler Daye who got Grace all hot and bothered. Hmm...maybe Grace just needed to make this millionaire her own!

National bestselling author Stella Bagwell
THE BRIDE'S BIG ADVENTURE was escaping her handpicked fiance in the arms of a hot-blooded cowboy! And from the moment Gloria Rhodes said "I do" to rugged Spencer Tate, she dreamed their wedded bliss would never end!

And my review:

Sharon Sala's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was just okay, but nothing outstanding. As this is a novella, the page restriction really hurt the author here. I think that if she'd had room to fully develop the characters, this would have been a really good read. But it felt rather choppy and rushed, and I never felt the emotion between the characters. It often felt like great sex was all that was holding them together. Not that this was a lust-soaked story, but there just didn't feel like much of an emotional connection between them.

Also, in the beginning of the story, the heroine is understandably freaked out at waking up with a tattoo on her butt, a pounding hangover, and a stranger for a husband. She runs. The hero tracks her down, then announces to her boss that the heroine is quitting her job to come live with him. Without even bothering to ask her what she wants. You would think her running away without so much as a note would be a clear enough message. Grr. I don't like domineering men, so this made it hard to like him as the story progressed. If he's wooed her, it would have been romantic. Issuing orders just because a piece of paper signed in a drunken haze in Vegas says they're husband and wife? Not romantic. I did manage to finish this story, though, without too much effort, so I'll give it three stars.

Dixie Browning's MARRYING A MILLIONARE uses an old plot: the relatives scheme to keep young lovers apart, only to fall in love with each other in the process. Not that I have a problem with often-used plots, because a good author can breathe new life into them. I was actually enjoying this story when the hero does a complete about-face and suddenly decides that it's okay for his nephew to marry the heroine's half-sister. There was no explanation for his change of heart. After spending so much time and energy fighting to keep the teens apart, he sees them together for two seconds and says "Oh well, I guess there's not much I can do about it." Huh? It just didn't make sense. A more gradual change would have been more believable. I suspect that the author realized that she was running out of pages and had to hurry to wrap the story up. Two stars.

Stella Bagwell is an author that I have enjoyed before. I personally recommend her book Just For Christmas (Maitland Maternity). But THE BRIDE'S BIG ADVENTURE suffered from an extremely naive heroine. Really, if you want to prove to your dad that you are a grown woman who is mature enough to make her own choices, do you
(a) talk to him about it
(b) refuse the marry the boring, passionless man he's hand-picked for you
(c) refuse daddy's money, get a job and start paying your own bills
(d) run away and throw yourself at the first stranger you meet, pressure him to temporarily marry you, and don't bother with a prenup until HE insists on one, even though you're loaded and he's so broke the bank is about to foreclose on him.

Well, as this is a catagory romance, I'm sure you can guess that the last choice is the one the heroine picked. It was just so silly. She throws herself at the hero, a man she's known for all of two minutes. She has no idea if the guy is an ax murderer. She tries to talk him out of a prenup, even though she's the one with everything to lose. She is also determined that the marriage will be temporary, lasting only six months.

And she does all this to prove to her dad how mature she is? Umm...how is a hasty marriage to a stranger, followed by a quickie divorce going to prove maturity? I think that's going to prove the exact opposite, that you have no idea how to run your life successfully. I can accept some unbelieveability in romance, but this was a little too much. One star.

Romance anthologies are always a hit-or-miss situation. Some novellas are wonderful, but most suffer from the limited space, as it doesn't allow much room for satisfying character development. This collection is not recommended by this reader.

Not a bad story, but certainly not praise-worthy. The lead femal character just seems cold throughout the entire story, like there's not much depth to her because she can make life changing decisions so easily.

"Oh, I'm in love, but my family needs me so I'll break up with my boyfriend to marry the man that's blackmailing my brother."

The author writes about the angst and heartbreak that the character feels, but the reader doesn't feel it- the entire story felt empty.

This book Was verry hard to get into. The author spent to much time reviewing caricters to get into the story and capter your attention. I love to read but this book was so boring I barly got threw it. To me it was A waste of my money.

From the back cover:

BLUEBIRD WINTER by Linda Howard
Kathleen Fields had to reach the clinic, but a Christmas blizzard left her stranded without hope for her life--or her unborn baby's. Then Derek Taliferro arrived with his doctor's skill, his caring heart. Together, they brought Kathleen's child into the world and discovered love, the greatest gift of all.

HENRY THE NINTH by Dixie Browning
Being fixed up with her landlady's brother was not Mary Pepper's idea of a good time. But when a horrible cold and a horrendous work schedule obliterated Christmas, Henry whisked her off for a late celebration on Hatteras Island, where they found themselves creating some rather unusual new traditions of their own...

SEASON OF MIRACLES by Ginna Gray
The town spinster, tenderhearted Kathryn Talmidge had long adored Daniel Westwood in silence. The gruff widower finally proposed--but soley to give his kids a new mom for Christmas! Though motherhood and sharing Dan's life were all Kath had ever dreamed of, now she prayed for the miracle of his love...

THE HUMBUG MAN by Diana Palmer
Montana rancher Tate Hollister had to be the grouchiest, grumpiest humbug man widow Maggie Jeffries had ever met. But, as the holiday season progresssed, Maggie discovered that Tate wasn't completely immune to the Christmas spirit--his loving embrace on a cold winter's night could prove to be the gift of a lifetime...

And my review:

BLUEBIRD WINTER is a story that has been reissued in Silhouette's "Delivered by Christmas" collection. I've already reviewed it on that products page, but I'll repeat it here: I didn't like this story. I know not everyone feels the same way I do, but I don't like graphic descriptions of childbirth. I'm quite squeamish, and that's just not the kind of thing I look for in a romance novel. Children being born - fine. Talking about blood, etc - no. I tried to get past that, but the story didn't capture me. One star.

HENRY THE NINTH was another story that I didn't bother to finish. There was nothing glaring wrong or awful about it, it just wasn't very engrossing. The author liked to head-hop a lot, which was rather annoying. Also, this was a story that was almost all prose and very little dialogue. It felt a little rambling at times. Two stars.

SEASON OF MIRACLES was the only story worth reading in this collection. It was an okay way to spend an hour, but nothing knew is covered here. The marriage of convenience that becomes love, the wife secretly in love with her husband (a man she's pined after since she was sixteen), an unexpected pregnancy, an adorable little boy who longs for a mother, a sullen teenager who wants nothing to do with a new mother, etc, etc. Nothing all that memorable or outstanding. Fine for a one-time read, but not a story you would bother to re-read. Three stars.

THE HUMBUG MAN was, unforunately, another letdown. I've yet to be able to finish a single story by this author. The hero was very annoying, and I could not see what the heroine ever saw in him. I also felt that there was no real attraction between the characters apart from sex. That just isn't enough for a satisfying romance. And the heroine had the weirdest habit of saying comments that made no sense, or just came out of nowhere. Instead of coming across as delightfully eccentric (which is probably what the author was aiming for), the heroine just came across as strange. If I met her in real life, I'd probably start backing away slowly. Plus, the whole thing about her being a widow with a son, yet knowing almost nothing about sex is a tired, and over-done theme. Why is it that a heroine can never enjoy sex, even with her late husband, until the hero gets his hands on her? Sigh. Two stars.

There are far better Christmas romance anthologies out there. In fact, other collections released by Silhouette have had at least one story that was worth keeping. See my list "Christmas romance books worth buying" for a list of my favorites. As for this installment from Silhouette, I would recommend that you save your money.

This Kindle book is useless. There is no way to find any particular poem. You must scroll through thousands of locations. A linked index would have been so very helpful. Don't get it even if Amazon gives it away.

This is a nice idea on paper (literally), but on a kindle it's next to unreadable. This book is unformatted plain text with no index or Table of Contents. It's everything a kindle book should not be. Avoid.

I bought this book expecting it to be an explanation of how to build a brick oven. Far from it. If you want history and sixty pages of "facts" this is your book, if you actually are researching to build an oven it won't do.