Bitchery reader Liz has a seasonal request:
As you know it’s Christmas time here in the U.S. which means there’s
an abundance of Christmas themed romance novels. I, for one, am a
sucker for the Christmas romance. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the
last time I read one I enjoyed. There are new releases, new releases
of old releases, and anthologies (last year I bought one because it
had Jenny Crusie’s name attached. Boy that was a mistake. Her
contribution was the only worthwhile story and it still wasn’t
completely satisfying) (SB Sarah notes: Candy agreed with you) and for many of these I’m not familiar enough
with the author to be sure if their Christmas romance is worth the
price of admission.Therefore my request is for recommendations. What’s the Bitchery’s
favorite Christmas themed romance novel? Bonus points if it involves
contrived situations under mistletoe.
Ok – so bring it on. Are there any worthwhile Christmas romances? Full length or -gasp!- short story anthologies?
In that review I linked to, Candy made a point that romance short stories are really freaking hard to pull off, because it’s such a tiny amount of pages in which to fit the introduction, attraction, conflict, resolution and happy ending. I have a hardback of Christmas short stories published over 10 years ago, featuring short stories by Jude Deveraux and Judith McNaught. The McNaught story is a sequel to a longer novel that features an ancillary character from the earlier novel – one way to pull off a short story is to build a lot of the backstory in another full length novel, though that does require two purchases on the part of the reader. That’s not a big deal for a fan, but for someone just walking into the story, it’s annoying.
Deveraux is famous for the “we were meant to be” cliché of “She’s the One if she can tell the twins apart” and using that method in any length story means that one of the two protagonists has to accept that whether he likes it or not, the one who thinks he looks nothing like his identical twin brother is the one he’s meant to be with – even if she’s annoying or just plain crazy. Add Christmas and you’ve got holiday romance! Good holiday romance? Not necessarily, but holiday romance just the same.
So – what’s your recommendation for Christmas-themed romances? Full length or short story – bring it on!
Lissanne, I’ve read that “Christmas Knight,” so there’s at least one other person who knows what you’re talking about. I had this vague memory that the heroine was nicknamed Chrissy, not Christy. But since you describe the plot in far more detail than I remembered, I’ll take your word for it. It was definitely a Harlequin, almost certainly a Temptation.
Back on topic, I strongly recommend all of Carla Kelly’s Christmas short stories, which are in the Signet Regency Christmas anthologies.
I just read Lisa Marie Rice’s book “Dangerous Lover” and pretty much the entire book (which consists of a lot of intense nookie) takes place over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the week after. So ok, it’s not a “holiday themed” romance, but it IS during Xmas. 😉
I remember the promo book for Harlequin American, which I got in the mail because I was subscribing to some other line at the time (1988 or ‘89). It was by one of the Rebeccas from the 80s—Flanders? Winters? York?
The hero is blond and blue-eyed, wears a cashmere coat, owns a shopping mall (where the heroine works), and has a name like Alastair or Adrian or something. He would be the gay best friend in a modern romance novel.
Anyway, it has kind of a Shop-Around-The-Corner/You’ve-Got-Mail plot, where she thinks her tiny shop is going to be driven out of business by the Big Bad Mall Owner who instead rides to her rescue in his trusty BMW. I remember that it took place around Christmas and was full of 80s glitz and glam and holiday excess. That’s right: romance at the mall. God, I loved the 80s.
I bought just about every Christmas book/anthology on the shelves this season – mostly a huge waste of money but those border’s reward coupons keep sucking me in… damn the man. Now that it’s after christmas, these comments are obviously too late, but perhaps the following will appear in some post-holiday bargain bins:
An Affair Before Christmas by Eloisa James: I’m a huge EJ fan but this latest was painful to read. I know others have liked it, but the heroine was the most immature, whiny prude I’ve ever slogged through.
The Morgue the Merrier by various authors: The stories go from bad to worse with some truly annoying ghosts, poor writing and insipid main characters.
A Very Merry Christmas by various authors (including Jodi Foster): Mediocre holiday fluff, pretty much exactly what one would expect from reading the back cover. Not great, but I bought it for Foster’s story because it featured a donkey, and it was definitely the best of the bunch.
A Highlander for Christmas by Sandy Blair: My boyfriend picked it up in the store, convinced that I’d love it and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I’m not so into the whole Scotland/highlander theme… Yes, it’s pretty much as terrible as it sounds, but somewhat entertaining despite the painful scottish ‘brogue’.
The Gift by Nora Roberts: Very standard NR fare, which is generally palatable in very small doses. Her tendency for very. short. non-sentences. can be pretty grating on the eyes, in my opinion.