ARC Review: Snow Kissed by Jessica Clare, Jen Frederick & D.S. Linney

Snow Kissed

A Christmas Anthology

Authors: Jessica Clare, Jen Frederick, D.S. Linney

Publisher: Pear Tree LLC

Publication Date: December 18, 2013

Genre: New Adult

Source: eARC via authors

~Synopsis~

Reindeer Games by Jessica Clare.

When mouthy Luna is voted off of Endurance Island: Alaska first, she's a little bitter about it. The only thing that assuages her pride is knowing that Owen(the sexy-but-douchey guy that ousted her) was out next. This means, unfortunately, that they're spending a lot of time at the Loser Lodge together. But will their fiercely competitive natures bring them together for the sexiest Christmas of all?

Undressed by Jen Frederick

Noah and Grace's happy ever after hits a stumbling block in the form of one shady professor threatening Noah's scholarship eligibility. Noah is given the choice of throwing his New Year's MMA fight for a big payoff or accepting that the true meaning of love isn't measured by the thickness of his wallet but the depth of Grace's big heart.

The Sound of Snow by DS Linney

Widowed billionaire Gabriel Trentham never expected that the new nanny he hired would be the same woman he spent an unforgettable night with six months earlier. She's determined to keep it professional between them now, but will a blizzard provide him the opportunity he needs to change her mind?

~Reviews~

Reindeer Games by Jessica Clare

Reindeer games was a sweet, fun and romantic Christmas story and I really enjoyed it. Luna and Owen are both contestants on Endurance Island, a survivor type reality show. It’s the Christmas version and thus they are thrown together in frigid Alaska to compete for $1million dollars. They both end up on the same team and butt heads immediately. I think they are both very competitive leaders  but Owen was kind of a douchebag. He was on Luna’s case from the get go and he never listened to her ideas. He made her look like a fool despite her logic in the games and ended up getting her voted off first. Unfortunately for him but very deserving, he’s voted off second and they end up alone in the Loser’s lodge.

There was chemistry and attraction there for sure but Luna thinks he’s a Neanderthal and Owen thinks she’s a loud mouth. Being stuck together forces them to interact and as they get to know one another, sparks fly and they are able to see the good qualities in each other that they were blind to before. I liked the idea of enemies becoming lovers and found it fun and refreshing. However, I found Owen’s major turnaround in character a little too convenient. He goes from a total dickhead to these sweet and charming guy in a matter of minutes and I’m not even sure I can believe they were the same guy.

Undressed by Jen Frederick

This is a Woodland Hills novella centering around Grace and Noah’s first Christmas together. If you’ve read Undeclared, you know who I’m talking about and you’re as giddy as I was to get a little more of these two. Noah and Grace are spending their first Christmas together as a couple and despite their solid relationship, there’s always something that threatens to get in there way. Noah has a big fight with huge financial potential on New Year’s day but his shady professor wants him to throw the fight and is promising him an even bigger payout. He’s also threatening Noah’s scholarship. Noah has a lot of insecurities when it comes to money and they really show through in this novella. He can’t get past his tough childhood and he really thinks that money is the solution to all his problems and that it is the only way to keep Grace around forever. Grace doesn’t care about money one bit and she definitely goes out of her way to try and prove this to Noah and be sensitive of his feelings.

Noah’s insecurities bothered me a little because I loved him and he is this really amazing guy so seeing him so insecure was tough. I loved the way Grace respected Noah’s feelings and she did some pretty amazing things for Noah to prove her love for him. As irritated as I was with Noah for acting like a fool, I was proud that he made the right decisions in the end and he overcame those insecurities about money. He finally saw through his money hungry gaze to see that Grace would choose him over money any day of the week. Also, I am a huge fan of Jen’s weekly story from her newsletter, the Charlotte Chronicles, so the epilogue in this novella made me smile so hard. I loved it!

The Sound of Snow by D.S. Linney

The Sound of Snow was sweet and sexy and a fantastic Christmas novella. Gabe is still wallowing over the death of his wife 4 years earlier when he meets Ria at a hotel bar. They hit it off and Gabe is instantly attracted to her like no one before. They spend a sexy, steamy night together but Ria is gone when Gabe wakes up in the morning. Six months later, she shows up at his door to interview for the new nanny position, unaware that he is one and the same. The chemistry is definitely there and six months hasn’t negated any of the sparks.

I liked the way Ria instantly connected with his children and she was like a real life Mary Poppins. Gabe has such a strained relationship with his kids and Ria helps reignite it. She definitely puts his family back together again and this only more solidifies his feelings for her. This definitely had a little insta-love which I’m not a big fan of but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story. I still really liked the characters and the plot and found this to be a great Christmas novella.

PURCHASE LINKS:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE