Mid-December #BookReviews- The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score, One Cursed Rose @RZanetti_Author, Frostbitten @RZanetti_Author

It won’t be long now, and Santa will be soaring over the night skies to deliver gifts all over the world. Christmas is so much more than the Santa Claus fable, but I must admit he makes the holiday season fun!

This week I’m catching up on my NetGalley reads along with a sweet heat holiday romance set in the cute little town of Merry.

This will be my last post of the year as I need to take time away to get the book-that-doesn’t-want-to-be-written finished before my deadline, so Merry Christmas everyone!

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The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score

Steamy contemporary romance

She’ll save Christmas just to spite him…

There’s only one thing standing in the way of Cat King saving a small town’s Christmas festival: Grumpy town manager Noah Yates.

Single dad Noah takes his responsibilities seriously. When a late season hurricane turns Merry, Connecticut, into a disaster, he’s left scrambling to pick up the pieces of the town he loves.

At least, until home renovation expert and smoking hot reality TV star Catalina King arrives with a camera crew and a budget big enough to put the town back together again. But Noah doesn’t want a celebrity diva capitalizing on their tragedy or filling his daughter’s head with visions of glitz and glam.

Blonde bombshell Cat is used to being underestimated, but Noah has an uncanny knack for getting under her skin. They can’t be in a room together without rubbing each other the wrong way…except that time in the dark alley where the rubbing was just right. Can these enemies work together to pull off a Christmas miracle or will their fighting leave them both on the naughty list?

My Review

When Merry, Connecticut is hit with an unexpected hurricane weeks before Christmas, producer and reality television host Catalina King is worried for friends she’d made during a renovation a couple of years earlier. She rushes to the town and is heartbroken at the destruction, but her imagination soars with ways to help Merry’s Christmas to be a success, if only the grumpy town manager would get out of her way.

Noah Yates grew up in Merry with an abusive father and a cowed mother. The only bit of brightness in his young life was the Christmas festival. Now that he’s a single father and the town manager, Noah takes the responsibility of protecting his town seriously and he has zero interest in letting some know-it-all TV personality bring her cameras and attitude to Merry making promises she can’t possibly keep. If only she wasn’t so mesmerizing.

There’s no life-work balance. Okay? Get it? It’s all life. You get the same twenty-four hours as the next girl. Fill yours with what you love.”

The Christmas Fix- Lucy Score

This is such a cute, fun, holiday romance! Cat is a smart, gorgeous, workaholic who doesn’t take any guff from men who think they know her because of her looks. Noah is a nice guy who wants the best for his daughter. These two have chemistry that leaps off the page, but their careers make a relationship all-but-impossible, so they decide to keep it simple. Too bad their hearts didn’t get the memo.

One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti

Steamy romantic suspense

They christened me Alana—and while the name means beauty, beneath that surface is a depth I allow very few to see. I’m sole heir to Aquarius Social, a media giant about to succumb to an unseen enemy. My father’s solution is to marry me off to the son of a competing family. My reaction? Not a chance. Now I have just a week before the wedding to change my fate.

Who knew the unforeseen twist would be an assassination attempt on me and an unwanted rescue by Thorn Beathach, the head of the rival social media empire driving Aquarius under? The richest, most ruthless of them all, the Beast protects his realm with an iron rule: no one sees his face. When he shows himself to me, I know he’ll never let me go.

Thorn may think he can lock me in his enchanted castle forever, but I’m not the docile Beauty he expects. If the Beast wants to tie me up, I’m going to take pleasure from every minute of it . . .and we’ll just see who ends up shackled.

My Review

The world of social media clashes with multi-million dollar intrigue in Rebecca Zanetti’s new, and imaginative, fantasy fiction.

Thorn is a man who makes his own rules. Someone is attacking his empire and it’s weakening not ony the company, but Thorn himself. He has a feeling one of his competitor’s, Aquarious Social, is also in trouble, but the patriarch isn’t playing nice with the exchange of information. Too bad the man isn’t as careful with his daughter, the Aquarious heiress, and the source of Thorn’s fascination. Guess it’s time to get to know the sexy influencers better.

Alana knows what her father expects of her; look beautiful and stay out of trouble. If he wants to think she’s a vapid female, let him. As long as the purse strings stay open so she can pursue her real passions, helping those less fortunate. But an unknown enemy attempts a hostile takeover of the family’s corporation, and her father decides it’s time to pool their resources by marrying her off to the competition. Alana is not a commodity, and her father, fiancé, and brutish kidnapper, Thorn Beathach, are about to find out just how strong the party girl is.

The concept for this series is interesting. Precious gems that power computers and connect to four powerful families of industry. I had a problem with the too-kinky sex, though. Spanking, belts, knives, to me is more about domination than love. Maybe that’s just me, but I felt like it took a great storyline and turned it into porn- too bad.

“I voluntarily read an ARC of this book which was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.”

Frostbitten: (Deep Ops Book 6) by Rebecca Zanetti

Action-packed suspense

Enigmatic. With a wildly gifted mind, and an untamed head of hair to match, petite powerhouse Millicent Frost is brilliant when it comes to gadgets and electronics—less so with people. After an attempt to bust a bank scam goes awry, Millie is in hot water with Homeland Security and targeted by lethal enemies. In the midst of the trouble, she heads home to help out with the family hunting and fishing business. But when their rival competitor and Millie’s ex is murdered, she’s the number one suspect . . .
 
Irresistible. Former Marine turned lawyer Scott Terentson devotes himself to getting his clients out of tricky binds. A loner, the last thing he wants is to belong to any team, yet the Deep Ops group considers him one of their own—and he pays the price by getting shot at by their enemies. Now Millie is seeking his help—just as he’s dealing with a brutal fail regarding a recent trial. Both are a headache, yet he’s drawn to Millie in spite of himself. They’re opposites, but maybe the old adage is true . . .
 
Electric. Working together, Millie and Scott soon have more on their hands than they bargained for as the danger escalates—along with the sizzling heat between them. And when a disappearance is thrown into the mix, all bets are off . . .

My Review

I love this series!

Millicent Frost is a cute little sprite who happens to be an HDD Agent with a knack for inventing an assortment of gadgets, some helpful, some downright dangerous.

Former Marine and now a powerhouse Lawyer, Scott Terentson has been fascinated by Millie for years. They’ve worked together a few times with the Deep Ops group, and he appreciates her quick wit and talented mind.

When Scott interrupts an undercover op at a bank run by a bigoted jerk, Millie is blamed and lands in hot water with her commander. Needing time to process, she heads home to lick her wounds and ends up under arrest after waking up naked in her dead ex’s bed. Scott is called in to help, though Millie doesn’t want him there, and the danger amps up with an assassination attempt, more alibies than he knows what to do with, and a growing attraction to the pixie he’s determined to protect.

I wish there would have been more interaction with the Deep Ops crew, but it was nice to see Angus up to his old tricks. This one was more serious than funny, and I think it lacks in that regard. Still a solid read, though.

“I voluntarily read an ARC of this book which was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.”

This is the last Christmas tree we put up in 2012 (I know!) before selling our home and buying an RV. I don’t miss the cold Alberta winters, but I do miss Christmas and a house full of family.

Wishing you and yours a safe, happy Christmas. Embrace the chaos!