Rate this book

A Christmas Bride (2012)

by Susan Mallery(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0373778023 (ISBN13: 9780373778027)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Harlequin HQN

review 1: This 1/2 novella-1/2 novel made me as happy as fuzzy kittens and ooey gooey bacon cheeseburgers (on my non-vegetarian days that is) do! I picked it up for free courtesy my cities library “book mobile” because I loved the cover. I loved the cover and was looking for something short, sweet, and sexxy, but in a romantic VS erotic sorta way. “A Christmas Bride” did not disappoint.I’ll be brief and review the novella story 1st. “Only Us” as with most novellas does not have enough time to fully develop the characters, storyline, romance, etc. I enjoy novellas. I love the sweet torture they put you through when they’re done right. Susan done did this one right. It was everything I expected. It was so sweet my teeth hurt, my heart thumped in the right parts, and I ... morerooted for the 2 love interests AKA: Carina (pet groomer) & Cameron (new Vet no,new single Vet in town). There was also a sweet lil sassy girl (Cameron’s daughter) involved and that upped the “aaawwww” factor for me. In the short time allotted these 2 animal loving love birds: met, were attracted, fought said attraction, couldn’t resist any longer, kissed under the mistletoe, and well, you have to read it to find out the rest! *winky wink wink*The 2nd full length story was the one I simply ADORED. Picture this: wandering down the aisle of the library/Walmart type store in your town, you see the pretty cover, cute title, read the summary, it is what it is-super charming and meant to be enjoyed without having to think too hard about it.Not having read a great many romance novels I enjoyed this one immensely. Prince As’ad of El Deharia adopts 3 orphaned girls after their very American, red-haired, fiery tempered teacher pitches a fit. Misunderstanding the culture and intent of another powerful “chieftain” (wrong word, I know) the Prince steps in to prevent a “war”. Kayleen leaves the orphanage and moves into the super glamorous and luxurious palace to care for the girls. Not quite a Nun, but raised and finding solace in the nunnery Kayleen is unprepared for this world. And what a world it is! I loved the way the author described this beautiful exotic desert, their traditions, and culture! I honestly wanted to be there! The scenery was so lush and exotic (erotic too..hehe) one could not help but to be captured by it. Honestly this reminded me a middle eastern version of “The Sound of Music” without the Nazi’s and rolling green hills, of course.I was wondering how the author would handle the Prince’s behavior and attitude. The culture the Prince hails from is not known for its accommodation of stubborn women. Deviation from their strict, archaic ways is also not common. The Prince had a good mix of old school tradition and new school ways. He was quite handsome, charming, aloof enough to make any woman swoon (women DO swoon over those mysterious, aloof, guys IE: Damon Salvatore). He was all about the making money business, and falling in love with this fiery American, and her three half American orphan charges was not in his game plan.Drama ensues, the Prince (and Kayleen too) have to let the guards over their hearts down for this to work. A seriously romantic gesture brings Kayleen back to where she belongs: with the Prince and their three adopted girls. I loved that the love was not easy. They both had to work for it and it was satisfying when it came. As a reader I want my characters to work for it. Its not “Oh yeah you’re hot, jump in the sack, get married” . They GREW TOGETHER. The setting of the desert and the middle eastern culture infused into the storyline made it that much more exciting for me too.Basically grab this and read it. I was going to wait until Christmas and do a holiday romance book a thon, but I couldn’t resist.
review 2: This was my first disappointment in the Fool's Gold series - the short, "Only Us" was just too short to develop a romance between the two leads. You get to like Carina, the groomer, who's carrying a torch for Cameron, the vet. Sadly, he's almost unlikeable with his whole "I won't even date anyone since my wife left me when our daughter was two weeks old, years and years ago, because we might be abandoned again" except for that he's totally let Carina into his and his daughter's life. She's his before and after school care for his daughter, the one who makes the little girl her Christmas costume and bakes cookies for her and everything. Where is her dad in all of this? Not being much of a parent!. When he finally got his head out of the clouds long enough to realize what he was missing, it was a rushed and unromantic ending.The second book in the collection read like a 1960s or 1970s category romance, based in complete unreality. As'ad is a prince of El Deharia, a vaguely Middle Eastern but not Islamic because they're totally open to celebrating Christmas if people want! kingdom where Kayleen is a virginal convent-school teacher who's drawn into his life when As'ad's matchmaking aunt forces the prince to adopt three half-Americsn (and half-El Deharian) girls from the convent school with Kayleen as their nanny. This setting and situations are pure fantasy that read as lazy world-building rather than as romantic holiday fluff. If it weren't for the ramped-up sexuality of the romance scenes (and the fact that the leads have sex before marriage), I'd have assumed I was reading a re-issued book from the 70s. less

Download links for: A Christmas Bride

Advertising