Review: Love, Christmas - Holiday stories that will put a song in your heart! By Patricia Rosemoor and Michele Hauf

Editor's note:  As I explained in part 1 of this review, we're going to stretch it out. Here's part four.

Genre: Romance/Christmas/Box set

Description:

“Put a song in your heart with 20 all-new Christmas Romances from NY Times, USA Today, and national best-selling authors. Each brand-new title is inspired by a Christmas carol and will lift your spirits and bring on the holiday cheer.”

Do You Hear What I Hear? by Patricia Rosemoor - Live-in-lovers Shelley and Jake are now in a cold war of their own over Christmas.

Hark the Herald Angel Falls by Michele Hauf - To earn her halo, angel Merit must convince the person who holds her earthly soul in limbo--her husband--to stop loving her.

Author:

Patricia Rosemoor: “New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Patricia Rosemoor has had 96 novels with 8 publishers and more than 7 million books in print. All but two of her Patricia Rosemoor novels are romantic suspense or romantic thrillers. She also writes a less pulse-pounding combination of romance and suspense with a dash of humor with a partner as Lynn Patrick.”

To learn more please check out Ms. Rosemoor’s website or follow her on Facebook.

“Michele Hauf has been writing romance, fantasy, action/adventure and paranormal stories for a couple decades and enjoys reading the same. It never fails that when she's working on a project set in the icy months of winter, that it's actually humid and hot outside, and vice versa.”

To learn more about Ms. Hauf please check out her website or follow her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

In this fifth group of novellas from Love, Christmas I am reviewing more new-to-me authors. These two stories include paranormal elements.

Do You Hear What I Hear? by Patricia Rosemoor:

I have to confess up front that I am a lover of all things paranormal and I have to blame Lynne Cantwell for my renewed interest in mythology. So when this novella had a vampire and included mythology, I was hooked from the beginning.

Jake DeAtley might not be a full-fledged vampire as his mother had been, but he inherited more than speed and strength from her. Control has been key to living a normal life and retaining his humanity. Without humanity he would lose the only woman he has ever passionately loved more than life itself.

Shelley Caldwell is a detective for the Chicago Police Department who sometimes uses her "unofficial" paranormal talents to help her solve cases. The moment Jake meets Shelley she gets under his skin. They move in together and live in relative harmony, or do until the Christmas season rolls around. Jake detests Christmas and it happens to be one of Shelley’s favorite holidays. To compromise, she agrees to decorate only half the house and concedes to no Christmas tree. That is until the evening of a fatal hit-and-run accident that involves an enchanted Christmas tree. When her senses spike at the scene of the crime, she drags the tree home to investigate.

Jake and Shelley both have strong personalities, are easy to like, and drew me into their dilemma. The addition of this new decoration is causing unintended friction and Jake is forced to reevaluate his stubborn streak. Do You Hear What I Hear is a captivating tale and I found Jake and Shelley’s journey entertaining, heartfelt, and full of Christmas magic.

I would be interested is reading more about these two characters and it seems they are included in other stories by Ms. Rosemoor.

Hark the Herald Angel Falls by Michele Hauf:

On Merit’s first wedding anniversary, shortly after making snow angels in the Paris snow with her husband Luke, she is brutally murdered by a group of vampires. Luke is forced to watch and then is unwillingly turned into a vampire.

One year later, Luke happens to see a bright light fall from Above into the river Seine, where he promptly dives into the icy water to rescue what turns out to be Merit. Merit has no memory from her life on Earth or Luke. She is only aware that she has to convince whoever loves her to let her go so she can move forward and gain her halo to become a full-fledged angel.

Luke is rife with conflicting emotions; he is thrilled to have Merit back but feels guilty about holding her spirit earthbound. The longer Merit spends on Earth, the more human her thinking becomes and she falls in love with Luke all over again. Now she has to come to terms with fact that Luke is the reason she can’t move forward. I found this story an endearing and compelling tale of true love that turns the realms of the Above and Below on its ears. The twist at the end made my heart sing as Merit finds a new purpose.

Hark the Herald Angel Falls is part of A Beautiful Creatures novella series.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

The stories in Love, Christmas are new and never before published, although, some are new additions to existing series.

Do You Hear What I Hear? contains sexual situations and mildly offensive language.

Hark the Herald Angel Falls contains sexual situations and mildly offensive language.

Format/Typo Issues:

Do You Hear What I Hear? by Patricia Rosemoor: No significant proofing issues.

Hark the Herald Angel Falls by Michele Hauf: I found no proofing issues.

Rating: Do You Hear What I Hear? by Patricia Rosemoor: ***** Five Stars

Rating: Hark the Herald Angel Falls by Michele Hauf: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 375-400,000 words for the full set. Each story is novella size, 20,000 words or slightly less.