Book Review: Santa, Baby

Book: Santa, Baby by Jennifer Crusie with two other stories by Lori Foster and Carly Phillips

Rating: 3 stars (for the first story)

Review:

This collection of Christmas stories wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I enjoyed reading the first story. I though the second was probably the worst and the third was okay. 

In the first story Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie, main character Trudy Maxwell somehow found herself right in the middle of espionage when she happened to find the last box of the must have toy of the season for her nephew. She found herself in the position of trying to figure out which of the two guys she should trust. Nolan, a college professor who she dated a few times and is claiming he's undercover or Reese, her father's former assistant, who claims he's a CIA agent. They both want the doll but who should she trust. This story was interesting because it was filled with intrigue and action and I thought the ending was really sweet.

Now for the second story, Christmas Bonus by Lori Foster, it read like bad fanfiction. There was no real plot or character development and it moved at a snails pace. Despite the sex filled plot, there was absolutely no chemistry between the two main characters. There was nothing that made me feel like Eric and Maggie should be together other than the story telling me they should.

The third story Naughty Under the Mistletoe by Carly Phillips, felt like a chick-flick. In the story, Toni wanted to do something naughty since she's always been the good girl, so she sets out to seduce her boss, Stephan at the company party. However, she mistakenly kissed his twin brother Max instead. The thing I don't get is up until she kissed Max she liked Stephan but then quickly changed her mind and went about trying to get Max. I guess I didn't find her change of interest to be believable. It made me wonder if she only went for Max because he seemed interested unlike his twin and not as if she really cared for him.

Overall, I thought the first story was the only one that actually felt like it was a Christmas story while the holiday felt like an afterthought for the other two. And, the first story is probably the only one I could see reading again for the holiday.