A Wallflower Christmas (Wallflower Series, Book Five): Lisa Kleypas

“The Wallflowers are four young ladies in London who banded together in their wild and wickedly wonderful searched for true love. Now happily married, they join together to once again to help one of the world’s most notorious rogues realize that happiness might be right under the mistletoe….

“It’s Christmas in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady-in-waiting, and if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.”

I must admit that the Wallflower Series by Lisa Kleypas has to be one of my favorite series that I have ever read. Kleypas has a knack for remaining true to her characters and creating fun and absolutely fascinating plot lines. The dialogue is witty and the situations interesting so the readers are unable to put her books down.

This book, in particular, was on the shorter side, but it was no less delicious. I read about Lillian and Daisy’s brothers in previous books, but I never thought I would “meet” one of them in a book. Rafe was a well-written hero and—I don’t want to give too much of the plot away—but I thoroughly enjoyed his outspoken heroin. They make such a fantastic match and it was a lot of fun to watch as the Wallflowers banded together to help them come together! I found myself smiling numerous times—especially in the first scenes where the readers get a real taste of what Rafe is like. I hope you all enjoy this series as much as I have! I think it’s just brilliant how Kleypas has linked pretty much EVERY one of the books that I have read by her. It seems as if Stony Cross Park really is a place for magic!

A Dark-Hunter Christmas (Dark-Hunter Series, Book Eight): Sherrilyn Kenyon

***As I noted in the post just before this one, Sherrilyn Kenyon's site was updated and some of the stories were even completely removed from the reading order. This was one of them. In fact, in the list of a couple of weeks ago, this book was supposed to be in the back of Dance With the Devil, but it wasn't...I had to scour websites to find it and it was a HUGE headache... I'm really sorry, but I can't find the site where I originally found it because my laptop is freaking-out and I have been downgraded to the desktop. I do, however, have an electronic copy of the short story and can post the whole thing if you guys need me to. It wouldn't be too much trouble at all.***

Anyway, this is a short story (not technically a book...and therefore doesn't have a cover for me to post) that I had to find online. It was short and sweet. The readers were introduced to a more "modern" Dark-Hunter. His story was sad and believable for the time-period in which he was created. (Living in the Chicago-area myself, I know a good deal about its history and it was cool to see that come into play.) What was really neat was watching Acheron and Simi in this story. I don't want to give it away, but we get to read about a much softer side to them. The main character, Jamie was probably one of the Dark-Hunters who had to relive the most pain on a day-to-day basis. Since he was created in the first-half of the nineteenth-century, he actually has easily traceable and detectible relatives that he cannot come into contact with. I can't even imagine how difficult that must have been. Overall, the story was short and sweet. It had a very important underlaying lesson that rings true to all of the other Dark-Hunters and I think I might even like to see more of Jamie in the future!

An Affair Before Christmas (Desperate Duchesses, Book Two): Eloisa James

“Magic under the mistletoe…

“One spectacular Christmas, Lady Perdita Selby, known to her friends and family as Poppy, met the man she thought she would love forever. The devilishly attractive Duke of Fletcher was the perfect match for the innocent, breathtakingly beautiful young Englishwoman, and theirs was the most romantic wedding she had ever seen. Four years later, Poppy and the duke have become the toast of the ton…but behind closed doors the spark of their love affair has burned out.

“Unwilling to lose the woman he still lust after, the duke is determined to win back his beguiling bride’s delectable affections…and surpass the heady days of first love with a truly sinful seduction.”

I finished this book at four in the morning because, by far, the second half of the book was the best. The prologue was amazing and it started out wonderfully overall, but it slowed down drastically. It also became a real challenge to follow the plot when there was something like four or five other plotlines that barely related to that of the main characters. I’m not saying that it was a bad book; it was just sometimes pointless to follow the other plotlines when they didn’t really relate to the story. I understand that the author was setting up novels to follow this one, but it might have been easier for the readers had she found a better way.

Overall it was a decent book and the end was well worth the wait. Some situations were wonderfully comical and I truly felt for Fletch. The two of them are so in love, but Poppy’s mother was—believe it or not—more that abnormally in the way. This book was a pretty good read and it was a bit of a change from what I’m used to reading.