Paranormally Yours by Anne Gimpel, et al.

Seven of today’s hottest paranormal authors come together to bring you a boxed set guaranteed to keep you warm on a cold winter’s night. Do shifters make you howl? Or do you prefer the bite of a vampire? Perhaps the controlling hand of a demi-god is more your style. Paranormally Yours has a story—or seven—to set your pulse racing.

(See the Goodreads link at the bottom of the post for full blurbs of all included stories.)


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It's difficult to write an general review for a collection like this that is comprised of so many different stories, for it is nearly impossible to find descriptions that apply to all of them equally. Overall I enjoyed the collection, though my enjoyment of the individual stories varied of course. Some I loved, some I thought were just OK, others I didn't really care for much. None were "bad" in my estimation though, and the ones I didn't care for so much were mostly a matter of personal preferences, not any real faults with the stories themselves necessarily. It should be noted that the collection is very shifter-heavy even though a couple of the stories do include vampires or other paranormals, so if you don't care for shifters you probably won't care for this anthology. Likewise, if you're looking for stories about vampires or magic users you might do well to look elsewhere (though the one story here that's primarily about vampires is one of the better ones IMO). I'm giving this a 4 star rating overall since that is more or less the average of my ratings on the individual stories. Read on past the jump to see those individual ratings and reviews.

Note: I received a free copy of this collection from one of the authors in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas Spirits by Christy Gissendaner

Kia Mays has little time for anything as her lifelong dream of being a fashion designer comes to fruition. For Christmas, she takes time out of her busy schedule to visit her family in Georgia. Her beloved grandmother, Naya, reveals a secret of her Baule heritage. In Baule, located on the Ivory Coast of Africa, the people believe in spirit lovers, which you are separated from at birth. Tedros, her lover from the spirit world, appears to her and reveals that he is there to assist her in finding a mortal lover.

Elliot Melton, the brother of Kia's new sister in law, is also invited to share the season with the family. With the help of a meddling grandmother and an otherworldly spirit, Elliot and Kia soon find out that Christmas is the best time to fall in love.





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Cobblestone Press

I found this to be a rather refreshing holiday romance story that doesn't rely on any of the "alone for the holiday" tropes that seem to predominate in this sub-category of romance. It read primarily like a contemporary romance to me, though with a large dash of the paranormal thrown in to spice things up a bit. There's no insta-love here, and wedding bells aren't ringing yet at the end; instead we have two ordinary people who are simply willing to take a chance and see where their instant attraction will lead them.

The Music Box by Alice Brown

It’s Christmas Eve and Beth Montgomery’s life is a mess. She stops by the nursing home to visit her last remaining relative, her grandmother, Adeline Montgomery. Then she can go home and have a glass or ten of wine and cry over her latest string of bad luck. She was released from her job earlier.

She arrives to find Alex St. Claire visiting with her grandmother. What she doesn’t know is that he is a very lonely vampire, who made a mistake years ago when he thought he was in love with Adeline. He has spent many years trying to help out the family where he can. But Adeline’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse, and Beth knows her grandmother doesn’t have very much longer to live.

Both alone, Beth and Alex make a spontaneous decision to spend Christmas Eve together and are recipients to more than one miracle. But what will happen the next morning? Is Beth strong enough to handle the truth about Alex?


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I wanted to like this book. The blurb hooked me in, for it sounded like exactly the sort of story I typically enjoy (really, a book usually has me at "vampire"), as well as sounding somewhat similar to some Christmas romance stories I've greatly enjoyed in the past. The opening scene in the nursing home was quite promising, for it drew me in and got me interested in the characters. Unfortunately it started going downhill for me after Alex and Beth left the nursing home and didn't really redeem itself until the last quarter or so of the book. It recaptured my interest then, at least to a certain degree, and pulled my final rating up considerably.

North of Need by Laura Kaye

Her tears called a powerful snow god to life, but only her love can grant the humanity he craves…

Desperate to escape agonizing memories of Christmas past, twenty-nine-year-old widow Megan Snow builds a snow family outside the mountain cabin she once shared with her husband, realizing too late that she’s recreated the very thing she’ll never have.

Called to life by Megan’s tears, snow god Owen Winters appears unconscious on her doorstep in the midst of a raging blizzard. As she nurses him to health, Owen finds unexpected solace in her company and unimagined pleasure in the warmth of her body, and vows to win her heart for a chance at humanity.

Megan is drawn to Owen’s mismatched eyes, otherworldly masculinity, and enthusiasm for the littlest things. But this Christmas miracle comes with an expiration—before the snow melts and the temperature rises, Megan must let go of her widow’s grief and learn to trust love again, or she’ll lose Owen forever.

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An enchanting read that will have you believing in magic. Almost from page one, Kaye pulls you into her winter wonderland and keeps you spellbound, riding the roller coaster of emotional ups and downs right along with her characters and hoping that their idyllic interlude might never end.

Satin & Oak by Xavier Edwards

Gerome and Sara lived in a small village. They both had small jobs, just enough to pay the bills. It was Christmas time and they had no money to spare between them.

They couldn’t afford the luxury of a Christmas tree, let alone buying each other gifts. Gerome was good with his hands and went off to his small wooden shed to make a special gift for Sara. He knew she loved his wooden handiworks. He would surprise her on Christmas day with a sexy gift that she could use in the bedroom.

Sara on the other hand was more interested in decorating their small stone built house. She decided that they would decorate themselves up for Christmas day rather than beautifying up their home. The only thing she had was red and green ribbon, a set of Christmas lights and a little tinsel. Gerome had told her that all he wanted for Christmas was her. He would have her as the decoration to celebrate Christmas and his gift.

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A sweet "times are hard" Christmas story. It is rather confusing, however, particularly in terms of trying to get a fix on the time period it takes place in. The couple that lives in a cottage by the woods in a small village that serves the lord of the manor, he a carpenter in the lord's employ, and she working at seamstress and midwifing jobs as needed has a very historical, dark ages or medieval feel to it, but then there are mentions of lights, and children that have grown and moved away, and tickets so they can travel, all of which sounds a lot more modern. So I'm confused as to whether this is meant to be a historical or a contemporary, though for the most part it reads like a historical with a few anachronisms thrown in.

A Man for the Season by Xavier Edwards

It was the night before Christmas and Rachel had no boyfriend to celebrate Christmas with.Her friends eagerly tried to fix her up with a date,night after night.No one could find the perfect man for her.

A handsome dark haired stranger walked into the bar as they toasted with Christmas cheer.Rachel's jaw dropped as this delicious looking guy walked straight across to her with mistletoe above his head and smacked a kiss on her lips.Would this be her christmas gift or her man for all seasons?

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A cute story that's sure to leave a goofy smile on your face, even if it's only inside your mind. A little bit whimsical, a little bit hot, with a dash of paranormal flavor thrown in, it's just the thing to fit the bill when you're looking for a steamy little story to spend a little time with, especially on a late night near Christmas. There is just enough revealed about the characters, especially Nick, and their backstories, to make you want to know more, though perhaps the charm here lies in the fact that everything isn't laid out and explained in detail. The hints we're give are enough to fill in the blanks and make the whole thing more intriguing that it might be if everything were spelled out. Recommended for anyone who likes short story erotica who is looking to be entertained and titillated for a short while.

• A Man for the Season on Goodreads
• Xavier Edwards's website

The Bite Before Christmas by Heidi Betts

Where do single vampires go when they're looking for romance? To Love Bites, of course, Angelina Bertolli's highly successful, top secret vampire dating agency. Angelina helps three mortals find love in this trilogy of sexy, witty, irresistible vampire novellas.

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This collection of short stories actually reads more like a novel that has a shifting focus since the stories are all linked via characters in common. Angelina, the matchmaker, is the primary linking figure, though we only see her more or less in passing until the third story, which focuses on her. The first and second stories had premises that could easily have been developed out to novel length on their own and not suffered for it, though they also work fine as short stories and don't feel like the author rushed things too much to wrap it up.