To All A Good Night (Brava Contemporary Romance)

Unleashed by Donna Kaufman
It's instant love and attraction between Emma the Pet Sitter and Trevor the Houseburglar and before she lets him make his move she wants to know why he is skulking around the house that she had been told would be empty over the holidays. Apparently Trevor has been looking for clues about his family tree since he was a boy and when he learns that his uncle's house is going to be empty over the holidays he hopes to learn something about his history. Instead he finds the love of his life in Emma and decides he doesn't need to know anything about his past because all he cares about now is his future.

*gag* I didn't notice any chemistry between Emma and Trevor nor can I discern a reason as to why this novella was even created. Pointless love story set during Christmas. Our H/H meet and fall in love. The End.

Finding Mr. Right by Jill Shalvis
Brilliant chemist Maggie Bell has a knack for choosing the perfect guy. All her ex boyfriends were successful, reasonably attractive and very intelligent. And boring. So she hits upon the excellent idea of picking Mr. Wrong to be her Mr. Right.

Enter Jacob. The ripped and sweaty construction guy who is working in her building. Hubba Hubba. Our brilliant but clumsy heroine trips her way into Jacob's arms and into his heart. This was fun, a little slapstick-y and hot. Stick a big red bow around Jacob's....er, Jacob and it's Merry Christmas to me!

Can You Hand Me The Tape by HelenKay Dimon
Natalie has a big problem. She's just broken up with her turd of a boyfriend but not before he unknowingly made off with his Christmas present. A homemade video. *wink wink* She can't tell him to give it back because that would just rouse his curiosity and cause him to watch it. So she turns to Spencer Donovan for help.

This was a little annoying. Nat has been mentally pounded into nothing by her emotionally abusive ex boyfriend and so she distrusts Spencer's sudden declarations of love and devotion. This entire novella is just endless rounds of "didja get the tape?" and "I'm too fat to be loved!"

Unleashed by Donna Kaufman was good up to a point. The characters were well written and believable. Leaving the story dangling was not something I like or appreciate. The intrigue of what Trevor will find out about his family kept me wanting to get to the end and find out the truth. Not only does the author have him drop his entire quest, she adds to the mystery in the epilogue. This does not make me want to read the next story to find out what happened, it makes me wonder if the next will be just another installment in a series. I read a lot of series and trilogies. In those even though there is a storyline to follow through to the end the authors do not build up the anticipation then stop abruptly and leave more questions than you started with. Basically it ruined the whole thing for me.

Finding Mr. Right by Jill Shalvis was the best of the three stories. The characters are believable and while I usually don't like stories that have characters that have a past, these two were never involved until now so it was quite enjoyable to see how they interact.

Can You Hand Me The Tape by HelenKay Dimon started out well and went luke warm quickly. The main characters were not suppose to like each other and that did not come across at all. Her other books and short stories have been excellent at the character animosity so I don't know what happened with these two. The character of Charlie was the best of them all as he was a jerk from beginning to end and you really did dislike him as was intended. The fact that he got what he wanted in the end was not what I had expected. While it is a nice story it fell flat.

Three of today's hottest romance authors warm the holiday season win To All A Good Night.

Unleashed by Donna Kauffman has pet sitter Emma Lafferty working for a billionaire CEO during the holiday season. She was told that it would just be her and the pets. Emma ends up meeting the man's great nephew Trevor Hamilton. Trevor is searching for answers about his heritage. Emma and Trevor find love in the most unlikely of places.

Jill Shalvis's Finding Mr. Right has brilliant chemist Maggie Bell fed up with always ending up with Mr. Wrong when they started out as Mr. Right. She decides to go against type and have a wicked fling with hunky contractor Jacob Wahler. Jacob Wahler is amazed that someone as smart and beautiful as Maggie would give him the time of day. What starts as a no strings affair grabs both of them by the heart strings.

HelenKay Dimon's Hand Me The Tape has Natalie Pritchard turning to attorney Spencer Donovan for help. After dumping her ex she needs help getting a risque tape back. Since Spencer is in partnership with her ex, to Natalie its logical to turn to Spencer. Spencer isn't so sure. He never really noticed his partners girlfriend before but he sure is now.

To All A Good Night has three warm and toasty stories to get every romance lover in the holiday spirit. Each story is funny and all out sexy. You can't go wrong picking up this delightful Christmas anthology.

When the winter nights grow long, you'll be oh-so-glad to have a toasty little romance to warm you all over. Luckily for romance readers, Kensington Books is releasing a trio of stories that fit the bill in TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

As you would expect from the title for this anthology, each story is set during the Christmas holiday. But that's not where the similarities end between the three tales. Each also serves a healthy dose of fun along with the romance, with sexy banter and appealing characters.

~UNLEASHED by Donna Kauffman~

When Emma accepted a job pet-sitting for a billionaire over the holidays, she never expected to find her employer's hunky great-nephew in the house. She especially wasn't prepared for his romantic interest, or the way Trevor makes her feel...

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Emma and Trevor in UNLEASHED! Donna Kauffman delivers a great little romance that is as inspiring as it is fun.

Trevor undergoes a life-altering transformation during his time with Emma at the mansion. Family secrets he once thought crucial for him to uncover now seem less so when face to face with the woman who proves herself the love of his life without even trying.

Emma is unlike any woman Trevor has met before. Unimpressed by his name, fortune, or even his looks, she never pulls her punches with him, endearing him more surely than the most flattering sycophant ever could. She never lets him get away with anything, even as he can see that she is as attracted to him as he is to her, making her the kind of woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

Ms. Kauffman ends the story with a bit of a tease, hinting at a sequel that might further explore the mysteries in Trevor's family. I, for one, am certainly looking forward to it!

~FINDING MR. RIGHT by Jill Shalvis~

Unlucky in love, Maggie decides to change her tactics. Instead of dating men who seem right for her, maybe it is time to date someone who seems totally wrong for her. And who better than hunky Jacob Wahler to explore that theory with?

Brainy Maggie Bell has had a crush on Jacob ever since they were in high school together. Now the handsome contractor is back in her life with a construction job for her employer, and is just the ticket for a sexy little no-strings-attached one night stand. Sounds simple, right? But it's that one-time part that trips her up when she realizes once with Jacob will never be enough...

I've been meaning to read something by Jill Shalvis for some time, so I was pleased to find she was part of this anthology. Having heard great things about her work for some time now, my expectations were high, and Ms. Shalvis did not disappoint me.

My, oh my... Why in the world don't the construction workers in my world every look like Jacob? This hero proves himself more than capable of fixing just about anything a woman might need help with - and he shows that admirably when he helps Maggie with her little problem. *grin*

Maggie is hilarious! Quirky, smart, and sweet, this heroine had me laughing all the way through, even as I identified with her on more than one occasion. I was thrilled to see her get her man.

~CAN YOU HAND ME THE TAPE? By HelenKay Dimon~

Natalie will do just about anything to get the naughty tape she made for her ex-boyfriend back. Unfortunately, that means enlisting the help of Spencer Donovan - bane of her existence. OK, maybe not quite the bane, but neither their personal nor professional interactions have been exactly friendly in the past.

Criminal defense attorney Spencer isn't quite sure how he let himself be conned into helping Natalie retrieve the tape, but he knows exactly what he wants from the sexy probation officer in return for his assistance...

The main reason I wanted to read TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT was because I am a fan of HelenKay Dimon's. The fact that I really enjoyed the other author's entries in this anthology was just icing on the cake for me.

As usual, Ms. Dimon gives readers a treat to excite their romantic hearts. This author can always be depended on for a story that is as simultaneously witty, sweet, and sexy. Her characters engage readers from the first page, and soon feel as if they are people you might know in real life.

Natalie and Spencer are beautiful together. When the story begins, they've already known each other for some time, but neither has considered the other in a romantic sense until now. The fact that Natalie was dating Spencer's business partner until recently had a lot to do with that.

But now that she is free, Spencer begins to see her in a whole new light - the idea of Natalie performing on camera in the buff for her ex inspires quite a few new ideas about her. His interest isn't as superficial as that sounds, however. It isn't long before Spencer realizes his feelings for Natalie goes a lot deeper than he ever expected.

Natalie's ex did a number on her self-esteem. She's slowly rebuilding her confidence, but still isn't quite prepared for Spencer's romantic interest. Of course, she isn't opposed to it - not once she realizes how serious he is. What woman in her right mind would be? Watching as this woman recovers her belief in herself is wonderfully moving.

CAN YOU HAND ME THE TAPE? is a perfect illustration of why HelenKay Dimon is in my list of favorite authors.

**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

"Unleashed" by Donna Kauffman. Through her best friend who works in the personnel department of Hamilton Conglomerates, Emma Lafferty is hired to house sit and pet sit for the firm's CEO billionaire Lionel Hamilton. At his vast Randolph County estate, his great-nephew Trevor arrives. Trevor wants Emma to leave as he searches for something; while Emma wants Trevor to leave because she does not trust him. As they warily watch one another an attraction ignites.

"Finding Mr. Right" by Jill Shalvis. Data Tech lead chemist Maggie Bell is working on a skin cancer cure, but laments about how she only dates wrong Mr. Rights. Her sister tells her to drop the brainy and go for the brawny like contractor Jacob Wheeler whom she tutored in high school. He is attracted to the trivia queen, who tests lotions and other items given to her by the twins running the firm.

"Can You Hand Me the Tape? by Helen Kay Dimon. After Natalie Pritchard broke up with Charles Adams, she hates asking his legal partner Spencer Donovan for a favor. She wants him to "steal" a tape that Charles has of her naked. Spencer who is ending his partnership with obnoxious Charles reluctantly agrees.

These are three fun contemporary romances in which the lead female falls in love with someone whom they assume could never love them back; the hunks prove them wrong.

Harriet Klausner