Tag Archives: 2021 Christmas Reading Challenge

solstice surrender banner

Book Review: Solstice Surrender, by Tracy Cooper-Posey

I picked up a copy of Solstice Surrender, by Tracy Cooper-Posey, way back in 2013 and it’s been chillin’ in my cloud ever since. This year, I thought the solstice might be holiday-like enough to be included in my holiday reading challenge.
solstice surrender cover

For Special Investigations Agency Operatives Destiny Tremayne, Jenna MacDonald and Nur Aydan, Christmas isn’t all about celebrating.

Jenna MacDonald, cynic extraordinaire, flees to Banff, Canada, for the holiday season to lick her wounds in private after an assignment takes a tragic turn. But trouble manages to find her even in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. A mysterious stranger called Rhys Cellyn exerts a powerful influence over her mind and body, while Jenna struggles to stay afloat in the mythical world he plunges her into. Time is against her, for at the moment of the winter solstice she must make a fateful choice. I’m going to get housekeeping out of the way first. I read this as part of my Holiday Reading Challenge, thinking that being set during the solstice might give this a bit of a holiday theme. But it really doesn’t. The solstice is important to the plot, but not in any sort of holiday-related way, not even a solstice holiday. So, it’s kind of a failure in that regard.

Moving on to the review itself, I knew I was in trouble when I read the note in the introduction that mentioned that this book had originally been written as a novella for an Ellora’s Cave anthology. Ellora’s Cave had a pretty predictable story format—lots of sex, very little plot. Cooper-Posey said she’d expanded the novella into a short novel, but I didn’t expect the sex to plot ratio to change. I was right, it didn’t. And while there was a time I quite enjoyed such books (that’s how I knew what to expect from Ellora’s Cave), now is not the time. So, I spent a lot of this book skimming.

I will assert that this was better than most of what I read from Ellora’s Cave, but it wasn’t very good when judged on its own. The writing wasn’t the issue. Other than a disconcerting and anachronistic tendency to use “for” in sentences, the writing is actually fine. The editing had a few hiccups, but nothing egregious. It’s just that the plot is so very thin and there is so very very little character development, world-building, romantic build-up, etc that the story barely holds together. And then there is a ton of sex to further destabilize it all.

So, I’m just gonna have to go with “Meh” for this one.

solstice surrender photo

Come backlater this afternoon. I’ll be reviewing Charley’s Christmas Wolf, by C.D. Gorri and tomorrow when I’ll be reviewing The Problem With Mistletoe, by Kyle Baxter and Fighting For Us, by Bella Emy. Yeah, I’ve had to star doubling up to fit them all in by Christmas.

dreaming of a white wolf christmas banner

Book Review: Dreaming Of a White Wolf Christmas, by Terry Spear

I picked up a copy of Terry Spear‘s Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas as an Amazon freebie, in order to read it as part of my Christmas Reading Challenge.
dreaming of a white wolf christmas

Tangling with a White Wolf—Best Christmas Ever, or Real Trouble?

Romance writer Candice Mayfair never missed a deadline in her life—until an accidental bite from a werewolf puppy turns her into an Arctic wolf shifter. She’s forced to isolate herself in the wilderness to cope with her unpredictable shifting while she works on her deadlines. After all, for Candice, Christmas is just another day.

Enter private investigator Owen Nottingham, a wolf shifter hired to find Candice so she can collect her inheritance. They have a real problem: she must arrive home in human form, and that’s not happening during the full moon. Besides, Owen has a new mission: to convince the pretty she-wolf her best move is to join his pack in time for Christmas…and to prove he’s the only wolf for her.

my review

Good lord, this was just horrid. I don’t understand it either. Terry Spear is well known. Lots of people enjoy her books. Hell, this series is 30 books long. Obviously, someone somewhere enjoys this sort of thing. But I was bored to tears.

The dialogue is stiff. The writing is dry as dust. It’s SO tell heavy and everything is repeated, as characters do things and then tell people about doing things, or tell people they’re going to do something and then do it, or think about doing something and then do it, etc. The love is instant and the romance is non-existent and basically comes down to her being the only available arctic wolf. Random things happen randomly. There are a ton of characters who pop up and then disappear just as suddenly. I assume they are only mentioned because they’re cameos from other books (but they just felt disruptive here). And the book just went on and on and on.

Honestly, I would have DNFed this, for sure, had I not been reading it for a challenge and wanted to be able to count it. I think I need not ever read another Spear book.

dreaming of a white wolf christmas photo


Other Reviews:

Mainlining Christmas: Book review – Dreaming of a white Wolf Christmas

Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas (White Wolf #1 / Heart of the Wolf #23) by Terry Spear-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway


Come back tomorrow. I’ll be reviewing Solstice Surrender, by Tracy Cooper-Posey and Charley’s Christmas Wolf, by C.D. Gorri. Yeah, I’ve had to start doubling up to try and fit all the reviews in by Christmas.

the christmas lights battle banner 2

Book Review: The Christmas Lights Battle, by Skylar M. Cates

I picked up a copy of The Christmas Light Battle, by Skylar M. Cates from Amazon on one of its freebie day. I read it as part of my Christmas Reading Challenge.
the christmas lights battle

For a single dad and his neighbor, the Christmas competition is on!

Julian Moss wants to give his children a happy Christmas. Since his divorce, Julian has no time for a social life; he’s been doing the tiring work of two parents while his cheating ex-husband dodges his responsibilities. If that isn’t stressful enough, he has to deal with his new—and ridiculously good-looking—neighbor and his noisy dogs. Christmas used to be Julian’s favorite holiday, but lately all he sees is the cost. Then Julian’s young son tells him about a Christmas lights competition with a much-needed prize.

Leo Adams is going to be alone for Christmas…again. All he’s ever wanted is to be accepted by his family, but he knows that will never happen. Deciding to focus on his career as a personal trainer, Leo develops a boot camp program on the beach, but he needs publicity. The lights competition offers Leo a way to get some free press, and if it annoys his snooty neighbor Julian—all the better.

The battle is on, and both Julian and Leo want to win. The stakes are high, the reward is great, and the neighbors are in it to win it. There’s nothing like a little competition to make Christmas at Shelby Beach extra merry and bright.

my review

On one hand, I thought this was super sweet. I liked both Leo and Julian. I liked that they healed one another and there was very little drama and/or angst between them. I appreciated the children and the presence of a supportive family and community. On the other hand, I thought there was some repetition and over-stressing of some elements. I think we’re told about a million times that Julian is a single parent and his children are the most important thing in his life, for example.

Additionally, I think I have to give one of my least favorite literary criticism here. I hate the dictate to show, not tell. Not because it’s wrong, but because it’s become so ubiquitous that it’s tossed out like confetti. But here I felt it’s truth. It seems like a lot of this book is told, instead of shown—especially in the beginning—and it created a distance between me (the reader) and the characters that didn’t need to be there.

Lastly, the ending felt a little rushed. Generally, however, I thought this a perfectly enjoyable Christmas romance.

the christmas light battle photo


Other Reviews:

Dogeared Day Dreams: Review Christmas Lights Battle

Recent Release Review: The Christmas Lights Battle by Skylar M. Cates


Come back this afternoon. I’ll be reviewing Dreaming Of a White Wolf Christmas, by Terry Spear and tomorrow, when I’ll be reviewing Solstice Surrender, by Tracy Cooper-Posey and Charley’s Christmas Wolf, by C.D. Gorri. Yep, I’ve started having to double up to fit all the reviews in by Chrismtas.