Tag Archives: Worst Holiday Ever

Ringing in the Reefer by Marie Booth

Book Review, , , , , ,
Overview

Title: Ringing in the Reefer
Author: Marie Booth
Series: Steamy Bites #1.5
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Paranormal romance, Vampires
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

I laughed so much throughout this story. It was hilarious and pithy and sassy. Everything I like in a short story that is designed to just sweep you away for a little while. I should have gotten from the title that I would find this humorous, but as the story unfolded I just found everything more and more entertaining.

Bringing families together can always be a fairly intimidating thing to do. It’s almost always slightly chaotic, but the pure, unadulterated chaos in this story was of a whole other kind. The fact that it was going to be chaotic due to the secrets that Rafe was hiding anyway, started it off on a good note. But then the fact that his family basically got Mai’s tightly buttoned crew high… such a ridiculous story. Honestly, everything about this was funnily ridiculous.

I loved this short story. It was a fun and chaotic Christmas family time. Mixing in the paranormal, secrets and drugs… a recipe for pure enjoyment and chaos.

<- Touched by FateThe Thanksgiving Parade from Hell ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

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Crazy Old Money by Kilby Blades

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview

Title: Crazy Old Money
Author: Kilby Blades
Series: Gilded Love #6
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

Jada and Marsh are an absolutely gorgeous couple. One that I look forward to reading more about in their full-length novel, Loaded. They have such a wonderfully comfortable way of being together. The glances and non-verbal communication that great indication of a healthy, understanding relationship. It’s made me want to dive right back into the Gilded Love series and get to this story…

I love that although Jada and Marsh have a clearly happy and healthy relationship, there are still a lot of secrets between them. Throughout this short story, there is a slow unveiling of these secrets. Mostly on the behalf of Marsh, and the way that they deal with this conflict works well. Particularly how Jada puts up with all of the nonsense that is thrown her way during the course of meeting Marsh’s family.

All family is kind of batty and insane, but Marsh’s definitely takes the cake. Every moment in this story unveils a moment of just pure insanity. I spent most of the time reading this shaking my head in bemused horror. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to walk unprepared into such a ridiculous situation.

Ultimately, I loved this whole story, particularly the ending. Especially the way in which there was poetic justice and a whole lot of happy comeuppance to the painful characters throughout this story. It had that nice feeling of poetic justice at the end and a happily ever after journey into the sunset.

<- A Perfect FitStealing Christmas ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

Touched by Fate by Preslaysa Williams

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: Touched by Fate
Author: Preslaysa Williams
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

This was not the story that I was expecting at all. For starters, I thought there would be a whole lot romance in this story than there was. And I kind of loved the fact that there wasn’t. I mean, romance and particularly holiday romances are wonderful, but holiday stories about discovering yourself in spite of romance… that’s even better.

There are a thousand red flags in this story that make you ridiculously happy when Analyn doesn’t get married. Ones that kind of had me clenching the sides of my seat in the hopes that she would take damn notice of them. And then, instead of ending with a date (which I was expecting), it is all about her freedom. I don’t know if there is any better way to end a story – love is all well and good, but self-respect and freedom? Gorgeous.

Even though this was a short story about Analyn, it was the grandmothers that I fell in love with. They were a damn hoot. And had me laughing out loud. I couldn’t believe how much humour Williams was able to install in them in such a short amount of time. Yet another author to add to my shelves if she could have me laughing this much in such a short amount of time…

<- Stealing ChristmasRinging in the Reefer ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

The Thanksgiving Parade from Hell by R.L. Merrill

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: The Thanksgiving Parade from Hell
Author: R.L. Merrill
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance, LGBTQI
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

Dalton and Orrie are a ridiculously cute couple. They are completely adorable and so damn sweet together. My heart definitely beat faster in the hope for their future. And because this was a wonderfully sweet and gorgeous story, they get it. Not without a lot of issues along the way though.

My husband and I decided a long time ago that Christmas would be about one event… no running around like headless chickens all day long. And that is just between two families. I can’t imagine jumping between four! That to start with just sounded and felt ridiculously difficult and complex. And, as it unfolded, it was even worse than I had anticipated.

This was a fun, chaotic story evolving into a beautiful ending. With the one family portion that the couple actually got along well with. I love that in the one day they not only run the gambit of their four families, but they also had to deal with their own insecurities. A brilliant holiday story.

<- Ringing in the ReeferThankful in Perdition ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

Thankful in Perdition by Erin St. Charles

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: Thankful in Perdition
Author: Erin St. Charles
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

AJ and Jasmine are an incredibly sweet couple, the kind that is easy and enjoyable to read about in a short story, but maybe doesn’t have enough drama going on for a long tale. It’s a nice way to imagine a settled and happy couple getting through the insanity of the festive season (because there is ALWAYS insanity). St. Charles did a great job of telling you the background to this couple, without getting too bogged down in the details. Certainly an enjoyable holiday short story.

Although this is a simple and easy story, and you can tell from the first instant that the couple is very much in love, the moment that Jasmine realises she loves AJ is probably my favourite. That moment of somewhat everyday life when you just look at someone and know is fantastic. But, the humorousness of this moment was even better. Particularly since this entertaining, but still very sweet moment involves a frozen turkey and an axe…

This short story was one calamity after the other. It was seriously funny reading one chaotic moment after the other and waiting for the next thing to go seriously wrong. Had me giggling out loud quite a bit, and wanting to add a bit more of this fun flavour to my shelves.

<- The Thanksgiving Parade from HellFeliz Chanukah! ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

Feliz Chanukah! by Meg Bellamy

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: Feliz Chanukah!
Author: Meg Bellamy
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Year: 2018

Thoughts

Ana Maria’s family is fun, fantastic and truly quirky. I love the idea of a big family and all of the shenanigans that follows. The fact that there’s a petulant cousin, drunk uncle, petty aunt… it is just wonderfully brilliant. And gives a wonderful feeling of family, with all of the silly nonsense that that can entail. Although I loved this storyline and the insanity of family, Ana Maria’s cousin is more than just petulant… she’s severely unhinged. As in painfully so. The way that others stand up to her though was kind of fun.

This is truly a festivus story. A story about the ways that family gatherings can be intense. Without actually focusing on the religious and political connotations of this time of year. I kind of like the idea of having a celebration in the festive season that pulls in all of the different faiths and practices. Even if I know nothing beyond my Australian version of Christmas…

This wasn’t one of those stories that was high octane or driven in any way – rather it was an enjoyable story about bringing a guy home to meet your family. Knowing that there will be chaos and riding the waves of it anyway.

<- Thankful in PerditionWorst Holiday Ever ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction

Worst Holiday Ever by Miscellaneous

Book Review, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Overview

Title: Worst Holiday Ever: A Family Drama Romance Anthology
Author: Eva Moore, Adrienne Bell, Kilby Blades, Kari Lemor, Preslaysa Williams, Marie Booth, R.L. Merrill, Erin St. Charles & Meg Bellamy
In: Worst Holiday Ever (Miscellaneous)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Christmas, Contemporary, Contemporary romance, Short story collections
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Year: 2018

Thoughts

This was one of the best holiday collections that I’ve read in a while. It included a whole lot of humour and romance, shenanigans, and high jinks. What I loved most about it though is that it really helped to capture the whole holiday feeling. The way that the holiday season is always chaotic and goes a little bit awry. But there’s always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

I only knew one author in this collection when I added it to my ereader – Kilby Blades. Now I have an absolutely stacked TBR in my ereader from all of the fantastic new authors I got to discover throughout this collection. I always love a good collection of stories that starts with an author that I know and love, and then just… expands my horizons. I don’t think I’ll ever get through all of the lovely books on my shelves. But there is so much wonderous potential…

Every story in this collection is chaotic and kind of humorous, poking fun at the challenges of the holiday season. But they all have very different themes. Everyone does highlight that the worst of the holiday season comes from the chaos of family. For some the love also comes from there, for others, it comes from elsewhere… the range within this collection is brilliant and made me love it just that much more.

This was a fantastic collection of short stories set around the chaos of family in the holiday season. Definitely a collection I’ll read again and again at that time of year. If only to remind myself that maybe my own family isn’t so bad after all…

<- Feliz Chanukah!Decked Out ->

Image source: Fantastic Fiction