****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I bought this book because I love Laura Florand's books. Her story is the second one in the anthology. The first story is by Mary Carter. As far as I can tell, Mary Carter is a very new author. I liked the story she wrote. It's a bit fanciful, but then again, this is a Christmas romance anthology. The story is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10 for heat. I'm curious if Mary Carter's other stories follow a similar trend. So, having finished that chaste but sweet story, I started on Laura Florand's entry.If Mary Carter's story about a carousel was a 1 on the heat scale, Laura Florand's was a 10. It was surprising to me that the publisher/editor/someone? thought putting these stories back-to-back was a good idea. I didn't have a problem with it, but I could see some readers being surprised. It won't be surprising to anyone that reads my review history that I loved what Laura Florand wrote. I encourage any new readers that haven't read her work before to give this one a try. It is the first in a new series. She is known for her Chocolate series. The characters in this story know some of the characters from the Chocolate series, but this is paving the way for the Rose series. I liked it a lot. I loved the return to Provence, albeit in winter. Laura Florand also sets up what appears to be a plot arc (is that what it's called?) for the series with the meddling older relatives. I can't wait to see what's next!As for the Linda Lael Miller and Kat Martin installments, I did not realize they were reprints. The Linda Lael Miller was ok, but it was familiar. I've probably read it before. The Kat Martin story was familiar too, so again, probably read it before. I cared for it the least...and I've been a Kat Martin fan for a long time. It was probably that her story was historical (post US Civil War time period) and didn't fit with the three contemporary stories. I read historical and contemporary romances equally as much, but I don't think they belong in an anthology together.Having said all this, I will parrot the other reviewers. Buy this for Florand (and Carter). Now pardon me while I go look up Mary Carter's other amazon offerings since I already have all of Florand's.
