Book Review: Christmas Promises Anthology

This is a delightful collection with a child in each story.
Christmas Promises: The Christmas Eve Bride\A Marriage Proposal for Christmas\A Bride for Christmas
by Lynne Graham, Carole Mortimer, Marion Lennox

• File Size: 544 KB
• Print Length: 316 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0373837674
• Publisher: Harlequin Special Releases; Original edition (October 1, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 

Genre: Holiday Romance
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description (See blurbs below in review.)
Publication Date: October 1, 2012
The Christmas Eve Bride by Lynne Graham
A Marriage Proposal for Christmas by Carole Mortimer
A Bride for Christmas by Marion Lennox

Review:
Each of these lovely stories includes a single mother with a sweet child and a rich bachelor who decides he wants 'the whole family' for Christmas.

The Christmas Eve Bride by Lynne Graham

Rocco thought he was done with Amber after her betrayal two years earlier. But when he unexpectedly runs into her, the attraction is still strong—so he asks her to become his mistress! Amber only accepts so her baby boy can have a better Christmas. But Rocco's plan for revenge changes as he begins picturing a future with Amber…and their son. 

Amber is working as a gardener on an estate so she can that she can  live in a gatehouse with her young son.  This allows her to be outside of her sister’s home. although she still receives help and shares child care duties with her sister and brother-in-law who live nearby.

One day Amber is confronted in the garden by her old lover, Rocco. Amber was a young innocent working girl when they met.  She was swept off her feet by his gifts and jet-setting lifestyle. But Rocco felt betrayed and dumped her when he believed that she disclosed details of their affair to a news reporter. 

Rocco doesn’t understand why Amber is working as a servant but, even as he suspects her of some treachery, he is drawn to her and wants her again. He finally convinces her to come to him but when she arrives he is surprised to discover she has a son. Can Rocco accept the child or will he put them both out?

The writing in this flows well and the attraction is strong and sensual. It was difficult to feel Amber’s struggle with low esteem. I enjoyed both characters and the plot as it developed. Individual rating 4.5.

A Marriage Proposal for Christmas by Carole Mortimer

Cally Turner thinks Noel Carlton is an egotistical playboy! The only reason she's agreed to work for him is so she can give her daughter a Christmas to remember. But as she spends more time with Noel, she begins to wonder what's more irritating—his infuriating arrogance or unexpected tenderness?

Cally, an excitable, red-head, has been doing fine as an abandoned, single mom living in an estate carriage house with her 7 year old daughter. Cally and her sister are working together to build their event planning business and are particularly busy at the holidays.

Things are quiet until wealthy Noel Carlton moves into the estate house and a helicopter wakes Cally at 6:30 one morning. Cally reads him the riot act and heads off to work. A short time later Noel shows up at her business seeking assistance to prepare his home for a family Christmas visit. In spite of Cally’s animosity Noel is willing to engage the firm for the services he needs. Cally reluctantly takes on the duties and is doing a wonderful job of decorating the main home. She is soaking off the day’s dirt in his decadent tub when she is discovered by Noel’s brother and mother. They mistake her for Noel’s fiancé and now she has to get Noel to get her out of the mess before everyone gets hurt. But Noel has other ideas!

I enjoyed Cally’s smart and sassy, if impulsive, character. Noel is actually not a playboy but a man ready to settle down with a family. I particularly liked Noel’s warm personality and his friendly family. I feel the writing could use some tightening and tweaking but there is fire and fun in this enjoyable story. Individual rating: 4.25.

A Bride for Christmas by Marion Lennox

Wealthy businessman—and contented bachelor—Guy Carver is in Australia to take ownership of Jenny Westmere's wedding salon. It's strictly business. So no one is more surprised than Guy himself when he realizes that the deal he really wants to ink is making Jenny and her little boy his family by Christmas!

This story has good humor. Guy Carver is a man who has walled off his emotions and built an empire of exclusive, high-end wedding salons. He doesn’t understand why his partner has arranged to purchase a salon called Bridal Fluff even if it is in a rising resort community. Guy is intent on stripping away the fluff and removing the complication of the business director who is to remain to make the transition smooth.

Jenny and her mother-in-law have operated the business in a fashion that promotes friendly relationship with their community. They often give discounts to the locals who don’t have enough money for costly services. Guy doesn’t approve and isn’t about to have a local ‘hick’ wedding called a “Carver wedding”.  But Jenny has scheduled a big celebrity wedding to take place at Christmas. The only way Guy will manage to pull off the big event is to agree to the friend’s wedding so Jenny will help arrange the celebrity wedding.

I totally enjoyed the way the two functions had to be planned and how it worked out. Meanwhile it was beautiful how Guy came to recognize the family that Jenny had and that he wanted to be part of. This story points out that money is not the measure of success of a life. Individual rating: 4.5.

I received this title from Harlequin through Netgalley.