Gwen’s review of The Magical Christmas Cat by Lora Leigh, Erin McCarthy, Nalini Singh, and Linda Winstead Jones
Contemporary paranormal romance anthology release by Berkley Sensation 7 Oct 08

This collection of stories are all centered on the holiday period and all have a few things in common – love, passion, and cats. They’re all quite nice stories, a couple are downright great. Read on to see how they fared…

Stroke of Enticement by Nalini Singh (87 pages)

This is a very good Psy-Changeling story that centers around the heroine, a school teacher named Annie Kildaire, and the hero, a DarkRiver soldier named Zach Quinn. It’s very much their love story and has none of the typical Psy-Changling “suspense” elements that we normally see from Singh. Just a pure love story and I loved it. The cat in this story is the hero.

Because we’re centered on the relationship, we get a couple of very well developed characters in the H/H. Especially the heroine and while the hero is still very yummy, perhaps more time could have been spent on him, but it wouldn’t have been a short-story if that had happened. And, can I say, OH MY about this hero. I wanted to lick him all over.

The conflict in this story came from family – particularly the heroine’s. Annie had been injured horrifically when she was a kid and still suffers some side effects from it – both physical and emotional. This causes some interesting scenes between Annie, her family, and the DarkRiver soldier she brings to dinner. It’s very “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and is very fun to read.

This was just a terrific Psy-Changeling story and worth the price of the book all on its own.

Grade: A

Summary:

My [Singh’s] contribution to this anthology features Zach, a DarkRiver soldier you’ll love, and Annie, a human woman who finds herself tangling with this irresistible cat.

Read an excerpt.

Christmas Bree by Erin McCarthy (76 pages)

This was an enjoyable story, if a bit forgettable. I felt a little like I was reading a really racy Cosmo story. Lighter, more chick-lit-type stories aren’t my thing, though. So keep that in mind as you read this review.

The heroine, Bree, has dreams about the hero, Ian, and doesn’t realize it until she meets him on her doorstep. Bree’s cat, Akasha, keeps showing up in the hero’s car, under their feet, in the hallway, and always with a bit of mistletoe in her mouth. There’s so much build-up as a result of the year of dreams the hero and heroine have of each other they fall to boinking on the floor almost as soon as they meet each other. Twice.

The heroine is a pretty stereotypical almost-goth chick who calls herself a “witch” and the hero is a pretty stereotypical poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks who makes good as a big-city lawyer. Not a lot stood out for me in the story, but, remember, these kinds of stories aren’t my thing. I liked it and promptly forgot it.

Grade: C

Summary (mine – not the book’s):

Self-professed witch, Bree Murphy, is unconventional and likes it that way. She taught her little sister to read tarot and she reads palms and futures for a living – all in the rambling old Victorian house she inherited from her grandmother. Ian Carrington is a big city lawyer to the millionaires. He brokers deals for the high society when they don’t want to get their hands dirty. One of his clients wants Bree’s house and wants it bad. Problem is, Ian wants Bree too. How is he going to balance his client’s wants with his own? Will they end up happy or will hearts be broken?

No excerpt available when the review was written.

Sweet Dreams by Linda Winstead Jones (76 pages)

This was the darkest of the four stories. The cat in this case is actually the villain – a demon trapped in the statuette of a cat. The heroine, Ruby, is a local baker who doesn’t realize that her soul will bring about the release of the demon, who will then lay waste to mankind. Her neighbor, Zane, a local professor who also happens to be a member of a group of warriors dedicated to the extermination of this demon (of course), discovers that Ruby is the next/last victim and goes about trying to keep it all from happening.

I didn’t like the hero much until about mid-way thru the story. The action elements were good and the villains were interesting. It was a fun paranormal story, but the romance felt a bit forced. Interesting, but, in the end, forgettable.

Grade: C+

Summary (mine – not the book’s):

Ruby Kincaid, the town’s best baker, doesn’t realize she’s about to be the culmination of a spell that has been brewing for centuries. But her hunky neighbor, Zane Benedict, does. A parapsychology professor at the local univerisity, Zane knows about Ruby’s destiny and is determined to do everything in his power to stop the spell and keep an unspeakable evil from being unleashed on the earth – including killing Ruby if he has to… But he doesn’t want to…

No excerpt available.

Christmas Heat by Lora Leigh (117 pages)

This was a lovely Breeds story and I think it’s obvious who the cat is in this entry. Noble, our hero, is a Jaguar Breed and has been in love with Haley, one of the librarians at the Sanctuary Library, for a while. He doesn’t realize it, but Haley is in love with him, as well. The story follows the predictable “heat” path – irresistible lust and some seriously hot, and I mean HAWT, sensuality with really steamy, raw sex, eventually ending in a life commitment and love. The path there is littered with dead bodies, an explosion or two, family holidays, and some major bad guys.

There’s good action and tension throughout the whole story. There was one scene that I didn’t like where one of the villains catch the H/H mid-boink. I could have done without that mental image and it’s the only thing that keeps the grade from an A. Nevertheless, there’s good character development even if the villain(s) felt like a bit of an afterthought. I loved when the heroine’s family shows up and bowls the hero over – he had never experienced anything like her, her family, or their celebration of the season. It was charming.

This was a very good Christmas love story… Breeds style.

Grade: B+

Summary (mine – not the book’s):

Noble Chavin, Jaguar Breed, and Sanctuary librarian Haley McQuire find love and heat under the Christmas tree.

Read an excerpt.

This was a charming and very readable collection of four Christmas stories all themed around cats. I highly recommend it to any fans of the four authors, or someone looking for some quick paranormal hits to while away an afternoon.

Overall Grade: B

Book Summary:

Put a little meow in their stockings this year with these all-new tales of Christmas and felines-from beloved bestselling authors!

New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh and top-selling authors Nalini Singh, Erin McCarthy, and Linda Winstead Jones have a special gift for readers this year: never-before published holiday stories featuring passionate romance, paranormal adventure, and a distinctly alluring feline touch. With four new stories-including one featuring Lora Leigh’s genetically altered Feline Breeds-this is a collection packed with more surprises than Christmas morning, and more chills than the snowiest winter night…