#BookReview – “Christmas Kisses: Zodiac Shifters” box set

Blurb

A shifter’s mate is in the stars … but sometimes that rugged alpha hero or sassy heroine is waiting under the mistletoe for his or her one true love.

Christmas Kisses is a boxed set of ALL NEW short stories set in Zodiac Shifters, a collection of books with an astrological spin on love. From Aries to Virgo … discover all-new tales of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Our world features New York Times, USA Today, and other bestselling authors.

Warning: Christmas Kisses is all about the sexy Zodiac Shifters who made Santa's Naughty List this holiday season.
And it's our gift to you... because we're soooo nice!  

Review

“Under the Mistletoe” by Amy Lee Burgess

Emily and Orlando used to be best friends as children, but since they come from rival dragon clans, they’ve come to hate one another. At the annual Christmas party with all the dragon clans on Zodiac Mountain in attendance, Emily and Orlando find themselves trapped together in a witch’s magic box and finally talk about their problems.

The H/h argued and insulted each other a lot. I haven’t read any other stories in this series, but I got a fairly good idea of what the world is like, and I find it intriguing. I liked and appreciated the overall message of the story—do not hate or show prejudice to someone—but the arguing was a bit much.

3 Stars

“Through the Blizzard” by Dominique Eastwick

Framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Oakley was banished from his snow leopard leap, and his beloved mate, Nova, shunned him. Five years later, he’s angry and shocked to find Nova on his doorstep. Though he wanted to turn her away, he couldn’t do so with a blizzard on its way. As they talk and get to know one another again, they both soon realized their love never died.

I liked both characters, especially gruff Oakley. Though Nova was young and immature at the time she had shunned him, she owned up to her mistakes and turned out to be respectable.

The plot is good, but punctuation typos were distracting. As a new reader to the series, I was a little lost with the world building and how all the shifter clans worked within Zodiac signs, but I followed along well enough to enjoy the story.

3 Stars

“What a Scottish Shifter Wants” by Jennifer Hilt

Angus is a wolf shifter, banished from his pack because he refused to pick a mate. Throughout his travels, he meets Bree, an Amazon warrior, and has hard, wonderful, no-strings-attached sex with her. After he leaves her, he meets a witch and loses years of his life to a curse.

Angus is a stubborn, foolhardy man, and Bree is levelheaded and patient. I liked both characters, but I connected better with Angus since the story is told only in his POV.

3 Stars

“Blizzard Bound” by Rosalie Redd

In this Warriors of Lemuria series short story, the winter solstice is only a day away, and panther shifter Aramand needs to find the perfect gift for his new mate. Danae only wants Aramand to remain safe, but their life isn’t an easy one. As part of the Panthera race, they and their Stiyaha allies are at war with the Gossum, and each night could be their last.

Aramand and Danae’s love story begins in the Marked by Love novella, but I haven’t read their main story and very little of it was mentioned in this one. As such, I didn’t feel like I got to know the characters well. I still like this story, however, and I’ve read other books in this series, which I’ve enjoyed and can definitely recommend.

3.5 Stars

“All I Want for Christmas” by Bethany Shaw

Cassidy is struggling to raise her two young nieces and is often late to work. Luckily for her, her gorgeous boss is very lenient and understanding. Santiago is a phoenix shape-shifter working undercover as a human private investigator while in search of maniacal lycanthrope plaguing the city. After Cassidy is targeted, Santiago will do everything he can to protect the woman he’s fallen for.

Cassidy and Santiago fit well together. There are lots of side characters from previous books in this series, which I haven’t read, and I’d liked to know more about them. This is my second favorite story in the set, but the typos were surprising. If not for that, I could’ve rated this story higher.

3.5 Stars

“A Very Foxy Christmas” by Melissa Snark

Silver is a coyote shifter getting ready to head to Las Vegas with his rock band for a performance when he overhears his fox shifter wife Hannah and their family/friends talking about him. Now he’s on edge since he thinks Hannah doesn’t believe he would be a good father. Hannah owns a security company and is doing a job in which she needs her husband’s help. They’re both highly skilled thieves, so they plan to rob her client as part of the job. Only things don’t go according to plan, and their baby argument could cost them their lives.

Silver and Hannah are well-rounded, three dimensional characters. I would love to read their main book, Out Foxed, but this short story gave enough info for me to understood and connect with the H/h. I enjoyed the world building and all the different sorts of shifters, but the climax could’ve used more detail. (I just had a hard time picturing the air duct systems and the H/h being stuck between the fan blades.) Anyway, this story is the longest one in the anthology. It’s also my favorite.

4 Stars

Book Overall – 3 Stars