Unwrapped

August 8, 2011
This anthology of Christmas-themed romances from three noted authors of the genre offers an abundance of sexual tension, but little plot. As devised by McCarthy (Mouth to Mouth), Kauffman (Off Kilter), and Angell (Sliding Home), each set of couples meets under unusual circumstances, consummates their attraction with great haste, and grapples with their commitment issues. In McCarthy's "Blue Christmas"âthe strongest of the three selectionsâBlue Farrow gets into a car accident with a handsome stranger, Christian, with whom she spends a steamy night in a motel while waiting out a blizzard. In Kauffman's "Santa in a Kilt," set on Kinloch, a Scottish island known for the wedded bliss of its residents, divorce attorney Shay Callaghan falls for the island's only divorcée, Kira MacLeod. In Angell's "Snow Angel," wealthy retail heir Aidan Dutton meets Allie Smith, a commitment-averse ski instructor, with whom he shares a night of passion. Though Allie disappears the morning after, the couple reunites three years later by virtue of a freak blizzard. In all three stories, sex trumps character development and setting, and the Christmas theme turns out to be little more than an afterthought.

October 15, 2011

Chilling winter weather sweeps from downtown Chicago and a snowy Kentucky highway to a wild Scottish isle, wreaking havoc--and romance--for the characters in this sexy Christmas trilogy. A slippery road lands a hairstylist in the arms of a toy designer when they are trapped by a blizzard and end up sharing a motel room in McCarthy's sultry "Blue Christmas"; a basket weaver and a wary bachelor solicitor finally come to terms with their feelings for each other in Donna Kauffman's "Santa in a Kilt"; and a couple who once shared a night of ski resort passion meet again in a Chicago department store and end up snowbound when a blizzard shuts the city down in Kate Angell's creative "Snow Angel." VERDICT Gorgeous, sexy heroes are just waiting to be unwrapped in this crackling anthology that is guaranteed to steam up the windows this holiday season.

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