Gena Showalter has built a new breed of zombie just for the White Rabbit Chronicles. I've never heard of anything like them before. Learning about them is the first half of the book though, so I can't tell you too much about them - but they are amazingly unique in a world that has been flooded with zombies of every shape and size. On the down side though - she spent the first half of the book describing what a zombie is. It went a little slow for my taste and I would have liked to see the first parts after Alice's family dies move a bit faster.

Once Alice got the basic figured out things began to pick up a little, but for an action style paranormal story, they still never really took off until the very end. As Alice learns to work with a new group of friends and tries to figure out just who she can really trust there is a lot going on. I loved the side characters though, especially Kat - she was the perfect relief to all the seriousness that goes on throughout the entire book. It would have been way to dark without her bubbly presence scattered here and there to bring about a ray of sunshine.

Overall it was a great story, but I did feel like I had to force my way through a few of the parts that tended to drag on too long for my taste. Others may love the very in depth development that this provides for the story though. And - it didn't disuade me from reading the second book. I just started it today so keep an eye out for it soon. Her take was so unique that I just had to know even more.

There were a lot of pros and cons to this one. I loved Ella, the crazy girl who hears voices, she was funny and engaging and had a bit of a smart alec hidden underneath. On the down side, I kept picturing her as a teenager because of her attitude and way of speaking - which really didn't fit with this type of romance. Don't get me wrong, she was an amazing and funny character, but something needed to put her more in the adult world for me.

Zane was not quite your typical dark and brooding vampire. He is completely flabbergasted by the fact that Ella is immune to his mesmerizing skills and when he finds her in danger, he's quick to swoop in and rescue her. He was almost more determined to help her than she was herself.

There is a secret bad guy on Ella's trail. I would have loved to see more about him and understand why the power was so important to him. He just kind of popped up out of nowhere. I'm hoping (hint hint if Eve is reading this) that there may be more to the story in the form of a sequel - perhaps Zane's female vampire friend needs to find some romance in her life as well?

Christmas Past is a sweet time travel romance. When Sydney finds herself stuck in 1810 after her time machine breaks, she must make a tough decision on what to do next. Unfortunately (or maybe on the bright side) Miles has found her secret. He takes her under his wing and talks her into waiting until after Christmas to make a final decision on her fate.

Of course the romance follows very quickly and it is a very sweet one. A very feel good style romance with one really good explosion (literally). I also liked how the author handled the issues of multiple time lines and changing the future. She had a lot figured out for such a short novella.

Try Me: I really liked Jeremy Addison - he was everything I imagine a Marine to be. Strong, a little rough, and super tough guy, but with a heart. When he sees a chance to reconnect with the girl he's loved since high school, he hopes that he might have a chance. But she has been scarred emotionally in the years since they last saw each other and she may not be willing to let another in. This was a very sweet story that set the stage for all the rest of the stories to follow and it was a great kick off.

Love Me: Love me moves on to Erica's brother, another emotionally damaged soul that needs a special touch to make whole again. When he returns to Vegas on business and meets Brianna they both have their jobs cut out for them. Brianna is unsure if she could love again, and Thomas is unsure if he will ever trust again. This wasn't a bad story and I loved the way Thomas related to the kids involved, but there was a little too much "I want you, I don't want you, I want you, etc".

Play Me: I loved how all these stories are related - with the previous characters sometimes making small appearances in the book before or after their story. It makes the world seem more real. Play me is the story of Brianna's sister and a lifetime friend. Unfortuanley, it continues the same trend of misunderstanding and rejecting of their feelings. This was probably my least favorite of the bunch.

Take Me: Take me is about a brother and friend of the characters we've grown to know in the previous three stories. Morgan was an absoluting amazing woman and I loved her to death. She thought she knew what she wanted, until she was offered the one thing she thought she never needed. Mike has the same point of view - the no relationship point of view - and they think they have it undeer control until they accidently get married. It was a great story.

Individually these were great - but I would not recommend reading them back to back. The underlying emotion of the storylines are a little too similar even though the storylines address the problems in very different ways.
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If you could only have one emotion what would it be? For Emmalina her last emotions are fear and anger - the rest have been taken from her by the dark witches. Dark witches who have a plan for her that will strip her of even these last two. So she runs - and she finds herself in a new world. A world of emotions and a world without magic. But the dark witches hunt her - she is more important to their plans than any of her new friends realize. As she struggles to find the remaining four emotions and free herself from the destiny planned for her, she finds friends and a new family. Her journey is a little scattered and jumpy, I was very confused at the beginning, there wasn't a lot of backstory in the beginning to understand what a dark witch, darkling or savage was. You kind of had to figure it out along the way. There is one bad scene that involves a rape that will turn some people off - it was an important step in the storyline, but it did make me very uncomfortable to read it. Overall a very intriguing story and journey that made me think of all the good emotions I take advantage of feeling every day.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the names of the characters. We have Ms. Klaus and the Santa CEO. It seemed a bit cheesey at first, but even the characters make light of it in the story, which made it awesome instead. I really liked Meredith and her adorable awkwardness. She was so far from perfect, being clumsy and introverted, that you can't help but love her. Andrew really is everything that you could ask for in a guy - he was too perfect. I kept trying to find the flaw that would make him more human, but I just couldn't find it. The story was cute and a perfect Christmas pick me up story. With a half million dollar financial crisis hovering the background the whole time, there is just enough conflict to keep it from getting too sappy. The ending was spot on perfect. I loved the way it tied up everything.

I'm not even sure where to get started with this book. It was so very amazing that I think I will go back and read it every holiday season - maybe closer to New Years next time. Tamara was beyond perfect for a character. It can be difficult to really delve deep into a personality with a novella, but within the first few pages Tamara was coming to life beautifully as she goes on a drunken rambling to her best friend's little brother. The "little" brother, Luke, is on a surprise trip home and stumbles upon Tamara using the spiked egg nog to keep warm in the family's cabin. Luke's personality was just as big and he was everything I could ever want in a hero.

The story is full of humor, as both characters are very intelligent and can use their words to make some very interesting conversation. The scrabble game was amazing - won't say more or I'll ruin it. You must go read this book the holiday season. I don't think I would change a single word. I need to make a bonfire image because five flames just isn't enough.

The Silk Romance is a rich and luxurious story about Sophie, the English student, and Jean-Luc Olivier (love that name) the famous French race car driver. After a disasterous first encounter years ago - neither one has really been able to forget about the other. When Jean-Luc "arranges" for Sophie to spend time working at his silk factory, he is hoping for answers as to what went wrong the last time they were together. On the other hand, Sophie is only hoping that her time there will end quickly so she can return home to her brother and her ill father.

Neither one of the expects things to go the way they do. Helena is excellent at slowly drawing the history and feelings out of the characters. You discover everything right along with them which really helps to bring the characters to life. This is no smooth ride either. They come from two different worlds, and trying to bring them together doesn't always work out as well as they hope. It was a fantastic and smoothly flowing story that was wonderful to read

I absolutely loved North Pole Reform School. Who would have thought the elves would kidnap people who ruined Christmas and try to reform them into lovers of Christmas? This year a group of 5 are taken, and they are quite the interesting bunch. Our star is Mistletoe Bell (such a great holiday name), and she is bound and determined to hang on to her hate of the Christmas season. It will be up to the elves to transform her and the four others completely.

The story is an interesting mix of Christmas spirit, youthful rebellion, and zombie apocalypse (yes I said zombie in a Christmas book). It was funny and quirky while being completely uplifting and sappy in a perfect sort of way. This is a great book to get you into the mood to have fun and really enjoy this holiday season.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

A cute collection of stories revolving around love and the holidays across the ages. I have a hard time picking a favorite - they were all wonderful and a great way to start easing into the holiday spirit. Some sweet romance to relax to before all the shopping hordes descend.

The collection takes us from Regency England to WWII, with a stop in the 1920's (which is a time period that is neglected in my opinion). Filled with women willing to take a risk to find their love and men willing to fight to keep what they want in their lives, each story was heartfelt with just a little big of scandal thrown in to keep everything really interesting.

Go read this if you're looking for some holiday cheer and love.
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