Review: Winter Wishes anthology

Winter Wishes
Vivian Arend, Vivi Andrews and Moira Rogers
Published: Nov. 6, 2010 (Carina Press)
Purchase at: Carina Press or Amazon for Kindle

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Carina Press pulled together holiday-themed novellas from three great paranormal romance authors – Vivian Arend, Vivi Andrews and Moira Rogers. With Christmas parties, angels and demons and lots of snow, Winter Wishes will surely heat up a winter afternoon. Plus, those who enjoy shifters will particularly enjoy this anthology as two of the three stories feature weres (panthers and wolves).

Tangled Tinsel by Vivian Arend
(Get Tangled Tinsel solo from Amazon)

Kyle is happy to revel in the sexual nature of being a werepanther. El has long suppressed her similar nature. When she takes him into protective custody, he does what he can to open her eyes to her shifter nature. Taking him home to spend the holidays with her family does more to open his eyes to what real connections could be.

Tangled Tinsel is a steamy read with both shifters learning their stances on relationships and their natures need a change. Vivian Arend adds in a light crime subplot, but the core of this novella is character development. Readers will like seeing El and Kyle come together.

No Angel by Vivi Andrews
(Get No Angel solo from Amazon)

I loved this story. Hands-down the best of the three. No Angel was my first glimpse at Vivi Andrews’ writing, and I’ll definitely be seeking out more of her novels and novellas after this one.

No Angel was romantic and sweet focusing on the redemptive power of love. When a half-demon is called back into hell by his mother — Lucifer’s wife — he fears he has lost his only chance at love. He hadn’t intended to fall in love with a mortal, he tried hard to be good for her, but he never told her about his demonic side.

When he’s pulled away before his lover’s eyes, she is given the chance to descend to hell and save him. Can she redeem this demonspawn and will she want to once she knows what he’s been hiding?

Freeze Line by Moira Rogers
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Moira Rogers has a knack for putting together characters who both challenge and bring out the best in one another. That’s the case in Freeze Line. Shane does his best to avoid his werewolf attributes. He lives far above the freeze line, where the earth is frozen and magic is weak. It can’t pull on his beast. He puts on a human front around the others in the nearby village, but for the most part lives a solitary life.

Then he finds Nadia on the side of the road. She’s not equipped for the frigid weather. He quickly learns she was kidnapped by humans wanting to torture and test on her because of her ability to use magic. The knowledge alone spurs his instinct to protect her. But the lack of magic in the earth is killing her. He agrees to take the woman south, to save her. The closer they get to the magic, the stronger she gets and the more wild he becomes.

He may be worried about his beast hurting her. His past tells him he can’t be trusted around others when his wolf takes over. Nadia is stronger than he knows, and the two can’t help but bond.

Freeze Line is a fun, quick romance read with the best paranormal elements of the three in the Winter Wishes anthology. Moira Rogers is able to focus on the ‘otherness’ is a complete way, even in the shorter form of novellas.