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 … 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!
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A great collection of short stories set in this huge paranormal zodiac world.This is the first book set in this world i have read but it made me want to binge read the entire series.
“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
Great authors in this read.
If you want to spend Christmas with some shifters, look no further than this novella collection. A perfect Christmas read!
I loved this set of quick reads !! And I want to thank each author for the gift of your work !! Each of these stories can be read as standalone . I like the way that they all tie into the Zodiac Shifters !! We have met some of them from other stories in this series and I am ever so thankful that we have such amazing authors will to write these shorts for us readers !! I really enjoyed all of the books and to be able to see what is going on with some ( like Out Foxed and the band !) Well written and strongly recommend to everyone !!
All but Rosalie Redd is a new to me author.
4 Stars: Under the Mistletoe by Amy Lee Burgess
This is a Dragon story. The dragon clans keep to themselves no mixing of clans allowed. Until..A Christmas party and some Mistletoe changes that. This was a cute short story.
4 Stars: Through The Blizzard – Dominique Eastwick
This is a cute Leopard shifter story. We get Oakley and Nova.
5 Stars: What a Scottish Shifter Wants by Jennifer Hilt
This one I really enjoyed it gives us a wolf shifter who meets a warrior woman who wants a child but not the man? Or does she? What happens when you lose your memory? Angus and Bree give us a really cute story.
5 Stars: Blizzard Bound by Rosalie Redd
This is such a romantic story and Danae and Armound are very loveable characters. I enjoyed this story.
5 Stars: All I Want For Christmas by Bethany Shaw
Cassidy Clark is raising her neices after a family tragedy and she has the hots for boss Santiago.
Can Cassidy accept the truth though about her boss when all comes out? Cute, Suspensful story.
5 Stars: A Very Foxy Christmas by Melissa Stark
Silver and Hannah give us one very hot story. Enjoy the banter between this couple, it’s a funny and sexy story.