JoAB

*4 stars*

I enjoyed reading the 6 short stories in A Timeless Romance Anthology: Under the Mistletoe. Even though they were all based on a Christmas theme, no two were alike. I liked the variety in these romances with a returning war vet, older widows and crushes who hadn't seen each other in years. They were all very well written with great characters.

Forgotten Kisses was about Madison who lived with her sister, Jenny, and Jenny's baby who she helped look after. This was a nice, easy read without a lot of drama. It showed that people can be kind to others all year round, not just at Christmas.

The Last Christmas had an unusual setting with Meredith and Eric planning on getting divorced after Christmas. Their problem was that their daughters don't know about it but are coming home for Christmas. The couple have been married for 27 years and want one last Christmas as a family before telling the girls. This was a lovely story that brought me to tears at the end.

Truth or Dare introduced us to Jonah who had just returned from war in Afghanistan where he lost a foot. His neighbour, Cami, had lost her dog and found her visiting Jonah's dog. This pair built a friendship where, for the first time, Jonah found someone who didn't pity him and he could trust. I truly enjoyed this heart-warming story.

Holiday Bucket List was a comical romance about Celeste and Mike who had been neighbours for a very long time. Both were single parents and had no plans for Christmas now that their children were grown and had other plans. They decided to make holiday Bucket Lists of things they wanted to do when they were younger but didn't because the had children. They were going to do the things on their lists now. Some were pretty funny because what they wanted to do at 20 was not what they wanted to do at 45.

This tale had an amazing amount of detail for such a short story. I easily identified with Celeste and liked both characters.

Christmas Every Day brings us Monica who is the manager of a store called Christmas Around the World. She plans on buying the store from the owners who want to retire. Just before that can happen, the owners' son returns after staying away for many years. His plan is to take over running the store. How are they going to resolve this problem?

First (and Last) Christmas Date is a cute story about Juliet and Tag who loved each other as teenagers but hadn't seen each other for 10 years. While I enjoyed reading all the stories in Under the Mistletoe, this one was my favourite. I loved the story line as well as the couple. The writing was such that I got caught up in the story and felt part of it.

I'm so glad I got a copy of Under the Mistletoe from Inspired Kathy in exchange for an honest review. I liked the novella length of these Christmas romances so I could enjoy a feel good romance in an evening.