What better way to warm up then with these ten steamy Christmas stories?
Join your favorite characters – and some new ones – as they celebrate their first Christmas together.
DL Gallie – This Christmas Chelsea has a present for Kallen that he will never forget but a rivalry on the ice threatens to melt her surprise.
D.M. Davis – Join the Black Ops MMA alphas and their women as they celebrate Christmas on the slopes, vying for alone time while juggling kids and holiday festivities.
Harlow Layne – Join Bodhi and Coco as they head to the mountains for a Christmas unlike any other.
Kate Randall – Abigail swears she’s going to be good this time and stay out of Jackson’s bed. But spending a week with the man determined to get her to break that promise may be enough to put her back on the naughty list.
Katie Rae – Cam has a football game on Christmas, so Kace and Ali create a sexy Christmas playbook to surprise him with.
K.B. Barrett –In Savage Valley, the Christmas season is a big thing! But with James being deployed, Melanie isn’t sure if she wants to celebrate the holidays this year. That is until she gets a special surprise delivered to her door.
Lisamarie Kade – There's a few surprises in store as Fallon plans to celebrate Christmas on a tropical island while Trent is away.
L.M. Reid – When their plans get ruined by a snowstorm, Hunter vows to give Quinn the Christmas of her dreams by any means necessary.
May Gordon – Penelope and Conrad are sharing their first Christmas as a married couple. Everything should be merry and jolly, right? Wrong. Murphy's law seems to have highjacked their holiday.
Vi Summers – Celebrate Christmas at the beach with the entire North Shore Crew as they deal with couple drama, unexpected appearances, and gifts from the adult store.
All stories can be read as a standalone but do follow characters in previous books.
L.M. Reid writes contemporary romance that is filled with emotion and a whole lot of steam. Her heroines are strong and feisty, and her heroes are sweet and sexy.
L.M. loved reading as a child and really fell in love with books while reading the Babysitter’s Club. The series spurred her love of writing leading her to create her own series as a kid – “Best Friend’s Forever.”
Growing up watching soap operas, L.M. has always had a flair for the dramatic and a love of all things romance.
She is just a Midwest girl with simple tastes and dirty thoughts.
She lives in the state where they swear there is more than corn, with her husband and son. She’s an iced coffee addict and loves Swedish Fish. While her heart belongs to romance, she loves curling up on the couch with a good, or bad, horror movie.
I only really knew a couple of these authors, but they all have good stories to make me look forward to the holidays. My favorite, though, is KB Barrett’s contribution. James and Melanie had me worried for a little bit, but they managed to salvage Christmas in a spectacular fashion. And while every tale intrigued me, theirs made me a little more excited to know what’s happening with her brother in the end. So if you have some time and want to escape to both sand and snow for a while, this anthology is perfect. From cold mountain getaways to sun-drenched beaches, there’s a little something for everyone to get in the holiday spirit!
I read A Mountain X-Mas by Harlow Layne. I enjoyed reading about the romantic getaway Coco and Bodhi went on. They never lack in chemistry and romance. This novella did not disappoint.
This review is for A Black Ops Christmas by DM Davis- review will be updated as more stories are read.
This is one of my all time favorite series and I absolutely loved getting to revisit my favorite characters. This is such an amazing group of characters- a true family by blood and by choice. It was great to see how they have grown and to see the next generation. Sweet and sexy holiday read.
A Merry Crew Christmas by Vi Summers This story, with all of the couples from the North Shore Crew series, might be short on length but is absolutely huge on quality and content. Each couple having their own chapters set just before Christmas and on Christmas Day. Their individual stories that said so much about each couple and expanding on where they are at now. There’s the familiar terrific sense of humour threaded throughout the story from the fun banter between the characters to hilarious throwaway one-liners to—mouthwash—to tinsel!🤣 Gage & Lila’s little story is ultra romantic and had me swooning with all of the effort Gage put into their special day. Trav & Ainsley’s section is steamy but included are some fun-loving moments, giving me quite a few chuckles. Nico & Brooklyn are having a tough patch while striving to get ahead, but they’re also looking forward to the Christmas break. Nico has a secret too. Mickey & Kimmie we’re red hot passionate horn dogs! 😁 Mace & Jess provides such an emotional scenario, one I absolutely love and applaud the author for writing as it is a full circle kind of element in their story. Having only noted just a tiny bit about each couple I’ll end by simply saying, even if you haven’t read the original series you’ll find this story entertaining and enjoyable.
A Pucking Good Christmas by DL Gallie This is Chelsea and Kallen’s first Christmas as a married couple and it brings with it some surprises. I love this couple, they have such great chemistry but are also real with each other and don’t put up with anything they don’t like. Mind you, they work so well together and joke around so much, it’s a solid relationship anyway. I really love the sense of humour in this story, I found myself chuckling quite a bit and even the cat looked at me weirdly. 😁 This story has a serious element too and it’s handled smoothly and extremely well, a lesson well learned. This feel-good story DID make me feel great—and I feel that’s the best compliment for a wonderfully written story that I could give.
I haven't had a chance to read the entire book yet but what I have read has been entertaining and festive. This is a perfect collection of holiday stories that will have you feel all the festive feel-goods.
This review is for A Mountain X-Mas by Harlow Layne. This was a sweet and enjoyable novella that allowed us readers to revisit a couple we love. This novella really showed the love that Coco and Bodhi have for each other. This was steamy and full of heartwarming moments. I definitely think others will enjoy this read, I know i did!
I I read VI Summers story A Merry Crew Christmas and it's the crew come fall in love with them all see what they get up to on Christmas eve and Christmas day.
Loved it gorgeous read 📚
A Pucking good xmas
It's the Xmas season and Chelsea and Kal are married.
There's joy and fun for the family and a little surprise coming for the 2 of them.
There is also that rivalry between Kal and Stefan.
Read A Mountain X-mas by Harlow Layne. Spicy First Christmas to warm you up!
This was a steamy little novella of Christmas with Bodhi and Coco from the Admirer.
If you're looking to heat up your nights with a little Christmas themed spicy romance this is a perfect one to grab.
It's quick and spicy read with a ton of heartfelt Christmas time fun. These two are one of my favorite couples of Harlow's. They have had a lot to deal with and now we get to see them celebrate their first Christmas together. So if you want a little heat and heart in your novella make sure you grab this one. It brings all the Christmas feels with some spicy moments that's guaranteed to heat up your nights.
I had the pleasure of reading this one early and it was a fun spicy Christmas themed story to get you ready for the holiday coming up. Make sure you grab this book it's full of amazing authors that give you all the Christmas feels.
Traveling the Snowy Road Home by K.B. Barrett is a short story from an anthology entitled Our First Christmas. This review is covering just Barrett’s story and I have not read any of the others from the anthology.
Traveling the Snow Road Home is a sweet short story that focuses on Melanie and James, a young couple who have been married for four years, but spent most of that apart as James is in the military. As Christmas approaches Melanie has not heard from James in months as he has been on a high priority mission and she finds herself in a downward spiral as she imagines the worst.
I loved a lot about this story. The characters feel real and are so well fleshed out. Even though we don’t start at the beginning of their story, their chemistry leapt off the page. The plot also lent itself well to the short story format, although part of me wished it had been more than just a story about Christmas and I had gotten to witness more of their relationship because of how much I enjoyed it.
Aside from a few missed typos I didn’t have a lot of complaints. The plot and writing are solid and the characters are both likable and real. I can’t speak for the rest of the anthology, but this story is worth reading and will help put you in the holiday spirit.
Swoon Fest on steroids on top of HEAs and beyond Our First Christmas (an anthology) by ten beloved romance authors is a must read for the holidays. Whether these couples are new or returning to old friends, each story is amazing and wonderful in many ways, namely heartwarming and humorous. As a die hard fan of D.M. Davis’s Black Ops MMA series, A Black Ops Christmas was my absolute favorite. These ultimate alphas are gaga over their women and the little ones that are on their way to out numbering the adults. It’s a special Christmas and I adored every word. Overall, with Christmas my favorite holiday of the year, all of these short stories were just spectacular reads and full of the hope and wonder of the season along with all the steam, love, entertainment, joy and humor you expect from your personal favorite. I read an ARC of this book via Grey’s Promotions and voluntarily share my review.
I read Lisamarie Kade's The Surprise Within in this anthology and OMG...I was so glad to be getting more Trent and Fallon. I love, love, loved them in The War Within and getting this glimpse at their life six(ish) months later was nice.
It is Christmas and Fallon has gone on vacation with Trent's parents thinking he is on duty in South Carolina. Much to her surprise he shows up. These two are still just as hot and heavy as they were when we last saw them. Little does Fallon know that Trent has a few surprises up his sleeve when it comes to the love of his life.
If you haven't met this couple yet go check out Lisamarie's The War Within for their story and then enjoy their first Christmas together in The Surprise Within.
I read traveling the snowy road home- it’s a very sweet emotional at first short read…I’m not usually into to many books that got back and forth from past to present but i loved it 🥰 thank you to the author for the opportunity to ARC this short read
A fantastic Anthology of Christmas novellas by amazingly talented authors. All standalone and i loved every one of them, but I have to go back and read some of their stories because some r new to me, im really intrigued about how their stories started and feel that I'd enjoy them even more knowing the whole journey.
My favourite has got to be Travelling the snowy road home by KB Barrett, I'm a HUGE fan of her and all her books, Melanie and James's story pulled at my heart, it was so emotional and utterly beautiful. A perfect Christmas surprise ❤️🎄 This Anthology is a definite must read 📚
The Christmas Playbook by Katie Rae 5⭐️ Ali, Kase and Cam are undoubtedly my favorite throuple and I loved being able to get a glimpse into what the future had in store for them. This story was sweet and steamy. It’s a wonder that they didn’t burn up my kindle! I finished reading this with a happy smile on my face.
Our First Christmas Overall Score ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Heat Level 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 All of the stories in this anthology can be read as stand-alones, but they definitely are going to make more sense if you have read their origin stories. I have read D.M. Davis' Black Ops series and her contribution to this anthology is A Black Ops Christmas. I LOVED it! Having all of the characters in one book with their kiddos was like coming home again.
This is my review for A Mountain X-Mas by Harlow Layne. This was a really cute way to catch up with a couple you may know from Secret Admirer. It was short, it was hot and it was full of Crimbo vibes. Can't say much more than that but I really enjoy this author's work and although this is just a mere snapshot I hope it will bring more readers her way.
This review is for A Mountain X-Mas by Harlow Layne.
It’s a short but very hot sequel to Secret Admirer (Hidden Oasis book #2) of Bhodi and Coco’s first Christmas together. There are some very steamy scenes (and I don’t mean just the hot tub)! I enjoyed it.
I LOVED every last page of Our First Christmas, and will be reading it again as it gets closer to Christmas. I've read the majority of these authors, so I know it would be amazing, and for a bonus, I got to meet a couple of new to me authors. It feels like there's something for everyone in the pages from fun at the beach to some super sexy black opps men & the women who tame them. There's sweet, super sexy, humor, a bit of football & hockey, a little mountain fun, and a military family trying to deal with deployment. Then there's a snowstorm to mess up some plans, and yet it ends up better with a kicker of my best friend, Murphy's Law, trying to ruin Christmas. I'm telling you, everyone needs this in their lives especially since it made this scrooge (me) excited for Christmas so you know what to do! HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
A Pucking Good Christmas starts as of and sets the scene for some hot Christmas action, to A Black Ops Christmas were the team and their families have a great yet hectic time on the slopes to the wonderful, A Mountain Christmas by K B Barrett which is sure to pull at your heartstrings and for this one I would recommend you have your tissues at the ready -
No matter what your romance reading preference you will be sure to find something if not everything in these short, wonderful hot stories to keep you warm this Christmas time.
Will add a short review for each story after I finish reading each one.
I love anthologies as you get to find new authors. Just look at who is in this anthology I have only read three before and all the others are new to me.
~A Pucking Good Christmas by DL Gallie~
~A Black Ops Christmas by D.M. Davis~
~A Mountain Christmas by Harlow Layne~ This is Coco and Bodhi's christmas story. Now I haven't read the author's 'Hidden Oasis' series which has Coco and Bodhi's beginning of their story but I still enjoyed this story. This was a sweet and enjoyable novella. Coco wanted to do something special for their first Christmas and oh boy did she make it a great holiday.
~The Christmas One by Kate Randall~
~The Christmas Playbook by Katie Rae~
~Traveling the Snowy Road Home by K.B. Barrett~
~The Surprise Within by Lisamarie Kade~
~The Christmas Play by L.M. Reid~
~Hijacked Holiday by May Gordon~
~ A Merry Crew Christmas by Vi Summers~ (ARC read) First off I love the crew their series is still one of my all time favs. This story has all of the couples from the North Shore Crew series. It might be short on length but is absolutely huge on quality and content. Each couple having their own chapters set just before Christmas and on Christmas Day. I really loved catching up with them again and I think its time for a reread of the series after this story.
4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 This is a great Christmas anthology I really loved the way some of the stories were set up. Like D.M. Davis' Black Ops Christmas and Vi Summers Crew Christmas were done from the point of view of couples in the series. I also got the pleasure of reading some great new to me authors, and meeting characters I already know I want to learn more about. So grab a little early Christmas gift for yourself or someone else. I have voluntarily left this review.
Our First Christmas is a wonderful collection of ten stories written by some talented authors. Some I have read before, others are new to me. I loved reading and following these couples as the celebrate their first Christmas together. I highly recommend this book for those who love holiday romances and find this a great way to find new series to go back and enjoy.
Such a great collection of holiday stories. Some of these were new to me authors and I’m already looking forward to checking out more of their work. I love holiday short story collections and this one was absolutely the perfect way to start the winter season. A great curl up and get cozy read
The Our First Christmas anthology is a collection of fun, steamy holiday novellas from ten amazing romance authors. Get in the holiday mood with quirky romcoms, suspenseful military romance, spicy sports sequels, and more. Below are my thoughts on a few favorites so far. I look forward to curling up with these novellas throughout the holiday season.
Our First Christmas by Katie Rae continues the story of Ali and her two studly pro athletes. When Ali met Kace & Cam, two best friends who both fell for the same girl, she was torn between the two…that is, until they told her she didn’t have to choose. Months after solidifying their relationship, the three have adjusted to life together. With obstacles yet to overcome, and old insecurities popping up, Ali, Cam, and Kace navigate their present to build the foundation for a blissful future. I love Katie’s The Games We Play series, so I was overjoyed to get an early copy of this follow-up novella of Cam, Kace, and Ali’s HEA. Our First Christmas was everything I could have hoped for these three wonderful characters. If you’re looking for a spicy sports story with a bit of suspense and lots of heart, Our First Christmas is a must-read!
‘Tis The Pucking Season was my first book by DL Gallie and I cannot wait to read more of her books! This hockey novella is funny, spicy and pucking loaded with heart! DL writes refreshing, zany hockey players, sweet & fierce heroines, and a fun, heartwarming plot. Even though this was my first read of hers, I did not feel lost by starting in the sequel. I adore Chelsea and Kallen and cannot wait to read their love story. I loved all of the ancillary characters. I can’t wait to read more of Chelsea’s papa bear/coach dad.
The Our First Christmas anthology is a wonderful collection of Christmas novellas. With a dynamic list of authors and clever, unique novellas, Our First Christmas is bound to have a story to fit any reading desire! I highly recommend grabbing a copy to enjoy this holiday season!
It's been three months since Cam, Kace and Ali stood in front of a crowd and basically told the whole world that they are ALL together. They knew that this relationship would not be easy to manage but dealing with the media is becoming harder. With the Christmas season here all they want to do is spend time together and get each other the perfect gift.
Can the three figure out a way to handle the media without ruining what they have? Will Ali be able to pull off the perfect Christmas presents for her boys?
Thank you so much Katie for allowing me to read this early. I loved getting to see what happens to my favorite trio after The Games We Play ended. The way the boys want to protect Ali still gives me goosebumps. I absolutely adored how you touched on the change in the boys' relationship, not going to lie I think their relationship is my favorite part of the story. The almost kiss about killed me (once you read it you will understand). I'm so sad that this series is over. If anyone reads this little novella and you want more go check out The Games We Play it's the start of this relationship and then just read the rest of the series. You will not be disappointed, or I don't think you will.
This review us for Traveling The Snowt Road Home by KB Barrett.
This story follows Melanie and James; young newlyweds who have spent most of their separated due to James joining the military. And as Christmas approaches with no word on James, Melanie starts spiraling.
I thoroughly enjoy Melanie and James' story. I felt like I went through all of her emotions alongside her. Usually I'm not a fan of going back and forth with past and present, however I thought it really set tbe mood for the book. And was a very important part of this story. This was a very cozy comfort read which is great for the holiday season.
I’ve read almost all of the stories in this anthology, and I liked them all. These short stories are a great way of catching up with you favorite characters. Seeing how their loves have changed, families have expanded, or will be expanding… All of the stories take place around Christams, for some their first Christmas together, for others another Christmas with family time. This anthology is filled with all standalone stories by different authors. While I’ve read some of the stories that come before the short stories, the ones that I haven’t read before, got me curious enough to expand my TBR list. Just to know how their HEA came together.
So many wonderful holiday stories that will heat you up. These quick reads will get you in the holiday spirit with sprinkles of love, romance and heat.
LM Reid always gives us strong characters who always find their way to an HEA with a lot of heat along the way. Although Hunter and Quinn’s original plans got snowed over, they found ways to enjoy the holidays. Hunter is so kind and did everything in his power to make Quinn’s Christmas special.
It is a heartwarming and fun read that will get you in the mood for the holidays.