Mistletoe and Christmas Kisses

I have mixed feelings about this Christmas anthology.  I'll touch on each of the stories separately...

Chasing the Duke:  I'll be honest, this was probably my favorite in the group of novellas.  I couldn't tell that it was the 7th book in a series as it stood on its own quite well.  I enjoyed both Camille and Tristan and felt their romance was very well developed.  I especially liked that Camille was a bit of a bluestocking with her botany trade.  I would have loved for this story to have been a bit longer.

The Ice Duchess:  I actually skipped this story as I'd already read (and reviewed) it.  This story is a prequel to a series and I remember enjoying both characters in this one as well.  It was a nice twist that the hero, a duke, had a passion for geology and the heroine, had a business helping women prepare for marriage.  It was a nice reunion story that totally had me wanting to continue the series.

Tides of Desire:  As the third book in a series, I often felt I was missing something while reading this one.  It wasn't bad, but the character development was lacking, probably because at least one of these main characters has been growing throughout the series (which I haven't read).  I had a hard time connecting with the characters and their romance.  I did however, like the setting in America and that Macy is a doctor and Caleb is a shipbuilder.  I might go back and read the earlier books in the series to see if that helps make this book a little more complete.

To Desire a Scoundrel:  Well, according to Goodreads, I had read this book previously (like in 2015) and I honestly don't remember it at all.  For me, this was the weakest book in the anthology.  I really had a hard time liking either Kate or Tanner or caring what happened to them.  Their history was probably the highlight, but I didn't like their reunion and found myself just skimming the book to get it over with.  I just couldn't connect and would probably have DNF if I hadn't been so close to the end and wanted to see that HEA even if I couldn't really get behind it.

Overall, I give this anthology 3.5 stars.  There were a could good stories, one decent one and a clunker.