Comments on: Christmas Themed Romance Books Poll

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:07:38 +0000

Christmas stories are fine (Last year I read a nice holiday category –probably recommended by DA as 90% of my book purchases are — in which the hero died in like the second chapter and the heroine got to relive the prior day over.

Just once I would like to see the hot Hanukkah romance. Since it’s not a particularly important Jewish holiday (It has no biblical basis, but it’s gotten elevated for obvious reasons), you could have a field day with the sexual possibilities presented by spin the dreidel and hot menorah wax, not to mention greasy latkes. Wait. Scratch that last one.

By: theo

theo — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:45:13 +0000

I definitely understand the saccharine quality that many dislike. It was one of those saccharine ones that pulled me back into Christmas though after a few years of trying to avoid the holiday completely.

I quit Christmas for a few years when I buried my mom on Christmas Eve morning and became my devastated and perpetually ill father’s caretaker. A couple years after she passed, I picked up a Christmas anthology because for some reason, the cover just caught my eye.

Saccharine? Oh, you betcha! And I cried all the way through it. Something I didn’t have time to do after my mother passed and still haven’t really, just from memories of her.

So every year I buy a new one, curl up in that chair and have my cathartic moments. For me, the $8 is worth every penny.

By: karmelrio

karmelrio — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:58:30 +0000

No, I don’t like them. The stories tend to be too saccharine for me. And (how to explain this…) I’m a bit of a cynic about the juxtoposition of holidays and leveraging people’s emotional conenction to holidays as a marketing tool. When I pick up a holiday themed book, I feel a lot of them smack of “revenue generating opportunity.”

By: cathryn fox

cathryn fox — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:14:42 +0000

I voted yes. I love them in anthology form.

By: Leah

Leah — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:13:25 +0000

I like Christmas stories and movies, esp. sweet, sappy, and funny–so long as nobody dies. I pretty much like anything with a holiday theme, and would be interested in non-Christian holidays as well. Christmas is a faortie, though, because in books, you can get the Norman Rockwell kind of holiday that doesn’t really happen much in real life–at least, not when extended family is involved.

By: Marianne McA

Marianne McA — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:52:27 +0000

Yes, there’s a moment on Christmas Eve, when I’ve finished running round like a headless chicken, but can’t go to bed because there will be stockings to fill later, when a Christmas Story is exactly the right thing to read. I’ve already bought this year’s book: it’s a secondhand anthology which includes a story from Carla Kelly that I haven’t ever read.

We always had a story on Christmas Eve – long after we’d passed the stage of being read to, my mum would still gather us round the fire on that evening, take out her dad’s copy of Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ and read it to us.

By: kerry

kerry — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:36:13 +0000

I love the anthologies. I have seen a few “Christmas” ones that had stories in them about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. One of the Halloween ones I bought this year had a pagan/Samhain storyline which was kind of cool (but didn’t influence the story enough, IMO).

I mostly just like the Halloween/”Christmas” ones, though. For some reason cold weather makes me want to curl up with a book of these. Fourth of July holiday ones, not so much.

By: Lisa J

Lisa J — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:26:09 +0000

Anthologies get my vote, too. A full holiday themed book is usually too much for me. I admit, I only buy the anthology if it has at least one of my favorite authors in it.

By: SonomaLass

SonomaLass — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:32:33 +0000

Mostly they make my teeth hurt. I’m a bit of a Christmas and Valentine’s Day cynic anyway, and most of the holiday romances I’ve read are one or the other of those. They feel forced to me. I don’t mind if a romance plot occurs over a time line that includes a holiday (sometimes the plot device of the extended family getting together is just what’s needed), but the theme ones I rarely enjoy. Even with authors I normally like, I don’t enjoy their holiday stories as much as their other work.

I have enjoyed some historical novels that have worked in (not info-dumped) holiday traditions of different time periods and countries. I’d enjoy more of those, especially holidays other than Christmas.

By: Kaetrin

Kaetrin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:28:45 +0000

I don’t buy a story merely because it is Christmas themed. I tend to buy stories by my favourite authors and if they write a Christmas themed story, then I’m in. Mary Balogh, Jenny Crusie, Suzanne Brockmann have all written Christmas themed books/books set over the holiday period and I have enjoyed them. Robyn Carr has a new book out in the Virgin River series – Presumably it is Christmas themed because it is called “A Virgin River Christmas” (:P) but I’m gonna get it because I LOVE the Virgin River series.

I didn’t vote in the poll because there wasn’t a “depends on who wrote it” option! :)

By: DS

DS — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:01:00 +0000

Nope, don’t buy any type of holiday themed stories. And I used to just fume at the covers on Signet Regency holidays. They had a real late 19th century American christmas look for an early 19th century British setting.

By: Ann Bruce

Ann Bruce — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:14:42 +0000

Being a seasonal Catholic (Easter and Christmas), I enjoy the occasional holiday-themed story, but I find most to be more sugary than the icing on gingerbread houses.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:53:42 +0000

I’m Jewish but I love the Christmas anthologies too. I wouldn’t buy a full novel with a holiday theme but anthologies are perfect. I do miss the olden days when the Christmas season started after Thanksgiving instead of September *grrr* but sitting up late with holiday decorations and reading sappy stories with dogs farting jingle bells just makes the season special…

So do you think there’s a market for a story where the dog farts The Dreidle Song instead? Must ponder…

By: Sandy (Strlady)

Sandy (Strlady) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:28:31 +0000

It’s not so much the holiday themed books (books that revolve finding a HEA for Xmas) but I do like to read books that take place during the holiday season.
Using movies as an example: The Family Stone (w/ Sarah Jessica Parker) vs Bridget Jones Diary.
Both are excellent movies but one is very focued on the holiday while the other takes place during the holiday season.

I find that the books that are focused on the holiday lose a bit of substance while having the book take place around the holiday does not make the celebration such a focus.

Hope that makes sense.

By: (JÄn)

(JÄn) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:20:28 +0000

I really miss the Signet Regency anthologies. Some of their best authors always wrote in those, and while there was always a dog or two, there were always quality stories as well.

Plus my mom liked getting them for Christmas. Now with so many around, most of the stories are crap and I no longer buy them for myself or her.

By: Shiloh Walker

Shiloh Walker — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:56:37 +0000

I like some of them-I love the Christmas season, so the holiday aspects wouldn’t bother me. Just depends on the story.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:24:16 +0000

But I would like to read more romances centered around Jewish and Muslim, Shinto and Hindu holidays…

I think that would be so interesting.

By: Hilcia

Hilcia — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:13:13 +0000

I don’t really like Christmas books. They usually turn out too sugary sweet for my taste. I don’t buy them. That goes for other holiday related books or anthologies as well; Valentine’s, Thanksgiving, etc…. not for me.

By: MoJo

MoJo — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:38:31 +0000

I don’t like them, but I couldn’t tell you why. I just don’t.

By: EssieLou

EssieLou — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:19:51 +0000

As an anthology, they’re a lot of fun. I adore Christmas and love doing anything to heighten the season mentally for me. Transiberian Railroad playing while I read Christmas stories of all kinds helps to keep me in the spirit.

As for CVS having their decorations already up…that’s the commerical side of Christmas and I just ignore it. You gotta make the season work for you, not the other way around. Heck, I don’t finish decorating my tree until Christmas Eve and it stays up until January 7th.