Filed under: B- Reviews, Reviews
Dear Ms. Crusie, Foster and Phillips:
I would have never thought the three of you were a good match in an anthology but, for the most part, it worked. For the readers edification, however, only Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie is a new contribution. Christmas Bonus by Lori Foster was previously published in All I Want for Christmas in 2000 and Naughty Under the Mistletoe by Carly Phillips was previously published in Naughty or Nice? in 2001. One thing I noticed about each of these anthologies is that each couple had a previous connection before the start of the story and none of the stories ended with babies.
Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie
For Crusie fans disappointed (or delighted) by Don’t Look Down, Hot Toy is much more in keeping with traditional Crusie writing. It features great dialogue, a mouthy heroine, and a fast moving plot. On Christmas Eve, Trudy Maxwell is searching for a MacGuffin, the season’s Hot Toy, for her nephew Leroy. Leroy’s father just ran off his his nanny and his mother is desperate for Trudy to find this particular toy. Only, because of …
This book was a fairly average read until about page 145 or so when it turns into a complete wall banger for me. Probably you loyal fans will enjoy your latest installment, but I wasn’t won over. The tone, characters and plot were average and failed to engage me except in the negative. 
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