Monday, November 26, 2018

Monday's Montage Mantelpiece: Hockey Holidays


Summary:
**100% of the proceeds from sales of this anthology will be donated to charity.**

This holiday season unwrap a brand-new collection of hockey romances that includes humor, drama, love, and - of course - hockey!

Each book is EXCLUSIVE to the anthology and NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED by USA Today, New York Times, and all your favorite bestselling hockey romance authors.



First off, with time constraints I only read the three M/M genre stories in this lovely collection but eventually I will read them all.  They all sound heartwarming and thrilling.

Second, I am currently having computer issues so I'll just do a brief review of the three I read as a whole and hopefully will be doing a more indepth individual reviews later after "technology gets its ass straightened out"😉.

The three stories I read were Dallas Christmas by RJ Scott, A Star-Crossed Christmas by VL Locey, and Holding on Tight by Susan Scott Shelley and they were all excellent!  A wonderful combination of warmth, drama, humor, heat, hockey, and of course plenty of heart holding it all together.  The characters and plots may represent your typical Christmas flair but there is nothing "typical" or "cliche" about any of them, the Christmas flavor just heightens the awesomeness of the brilliant storytelling by Scott, Locey, and Shelley.

Blogger Note: I should add that I already love Scott and Locey's works but this is the first time I've read Susan Scott Shelley but it certainly won't be the last.

RATING: 


Dallas Christmas by RJ Scott 
Logan knows lusting after his captain's brother can only lead to trouble. But when fate throws them together, it’s hard not to fall in love.

A Star-Crossed Christmas by V.L. Locey
Two years ago, Mitch shared an explosive kiss with his childhood friend Shaun. Will Christmas be the time for the two men to find a future together that works?

Holding On Tight by Susan Scott Shelley
For defenseman Vince Forsberg and his boyfriend Joseph Parelli, the pressure to make their first Christmas together perfect leads to a lot of chaos, holiday mishaps, and some unexpected results.

How We Fell in Love by Toni Aleo 
He knew she was the one, she wasn't so sure, which is why Grace and James' love story is one for the ages.

A Second Shot by Shannon Stacey
She was the one who got away, but when their paths cross once again, all he wants for Christmas is the chance to take another shot at love.

A Wolfe Brothers Christmas by Jami Davenport
Spending their first Christmas together in years, the Wolfe brothers fumbling attempts to create good memories go awry.

Christmas Crosscheck by Jaymee Jacobs 
Bryan's planning to propose to Georgiana on Christmas Eve, but will the chaos of their families’ first holiday together ruin their special moment?

The Final Slapshot by Jean C. Joachim
Harry "Deke" Edmonds hides his secret, hoping for a Christmas miracle. When confronted with the truth, will his heart-breaking decision cost him everything?

Lucky Holiday by Jennifer Lazaris
Tyler Quinn made the biggest mistake of his life when he broke Ella’s heart, and he’ll need more than an ace up his sleeve to win her back in time for Christmas.

Dmitri's Christmas Angel by Kat Mizera 
Two women. Two surprise pregnancies. Dmitri Papadakis is screwed.

His Christmas Cinderella by Kate Willoughby 
When Gideon Aguilar mistakes Bailey Peng for his Uber driver it leads to a night he can’t forget. But after she disappears the next morning will he be able to find his perfect fit?

Red-Hot Trouble by Lily Harlem 
Sophie Delaney never intended to walk into ‘that’ locker room, at ‘that’ moment, but she did, and now she’ll never be the same again.

Christmas Interference by Lisa B. Kamps 
Shane Masters no longer believes in happy-ever-afters. Can the woman who knew him best thaw his heart with a little holiday magic before it's too late?

The Devoted Father and the Introvert by Mary Smith 
Elexis Dunaway loves Twitter and work. Dag Limon loves his twin boys and playing professional hockey. Soon their worlds will collide with one simple tweet.

Her Best Worst Boyfriend by Melanie Ting 
This Christmas, Em Davis is bringing Mr. Wrong home to prove a point to her parents, but Ian Reid might turn out to be Mr. Right.

Icing isn't Only for Cookies by Melody Heck Gatto 
Avery James wasn’t looking for love when tall, dark, and deliciously handsome hockey player Kyler Wilson walked into her bakery.

The Playboy by Stephanie Julian 
Kyle is back in the minors to rehab his career but that's not all he's hoping to fix. Convincing the girl he left behind to take another chance on this former playboy will be harder than resurrecting his career.

All I Want by Stephanie Kay
When fate brings first loves Maggie and Alex back to the same city, will Maggie be brave enough to give the relationship she never forgot a second chance? 


VL Locey
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, two dogs, two cats, a flock of assorted domestic fowl, and three Jersey steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand. She can also be found online on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and GoodReads.

RJ Scott
RJ’s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn’t romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.

She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit and has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the following links below.

Susan Scott Shelley
USA Today bestselling author Susan Scott Shelley writes stories with heat and heart, where love always wins. Her romances give readers lighthearted and emotionally satisfying escapes into happily ever after. In addition to crafting stories, she is also a professional voiceover artist and enjoys lending her voice to a wide range of projects.

She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and is an avid fan of her hometown sports teams. Her favorite things include running (honestly, it's more like jogging), sports (especially hockey), hard rock (but will listen to anything from heavy metal to show tunes), and writing about people from all walks of life finding their special someone.

Toni Aleo
My name is Toni Aleo, and I’m a #PredHead, #sherrio, #potterhead, and part of the #familybusiness!

I am also a wife to my amazing husband, mother of a gamer and a gymnast, and also a fur momma to Gaston el Papillion.

While my beautiful and amazing Shea Weber has been traded from my Predators, I’m still a huge fan. But when I’m not cheering for him, I’m hollering for the whole Nashville Predators since I’ll never give my heart to one player again.

When I’m not in the gym getting swole, I’m usually writing, trying to make my dreams a reality, or being a taxi for my kids.

I’m obsessed with Harry Potter, Supernatural, Disney, and anything that sparkles! I’m pretty sure I was Belle in a past life, and if I could be on any show, it would be Supernatural so I could hunt with Sam and Dean.

Also, I did mention I love hockey, right?

Shannon Stacey
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her favorite activities are writing romance and really random tweets when she’s not riding her ATV. She loves mud, books, football &
watching way too much TV.

Jami Davenport 
USA Today Bestselling Author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary and sports romances, including her Game On in Seattle Series, Men of Tyee Series, and coming soon will be a romantic suspense series, Gone Missing.

Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, and a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat.

Jami worked in IT for years and is a former high school business teacher but recently achieved her life-long dream of being a full-time author. In her spare time, Jami gardens and goes camping. A horse lover since birth, Jami showed dressage horses for over thirty years. She's a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan and is not-so-patiently waiting for the NHL to come to Seattle. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it is the most beautiful place on earth.

Jaymee Jacobs
Jaymee Jacobs is a USA Today best-selling author of the Dallas Comets series. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in English literature and a psychology minor.

Jean C. Joachim
Jean Joachim is a USA Today Best-Selling author, and an internationally best-selling author of romance fiction. Her books have been hitting the Amazon Top 100 list since 2012. She writes mostly contemporary romance, which includes sports romance and romantic suspense.

Her novella, "Liz & Nick: No Regrets" picked up 2nd place in the erotic romance short book category in the 2018 International Digital Awards from the Oklahoma chapter of Romance Writers of America, while her book, "Jake Lawrence, Third Base" capture 5th place in the erotic romance novel category.

"The House-Sitter's Christmas" captured one 1st place award in Arizona and two 3rd place awards, one in Milwaukee. Dangerous Love Lost & Found, First Place winner in the 2015 Oklahoma Romance Writers of America, International Digital Award contest. The Renovated Heart won Best Novel of the Year from Love Romances Café. Lovers & Liars was a RomCon finalist in 2013. And The Marriage List tied for third place as Best Contemporary Romance from the Gulf Coast RWA. To Love or Not to Love tied for second place in the 2014 New England Chapter of Romance Writers of America Reader's Choice contest. She was chosen Author of the Year in 2012 by the New York City chapter of RWA.

Married and the mother of two sons, Jean lives in New York City. Early in the morning, you'll find her at her computer, writing, with a cup of tea, and a secret stash of black licorice.

Jean has 48+ books, novellas and short stories published.

Jennifer Lazaris 
Jennifer spent most of her early twenties blocking shots in front of a deck hockey net, writing stories, and holding out for a hero.

Now, she spends her days and nights hunched over the keyboard, combining her love of hockey and writing into romance novels.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jennifer's a die-hard Penguins fan who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She takes her life in her hands every time she wears her Penguins jersey in the heart of Leafs Nation, but figures it's worth the risk to represent her beloved Black and Gold.

Her days off are spent spoiling two crazy cute cats, reading, and obsessively watching Sons of Anarchy reruns.

Kat Mizera 
USA Today Bestselling author Kat Mizera is a South Florida native. Born in Miami Beach with a healthy dose of wanderlust, she's called Los Angeles, Long Island, upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Atlanta home. She's never been able to pick which locale is her favorite, but if pressed, she'd probably choose the west coast.

Kat's a typical PTA mom with a wonderful and supportive husband (Kevin) and two amazing boys (Nick and Max). When she's not writing, she's either scrapbooking or indulging in her second love (after writing) - traveling. Greece is one of her favorite places in the world. She loves that Athens is a big city with a small-town feel. The food, beaches and culture keep her going back as often as possible. She hopes to retire there one day so she can spend her days writing books on the beach.

As you can guess from her series, the Las Vegas Sidewinders, Kat loves hockey. She is also a freelance hockey writer, covering her favorite team, the Florida Panthers, and any other teams that have an interesting story. The rest of the time, she writes novels: sexy, romantic fiction that she hopes makes you as happy as it makes her. There's something enticing about hockey players and romance...

Kate Willoughby 
USA Today bestselling author Kate Willoughby lives in California with her husband and two sons. When she's not writing her hockey romances, she's watching hockey. When it's not hockey season, she whines a lot.

Lily Harlem
Lily Harlem is a best-selling, award-winning author of erotic romance. She lives in the UK and writes for several publishing houses including HarperCollins, Totally Bound, Pride Publishing, Evernight, ARe and Sweetmeats Press. She also features in numerous UK and US anthologies, some of which all proceeds go to charity.

Her books are a mixture of full length novels and short stories, some are one offs, some are sequels or part of a series (all can be enjoyed as stand-alone reads). What they all have in common are colourful characters travelling on everyone’s favourite journey — falling in love. If the story isn’t deliciously romantic and down and dirty sexy, it won’t be written, at least not by this author. So with the bedroom door left well and truly open you are warned to hang on for a steamy, sensual ride - or rides as the case might be!

Lisa B. Kamps
Lisa B. Kamps is the USA Today Bestselling Author of The Baltimore Banners, featuring "…hard-hitting, heart-melting hockey players…" [USA Today], on and off the ice. Her Firehouse Fourteen series features hot and heroic firefighters who put more than their lives on the line and she's introduced a whole new team of hot hockey players who play hard and love even harder in her Banners' spin-off series, The York Bombers. The Chesapeake Blades--a romance series featuring women's hockey--recently launched with WINNING HARD. Her newest series, Cover Six Security, will launch in early 2019.

Lisa currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two sons (who are mostly sorta-kinda out of the house), one very spoiled Border Collie, two cats with major attitude, several head of cattle, and entirely too many chickens to count. When she's not busy writing or chasing animals, she's cheering loudly for her favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals--or going through withdrawal and waiting for October to roll back around!

Mary Smith
USA Today Best Selling Author, Mary Smith, has been coming up with stories her whole life. She has written over forty romance stories involving hot sports stars, strong willed females and everything in between. When not busy writing or rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks you can find her with her nose stuck in her Kindle.

Melanie Ting
USA Today best-selling author Melanie Ting herds cats, hikes low mountains, and watches hockey in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. She began writing romances during the 2010 Olympics, inspired by both the extraordinary athleticism and the crazy party atmosphere.

Join her mailing list and you'll get a free short story about the Vancouver Vice.

Melody Heck Gatto 
Pittsburgh, PA born and raised! I write about a fictional Pittsburgh hockey team. I use actual Pittsburgh locations and landmarks when I can.

I am a Mom, a Wife, and a dog and cat lover.

I've loved reading and writing since I was small. In school, I never met a creative writing assignment that I didn't love. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who encourages me to write. When I was laid off from my job of 14 years (and maybe I wasn't as sad as I should've been, lol), he was supportive about letting me stay home and take care of our son. During that time I discovered hockey-romances and found a renewed love of reading as well as a passion for writing.

I am an avid hockey fan. I love my Pittsburgh Penguins! When I'm not watching hockey games I'm probably reading, or writing. :)

I do plenty of "research" for my books by going to hockey practices and games *wink-wink*

Stephanie Julian
Stephanie Julian is a New York Times and USA Today best seller who writes sophisticated, sultry romance for adventurous readers.

Her books include sexy heroes (sometimes two!), smart heroines and emotionally engaging love stories. Her series include the best-selling Salon Games, Indecent and Magical Seduction.

Stephanie is a slow runner, a reluctant cook, a lover of all things Joss, JJ and Disney. She's happily married to a Springsteen fanatic and is the mother of two sons who introduced her to the joys of Slipknot, Warped Tour and never-ending headaches.

Stephanie Kay
I have always loved a good romance, and I got hooked on the dirty ones at the tender age of 14, when I told her mother that if the cover wasn't a bodice ripper, then there was no sex in the book. As an avid mystery reader, my mother never checked to see if I was lying. Twenty plus years later, my most prized possession is my Kindle, and I may have a Hallmark movie obsession.

I have called California, Maryland, and Rhode Island my home, but now live in New Hampshire with my husband where I ask him incessant questions until he escapes to go hiking in the mountains. That's the only time I can get him out of the house so I can get her writing in. Married couples shouldn't both work from home!

Sports were never my thing, but after beta reading for another hockey author and buying NHL Game Center within one month of watching my first hockey game a few years ago, I dove into learning everything I could about the sport and the hot men that play it. Now I spend my spare time visiting hockey arenas in the name of research and loving every second of it.


VL Locey
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RJ Scott 
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EMAIL: rj@rjscott.co.uk  

Susan Scott Shelley 

Toni Aleo
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Shannon Stacey 

Jami Davenport 

Jaymee Jacobs 

Jean C. Joachim 
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EMAIL: jean@nowandforeverbooks.com

Jennifer Lazaris

Kat Mizera

Kate Willoughby

Lily Harlem
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EMAIL: lilyharlem@googlemail.com

Lisa B. Kamps
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EMAIL: LisaBKamps@gmail.com

Mary Smith

Melanie Ting

Melody Heck Gatto
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AMAZON  /  GOODREADS 

Stephanie Julian
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Stephanie Kay 



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