Review – Midnight Kiss Anthology

Publisher: Harlequin Anthology

Publish Date: 10/26/10

How I got this book: NetGalley

These are New Year’s resolutions worth keeping!

Take a risk.
At the inaugural New Year’s Eve party at Jack’s Bar, two lonely revelers decide the best balm for their broken hearts might just be each other.

Find the perfect work-life balance.
When a flinty lawyer with a bad-boy addiction meets the quintessential nice guy, sparks fly that consume their expectations of life and love.

Get those finances in order.
Working over the holidays on a messy bank takeover is made worse for two federal specialists by an ill-advised kiss that will never happen again…right?

*Blurb from Goodreads*

This great little anthology featured three wonderful stories about kissing at Midnight on New Years Eve!!

Robyn Carr starts us off with one of her Virgin River Series shorts, MIDNIGHT CONFESSIONS. This features Sunny and Drew, the only singles at the town’s first ever New Year’s Eve party. When Drew sees Sunny, he is instantly attracted to her, and can’t wait to find out more of what makes her tick. But Sunny is coming off a really bad break-up, and doesn’t want to take another chance at love.

Drew whittles down her defenses, and the two end up spending the evening getting to know each other better. Although scared sh*tless, the two realize that although their past relationships might have been nothing short of disastrous, they just might be able to make it work together.

This was my first read by Robyn Carr, and I have to say I am totally hooked! My aunt suggested her, and actually gave me a bunch of her books. I can’t wait for a free weekend when I can sit down and just hammer through them!  Her characters were fabulous, down to earth, and wonderfully thoughtful. The short was super sweet, and I can’t help but hope we can see more of sunny and Drew in the future!

Jean Brashear took over with MIDNIGHT SURRENDER, with her story about Jordan and Will. Jordan is a super successful lawyer, who is just a little (read, A LOT) emotionally unavailable. Her stressful past has made her weary of men, and she has become dubbed the “Maneater” by many. The total opposite, Will is a laid back Irish man, looking to find that one special woman who can complete him in every possible way.

Even thought he knows he shouldn’t, Will falls hard for Jordan and pursues her relentlessly. He manages to charm her into an actual relationship, and although they don’t realize they like each other at times, end up falling helplessly in love. I really enjoyed that Will and Jordan were so completely different, and that Will was so persistent in his campaign to win Jordan’s heart.

I really enjoyed seeing them both come to terms with the fact that their ideal spouse may not be what they actually need or want to make life full of love and laughter. I enjoyed this one, and can’t wait to see if I can find more reads from Brashear.

Victoria Dahl rounded out the anthology with MIDNIGHT ASSIGNMENT, her short about Noah and Elise, a couple of FDIC agents with a steamy and tumultuous history. Noah and Elise shared one earth shattering kiss long ago, but it never went further than that. When Noah got a job Elise wanted, the two became nemeses.

When they get stuck working on a huge project together over the Holiday Season, they let a few shots of Tequila get the best of them, and both act on the zings of chemistry they still feel between them. With the stress of the assignment, and fears of what exactly they are to each other, they dance around their relationship until they finally realize just what they mean, and have always meant, to each other.

While I liked this story, it wasn’t my favorite. At times I just want to shake some fictional characters and ask them why the hell they can’t act like adults! Miscommunication and misunderstandings that could have been worked out with a simple conversation kept these two apart, and while I can understand how scary it can be to take a leap of faith, I just want to scream at them to both buck up!

All in all, I give Midnight Kiss and A-