Authors: Joanne Fluke. Laura Levine & Leslie Meier
Ok....Hannah first.... (of course!) The Twelve Desserts of Christmas: Sugar & Spice (the book this story was originally published in) is a collection of Christmas romance novellas, so this story is more romance angle than cozy mystery. There are quite a few recipes included and a bit of a mystery to solve....but it's mostly Christmas kissie face fun. No dead bodies in this story. Six students remain at the boarding school outside Lake Eden, MN. The kids are staying at the school for Christmas break so two teachers have to remain as well. Is there romance in the air? Maybe....but someone really, really wants to squash any chance of romance. Hannah, delivering lovely baked holiday cheer, is on the case to find out the truth.
Cute story! And there are of course 12 yummy recipes included as well! Despite the fact I was disappointed this was not a new story, it will still fun to read!
Nightmare on Elf Street: Laura Levine jumps in after Joanne Fluke's tale with a story featuring Jaine Austen. I have never read any of the series yet. Most of the books have been on my TBR shelf waiting for me to get to them for several years now, so this novella gave me a perfect jump start to move the series to the top of my to-read list!
Jaine heads to the local swanky upscale mall hoping for an advertising job, but somehow ends up dressed as an elf for the holiday season. The only thing worse than dressing in striped tights and a hat with a fuzzy pompon is......a dead santa.
Although it took awhile for the mystery to appear in this holiday story, I enjoyed every bit of this holiday tale. A horrible minimum wage gig that involves an elf costume....a cat named Prozac who refuses to don reindeer antlers for a photo....and a drunk, unruly, horrific santa claus. What's not to love?? This story definitely earned the Jaine Austen series a higher spot on my TBR list! Book one is sitting right at the tippy top! Humorous and fun, this story was an entertaining read!
The Christmas Thief: Leslie Meier offers up a short mystery featuring her sleuth Lucy Stone. Lucy and her friend Miss Tilley fly to Florida to help Elizabeth Stone out of a serious predicament. Elizabeth has been put on leave at her job at a hotel in connection with some missing jewelry. Not just any jewelry. Very, very expensive jewelry. Millions of dollars. Yikes! Can the three ladies work together to salvage the holiday and keep Elizabeth out of trouble??
My favorite story in this collection is Nightmare on Elf Street. Just imagining Jaine Austen in that horrible costume having to deal with a nightmarish santa claus.....oh my! The humor made the story entertaining and fun. This story easily breezed by the recycled Hannah story because it's one I already read 13 years ago!
Cute Christmas cozy collection! And I will definitely be awaiting these holiday novella collections each holiday season! It's become a reading tradition for me!
**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
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