A Holiday Treat to Indulge a Reader…

DragonDreamsJen’s #CBR7 Review #1   Our First Christmas by Lisa Jackson

Every year, during the school break and holidays, I indulge in one good Christmas themed romance novel for sheer entertainment. This year, after finishing my B.Ed degree and the 15 week teaching internship that went along with completing the last stages, I finally had time again to read MORE books for the sheer pleasure of it and decided to sign up for a CannonBall challenge again.

Our First Christmas is actually a 435 page anthology of 4 holiday romance novels, only one of whom had been previously published as a Silhouette novel. Every story in the book not only tied into the holiday theme, it also contained flashbacks to a prior “First” Christmas that each couple had shared. Having taught Grade 9 English Language Arts and Literary Theory as part of my Internship, I found the use of Analepsis most entertaining!

While each story had its own charm, from the almost murder mystery feel of “A Ranger for Christmas” by Mary Burton to the meaningful look back at what truly makes a good marriage in “Under the Mistletoe” by headline author Lisa Jackson, I have to admit that one story stood out from the rest.

“Christmas in Montana” by Cathy Lamb was a very original story of a young woman who returns to her home state after a dozen years of running away from issues and the man who truly held her heart. Lamb uses a healthy dose of humour to keep the reader entertained through the tangled dynamics of modern life, stepmothers, multiple half siblings, Internet businesses, aging and the feminism debate. Instead of revealing all of the details from the heroine’s past, they appear like bread crumbs to be followed along the story’s trail, leading to a wonderful and touching conclusion.

Now that the decorations are down, the house is set to rights for the New Year and the routine begins again this week, it was time to savour the last story and write up my first review of this challenge.

Paperback format, 435 pages, published by Kensington Fiction