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I know – it feels a little bit early to be talking about Christmas, especially after the year we’ve all suffered through. A charity collection of romantic comedy novellas sold to benefit The Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation, Jingle Balls combines a number of fun novellas from a bunch of talented authors into one hefty (800 page plus!) anthology. Some are long, some are short, and all of them are sexy or funny in their own way, providing a recommendable and excellently crafted package.
The volume features a number of different scenarios, from old lovers colliding, attempted holiday make-ups, bachelor auctions gone sexy to seven minutes in heaven-like situations between co-workers trapped at Christmas parties.
The two best offerings in the book are by Serena Bell and Dylann Crush. Crush’s Sleigh My Name is a sprightly tale involving a woman being match-made up with her pregnant sister’s chiropractor. Sparks fly, teeth are grit and babies are born, and in the meantime there’s much fun to be had. Crush’s flare for comedy and relaxed style really work well with the subject matter, which is adorable. Bell’s I Told You So is a smidge more dramatic and wistful in tone, featuring two exes meeting while serving as part of the bridal party of their friends. They fall back in love – and lust – with one another and Bell’s talent for human characters having real emotions makes this one top-notch. Coldcocked by Saint Nick by Melonie Johnson – about a talkshow host who gets whacked on the noggin by an occupational therapist with a giant candy cane during a performance and ends up falling in love with him as he helps her recuperate – is hilarious, and also manages to be quite spicy.
The rest of the stories, at the very least, pass muster when it comes to being amusing, and there’s nothing egregiously awful to be found between the book’s covers. Unfortunately, some authors (such as Sophia Henry) have chosen to add stories from continuing universes of theirs to the pot, making it difficult for newbies to understand what’s going on and making at least four of the stories incomprehensible to new readers. Oh, well. Readers of those series will be delighted and encouraged to buy this volume and contribute to a very worthy cause, and fortunately only three of the stories fall into this category.
Even with that one minor blemish on its record, so much variety is provided by the collection that it’s well worth exploring. Jingle Balls has the… er… fortitude… to please any holiday-minded reader looking for an early and seasonal good time. It comes with a strong recommendation.
Buy it at: Amazon
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Grade: A-
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 09/10/20
Publication Date: 09/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Lisa Fernandes is a writer, reviewer and recapper who lives somewhere on the East Coast. Formerly employed by Firefox.org and Next Projection, she also currently contributes to Women Write About Comics. Read her blog at http://thatbouviergirl.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thatbouviergirl or contribute to her Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/MissyvsEvilDead or her Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/missmelbouvier
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I really love AAR. I am sure this book would have been completely off my radar if you hadn’t reviewed it. I love that they can get so sassy with the name of it and with some of the stories.
Years ago I used to love Avon’s themed collections of stories, some would be “haunting” love stories etc. It was a fun way for me to find new to me authors. I might pick this one up when I start to feel “Christmassy”.
I hope you will!
Testicular cancer awareness isn’t the usual romancelandia charity, and I’m glad to see it here. Testicular cancer is generally a young man’s disease and is usually curable, especially if caught early, but men need to know what to look for. My dad was an outlier, in his 50’s when diagnosed, and the cancer was aggressive. He died about 3 years after diagnosis. Thanks for reviewing this here,and I hope the book raises money and awareness of this rare but sometimes deadly disease.
Indeed! I hope it’s enjoyed!
Because of this comment and Lisa Fernandes’s review above I went and learned more about a type of cancer I knew very little about before. Thank you for sharing your father’s story – it really awakened me to this matter. There are certain things that I wish more than anything that just didn’t even exist in this world, and cancer is certainly among them.
The title of the book made me laugh. I love bad puns.
There are quite a few authors featured in this anthology that are familiar to me. The stories sound fun, and it’s for a good cause besides. I think I’m going to grab this one. :)
Glad you’ll be reading this one!
Thank you, annik! I’m glad it’s a rare cancer, and I’m happy more people will learn about it with this book.
I just bought the book, and I look forward to getting in the mood for Christmas!