Review: Santa, Baby by Jennifer Crusie, Lori Foster, and Carly Phillips

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Goodreads Synopsis:

Get ready for a holiday season you'll never forget with three of today's most sensational writers who know what every woman wants for the holidays. You'll believe in Santa all over again with these seductive stories from:
 
JENNIFER CRUSIE
Mayhem ensues under the mistletoe as a determined shopper grabs the very last hot toy action figure off the shelf, only to find herself plunged into the middle of a real-life spy game--in the arms of a sexy secret agent. . .

LORI FOSTER
Two dedicated coworkers with a lot of secrets (and fantasies!) between them must plan a Christmas party side by side--and discover a love worth celebrating--in this steamy office romance.

CARLY PHILLIPS
A "mistletoe moment" begins when a no-nonsense lawyer intent on seducing her boss meets his twin instead--after giving him a scintillating kiss that leaves him begging for more. . .

Review:

I've been debating on whether or not to review a book like this, and this one in particular, because it's not a ya. It's an adult romance, and it includes smut. (So, um, yea, mature readers only and all that.) I enjoyed it, though, and it's a Christmas story, so I decided to.

The first story is by Jennifer Crusie, called 'Hot Toy', was probably my favorite. But I like Crusie's stories, and she usually has pretty good openings, as this one did. It's about Trudy, who is trying to find a specific toy for her nephew, one that is almost impossible to find, on Christmas Eve. She runs into a guy that she had a few not-so-great dates with. It turns out that she finds the toy with some codes that the government needs from Russia, and there are several complications as things move forward. And there isn't much smut in this story, only some kissing, but Crusie usually doesn't have much. It was good, though, the swoon. And I liked it, as I already said. Trudy was fun, and stubborn like Crusie's characters usually are. And It's sweet how far she goes for her nephew, and her relationship with her sister is nice, but her sister alone is fun.

The next story by Lori Foster, is called 'Christmas Bonus'. It's about a girl who gets her father's business after he passes away, but she doesn't want it, she wants to be a writer, and has already published some things. And she likes one of the men who worked for her father, who was going to take over the business had her father not left it to her in his will. You can tell where this is going, I'm sure. There were some smutty scenes in this story, which I was looking forward to, since Foster's stories are usually very steamy. And I kind of liked the characters, but some of the scenes just weren't as good as hers' usually are. I'm not really sure why, but they didn't flow or the characters weren't as good or something. (Oh, but the guy did think a little too highly of romances when he first reads the girls story, which I thought was giving them a little too much credit.)

The last story is by Carly Phillips, called 'Naughty Under the Mistletoe'. This one was alright, maybe a little better than Foster's. It's about a girl who decides that she's going to seduce her boss, but then ends up kissing his twin brother instead. The characters were actually a bit fun, and the story was pretty good. Better than the other stories of hers that I've read. But there were some good swoon-like, kind of smutty scenes.

None of these were bad, although some of them were better than the others. These were good, smutty, holiday stories.

(As a sidenote, tell me if you would like me to do more review of these type of stories, because I have been reluctant to, but can very easily.)