Secret Santa by Janelle Denison, Isabel Sharpe, and Jennifer LaBrecque

It’s Christmas time at Connoisseur Magazine where hundreds of workers are ready to celebrate Christmas. Each department in the magazine has its own secret Santa gift exchange where three lucky women will open the gift of a lifetime.

In He’d Better Watch Out! by Janelle Denison, Amanda Creighton gets advice from two imaginary advisers, Devilish Desiree and Angelic Angie regarding the gift she should get for the office hottie, Christian Miller.

In The Nights Before Christmas by Isabel Sharpe, Cathy Ann Johnson receives a special gift from her secret Santa, but when she drops by to show her appreciation, but afterward she learns that she thanked the wrong Santa.

In Mistletoe Madness, by Jennifer LaBrecque, Tatiana Allen finds herself forced to play secret Santa to Cole Mitchell, her arch rival plus learns that she has four days to review four restaurants with him too. Now can Tatiana save herself or will she find herself trapped under the mistletoe with Cole?

With three steamy romances by three talented authors, this Blaze is a very nice Christmas present from the editors and writers at Harlequin. Read it and enjoy

Score: Very good

Details: Blaze #292, December 2006

3 Guys You’ll Never Date by Stephanie Bond, Jennifer LaBrecque, Rhonda Nelson

When three girls make a pact find new boyfriends while avoiding guys like ditch diggers, geeks and used-car salesman, they find that the worst guys may be the best ones of all.

You Can Leave Your Hard Hat On by Stephanie Bond tells the tale of how a successful architect, Samantha Stone, literally falls into the arms of Teague Brownlee who put down his shovel to catch her when she falls on a visit to her job site. Unfortunately for Samantha, his touch ignites memories from the last time they made love – 13 years ago.

The Total Package by Jennifer LaBrecque follows Deke Foster who manages to convince Abby Carmichael to remake his geeky image in order to make himself attractive for a very special person. What Abby doesn’t know is that she’s Deke's special person.

Her Hero? by Rhonda Nelson reunites Carley Deluna with her high school lover, Jackson Harper. When Jackson tells her that he no longer works as a mechanic in his father’s garage, Carley has high hopes for their relationship. But then Carley’s hopes for the future are dashed when he confesses that he now sells used cars for a living.

These three stories are short but cute and remind me of the traditional Blazes the authors used to write. So if you’re looking for a quick smile, I think you should check out this book.

Details: Signature Select, August 2006

Bottom line: A very good book

Highland Fling Jennifer LaBrecque

Dr. Kate Wexford felt an incredible attraction to a portrait she found in the Sex through the Ages traveling museum exhibit. Kate couldn’t describe why she was drawn toward Darach MacTavish, Laird of Glenagan, but on the final night of the exhibit, went to see the painting one last time and found herself naked in Darach’s bed. Darach don’t fully understand how the naked girl ended up in his bed, but when she claimed that she was was from the future, he wondered what to do with the crazy woman. Kate knows that Darach will die soon and she needs to use all her skills to save Darach’s life, even if it meant changing history.

The second time travel Blaze left me confused as this story is completely independent from the first one, except for the museum exhibit. It didn’t deal with the open issues from the first story, which I had expected. On the other hand, if look at this story as a stand alone title, it's extremely well done. The best parts of the story are where Darach returned to the present with Kate and learned about life in the twenty-first century. All in all, I really enjoyed this story and if you’re into Scottish Lairds, I think you’ll enjoy it too.

Details: Blaze #262

Bottom line: A very good book

Anticipation by Jennifer LaBrecque

Nick O’Malley bet his friends he could go 30 days without women. No sex, no kissing, nothing. Meanwhile, Serena Riggs from the Boston PD decided to go undercover to trap ‘Slick Nick’ Malone. A tip leads her to a hotel where Nick O’Malley is staying on day 29 of his bet. Pretending to be a prostitute, Serena mistakes Nick O’Malley for Nick Malone, which is the common thread of all the books in The Wrong Bed series. Serena’s problems double when she realizes that she has the wrong Nick.

Resolving the Nicks leads to a lot of sexual tension and frustration, which I really enjoyed. She also managed to inject a lot of humor into many of the situations. I also liked how Jennifer pushed the limits on Blaze but introducing a sex slave subplot to the story. This is a Blaze definitely worth reading.

Score: Pretty good

Details: Blaze #228, January 2006