Tasty Book Tours Book Review: The Christmas Cookie Collection w/recipe!

The Christmas Cookie Collection

By: Lori Wilde

Blurb

There’s a legend in Twilight, Texas. It says that if on Christmas you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your one true love, he will be your destiny.

Carrie, Raylene, Christine, and Flynn are all members of the Christmas Cookie Club. Each has a story to tell, and each discovers the miracles of the season and the power of love.

Carrie: Reconnects with her high school sweetheart . . .the only man she’s ever loved.

Raylene: Discovers that the daughter she gave away at birth is living right in Twilight . . .

Christine: Has given up on love . . . until the man of her dreams walks through her shop door.

Grace: It’s Christmas Eve and Flynn and Jesse Calloway are thrilled to be expecting a new baby. Then Flynn’s car hits a patchof ice, and Jesse must move earth . . . and heaven . . .to save her and their unborn child.

Buy Links 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Christmas-Cookie-Collection-ebook/dp/B00DB3FQR0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-christmas-cookie-collection-lori-wilde/1115259268?ean=9780062136305

Read an Excerpt: http://www.loriwilde.com/booklist/the-christmas-cookie-collection/

Link to Follow Tour: http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/2013/10/now-booking-tasty-virtual-book-tour-for.html

Review: The Christmas Cookie Collection is just what the name states a collection of sweet romances. If you like novels by Debbie Macomber, Robyn Carr etc, you'll love Lori Wilde.

These stories are all set in the little town of Twilight Texas that thrives on the Sweetheart Myth, which is anyone that tosses a penny in the fountain will be reunited with their sweetheart and live happily ever after.

I really loved these stories, though I have to say the first two are the best. Carrie and Mark's story was so touching and selfless on her part. I really would have loved it if the two of them would have had a full length novel. I wanted to know more about the youthful lovers who parted so that Mark could go to school.

I also liked how he was a host of a reality show that busts myths and folklore like the Sweetheart myth. It made for some tense moments in the story, since Carrie and Mark as well as one other person in town seemed to bust the myth.

Raylene is the next lady to have a story, but her story was more that of her daughter Shannon, who she gave to her ex-husband of one night and his family. (Or rather they paid for her to go away and never see her child). 

This is kind of a dueling story since Shannon gets involved with town sweetie Nate. God I want to find a Nate of my very own. He was a total sweetie. But you also get glimpses of what happened with Raylene and Earl.  A shocking twist at the end brings that couple back together again, so two happy endings for the price of one.

Christine is the town baker. She has issues stemming from an accident years ago. Her high school crush shows up to get a cake for his daughter's birthday and things blossom between them.

Unlike the first two stories in The Christmas Cookie Collection, Christine's story feels hurried. The issues with Eli's daughter Sienna are resolved to easily, especially as Sienna is fourteen and going through an awful lot.

The final story is super short..the story of the birth of Grace. Her parents are Flynn and Jesse. An accident after Jesse is taken in for questioning prompts Flynn to go into labor. I found myself getting really nervous reading this story and again things worked out a little to quick and easy. For what was going on here, there should have been some drama...or oomph.

I enjoyed all four stories, some more than others, but that didn't make this any less than a fabulous holiday read. I only wish the stories could have connected each woman to another....so that there was more of a novel feel to the book instead of a collection of novellas.

If you are a sucker for Christmas romances...you can't pass this one up!

Rating: 5 flowers

Author Info

LORI WILDE is the New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty books. A former RITA finalist, Lori has received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers’ Choice, and numerous other honors. She lives in Texas, with her husband and a wide assortment of pets. Lori teaches Romance Writing Secrets via the internet through colleges and universities worldwide at www.ed2g.com. Visit her at www.loriwilde.comor @LoriWilde on Twitter.

Lori’s Links:

www.loriwilde.com

twitter handle is @LoriWilde

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Lori-Wilde/126384860719020?fref=ts

Rafflecopter Giveaway (Three Paperback Copies of THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE COLLECTION)

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Candis Terry, Sweetest Mistake, 12/31/13: This is one of my favorite Christmas cookies. It's perfect when paired with a nice cup of hot chocolate or hot buttered rum!

SUGAR TOPS

Ingredients:

6 ounces white chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1½ cups chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation:

Melt white chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir till chocolate is smooth.

Blend butter (or margarine) and 1 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer for at least 5 minutes or til fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time. Blend well.

Add vanilla. Blend well.

Add melted chocolate. Blend for 30 seconds.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture. Blend well. Stir in walnuts or pecans.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or till edges are lightly browned.

Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Sprinkle tops of cookies with powdered sugar.