ARC Book Review: Christmas Once Again

Author: Jina Bacarr
Title: Christmas Once Again
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publish Date: Oct 10, 2019
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: All she wants for Christmas is to save the man she loves… On a cold December day in 1955, Kate Arden got on a train to go home for Christmas. This is the story of what happened when she got off that train. In 1943. In 1943 Kate Arden was engaged to the man she loved, Jeffrey Rushbrooke. She was devastated and heartbroken when he was called up for wartime duty and later killed on a secret mission in France. But what if Kate could change that? What if she could warn him and save his life before Christmas? Or will fate have a bigger surprise in store for her? Christmas Once Again is a sweeping, heartbreakingly romantic novel - it's one woman's chance to follow a different path and mend her broken heart...



Review: Christmas Once Again is my first holiday romance of 2019, but it isn't my first book by Jina Bacarr. I know her more for the erotic romances for the Spice line, so I wasn't sure what to expect with a novel dealing with time travel and WWII.

What I got was a very pleasant surprise and one that definitely made me feel all tingly inside. Its the story of Kate who lost the man she loved during the war. A letter received 12 years later and a trip home send her back in time, where she does her best to save him and maybe even fix a few mistakes she made back then.

I instantly connected to Kate who was a strong woman that made her way in the world after losing her love. The time travel in the story was perfect. Kate's journey into her past was done so well. I loved watching her reconnect with her family and the way she tried to change things other than whether Jeff lived or died. I think everyone wishes that they did some things differently in their life, and Kate got to do than.

Jina wove a really beautiful story, complete with a baddy, aka a future evil mother in law. I really wonder what Kate's life is going to turn out like once Mrs. Rushbrooke is family? Cos that lady was pretty nasty.

The holiday setting is more a backdrop and a setup for the story, but it makes for a beautiful way of reconnecting, which is what the holiday is about.

If you like time travel novels and WWII this a fabulous book you won't want to miss

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Review: Naked Sushi

Author: Jina Bacarr
Title: Naked Sushi
Publisher: Harlequin: Cosmo Red-Hot Reads
Publish Date: Oct 15, 2013
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: One day I'm getting canned from my job as a computer programmer for having wild copy-room sex with a guy I thought was the new game designer. The next, I'm crashing my ex-boss's business lunch in a creative attempt to get my job back and men are eating sushi off my naked body!

That's when I realize:

a) My ex-boss is a hiding corporate secrets

b) Hot copy-room guy is an undercover FBI agent

c) I would make a kick-ass spy!

Then Special Agent Hottie brings out his cuffs, and things get really interesting…

Review: Jina Bacarr writes some pretty spicy erotic for Harlequin. She also really likes to add a Japanese touch to her books, so I was really curious as to how the sushi figured into the story, and what other elements she brought to the table.

Pepper O'Malley is a geeky computer programmer who lost her job because she was getting some on the copier. To try to get her job back she takes her friends job as a sushi model in order to talk to her old boss.

Yes, there are such things as sushi models where people eat sushi off of the body of a naked chick.

(Uh...no thank you)

The copy room sex is hot, so at least she lost her job for a good cause, but after that the story gets a little out of hand. Jina's plot is a little too intricate to work well in a story that is only a little over 100 pages long. It really needed some more length.

But I have to admit, Pepper and Steve (The FBI/Copier Guy) have their moments, some spicy and some silly, so it gave the story some balance, if not levity.

Steve (The FBI Guy) is trying to flush out her boss for some money laundering he's doing through his business and Pepper gets to go along for the ride. It helps that she always wanted to work for the FBI/CIA. So the two of them are in close contact and sparks are flying all over the place because they are both...well...horny...and they can't keep their hands off each other.

This is not a short story to be taken seriously, it is one to read, enjoy and maybe get a few laughs from.

Rating: 4 flowers