My 2012 #Thursday13 Holiday TBR List

I LOVE to read Christmas books.
Christmas-themed books fall into the same category as Christmas music and decorations. For me, this means I'll only read them between Thanksgiving and New Years just like I'll only listen to Christmas music during that time and I'll only leave my decorations up during that time. BUT that doesn't mean I don't plan ahead... I scout around beginning in early November for Christmas romances I'll read during the holiday season. I choose a wide variety of sub-genres and get at least a dozen.

Since I LOVE to read and I LOVE Christmas, putting these two together is better than when they put peanut butter and chocolate together (sorry, Reese). So today I present the 13 CHRISTMAS BOOKS that I plan to read this year.

Be sure to tell me what you think. Leave a link with a suggestion for other Christmas books - shameless promotion welcome! See #13 for an example of shameless promotion. ONE LUCKY COMMENTER will win a copy of my holiday book.

1. Oh Christmas Tree, SJ Thomas
I admit to originally falling for the cover but then I read the blurb and am sold. Can't wait to read this!
A Christmas curse trapped him and a Christmas wish released him, but will the passion that is ignited be strong enough to keep them together? Cursed by the Spirit of Christmas, Scottish tree spirit Ghille Dhu has been bound in his spirit form to the Christmas tree for over a hundred and fifty years. He can only be freed by a woman with a true belief in Christmas. Escaping the hurt of a recent breakup, Amanda Pearce has come to Scotland for the holidays and she is stunned when her idle wish for someone to share Christmas with conjures a fierce, wild looking male from her Christmas tree. Having been trapped for so long Ghille Dhu is gripped by an overwhelming lust and desire for the woman who has freed him; a lust and desire that Amanda returns. She wants this other worldly male, and when his dominant side is revealed Amanda is surprised by her ready submission. As Christmas approaches Amanda submits to Ghille Dhu's wild desires and firm control in ways she never has before, but will she give enough of herself to break the curse forever?

2. Vanilla Free Christmas ANTHOLOGY
Anthologies are fun over the holidays because I might only get small snippits of time for reading. I plan on reading this between baking cookie batches on Saturday!
Nine Author Kink Anthology... Santa's Beard by Doris O'Connor, The Olympian by Sandra Bunino, Three in a Tub by Giselle Renarde, A Few of My Favorite Things by Seleste deLaney, The Man Inside by Lila Shaw
Who's Been Naughty and Nice? by Vanessa Devereaux, Secrets Santa by Raven McAllan, Faith's Gift by R. Brennan, A Very Furry Christmas by Jorja Lovett. This Christmas, the best gifts are waiting for those who have been naughty… And the toys under the tree are not for children. Sexy Santas, naughty elves, and dominant shifters are ready to spread some very kinky Christmas cheer. It’s a good thing the ladies in our stories are looking for anything but vanilla.

3. A Christmas Accident, Melissa Keir
I chose this as a sweet read - it's just a guess but I think this is going to be an emotional read. I also love holiday books that are part of a series. And it's a steal for only 99 cents!
Expecting her first child, Sherri Wilder Davison wants nothing more than to spend time with her father over the holidays, but fate has a way of changing her best-laid plans. Adam Davison is willing to do anything to make his pregnant wife happy. He will face hell to have her home for the holidays. For Sherri and Adam, the holidays are a time of celebration and love, but this Christmas will be unlike any they have ever faced. When a horrible blizzard causes an automobile accident that puts the lives of those Sherri loves on the line, can a Christmas miracle save them?

4. For The Love of Mutt, Doris OConnor
Since I love OConnor's Club Ink series, this was a no-brainer for me. I love me some sexy shifters! Plus the cover grabbed me - I'm a sucker for a well-designed cover.
A homeless shelter at Christmas may seem an odd place to find one's soul mate, but love knows no boundaries—or does it? Anja has grown fond of the wolf-like dog hanging around the shelter. With her soon to be ex -boyfriend putting pressure on her, her canine friend proves to be more reliable than any human could ever be. If only he were more than just a dog. Helping others is not always easy to do, unless Ethan can do so undercover. However, hiding your true self brings problems of its own. Finding a mate had not been in Ethan's plan of action, but Anja's easy acceptance of Mutt breaks through all of his defenses. The problem is he is not what he seems, and will his deception by proxy prove the end of them before they even have a chance at love?

5. New York Christmas, RJ Scott
This one took a bit longer to choose. I loved the cover, the blurb was nice but I've been spoiled by some really great emotional m/m books lately, especially from SJD Peterson, that I read the excerpt before committing. That did it - I added this one to my list!
It's been far too long since Christian Matthews has seen Daniel Bailey. In fact the last time they met Chris was a senior in college and he was the TA tasked with helping Daniel who was a way too confident freshman. Some years down the road, Chris is licking his wounds after being asked to leave the private school where he was teaching. He has no job, no money, and has to rely on his friend Amelia for the job and a room to live in. He needs a freaking Christmas miracle to make this Season anything other than a total loss. Then Daniel comes back into his life and suddenly everything seems possible. Not only is Daniel still the man Christian wants more than anything, but this time Chris may well actually tell Daniel how he feels.

6. Sweet Inspiration, Penny Watson
I hit the jackpot! It's a Christmas series. This means next year, I can read about the next Klaus brother. BEWARE: There are two covers and I almost ignored it because I didn't like one but then I investigated further, fell for the story line and then discovered the re-vamped cover. 
What if the legend of Santa Claus is in fact, true? What if Santa has five big strapping sons who help him run his empire? Five single, sexy sons looking for romance... Nicholas Klaus is a master pastry chef, a strict disciplinarian, and the eldest son of the legendary Santa Claus. One look at café owner Lucy Brewster sends him into an unexpected tailspin of lusty desires. When Lucy is injured, Nicholas makes a decision that catapults both of their lives into turmoil .... Lucy Brewster, the free-spirited proprietor of Sweet Inspiration, has a flair for concocting sugary confections but no time for adventure. She gets more than she bargained for when she awakens in the North Pole...rambunctious elves, a fitness-obsessed Santa, and the man of her dreams. Does she have what it takes to become the next Mrs. Klaus?

7. Holiday Bound, Beth Kerry
I discovered Beth Kerry this year with her serial romance. The when I read this book's warning: "This book contains scenes of sensual submission hot enough to make you sweat in a blizzard," I was sold. Everyone needs a hot book on a cold day after all.
Alex Carradine can't believe his father wants to come and visit his ski resort. Could it be that after so many stormy years, "slick Mitch" Carradine wants to offer an olive branch? Maybe the old man is mellowing, settling down with the new lover he's bringing along. Then Alex realizes the acid truth. This is no warm family visit. His father's new conquest is none other than the woman of Alex's sexual fantasies, meant only to dangle tauntingly in front of his face. At least an unexpected blizzard has frozen his father out of the picture entirely. Angeline Kastakis was looking forward to taking the next step in her relationship with Mitch. Too late, she realizes she's been led into a familial battle zone. Now it's Christmas and she's marooned in a blizzard with an insolent, gorgeous hunk of man whose blazing blue eyes tell her loud and clear he wants her in his bed. Preferably tied to it with a bow. There's no escape in sight. But as Alex stirs her secret longing to be mastered by a man, escape is the last thing on her mind...


8. Tangled Tinsel, Vivian Arend
This is my funny pick - I always need at least one laugh aloud book - according to the reviews I've read. Plus who can go wrong with a sexy cougar shifter and handcuffs?
She's the cat's meow, and he's ready to pounce... And that's before they announce their fake engagement... Five miles of leather-clad leg is all it takes to lure Kyle Branegan out from his carefully hidden lifestyle as part of the Cougar Corp, a secret branch of the Shifter Enforcer League. He's hoping for a night of fun and frolic, cat-style, no strings attached. With a sultry swing of her hips, Eloise Scott tangles him up in her ball of tricks, and just when he thinks he's about to get lucky, she cuffs him--naked--to her bed. An undercover cop in the human police force, El's been given a top-secret mission to keep the big cat under her paw until he's needed to testify in court in the New Year. Her decision to take him home for a quiet Christmas in her sleepy hometown turns out to be far more interesting than she expected. Her parents are suddenly rich, her old boyfriend is sniffing around and all six-feet-plus of sexy cougar male is sleeping in her bed.

9. Reindeer Games: Rudolf & Dancer, Drea Layne

I'm not positive but I think this is a series with each book by a different author. Aside from the hot cover, the plot is also incredibly original and I can't resist a sweet love reunion during the holidays.
Over the years Donna Dancer has lusted and loved only one man, Paul Rudolf. But there is only so much heartbreak one shifter can take before shattering. After he brother, L.J., gets hurt in a freak accident Donna is forced to go home and face the mate that doesn't want anything to do with her. Hopefully he won't shatter her already fragile heart. Being the leader of Santa's sleigh is a very prestigious job, but lately Paul Rudolf life has been lacking both in and our of his workplace. With a detrimental work load stacked upon his shoulders Paul finds himself wishing he had someone to share the burden with and wishing he never turned his one true mate away. When she shows up at his families barbeque its as fate has given him a second chance to right the wrongs and move on with the future. Will thirty years of space save these two mates and bring them finally together? Or will the past repeat itself and leave them forever wanting.

10. North of Need, Laura Kaye
It's almost too good to be true. Laura Kaye, another author I've come to love, has a Christmas-themed book that't the first in a paranormal series I can keep reading after the New Year. Plus the plot reminds me of the movie Jack Frost which I cry through every time (yes, I watch it every Christmas season. yes, my boys run for their lives!).
While attempting to escape the agonizing memories she associates with Christmas, twenty-nine-year-old widow Megan Snow builds a snow family outside the mountain cabin she once shared with her husband-and collapses in tears against the snowman at the sight of what she'll never have.Called to life by the power of Megan's tears, snow god Owen Winters appears unconscious on her doorstep in the midst of a raging blizzard. As she nurses him to health, Owen finds unexpected solace in her company and unimagined pleasure in the warmth of her body, and vows to win her heart for a chance at humanity.Megan is drawn to Owen's mismatched eyes, otherworldly masculinity, and enthusiasm for the littlest things, and her heart opens enough to believe he's a Christmas miracle. But this miracle comes with an expiration-before the snow melts and the temperature rises, Megan must let go of her widow's grief and learn to trust love again, or she'll lose Owen forever.

11. Melt, Natalie Anderson
This book seems similar in flavor to Raine Miller's Blackstone Affair which I devoured. Lately I've been drawn to these stories with two broken, unlikely lovers who find their HEA with one another. Fingers crossed, I'm going to melt for this one!
Emma Reed closed her heart to love years ago after a lifetime spent getting kicked around foster homes and bad relationships. Now she’s on a mission to prove she deserves her recent award to paint a mural for a research base in Antarctica. Nothing and no one is going to get in her way. After months working in recovery zones around the world, Hunter Wilson planned to escape everything this holiday season by rebuilding a lab at the Kiwi Research Base. Alone. No to family, no to fun. It’s isolation not intimacy he’s aching for. But when he sees the determined artist, that ache becomes an urge – after all, shouldn’t someone show her what two people can do with twenty-four hours of brilliant sunlight?

12. Bear Meets Girl, Shelly Laurenston
I know this is stretching it but I really want to read this next Pride book. The book has a wintry feel -and it takes place during Winter- so let's just pretend. You won't tell, will you?
He's big, burly, and way smarter than your average shapeshifting bear. He's also about to get trapped by own his game... Lou Crushek is a reasonable, mellow, easygoing kind of guy. But once someone starts killing the scumbags he works so hard to bust, that really gets under his fur. Especially when that someone is a curvy she-tiger with a skill set that's turning Crush's lone-bear world upside down--and bringing his passion out of hibernation... As a member of an elite feline protection unit, Marcella Malone has no problem body-dropping anyone who hunts her kind. But Crush is proving one major pain in her gorgeous tail. The only reason she's joined forces with him is to track down the wealthy human who's got her entire species in his ruthless sights. It sure isn't because Crush's stubborn and contrary attitude is rubbing Cella in all the right ways.

13. Holiday Gem, Paloma Beck
It's coming soon from Secret Cravings Publishing... book three in my Seven Sin Sisters series takes place around the holidays. Seamus and Gemma celebrate their first Winter Solstice together. To celebrate, I'm giving an ARC away to one random commenter!
Seven sisters are entwined in a legacy, one originating back from the time of the Italian Wars in the 1500s. One by one, they find their mates from the immortal Valendite Breeds and secure their place in history. Gemma has spent her adult life consumed with researching the Valendite Breed history, constantly greedy for knowledge about their race. Until she meets Seamus and she's no longer able to hide in her world of books and theory. Now is her time to live. Seamus has found his gem and he wants nothing more than to treasure her. But his best friend is missing and he needs to locate him. Torn between his mate and his brother-in-arms, Seamus may be forced to choose one over the other. Will he sacrifice a lifelong friendship for the love of his life?

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