Review: Sleigh Ride & Giveaway

Summary: A Winter Anthology includes seven wintry tales of romance, adventure and drama by award-winning women authors. Megan Barlog, Maria Geraci, Dani Stone, Malena Lott, Maggie Marr, Jenny Peterson, Samantha Wilde. Each short story includes a sleigh ride and is sure to put the reader in the mood for the most wonderful season of all. Called "beautiful" and "touching," this collection is a Good Read/Good Deed project with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the domestic violence prevention cause. -- Buzz Books

I am such a sucker for Christmas books so when Malena Lott contacted me about doing a giveaway for SLEIGH RIDE, I couldn't help but say yes. SLEIGH RIDE is a winter anthology and contains seven short stories authored by Malena Lott, Megan Barlog, Dani Stone, Maria Geraci, Jenny Peterson, Maggie Marr, and Samantha Wilde. I figured it would be an ideal read for this very busy time of year.

I found the stories in SLEIGH RIDE to be a very entertaining and they definitely helped get me in the mood for the holidays. Each of the seven short stories had a common theme -- a sleigh ride of some sort; and I thought it was cute to see the different ways a sleigh ride was used in each story. Most of the stories had pretty traditional sleigh rides, although some weren't exactly fun and romantic; however, one of the stories had a futuristic twist and gave new meaning to the term "sleigh ride."

As is the case with most collections of short stories, there were ones that I enjoyed more than others. Having said that, I did find things I liked in each of the stories. Overall, I appreciated SLEIGH RIDE because each of the stories was so different from the others -- it is a rather eclectic mix of plots and writing styles. However, I also enjoyed how all of the the stories had something in common. Each story managed to touch my heart in some way and make me grateful for my life and loved ones. You'd have to be a major grinch for these short stories not to warm your heart a little.

I know this is going to sound weird, but I seemed to enjoy the romance story lines in SLEIGH RIDE the most. (Maybe it's because I get sentimental around this time of year!) I even found myself with a lump in my throat or a tear in my eye in quite a few of the stories. And more in keeping with my personality, I appreciated that food seemed to be a common theme in many of the stories. Since these were holiday stories, it just made sense that there were lots of enticing descriptions of food and drink. There were even a few of the characters' recipes that were included in the back of the book.

SLEIGH RIDE was just a feel-good holiday book. While many might find the stories a bit predictable or even a little sappy, I didn't mind at all. Sometimes, it's just nice to read book that is both heartwarming and fun... especially during the holiday season.

Giveaway alert: I have a copy of SLEIGH RIDE to share with one lucky reader courtesy of Malena Lott. You can pick from either a galley copy or an Amazon ebook version. To enter just fill out the form below before Tuesday, December 13th at 11:59 p.m. ET. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. Good luck!