TBR Day. A Dixie Christmas / Sandra Hill. 2011


I've never read Sandra Hill before. Judging by her website she's a popular and prolific author of paranormals, Viking heroes, and humorous contemporaries. I've certainly seen her books in the book stores, but I rarely see them mentioned in my favorite corners of Romancelandia. I think the only reason I downloaded this to my Kindle was that it was free.

All I can say is that I don't think Sandra Hill is for me. I quit about 20% of the way into it and downloaded Mackenzie Family Christmas to read instead. Quite the nice palate cleanser that was, too. Sadly, this is not a review of MFC.

A Dixie Christmas is actually two novellas. One is called Blue Christmas which was originally published in 1998. During the short time I was reading it I could tell it was written before cell phones were ubiquitous, so it was jarring to see that Hill had gone in there and in a line where the date is mentioned inserted "2011." I almost lost it there, but I kept going. For a little while, anyway.

Blue Christmas is a kind of Scrooge meets Harlequin Presents. The hero is a wealthy tycoon come to Memphis to deal with a property left to him by his father. There he meets the heroine, a struggling farmer on the edge of financial ruin, who is valiantly raising her younger brothers. There is love at first sight and a ton of mental lusting. I actually don't mind either of those, but here it seemed over the top. I just didn't find it fun or funny and since it 'tis the season, I didn't have the will or the heart to finish the book or try the other story in it.

I took a look at the Amazon reviews for this and they were pretty much split 50-50. The negative reviews mirrored what I was thinking as I read. I think if you're someone who has enjoyed Sandra Hill in the past you'd probably enjoy this. But you're going to have to work hard to convince me to give her another try.

Comments

  1. willafulDecember 19, 2012 at 1:44 PM

    She's on my "tried, don't try again list" which is probably the most negative thing I can say about an author, because I'm a confirmed believer in trying again. Though "Scrooge meets Harlequin Presents" almost convinces me to try. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PhylDecember 21, 2012 at 11:08 AM

      I'm glad you like the "Scrooge/HP" comparison. Lots of elements are there: workaholic tycoon; poor, hard-working heroine, etc. But I bet you wouldn't find cow milking in too many HPs!

      Delete
  2. HilciaDecember 19, 2012 at 3:05 PM

    I haven't tried Sandra Hill, Phyl. Sorry this didn't work for you, but I sympathize with you. I had a tough time choosing a Christmas book to read this year from my TBR pile too... I wanted to read a contemporary and just couldn't find one to fit my mood. It took a while to find one. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PhylDecember 21, 2012 at 11:09 AM

      I wish I had some old Regency Christmas ones still unread. I would have liked one of those. But I couldn't find one.

      Delete
  3. WendyDecember 19, 2012 at 5:35 PM

    On the bright side - it's out of your TBR!

    The bummer here is that you had a single author anthology. When you get into the first story, don't like it, and one of the reasons you don't like it is the author's voice? Not a lot of point in trying the other stories.

    I've never read Hill but she writes Funny-Ha-Ha books. Wendy does not do Funny-Ha-Ha books....

    ReplyDelete
  4. PhylDecember 21, 2012 at 11:10 AM

    It's out of my TBR and even off my Kindle! Funny-Ha-Ha is very subjective and hard to pull off. I don't care for them either.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ChristineDecember 25, 2012 at 8:51 PM

    At least you tried. So you liked the MacKenzie Christmas story? I wish I was caught up in that series--everyone is enjoying that one. Well I bought it so y'all know what I'll be reading next Dec! Lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PhylDecember 30, 2012 at 8:50 PM

      Yes, I did enjoy it. But I'm like lots of others--I love more of Ian and Beth :)
      I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, too. We've been visiting my in-laws in southern California. And I've been a good girl, staying off the computer. Boy has that been hard.
      Happy New Year!

      Delete
  6. ChristineDecember 25, 2012 at 8:52 PM

    Oh! Merry Christmas!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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