Stroke of Midnight

Carly Phillips: Midnight Angel
After ten years of being America’s hottest Hollywood heartthrob, Dylan North is returning home to Acton, Massachusetts. He is going home for the holidays and to claim the woman that he left behind. He only hopes that he’s not too late. Dr. Holly Evans knows that Dylan is back, the whole town has talked of nothing else, but she doesn’t expect him to seek her out and is not sure she is happy when he does. He was her first love and he broke her heart and her trust when he left town taking all of her dreams with him. It soon becomes apparent that the fire still burns between Dylan and Holly, but can romance between a Hollywood heartthrob and a small-town doctor survive after “the stroke of midnight”? This is Carly Phillips at her best. Midnight Angel would be a winner simply because of its engaging characters, sentimental circumstances and hot chemistry, but the thing that will have me going back and reading this story again and again is the emotion between Dylan and Holly. It is strong, it is believable and it is pure holiday magic.

Janelle Denison: Meet Me at Midnight
Alyssa Harte and Shane Witmer have been best friends since they were five years old. They have many traditions that they share and one of them is making New Years resolutions together. This year Alyssa has decided that she is going to put herself on the line emotionally in hopes of finding her Mr. Right. Shane decides that it is time to let the woman that he has been in love with for years know how he feels. Alyssa begins getting instant messages from a secret admirer and after talking with him online agrees to meet him at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Shane asks Alyssa to help him update his image because he is going to meet his lady love at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Stick with the safety of friendship or risk it all for the chance of finding a love that is deep, passionate and all consuming? That is the question that has plagued millions of male/female friendships over the years and is a question that Alyssa and Shane must answer in Meet Me at Midnight. As always, Janelle Denison creates scenarios that are realistic and characters that are endearing. This is one of those stories that is both sweet and sexy and that I will read again and again.

Jacquie D’Allessandro: Mine at Midnight
If CPA Tom Farrell had known what was in store for him as a result of his meeting with “Perfect Parties” owner Merrie Langston he would have closed up shop and headed home early. After two years he should be accustomed to her showing up for meetings in costume and bringing her business receipts in baggies. Being prepared doesn’t stop his heart from leaping in his chest every time she walks in his door and the sexy elf costume that she is currently wearing is having an effect on areas of his body besides his heart. When she gets a message that her Santa has eloped and begs him to play the part for ONE birthday party he takes one look into her pleading brown eyes and soon finds himself in full Santa regalia. Tom soon finds that he likes playing Santa to Merrie’s elf, almost as much as he likes Merrie. Too bad a spontaneous party planner and a by-the-book accountant can never mesh well enough to have a serious and permanent relationship. Can they? This is a fantastic story; it’s sexy, funny and heartwarming. I can just see poor Tom shaking his head and wondering about his sanity and Merrie’s. I can also feel the emotion and see how these two unlikely lovers are the perfect balance for each other. This is the first work that I have read by Jacquie D’Allessandro, but I am on my way to her website now to see what else she has to offer and I suggest that you do the same.

Midnight, New Year’s Eve: midnight, Christmas Eve: Two of the most romantic dates and times of the year. Why? Perhaps it’s the ending of the old and beginning of the new. Perhaps we’ve just been conditioned by the world around us to view it as romantic. Whatever the reason, midnight on these two dates is one of my all time favorite settings for romance. It is a time when anything can happen, any obstacle can be overcome, and the world explodes with magic. Don’t believe me? You will after reading Stroke of Midnight by three of the leading ladies of romance Carly Phillips, Janelle Denison and Jacquie D’Allessandro.

Reviewed by: Missy