Holiday Magic

Cedar Key #2.5

by Fern Michaels, Cathy Lamb, Mary Carter

Mistletoe, magic, twinkling lights, and stolen kisses. . . Experience all the wonders of the holiday season with these four irresistible stories. . .

"Holiday Magic" by Fern Michaels

Ski shop manager Stephanie Marshall is counting on a holiday bonus so she can put a down payment on a home for herself and her daughters. But her handsome boss, Eddie O'Brien, has his own Christmas wish--one that could lead to a lifetime of loving. . .

"A Very Merry Christmas" by Cathy Lamb

Meredith Ghirlandaio's to-do list is already overflowing, between keeping her B&B afloat, directing the town's holiday concert, and trying to avoid rancher Logan Taylor. Doesn't he know Meredith's through with men--even rugged, alpha, drop-dead-gorgeous men? Then again, some vows were meant to be broken. . .

"A Very Maui Christmas" by Mary Carter

Tara Lane has the perfect plan to avoid another hellish family holiday--fly to Maui. Too bad her family decided to follow suit. But a laid-back handyman is about to prove you don't need snow to have a sparkling, sexy Christmas. . .

"A Cedar Key Christmas" by Terri DuLong

Single mom Josie Sullivan is proud of her young daughter, Orli, for helping local fisherman Mr. Al restore his crumbling home. And when Mr. Al's nephew, Ben, pays a visit, Josie realizes just how much Christmas magic one good deed can bring. . .

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Holiday, Anthologies, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Fern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.

As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.

Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.

Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.

READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Very Merry Christmas by Cathy Lamb 4 stars

A Very Maui Christmas by Mary Carter 4 stars

A Cedar Key Christmas by Terri Dulong 4 stars

Holiday Magic by Fern Michaels
1 star.

I really enjoyed 3 out of 4 stories in this book but Fern Michaels..


FERN MICHAELS...

Her story is absolute trash.

Stephanie Marshall is trying to put her life back together after leaving her abusive husband. He beat and belittled her for years but now he's in jail and she is working at a ski shop and trying to raise her two daughters. The "love" interest is her boss Eddie O'Brien who after going on 3 dates with her has spent the last few months belittling her, yelling at her and threatening to fire her over the smallest things. At one point he yells at her in front of her daughters in such a vile way that those daughters who witnessed their father abusing their mother...cried and were shaking with fear.

That's the man she ends up with. He never apologizes or changes in anyway but we are suppose to think that this is a happy ending?
And yes they try to explain away his verbally abusive behavior by saying that he is afraid of falling in love because he doesn't want to lose that person.

BITCH PLEASE!

Someone who belittles you or verbally abuses you does not love you. You should never think that's okay behavior and you don't have to put up with that shit.

If you read this book skip the Fern Michaels story.

[May · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love the idea of holiday 'themed' novellas. That there will be some magical holiday details, a heart warming story, and some cheer...

It's for these reasons that I picked up this book - and while I don't believe I've read any the authors featured previously, the blurbs + cover art was enough to have me take a chance on this. Lesson learned. From now on, I'll only try novellas if I know and LOVE one or more authors.

Story #1: Abused woman working at ski resort gets fired by her verbally abusive boss (who she had dated a few times)... and... well this story was short and left me with my head hurting. It made NO sense, had no actual plot, was totally craptastic.

Story #2: I actually liked this one - about a woman raising her sister's kids in a small town operating a B&B. The heroine of our story was pretty dang cool... until her "I can never have a relationship because..." secret was revealed. I was so shocked, I had expected her to be covered in scars or intense burns or deformities the way she talked!! The author kept it such a secret, when she finally reveals the 'ugly' truth I could hardly believe that was all/it. ugh.

Story #3: Woman wins free trip to Maui because a reindeer bit her (and travel company offers) and her whole family joins her. Nothing to recommend here either - I kept wondering when it would get to a point or be over. LAME.

Story #4: I have no idea. Will add to this review if I ever read it.

Instead I think I'll trade this back into used book store for something else. QUICK! Before I loose my holiday spirit for reading such short stories...

[Denisa Arsene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give 2 stars just because it is about Christmas. Poor qriting... Anyways, if you want just to read something really easy about Christmas, go for it.

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 2 out of 5]

What did l just read?!

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holiday Magic by Fern Michaels

I haven’t read a story by Fern Michaels in years and after reading this novella, I’m wondering what has happened to her writing over the course of years. Holiday Magic, lacks the romance and allure that I want―no need in my story. Stephanie Marshall is a domestic abuse survivor. After suffering years of abuse from her ex-husband and fighting to get away, she is putting the pieces of her life back together. The one thing that she wants is to provide a loving and nurturing home for her two daughters. She is one step closer to achieving this goal of getting a dream home. All she needs to do is work through the holiday and provide the rest of her down payment. She deserves a bit of holiday magic.

Patrick O’Brien runs the ski shop that Stephanie works at. He is strongly attracted to Stephanie but she sparks something inside of him that he is afraid of. This holiday season he is dealing with a lot of family issues and heartache (he lost a niece). Honestly, I hated Patrick. He acts like an ass for the entire story. Since this is a short story (100 pages), a more desirable and suitable hero would have been the best choice for this story.

Instead of Stephanie receiving any holiday magic, she receives in my opinion, a bit of holiday glum with Patrick’s mean and nasty behavior. He berates her in front of her small children, friends and co-workers. His cold and vindictive behavior leaves little to be desired and their HEA felt forced and really unrealistic. Overall, this story did nothing to bring me holiday cheer.

A Very Merry Christmas by Cathy Lamb

Cathy Lamb is a new author for me and I will not be rushing out to get her books anytime soon. The story feels very choppy and the writing was juvenile. Her characters and scenes jumped all over the place. The author waits a whole chapter and scene later to explain something that was in a previous chapter. I had a hard time following the story and the characters did not appeal to me.

Meredith acts a little unrealistic and is contradictory in the story. The begin of the story starts with Meredith in a bar, kicking some butt after a guy gropes her. She is a feisty cowgirl. Shortly after that she reveals that she runs a B&B and is raising her two sister’s children. So how does she have time to be rough and tough in the bar? Then she is asked to direct the town’s holiday concert and she begins a relationship with Logan. I didn’t connect well with the characters. Meredith does have it rough and her story is heart breaking but I could have done without this story.


The last two stories, A Very Maui Christmas by Mary Carter and A Cedar Key Christmas by Terri DuLong, I did finish. I really do hate to DNF a book because it is so disappointing to me but in this case, the stories in the anthology lack a lot of character development, romance and realism. In A Very Maui Christmas, the story never really picks up. From the very beginning I became uninterested in the story. I had to eventually skim through the pages and I still felt nothing.

A Cedar Key Christmas by Terri DuLong was a straight DNF. I gave up at this point. Why should I subject myself any further? I’m slightly disappointed because a big name author like Fern Michaels probably draws attention to a book but even she did nothing for me in this book. It’s not like there aren’t four chances to get it right in here but each story fails in its own way.

[Patricia Solla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an oddly named anthology of stories set at Christmas time. Am still trying to find where the magic is found. The story by Fern Michaels is really odd in the romance department. The story by Cathy Lamb is very Christmas involved and enjoyable. Mary Carter's story is a sort of holiday celebration overload but I really liked the Adult christmas village. Terri DuLong's Cedar Key Christmas emphasizes the giving/helping nature of the town.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing in this is fine and all. The reason I gave this one star is the mind-boggling choice to include a "romance" about a victim of domestic violence to then fall in love with someone who repeatedly verbally abuses her, alone and in front of her coworkers and children. And it's not like the "hero" secretly loves her and can't control what he says—he thinks terrible and mean things about her all the time! And there is no resolution at the end. He never apologizes. His only explanation for his actions (which included firing her without just cause and because of his bad temper, causing her to lose out on a bank loan for a new home for the MC and her two daughters) is that he's emotionally fragile because his niece died. THAT'S IT. That's literally all she wrote.

It's possible this book could have been salvaged in longer form versus a novella, but I'm not sure it would have been worth it. All around it sends a terrible message—not just at Christmas but any time of year.

[Rochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the stories in this order:

A Very Merry Christmas
A Very Maui Christmas
A Cedar Creek Christmas
Holiday Magic

The last two are the last two of my favorites because I didn't like the male leads as much as in the first two books. All were easy reads and enjoyable.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of Holiday Magic
A CEDAR KEY CHRISTMAS by Terri Dulong and loved the storyline
and characters of course the setting of Cedar Key goes without
saying.

[Książkowe_Wyliczanki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lekka, przyjemna książka na Święta. Poszukiwanie miłości i spełnienia w czasie Bożego Narodzenia.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Telluride, Colorado, 26 noiembrie 2010, Vinerea Neagră
Stephanie mai aruncă o privire spre ceas, să fie sigură că nu rămâne în urmă cu programul pe care singură şi-l impusese: 5:50 a.m. Astăzi, uşile magazinului se deschideau la ora şapte fix, nici mai devreme, nici mai târziu era cea mai aglomerată zi din an la Snow Zone, magazinul cu echipamente pentru schi din Maximum Glide, unde Stephanie lucra ca manager de aproape doi ani. Cu o oră înainte de deschiderea magazinului, Stephanie ajusta volumul boxelor stereo, ascunse departe de privirile clienţilor. În încăpere se revărsară acordurile vesele ale melodiei Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas cântată de Michael Bolton. Luă de sub tejghea patru lumânări mari, parfumate cu esenţă de scorţişoară, căută un chibrit şi apoi aprinse fiecare lumânare în parte, aşezându-le cu grijă într-un loc sigur, unde nu puteau fi dărâmate de clienţii care se uitau la diversele obiecte expuse pe rafturi sau de schiorii care intrau echipaţi pentru pârtie. Deşi la intrare şi în magazine erau anunţuri scrise cu litere mari: ESTE INTERZISĂ INTRAREA CU ECHIPAMENT DE SCHI ÎN INCINTA MAGAZINULUI. Stephanie făcu nişte cafea, puse apă la fiert pentru ciocolata fierbinte şi aduse câteva duzini de gogoşi pentru clienţii matinali. Dacă lua în calcul cantitatea de zahăr care se consuma zilele astea, mersul la cumpărături era muncă grea, nu glumă. Stephanie zâmbi la gândul sezonului de sărbători care era pe cale să înceapă. În următoarele patru săptămâni, Maximum Glide va fi plin de turiştii sosiţi din toate colţurile lumii şi, bineînţeles, de localnicii care veneau cu maşinile, să-şi petreacă acolo sfârşitul de săptămână. Verifică încă o dată rafturile şi aranjă din nou trei pulovere de culoare roşu aprins, cu gulere înalte şi fulare asortate. Diversele tipuri de bocanci de schi erau expuse la vânzare, iar cele care se vindeau cu reducere de preţ erau marcate cu abţibilduri portocalii. Mănuşile impermeabile, rămase în stoc de anul trecut, erau aşezate lângă produsele de anul acesta, care propuneau un design nou. Astfel, oamenii puteau hotărî singuri dacă modelul care era ultimul răcnet în materie de stil merita sau nu diferenţa de preţ. Din punctul ei de vedere, Stephanie considera că produsele erau, în mare, cam aceleaşi, cu excepţia unui buzunar cu fermoar adăugat mănuşilor produse anul acesta, în care se puteau băga încălzitoare pentru mâini.

[Ana Daniela Ratiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

O DORINTA DE CRACIUN

Fix cand a venit vara eu am citit o carte cu tematica de Crăciun 😆 O carte cu doua povesti, despre Magia sarbatorilor de iarna si despre iubire bineinteles. Doua lecturi usurele.

Stephanie a avut o casnicie de cosmar, cu un sot abuziv. De doi ani de cand acesta e la închisoare, traieste linistita alaturi de cele doua fiice Amanda si Ashley. E Manager la un magazin de articole sportive si spera ca de Craciun sa se mute in propria lor casa. In urma unui incident, fiint stresata si speriata vrea sa inchida mai devreme magazinul, dar seful sau Eddie, o trimite in concediu fara plata pt o luna. Asta e un fel de razbunare fara ca ea sa ii fi facut ceva, decat ca au iesit in oras de cateva otisi el incepe sa aiba anumite sentimente pentru ea si fiicele sale sa I se strecoare in suflet. El nu vrea asa ceva. Apoi lucrurile in viata lui Stephanie o cam iau razna si mandra cum e nu vrea ajutorul nimanui, dar Melanie, prietena sa pune piciorul in prag si o ajuta. Craciunul o va gasi in propria ei căsuța alaturi de fiicele sale si de noul iubit Eddie, care nu se mai poate impotrivi sentimentele sale. ❤️

***

Meredih a avut parte de destule necazuri din partea surorii sale care a fost întotdeauna o rebela. Mai intai, in adolescenta a suferit un accident grav, căci sora sa a condus masina beata, iar cativa ani mai tarziu a trebuit sa renunte la viata sa din New York si sa .earga sa ii ia acesteia copii, pe Sarah si Jacob, ca sa ii creasca ea, dupa "mama" ( caci numai mama nu e, decat ca le-a dat viata) i-a abandonat. Se muta cu copii intr-un orasel unde cumpara o pensiune si lupta sa o tina functionala. Copii au probleme la scoala, nu se pot adapta si sunt plini de suferinta. Apoi apare in viata eu un munte de barbat superb, Logan Taylor, care se straduieste din rasputeri sa o cucereasca. Ea s-a indragostit la prima vedere, dar nu vrea o relatie si nu vrea nici sa ii spuna lui motivul pentru care nu vrea sa fie cu el sau cu alt barbat. Totul are legatura cu acel accident. Dar ea nu stie ca Logan a fost salvatorul ei in acea noapte. Dupa o scurta relatie, pe care Meredith o rupe, amandoi au de suferit, dar Logan e hotarat sa o aiba in viata lui. Nu mai trebuie -cred- sa spun ca e cu Happy-end ❤️❤️❤️

[Romance By Roses🥀 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opowieści wprowadzają nas w niezwykle świąteczny i zimowy nastrój, czyli coś co kocham najbardziej.
Pierwsza historia zawarta w książce to dość ciężka historia miłości okalona problemami życia dorosłego.
Sama historia naprawdę mi się spodobała, ale jak dla mnie zabrakło trochę samej miłości. Pozostało nam się jedynie domyślać jak dalej potoczy się relacja Patrica i Stephanie. Mimo wszystko jest niesamowicie wzruszająca i wywołująca prawdziwe emocje u czytelnika. 5/5 ✨
Czytając drugą historię czułam się jakby została ona zrobiona na siłe. Pojawia się w niej klimat rancza, który już nie należy do moich upodobań, a tym bardziej nie pasuje mi do tematu świąt. Osobiście nie w moim guście. 2/5 ✨
Kolejna, już trzecia opowieść, wprost ukoiła i rozczuliła moje serce. Jest ona idealna dla miłośników typowych świątecznych komedii romantycznych, czyli mnie. Swoją drogą też tak macie, że mimo, że już znacie zakończenie to musicie obejrzeć film od początku do końca? Przecież wiecie, że zakończenie będzie jak zwykle happy endem i oni będą razem, ale i tak oglądacie? No cóż witajcie w drużynie! Czarująca historia nadająca cudowny, świąteczny klimat! 5/5✨
Ostatnia już historia to piękna i wzruszająca opowieść o matce i jej problemach, a także poruszająca problemy starszych osób. Urocza i przyjemna historia podczas której możemy poczuć się niczym w komedii romantycznej 5/5✨
Jeśli miałabym ocenić ogół to naprawde dobre i świąteczne opowiadania warte przeczytania. Z tym, że gdy każda historia się kończy to czujemy pewien nie dosyt i brak dalszego biegu historii.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stories in this Christmas Anthologies. Two stories I really enjoyed (A Very Merry Christmas and A very Maui Christmas) bookended by two that were decidedly meh (Holiday Magic and A Cedar Key Christmas). With both Holiday Magic and A Cedar Key Christmas, there was too much story built up around the heroine, or in the Cedar Key the town and a secondary character, and far too little time spent on the relationship between the hero and heroine. Lots of details about side characters, but when it came to the love story in both cases the female thought the guy was a jerk, the story proceeds with little activity involving the guy, all of a sudden the guy does something good, and they recognize in love . With Very Merry and Very Maui, the stories were rich, but the development of the relationship was central to the story and it made sense in the story context. I especially liked A Very Maui Christmas because the entire family was so entertaining. This was definitely one of my most favorite holiday stories within any anthology. So 3.5 overall for the anthology – with 4 stars to the middle two stories and three to the others.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably my least favorite book in this series. It wasn't bad, but I had a really hard time with Patrick. He was great in the last book. I really liked him. Then in this book it's like he's a completely different person. It does explain why he was different, but I had a hard time buying it. It doesn't excuse his being a jerk as a boss. You really have to separate the two. Then to find out no one finds out about Stephanie not being at work for 2 weeks. Really? I liked the story, I just had a hard time with all the things that happened. It just didn't entirely make sense. Loved Melanie. What an awesome friend.

[Susan Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only story I particularly liked was Cathy Lamb’s “A Very Merry Christmas” which had me laughing out loud. However, the reason Meredith held Logan at arm’s length seemed ridiculous to me.

Fern Michaels’ story was boring.

Mary Carter’s story had some funny moments.

Terry Dulong’s story was an okay Christmas Story but failed as a romance.

Based on these stories, the only author I’d read again is Cathy Lamb. However, many of Fern Michaels books are actually top notch. I’ve never read the other authors before.

[Carrie Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love these short Christmas stories and read them as we travel to the various houses for the holidays but these were not my favorite. Each story has a weirder plot than the one before and at the end of each one all I could think was”Really, that’s where this was going”. i would classify these as the really old Hallmark Christmas movies where the plots are weak and you have no clue where they are going.

[Christina Sinisi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am only reviewing the first story...not sure if I am going to read the rest...but I will say I didn't read this book thoroughly. Turns out I am Not a fan of the grumpy boss trope. If someone is this grumpy, he doesn't seem like he would be a good husband.

Further, the heroine just loved him and forgave him literally as soon as explained his reasons for being grumpy. Um, no. Any real person would need time.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good book. a good motivator for the holidays. Favorite story was story one. loved the ski resort setting and the two young daughters finding the dog in labor, the festive atmosphere of the tree lighting and the very happy ending.
Least favorite story A Very Mauii Christmas. didn't like certain aspects of this story but liked the happy ending.

[Bev Stegmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartwarming read

Stephanie and her two young daughters have been through the wringer due to an abusive husband and father. They are starting over with high hopes for the Christmas season. Problem’s arise that almost send them spiraling out of control. Good friends and love right the wrongs that have happened. Good read. Recommend.

[Susan O.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect if you just want basic predictable stories that center around winter, Christmas season. Liked the story based at the ski area since we ski. Hallmark-y. I liked it because of this. Enhanced my Christmas season by snugging up to this book, eggnog in hand, in front of the pellet stove. Vacation for an overworked brain.

[stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Holiday Magic" and "A Cedar Key Christmas" were decent. The other two, "A Very Merry Christmas" and "A Very Maui Christmas" were not good. They were easy reads for the season but not ones that I would recommend to others for a memorable novel to read.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

All cute stories that take place around Christmas but some were a little too sad and/or too romantically hot for me. They were good I just prefer clean Christmas stories that warm my heart and remind me of the true meaning of the Christmas season.

[L Y N N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read all four novellas, Terri DuLong's "A Cedar Key Christmas" was my absolute favorite by far. Just as I expected it would be... In fact that last novella raised my rating from a "3" to a "4." I am anxious to launch back into the Cedar Key series in 2021!

[HM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fern Michael's novella was unreadable garbage.

Cathy Lamb's novella was a light Christmas story with a strong heroine (but there is a 'twist' that is stupid and unnecessary and insensitive to people with disabilities).

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Christmas tales

As expected, each of these stories centers on Christmas. There was still a nice variety of experiences and characters. I particularly enjoyed Logan and Meredith’s story.

[Diane Cogswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this back in December and it took all this time to finish. A book of four short, very forgettable stories. You can predict by the end of the first chapter what is going to happen, and it does. Don't waste your time.

[Sue Dooley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read the first story. It was so bad that I can't bring myself to read the others.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four super cute stories by different authors. Each had a strong female lead character. Each character had a problem to overcome. Each had a happy Christmas ending.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. Quick read that kept me entertained with the short stories.