Review: Jingle Balls: A Holiday Romantic Comedy Anthology

Jingle Balls: A Holiday Romantic Comedy Anthology by Dylann Crush
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Overall, "Jingle Balls" was a fantastic collection of short, fun stories benefiting a worthy cause, and I highly recommend it for all contemporary romance and romantic comedy fans. I started by reading the stories from my favorite authors and then moved on to the ones from new-to-me authors that were most appealing, but I ran out of time to read them all before I had to write my review. I will likely revisit the collection to read the rest in the future.

"Curve Ball" by Aidy Award: This story is part of the author's Curvy Love series and IMO is most likely to appeal to existing fans of the series. I generally enjoy reading about a curvy heroine, but this one seemed to have quite a few body image issues/insecurities. I didn't find it believable for her to overcome them all in a single night. 2.5-3 stars.

"I Told You So" by Serena Bell: This was a cute story! It was obviously just the beginning of their relationship, but I was satisfied with the HFN. 3.5-4 stars.

"A Blue-Balled Holiday" by Dylann Crush: Another cute story! I wish female lead Heather's job situation had been resolved by the end, though. It's all well and good for her and Weston to decide they like each other and want to explore a relationship, but if she has to move again for work, where will that leave them? 3.5-4 stars.

"Ball Sacked" by Christina Hovland: I loved this one! Babushka was her usual hilarious self, and she recruited Roman to join in her matchmaking shenanigans this time around for even more laughs. Anna and Drake were a super cute couple and an excellent addition to the Mile High Matched crew. 5 stars.

"Coldcocked by Saint Nick" by Melonie Johnson: This story had kind of a magical feel to it that I very much enjoyed. Also, I'm a big fan of German Christmas markets, so reading it brought back some happy memories for me. 4.5 stars.

"Decidedly for Christmas" by Stina Lindenblatt: This story was a little different in that it wasn’t a complete story with a HEA or HFN, but rather a prequel to the author's upcoming full-length release, "Decidedly with Luck," part of the By the Bay series. I was already looking forward to reading that book, but now that I've met the lead characters and gotten to know some of their story, I'm even more excited! 4.5 stars.

"Rockin' around the Jingle Balls Ball" by Susannah Nix: I loved this one, and not only because we finally got to see Melody and Jeremy from "Remedial Rocket Science" get married! Gen and Chris were adorable. I loved their banter and silly ball jokes. 5 stars.

"Deck the Halls with Balls" by Marika Ray: This story made me laugh so hard! Auburn Hill is my kind of town, and Prescott and Jazzie were a delight. 5 stars.

"Mistletoe Hearts" by Brenda St. John Brown: This story was a prequel to the author's upcoming release, "Rival Hearts." Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling the chemistry between main characters Lucy and Stefan. I usually like opposites attract and enemies-to-lovers stories, but this one didn't draw me in. I did enjoy the English country village setting, but probably not enough to pick up the book when it releases. 3 stars.

*Review copy provided by the authors. All opinions expressed are my own.

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