Claire Marti

*This is a review of Playing By Heart by Sylvie Stewart - part of the Holiday Heart-On Anthology.

Cute and sweet
5 stars

I’m a big fan of Sylvie Stewart - she’s great at filling her stories with a combination of comedy and likeable, relatable characters. While this is the first short story of hers I’ve read - she still manages to make it everything I hoped and expected. But that’s not to say it didn’t leave me wanting more - but in the best possible way.

At a Christmas in July pet pageant (I mean, why the hell not?) Kat luck turns around when her crush turns up with his adorable dog. Better yet, he’s in a bind and the only one who can help him out, is Kat! And cue the music!

I liked both our characters instantly and they have the cutest chemistry. It’s quite nice to read a story with such innocent smittenness. It’s not that the story is innocent (although there’s only kissing), it’s just that they’re so totally adorable that it feels fresh.

For such a short story, I still definitely believed in their connection. Of course I wanted more. And of course I wish it was longer. But I was sucked in immediately and was left satisfied and with a smile on my face. I couldn’t ask for much more.

—-

Playing By Heart is Sylvie Stewart’s contribution in the larger Holiday Heart-On anthology. This set of 18 festive stories has been pulled together to raise money and awareness for women’s heart health. 100% of proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women® movement. There’s a whole set of different stories (averaging around 40 pages each) with different styles, tones and steam levels.

In this anthology you’ll also get:

🎅🏻 Playing by Heart by Sylvie Stewart
🎅🏻 Better than Christmas by Brenda St John Brown and Serena Bell
🎅🏻 Hang Your Heart by Arell Rivers
🎅🏻 Hockey Hotties Heart-On by Piper Rayne
🎅🏻 Hell of a Heart-On by Marika Ray
🎅🏻 Hardware Hard-On by Tracey Pedersen
🎅🏻 Christmas Eve with KXBZ by Roxie Noir
🎅🏻 Heartly in Love by MK Meredith
🎅🏻 Love by Chance by Claire Marti
🎅🏻 Christmas Cabin by Elizabeth Lynx
🎅🏻 Mistletoe Wishes by Stina Lindenblatt
🎅🏻 Rock Hard Around the Christmas Tree by Tawdra Kandle
🎅🏻 Always Be My Babka by Melonie Johnson
🎅🏻 Hooking Her Heart by Sophia Henry
🎅🏻 Santa Claus is Coming by Hope Ellis
🎅🏻 Heart-On for Her Beaver by Dylann Crush
🎅🏻 Heart Healthy Hot Sticky Buns by Kameron Claire
🎅🏻 Ants in Santa’s Pants by Amy Award… (meer)

A Passionately Charged, Tender, and Romantic Story!

I was looking for a character driven contemporary romance with passion, fun, a rich back story, and a fabulous location. Well, I got it all and more with Claire Marti’s Nobody Else But You. Samantha McNeill and Holt Ericsson, the romantic leads immediately won me over, and I thoroughly enjoyed the McNeill family. Vulnerabilities rise to the surface as their story unfolds, and as each character reveals their personality, I found myself unable to put down my phone. I got off the train and continued reading walking down the streets of Manhattan.

Pacific Vista Ranch, albeit a fictional place, is a spot I’d love to visit one day. No spoilers here, but I also loved the bit with ballet thrown in! I look forward to reading book two of the Pacific Vista Ranch series, which continues with Sam’s sister Amanda’s journey.… (meer)

This is the first time I have read from this author and what captured my interest besides the blurb was the reviews so I decided to give it a shot and while I wasn't as gunho as the other reviewers I did enjoy and I am looking forward to the other stories. So in this story we meet Holt and Sam, now Sam had a temper that to me she needed to get a hold of, she just tended to overreact a bit too much especially for her age, she was not a child. Holt had a difficult past and he also needed to get in control of his emotions and stop with the hot and cold business but when these two finally put that to the side and got together they combusted and were what each other needed.

rcvd an ARc at no cost to author..(netgalley) Voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions… (meer)