A quick read but over all just as good as some of her other books I've read and liked , which definitely I'll be picking up more by this author

I've been looking for some Christmas themed books and came across this one that I never read. It isn't at all heavy on Christmas--other than a few trees-- it's barely mentioned. While the author had the mystery/thriller part of the book nailed, the romance part mostly consisted of a long drawn out night of sex between the main character and a man she knew. I honestly felt the sex scenes should have played down--or left out because the story isn't that long to begin with, and so much of the book consisted of sex...

This was a quick read and while entertaining, it felt like the plot raced along too quickly and character development was lacking. When the two main characters got together (and boy did they! Many times!), I didn't really care as much as was probably intended. It just felt fast and predictable.

I'm a sucker for happy Christmas romances and this one was absolutely perfect. Romantic suspense is the icing on top of the cake. The story was very well written and kept me hooked. I just wish this was a full length novel and not a novella. I would have loved to read more of the story. I think I am going to read more of this author's work.

Romance, suspense, Christmas theme, all jam-packed into a short novella with less than 100 pages. I was afraid I was going to have nightmares prior to reading this little nugget, but I worried for naught. Enjoy a little mystery and romance in a tidy package.

I received an ARC from the author and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Nicole has had a rough life, and it does not help when she's forced to deal with the ghosts of her past. This was a quick read and suspenseful, in other words, right up my alley! I will definitely read another book by Mary Burton and am interested in reading more thrillers!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this quick read! It was not very holiday themed as I might have thought from the title. Very quick paced thriller/romance! This was my first read from Mary Burton and I look forward to reading more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This was a fine book. Very short, originally a novella and then republished. I don't know over all it seem like a lot of info dumps that could have been expanded on. I really dislike when I can tell a author rushed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review. Nicole is trying to get away from her abusive ex.....Aiden a homicide detective will do anything to protect Nicole.....I felt like when I started this book, I came into it mid-way. I am not sure if the story was in another book but I felt like I missed some of it. Like Richard's death, Aiden kissing Nicole after helping her move into her place and poor Claire who was killed Richard's assistance Vincent. This book was still great romantic suspense.

Such a good read! A dig into the past a romance between two friend's and a road trip full of mystery all you could want in a book! I loved the characters and the story line the suspense and the sweet romance this book will not disappoint!

I am not sure what to think about this one. I really like Mary Burton's books but I had a hard time connecting with this book. I found the writing and characters were good as usual but the story line was ok. I felt like I was missing some background information for this book. Like it is part of a series that I hadn't read yet. If you enjoy her books I would read it because it is probably just me that couldn't connect.

I thought this was a good twist on romance and thrilling suspense. I enjoyed that this was not the typical feel good Christmas story and recommended it to a few friends. Well written short story

I did not enjoy this one which is a first for me as I am a huge fan of Burton's stories. I am unable to really put a pin in what went wrong - too short? unlikeable characters? rushed pacing, probably rushed pacing that made it all so completely unbelievable is the biggest problem I had. I'll continue to read Burton's books, they can't all be winners, you know but this one didn't work for me.

There was a lot to try to fit in 100 pages and unfortunately, it just wasn’t even remotely thrilling to me. I would have ditched the majority of time spent on sex scenes for more in depth lead up and action with the serial killer. This felt like less of a thriller and more of a romance. And I didn’t find the romance aspect particularly engaging either. Especially the proposal. It seems like a story that would have best been expanded instead of squeezed into 100 pages.

A short, quick read by one of my favorite mystery writers. The action kicks off quickly and keeps the pace rolling as the main characters start a romance at the same time they are trying to solve an old murder. For a Mary Burton book, the story seemed rushed, but then it is a short story.

Sketchy and short, with so much rushed. Unrealistic and not a good intro to MB.
This was a NetGalley ARC, and my first book by this author. I'm not inspired to read more.

Editing isn't the best - one minute we're told the baby has chubby fingers wrapped round her bottle and the next we're told that her long fingers show that she's her father's daughter. On top, we get a backstory in about 1 page, with the female lead about to go on a harebrained trip on the say-so of her late, abusive husband, accompanied by a local cop, Ayden. We later find out that Ayden is actually David Ayden, which wasn't clear, so when the couple was in bed and she called out 'David' I wondered who'd made up the threesome.

The tale was rushed to the nth, and one minute the female lead is saying that she doesn't want a relationship, only sex, and 2 days later, after a bit of danger and 24hrs with David, she's saying she wants to make an honest man of him. Really? This read like a bad Silhouette book from the 90s.

As an intro to the author, I'm glad this was a freebie, or I'd have returned it for a refund. It's a 99p read at best, not at all worth the over-four-quid asking price.

Originally published on 2012 in an anthology (Silver Bells) and is part of her Richmond Virginia series. It is a standalone novella but the only bad thing about this one is that it feels like it should be part of a full length novel. It feels like it's a follow-up to another story. Photographer and new mom Nicole Piper survived her manipulative and abusive husband but even from the grave he torments her. A letter written to her before his death that explains he wasn't the one who killed her friend but the identity is in a safe deposit box. Along with with Homicide Detective David Ayden, who was there the first time around her husband tormented her and helped safe her life, Nicole goes to find out the truth. David hasn't felt this way about a woman for a while after the death of his wife he never thought he could but now that the case is over he's free to pursue a relationship with her, that's if she's interested. David isn't about to let her go off and handle this on her own who knows what her psychotic, late husband set up for her and Nicole hesitant but accepts his help. Nicole feels the same as David but is afraid of her own judgement even though she's seen proof he's a good person. This Christmas is going to change her life but will it be for better or worse. Overall, despite the feeling like I was missing a whole other story it was a good read. It was intense and it's short enough you can just breeze right through it.

If you've read some of Mary Burton's other books, you might see some friendly faces in this one, but it does stand completely on it's own without having read those :)

It's a story of passion...new love, old love, old crimes, new crimes...it's all intermixed and must be solved or someone will get hurt. there's a few twists and nail biters.

This was a nice and quick read by a talented author! I enjoyed it, and would like to see some more of these quick reads. Recommended.

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2019/12/07/christmas-past-by-mary-burton/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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I enjoy this author and she writes some excellent romantic suspense. I read this since I wanted some holiday themed stories to read for the beginning of December.

The romantic suspense portion of<strong> Christmas Past</strong> was suspenseful and exciting.  The characters did have some development with a view to their internal thoughts, rationalizations and justifications. I always like when they are not all good or bad but we see all the shades of their morality. But there were some serious evil, bad guys who were more stereotypical.

The romance was second chance but still not very realistic. It took a back seat to the action, so that was a plus. I wouldn't really call this a Christmas story other than it was set at that time. I liked this dark, action story which was a quick read.