Christmas in the Crosshairs is an Elite Guardians Christmas Anthology. You don’t have to have read the previous novels, the stories will all make sense, but you’d be missing out if you didn’t.

Each of these novellas picks up where a full length novel ended, with three separate couples in different places, all trying to get to Montana for a wedding. Unfortunately, as you’d expect, in a romantic suspense collection, there’s trouble ahead.

Deadly Holiday Hijack, by Kate Angelo and Lynette Eason

Bodyguard Christina Sherman and her fiancée Grey Parker find themselves, along with Boss (the fabulous dog), trapped at what should be a peaceful nativity. Until terrorists put the building and all the lives inside, at risk. This is where the theme of ‘start the novella? You’ll have to finish the novella,’ began. I could not put it down until everyone was okay. Even though I knew in an inspirational Christmas story, no one heartbreaking would end up dead, I still couldn’t stop reading. Such is the skill of these writers.

Silent Night Siege, by Kelly Underwood and Lynette Eason

In this second glimpse of Laila Rabbinowitz, we see the bodyguard questioning her relationship with Preston Whittaker, her billionaire boyfriend. As the two depart for some much needed downtime, their plane crashes. Because of course it does. The thing I really liked here is that Laila gets injured (I don’t like that Laila gets injured) and that means Preston has to step up and, for once, rescue them both. Also had to adopt the ‘fiddle, I started reading and need to know how this ends’ policy.

Christmas Snowstorm Standoff, by Sami A. Abrams and Lynette Eason

Finally, it looks like a storm means no one is going to make it to Montana for Lizzie Tremaine’s marriage to Charlie Lee. And even if they could, it’d be dangerous as someone is taking shots at the ranch house. If that’s not enough, as Charlie begins to question his happy ending, his ex, who did a real number on him, shows up out of nowhere asking for help. Yep. No stopping ’til I’d finished that either.

All in all, this was a great collection. The stories certainly gripped me, as I suspect they will anyone with a pulse. Although each was reasonably short (novella length), they lasted long enough to pull me in completely (okay, that took maybe a page). And of course the best part, three happy endings, culminating in a wedding with the whole team. A fantastic end to what’s been a wonderful revisiting of the Elite Guardian’s story world. Highly recommended.

I received a copy from the publisher. The total enjoyment and the views are all mine.