Below the Baubles: A Paranormal Christmas Holiday Romance

Below the Baubles by Skye Mackinnon and Laura Greenwood is Seven Wardens spin off Christmas story. I absolutely loved this book/Short Story and can easily be read on its own any time after book five. This is a steamy, adventurous short story and a garden gnome/ Kabouter undercover that needs her help. Well written continuation of the series that I have enjoyed for several books.

This is a very short story with a Christmas theme. I loved the character Wolfgang, he was cute. Macey and her men must defeat Knecht Ruprecht, the punisher of children. He is a German legend who follows St Nick and punishes bad children. He has been brought to life and must be destroyed. I enjoyed the book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Quick Holiday Paranormal Read — This super short novella, approximately 10K words, is a Christmas mystery for the Wardens to solve. The book ends the fantastic Seven Wardens series by this talented author duo. While you probably don't need to have read all the series to enjoy this one, you will probably appreciate it more if you are familiar with the characters, their interactions, and the in-jokes—yes, waffles show up here! At the very start of the story, a garden gnome visits the Wardens and asks for their assistance with Santa's fearsome servant, Knecht Ruprecht. In Germanic traditions, on Saint Nicholas Day, Knecht Ruprecht punishes naughty children with a switch instead of them getting presents from St. Nick. However, according to the gnome, he is out of control in this story, taking lives instead of using the switch. Can Macey and the other Wardens track Knecht Ruprecht down before he strikes again? If you know the series, you'll enjoy the characters' interactions and the steam factor. By the way, at least in the MOBI I received from a book review site, the story is only about 75% of the book file; the rest tells you more about the authors and their multitudes of books. I wasn’t wild about the profanity (including the F-bomb) and crude words or the authors’ constant incorrect use of commas. Despite these annoyances, I found the book fun to read with its very different Christmas story based on a tradition we in the US are not familiar with. — I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.