Synopsis:

Bitter exes. Professional rivals. Just one bed.
What could go wrong?

Jessica Carrington always wanted her own happily ever after. But, until that happens, she spends her days as a small-time romance writer, penning satisfying Happily Ever Afters to soothe the heartache left by her ex-boyfriend Nick Matthews, a fellow romance writer and now her biggest rival, who has found success writing love stories without happy endings. It’s clearly what he’s good at, after all . . .

So, when their professional obligations find them snowed in – and forced to share a room! – at the same remote inn a few days before Christmas, Jess and Nick are both fuming. But what’s more fitting for two romantic writers in a slump? And when they realise the friction between them might be the only cure for their writer’s block, they decide to turn their frustration into fiction . . . and the pages start flying.

Jess can’t shake the feeling that Nick is the last guy on earth she should be falling for (again), but, as they both finally get back in their flow, is he actually all she wants for Christmas?

Rating:

Review:

The best word I can think of for this book is, it was cute. It was cute and cozy. It made me want to put up a Christmas tree. I really enjoyed the premise of these two being snowed in together and forced to work on a holiday romance book together. I enjoyed the idea of Jess and Nick initially being brought together by writing romance novels, but then they break up and Nick gains a lot more success while Jess is still waitressing to pay the bills. It was a good dynamic that not only brought in the heartbreak of the breakup, but also an element of professional rivalry and jealousy.

The biggest highlight for me in this book was Jess’s two best friends. Honestly, they are the two best friends that every girl needs. One quips, “Open your heart to love!” While the other chimes in with, “Close your legs for ex-boyfriends!” The two of them made me laugh so much. I want them to be my friends in real life.

I had two big drawbacks in this book. One was the flashbacks. We get a lot of flashbacks back to their best memories while they were dating. But all of them are sexual. Didn’t they have nice moments that didn’t include sex? They were together for multiple years so I have to imagine that they did. But we didn’t hear about any of them and so it made their connection seem mostly sexual when it was supposed to be about love.

My other big drawback was the dual POV. It just didn’t work for me in this instance. We hear not only Jess’ conflicted thoughts about still loving him but also being very angry with him and determined to keep her distance. But we also hear how Nick is still madly in love with her, almost from the beginning. There’s no mystery in how either of them are feeling, and so it ruined a bit of the fun for me. I would have rather been left guessing how Nick was feeling about Jess until later in the book. I think that would have worked better for this story.

All in all, it was a cute little romance. It was easy and fun to read. So break out the peppermint mocha, put on your fuzzy slippers and have a Christmasy read.