Monday, December 11, 2017

ARC Review: Holiday Wishes by Jill Shalvis

Series:     Heartbreaker Bay #4.5
Pub. Date:Nov. 7, 2017
Publisher:Avon
Length:128 pgs
Source:Edelweiss

Imagine yourself snowed in at a gorgeous B&B in Napa Valley right before Christmas... doesn't that sound wonderful!?! Now imagine you are there with your first love... could be heaven or could be hell, right?  Well its a little of both for our heroine and B&B proprietor, Charlotte "Lotti" Hartford.

Sean O'Riley is headed to Napa with the wedding party for his brother Finn and fiance, Pru. Sean feels like he has a lot to make up for and is obsessive about things being perfect for this wedding to pay Finn back for all the times he bailed Sean out of some trouble. But Sean is really too hard on himself and I found him to be a good hero overall. He did hurt Lotti when they were young... young being the key term. That happens with immaturity and inability to deal with adult relationships. Now he has grown up and become a responsible and caring adult, and I liked him quite a bit.

Lotti has had a rough year and she is looking forward to her upcoming 2 week vacation when a blast from the past walks into her B&B and brings up all the past hurt their young relationship caused. Just looking at Sean O'Riley seems to be painful to Lotti, and she recognizes how much their childhood relationship shaped her relationships over the past ten years. I had a hard time buying this reason for Lotti's failed relationships... it just didn't seem like a big enough reason, but to each their own. I shouldn't judge. Otherwise Lotti was a decent heroine, but I would have liked more character development for her.

This second chance romance worked well as a short story because it prevented the unbelievable aspects of instalove from occuring. Our couple was able to reconnect quickly and it was realistic and easily to imagine happening in real life.

I loved the holiday aspect of this story and it did help me get into the Christmas spirit... if only I could see some snow this year! I really wish that I had read the rest of the Heartbreaker Bay series before this story as I really didn't remember who any of these people are. The only book that I have read in this series is The Trouble with Mistletoe, so I am way behind and need to catch up on the other books. Maybe I can do that over Christmas vacation. 

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Avon.

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