Rating: 3.5 Stars
Source: NetGalley
Description: Alexandria Rankin Hunt is thrilled to be spending Christmas in small town Massachusetts and designing dresses for her cousin's wedding. She's also looking forward to having a little time away from recent ex-boyfriend, fighter pilot and pub owner, Ian Mabry. Except Ian's at Carriage Hill too and as they spend more time together they start reconsidering the ex part.
Genre: Romance
Why I Picked This Book: I really enjoyed my previous visits to Knight's Bridge and wanted to see Olivia and Dylan's wedding.
My Impression:
Pro: One of my favorite premises with romance novellas is when the main characters have a history. The whole watching them get to know each other is already done and instead we get a little peek into a story that's already taking place. It was wonderful to see Dylan and Olivia's wedding and worked as a great plot device to get all the characters together. I also really enjoyed seeing a little resolution to Grace and the story of Alexandria and Dylan's family. Watching Ian and Alexandria work through their issues was really sweet and it felt like this was a relationship that worked.
Con: I need a family tree for Dylan and Alexandria's family. It was kept fairly simple by referring to people mostly by their relationships (like Alexandria's grandmother, Dylan's father) but if you're new to the series you're going to be really confused. I also would've liked for Alexandria and Ian's problems laid out a little clearer. I was never exactly sure why they broke up and then there were some comments that were made toward the end that seemed a little out of left field.
Overall:If you're a fan of this series this is definitely not one to miss. We see the wedding for the couple from book 1, get a little more development in a pretty important story arc and see a romance develop that's sweet in it's own right. It's not perfect but it's a fun Christmas-y read and I'm completely with Loretta about the not loving snow!
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: I've read 2 books and this novella and have really enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to going back and reading the first and reading the book that's coming out in January!
Would I Recommend this Book?: I would definitely recommend this series but I think the novella is for readers who are already fans. Read book 1 and then read this one!
A new one for me. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI've never read anything by Carle Neggers but I've seen her books around a lot. I'm curious now, about this series. I've been sooo into contemporary romance the last few months. I'm glad you enjoyed this, even if you weren't madly in love. I like novellas when the hero and heroine already know each other too.
ReplyDeleteNever heard about this series. Do all the books take place during Christmas? Or just this one? I'm definitely on the hunt to read quite a few Christmas-y books this month. I do love a good novella that brings in previous characters. It's great to see what's been happening in their lives.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
Never heard of this series, but then I don't read much in the romance genre. Too bad the un-indoctrinated really need to go back and read from the beginning since this a clearly a book for the holidays.
ReplyDeleteOh darn. Okay good to know about the many characters. I'd been looking at this one but haven't read any of the others before so thanks for the heads up on that!
ReplyDeleteGood to know that I should start at the beginning! I like characters with a history romances too.
ReplyDeleteI really shouldn't have read this novella first because, like you mentioned, it's very confusing for newbies to this series. I will eventually start the series from the beginning and may even re-read this one in the right sequence.
ReplyDelete