Miracle on 5th Avenue - Contemporary Romance Review

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan (Amazon link)

Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley

Description:  Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she's given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn't expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner.

Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife's death looming, he's isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn't appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?

Genre: Romance - Contemporary 

Why I Picked This Book:  I've enjoyed other books by Sarah Morgan in the past and I love the whole snowed in concept. It's like the contemporary version of the historical romance house party!

My Impression:  This was such a sweet romance!  I love the whole stuck somewhere trope because it forces characters that would normally be unaware of each other to interact and it's so fun to watch!  With this book the two main characters seemingly have nothing in common.  Eva is optimistic and cheerful while Lucas always looks for a hidden agenda and really wants to be left alone.  She loves romance and music while he writes horror novels and is always thinking about creative ways to kill people.  I really enjoyed seeing them go from strangers to friends who both really wanted more though they were equally unwilling to go about it.  One of my favorite things in a romance is when the characters really support each other and bring out the best in each other which is very much the case in this book.  It was nice to see them really talk to each other in ways that really felt like they hadn't been able to do with anyone else.  I loved the relationships that both characters have with their grandmothers and how it figured into this book as well.  Another fun aspect of the story was that Lucas's writing isn't just window dressing.  It's an integral part of the story and most of the book takes place as he's writing a book which means he disappears for hours at a time.

This isn't the most unique of romances.  Most of the conflict I could see coming from a mile away and could pretty much guess how it was all going to resolve.  However, sometimes predictability is nice - especially when you like the characters which I definitely did in this case.  There is a strong Christmas element to it and it would have been a nice one to read before the holidays but since it's not exactly Christmas-y it was still pretty fun in January!  While this is the end of a friend based trilogy I had no problem starting here.  Since most of the book takes place in Lucas's penthouse the 2 friends from the previous books are fairly minor characters.  This was a nice light romance with some spice and lots of emotional connection.  It was a perfect read from my still frazzled from the holidays brain!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Absolutely!  I have several more books by Morgan (including the first 2 in this trilogy) and I'm really looking forward to reading more.

Would I Recommend this Book?: Absolutely!  If you enjoy contemporary romance I think you'd enjoy this one.