Entangled Publishing is celebrating the
holidays with 25 Days of Holiday Steals. They will be spotlighting a special
steal of a deal each day from December 1st through December 25th.
Today's
Steal is...
Christmas
with the Sheriff by Victoria James is just 99¢!
Grab your copy today, and check out my review for it (as well as Secret Santa Baby!) below!
Christmas with the Sheriff
By Victoria James
About the book:
After fleeing her beloved small town five years ago, Julia Bailey is back to spend Christmas with her family. Returning is hard, but keeping the devastating secret about her late husband is even harder. Her place isn’t in Big Sky Country any longer…but the more time she spends with the irresistible Sheriff who saved her once before, and his adorable little daughter, the more Julia starts wishing she could let go of the past and start a new life.Single dad and county Sheriff Chase Donovan had been secretly in love with his best friend’s wife for years. But after her traumatic loss he knew Julia needed to get away from Shadow Creek, even though helping her leave was the last thing he wanted to do. Now she’s home and he doesn’t intend to lose her a second time. Chase is going to prove to Julia just how good they can be together this Christmas…and forever.
Review:
Christmas with the Sheriff is heartwarming and adorable - pretty much the perfect book to read by the fire this holiday season!
Christmas with the Sheriff introduces Julia Bailey and Chase Donovan, two longtime best friends reunited after several years. Julia has been running the last few years - running from the loss of her husband and son as well as her husband's heartbreaking secret. This Christmas, however, she's had to forgo the running - she's returning home to spend Christmas with her husband's family. Chase Donovan has missed Julia over the last few years - he loves her as a friend and maybe even something more. So when he runs into her and the sparks begin to fly, he wonders if maybe this year will finally be their time...
Christmas with the Sheriff had a lot of good going for it.
First of all, I loved the small town setting. Shadow Creek has some interesting, quirky residents. I loved the meddling to be found as well as the delicious drama over things such as the real estate situation.
Additionally, the characters had a lot of heart. My heart broke for Julia. At first, it's not said what her husband did all those years ago (I had my suspicions though). When it was finally revealed, I wasn't too surprised, but my heart still broke all the same for Julia - what a horrible weight to have carried all these years with so many unanswered questions. I truly respected how she wouldn't break his "image" in front of his parents. She wanted him to remain pure in their eyes, which was honestly the sweetest thing she could've done. Additionally, I enjoyed seeing her find her "grove" again with Chase and his daughter. She was awkward at first, especially given the child situation, but the more she left her heart open up, the more she became whole again. Chase, on the other hand, was adorable, sexy, and sweet. His relationship with his daughter was funny as well as "aww" worthy. I also loved how he was such constant source of support for Julia.
The writing style in this was simple and to the point - this book took me about an hour to read. I felt that Victoria did a great job of developing the characters as well as the romance; however, at times I did wish there was slightly more development in Julia's friendships with other side characters.
In all, Christmas with the Sheriff is another "win" this holiday season. I look forward to reading more by Victoria James in the future.
Grade: B
Source: eBook provided by publisher - thanks Entangled!
I always knew I wanted to be a writer and in grade five, I penned my first story, bound it (with staples) and a cardboard cover and did all the illustrations myself (if you've ever seen my drawings you'll know how horrible they must have been. I still draw stick figures). Luckily, this book will never see the light of day again. In high school I fell in love with historical romance and then contemporary romance. After graduating University with an English Literature degree, I married my own hero, pursued a degree in Interior Design and then opened my own business. After the birth of our first child, I knew it was time to fulfill the dream of writing romantic fiction. I'm a hopeless romantic who is living my dream, penning happily-ever-after's for my characters in between managing kids and the family business. Writing on a laptop in the middle of the country in a rambling old Victorian house would be ideal, but I'm quite content living in suburbia with my husband, our two young children, and very bad cat.
by Robin Covington
Secret Santa Baby by Robin Covington is FREE!
About the book:
Tessa Stoneman hasn’t been able to get long-time friend and business partner Nicholas Boone out of her head since they shared a single kiss in college. Even when she dated Nicholas’s best friend. Now that she’s giving up her position at GameNerdz to strike out on her own—and now that she’s single—maybe it’s the right time to see if there’s still something between them.Review:
Nicholas knows once Tessa leaves the company she helped found, they might drift apart. Before she starts her own company in the new year, he wants to woo the woman he fell in love with during college. So he poses as her Secret Santa, gifts her with items from the song “Santa Baby,” and plans a big reveal at the company holiday party. But when his best friend wants to rekindle his romance with Tessa, will Nicholas lose his last chance?
Sometimes you just need a simple and sweet holiday romance, and that, my friends, was exactly what Robin Covington's Secret Santa Baby was.
Secret Santa Baby introduces two long-time best friends and coworkers: Tessa Stoneman and Nicholas Boone. Nicholas Boone has been hiding a big secret all his life: he's head over heels for Tessa. The only problem? Tessa's always been in on-again/off-again relationship with their other best friend over the last few years. Now that Tessa's single this Christmas, though, Nicholas is determined to get the girl.
I pretty sure I oohed and awed during the entirety of this novella. I love grand romantic gestures (and really, who doesn't?!) so to see the extremes Nicholas would go to Tessa's ultimate secret santa warmed my heart. I especially loved the times that Nicholas almost had to confess up. It added the perfect amount of tension to the book to keep me fully interested. I also loved that it was a best friends to lovers trope, as it added a good amount of backstory to make the romance believable given its short length - it takes place over a few days.
As novellas go, the characters in Secret Santa Baby weren't always the most well developed; however, I still liked them quite a bit. I admired Emma's need to strike out on her own and get out of her comfort zone, and as hinted to above, Nicholas was just a downright sweetheart.
In all, Secret Santa Baby is yet another cute, heartwarming novella, and given it's awesome price tag (free!), how can you resist?!
Grade: B
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About Robin Covington:
A USA Today bestseller, Robin Covington loves to explore the theme of fooling around and falling in love in her books. Her stories burn up the sheets. . .one page at a time. When she's not writing she's collecting tasty man candy, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and stalking Chris Evans. Don't send chocolate . . . send eye candy! Robin's books have won the Golden Leaf Award and finaled in the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice, the Book Seller's Best and the National Reader's Choice Awards. She lives in Maryland with her handsome husband, her two brilliant children (they get it from her, of course!), and her beloved furbabies.
