Considering that this is a Christmas romance, a fairly short
read and has a very peppy cover we were expecting a light, hot, romantic read. But
this one proved to be quite different from our expectations.
Holly Murphy has lost her BFF Carol fairly recently and is
still not coping with the loss. Carol is ever present to her and Holly is not
quite able to deal with the fact that she is no longer there despite supportive
friends – particularly Carol’s roommate, Maureen. While walking her dog,
Potter, Holly meets a winsome child, Ali. Ali’s mother, Delany is as (if not
more) winsome than her daughter and the two women strike up a conversation. The
daughter-dog bonding is strong and also a good excuse for Holly and Delany to
start spending more time together and allow their nascent attraction to develop
as it will.
Christmas is a by-the-way plot device for this one – not really
of consequence but well incorporated all the same. We really liked Delany and
Ali and Potter are adorable. We found Holly to be way too much into herself,
her own head and her own emotions. Holly has lost a friend, but Maureen has
lost her love in Carol but Maureen is the stronger one who takes care of Holly’s
emotions. Also, Holly is so in her own head, that between Delany and Holly,
Delany is the only one trying to give their relationship a chance while Holly,
though not running, does zero to less. In fact, at one point we were totally
sympathising with Delany and wondering about what fortitude it must take to
actually try and make a relationship go with someone as emotionally self-centred
and closed to giving as Holly. But still, there I noting actively bad that that
Holly does. There is way, way too much of Carol’s presence in the book. Guess the
coping-with-losing-a-friend part was more important to the author than the
romance.
While this is not a bad read, as a romance it leaves much to
be desired.
⭐⭐
