Series: Fool's Gold #9.5
Published by HQN Books on Sept. 18, 2012
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher
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Also in this series: Three Little Words, Christmas on 4th Street, When We Met, Before We Kiss, Until We Touch, Yours for Christmas, Hold Me, Kiss Me, Thrill Me, Marry Me at Christmas, Best of My Love
Also by this author: Three Little Words, Christmas on 4th Street, When We Met, Before We Kiss, Until We Touch, Yours for Christmas, Hold Me, Kiss Me, Thrill Me, Marry Me at Christmas, Best of My Love, The Ladies' Man, Second Chance Girl, Why Not Tonight
The cheer in Fool's Gold, California, is bringing out the humbug in dancer Evie Stryker. An injury has forced her to return home to her estranged family. So she won't add to the awkward scenario by falling for the charms of her brother's best friend, no matter how tempting he is. When she's recruited to stage the winter festival, she vows to do as promised, then move on, anywhere but here.
Jaded lawyer Dante Jefferson is getting used to the town he now calls home, but the pounding of little dancers' feet above his office is more than he can take. When he confronts their gorgeous teacher, he's unprepared for their searing attraction. Evie is his best friend's sister—off-limits unless he's willing to risk his heart. Dante has always believed that love is dangerous, but that was before he had to reckon with the magic of a certain small town, where miracles do seem to happen….
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.
Review
I really enjoyed this holiday Fool’s Gold story! Evie is a wonderful character: caring, dedicated, and doggedly independent, with a lot of emotional pain that she’s not quite ready to let go of. Dante carries his own load of pain and guilt, which has made him swear off long-term relationships. The book is a romance, so it’s a foregone conclusion that the two will eventually learn to accept and embrace their feelings for each other; the fun is in seeing it happen. In Evie’s case, though, it’s not just her feelings for Dante that she has to accept; somehow, she has to be willing to forgive and start over with her family. Mallery does a great job of portraying Evie’s contradictory feelings and ambivalence about her family, and her mother in particular. And although resolution of Dante and Evie’s relationship is perhaps a little sudden, it’s delightfully romantic.
Evie is wonderful with her young students, patient with the awkward ones and determined not to let them down, despite the fact that she never expected to end up in charge of the production. As a former ‘dance mom’ who spent many years watching and helping with the annual Nutcracker at my daughter’s studio, I really enjoyed the dance studio scenes and would have liked more of them.
But it’s not just the annual “Winter King” dance performance, which Evie is singlehandedly in charge of staging, that makes this a holiday novel. The entire town of Fool’s Gold goes all out for Christmas, with a parade, a tree-lighting festival, and even an event at Evie’s brother’s ranch, complete with hay rides, elves, a petting zoo, and an elephant in holiday attire. It’s an eclectic and sometimes amusing mix, but the spirit of warmth, cooperation, and acceptance that pervades the town shines through, making this a very satisfying Christmas romance.
Herding Cats - Burning Soup
I’ve been loving her books this year. Haven’t read this one yet though but definitely going to have to. Sounds like a fun bit of romance 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Lovely review Lark, this sounds just perfect for the holidays. I have read several books in this series and enjoyed them 🙂
Pamela D
This sounds like a lovely romance for this time of year. Lovely review. 🙂