Review: A Very Grumpy Christmas by Jerica MacMillan


Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Grey's Promotions.

I can only wish that all introductions to new-to-me authors are as fantastic as mine was to Jerica MacMillan! A Very Grumpy Christmas is a holiday romance featuring a seriously grumpy guardian to a six-year-old and an eternally optimistic Christmas ornament designer and occasional elf. This is a complete standalone, although I suspect that there could be a companion novel in the future featuring two supporting characters, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Basically, no other novels need to be read prior to this one!

Rejecting her neighborly welcome complete with cookies, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Daniels knows all too well  how much of a grump Shane Elliott is. But seeing him with his sister, Sophie, lining up to speak to Santa gives her pause. Maybe there's more to the guy who looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and maybe Sarah could help ease some of it off him. However, Shane hates being pitied, which is what he thinks is spurring Sarah on. But is it possible that his overly helpful neighbor is exactly who he and his youngest sibling need, or will their grief overshadow the holidays?

I admit it: There was a point in this book where I couldn't help but shed a few tears! There's a fair bit of angst, but don't let that dissuade you from reading this holiday romance. Wit and humor are very much present as well. I loved seeing Shane slowly let his guard down, and Sophie relishing in being with her three older siblings made my heart squeeze in my chest. Having Sarah in their lives was like a necessary spark for the twosome. Speaking of Sarah, she's now one of my favorite female main characters this year. She was a good person with a giving spirit. With a touching story and such wonderful characters, A Very Grumpy Christmas is a five-starred read.

Release Date: 22 November 2021

Date Read: 21 November 2021

Learn more about Jerica MacMillan.

Purchase A Very Grumpy Christmas on Amazon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Release Blitz: Saved by Hazel James

Image
Saved (Battles #2) by Hazel James Release Date: June 21, 2018 About Saved Leilani Moretti Life is out to get me.  Humvee accident that took my right hand? Strike one.  Cancer three years later that stole my breasts and hair? Strike two.  An overbearing mother who seems to think I’m twelve, not twenty-seven?  Yeah, I’m out of there.  I thought moving to Oklahoma would give me a fresh start. I hoped life would finally cut me some damn slack. But between the inept people at the VA hospital and a boss who’s hell-bent on fixing me, I just want to be left alone. Haven’t I been through enough already? Clay Prescott Joining the Army and deploying to Afghanistan? Hard. Kicking an alcohol addiction and starting a business combining fitness and mental health? Harder. Worth it? Hell yes.  Battles, my gym, has been so successful that I hired a new employee—a veteran herself—to help me open a second location. And that’s when it all goes to hell. Everything
Read on...

Release Blitz: Blue Skies by Marie Sinclair

Image
Blue Skies (Blue Skies #1) by Marie Sinclair Release Date: October 11, 2023 About Blue Skies Greg loves his job as a flight attendant. If only his love life could make him as happy, he’d be all set. Asexual and HIV-positive, Greg has had a series of untrustworthy boyfriends who saw him as a challenge or told him they could accept his sexuality and status. Until they couldn’t. Still reeling from his latest breakup, Greg’s romantic heart beats a little faster when he meets Holden at a club, even though his brain whispers caution. For Holden, relationships are something he can’t afford. He’s been in the closet his entire adult life because it could cost him his job if anyone finds out he’s gay. At forty-eight, hook-ups, one night stands, and quickies in a bathroom are as good as it gets for him. It’s all he’s looking for when he goes to Neon. Instead, he finds Greg. Drawn to each other from the start, the two experience a bit of a bumpy take-off. But then Holden ends up on Greg
Read on...

Review: The Room Mate by Kendall Ryan (Roommates #1)

Image
Note: This ARC was provided by the author via InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. I do believe I've found myself a new book boyfriend to drool, erm, swoon over in Cannon Roth, male main character in bestselling author Kendall Ryan's Roommates series starter, The Room Mate . This had a familiar romance trope--falling-for-your-best-friend's-sibling--and yet I didn't find it boring or tiresome in any way. This has both heart and heat as well as lighthearted humor along with a bit of heart-tugging angst and it's headlined by a couple of main characters that I was totally smitten with from the moment Paige got a pretty good idea of just how much her best friend's younger brother Cannon had grown up from the nerdy boy who followed them around like a puppy when they were kids. Bonus points for Paige being older and for the four-legged, furball named Enchilada.  When twenty-eight-year-old Paige took the call from her best friend asking if her yo
Read on...