This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Genres: Holiday Romance
Published by Indie/Self Published
Released on October 9, 2018
Pages: 148
Format: eARC
Source: Author
The Delight
A charming Christmas romance set in North Carolina is just the thing for this time of the year to get you into the spirit of Christmas. Add in a grieving young girl, a small town, and the beauty of the surrounding mountains and this was especially a win for me.
Review
Tara had an unhappy childhood due to parents that wanted little to nothing to do with her and her sister Shelby. To that end, they were parked at her grandparents farm to be raised. There the girls flourished and Tara, in particular, fell in love with the farmhouse and the land that went a long with it. Now the farm is up for sale again and for a change Tara is able to finally put in an offer to buy. When she finds out that someone from out of state bid on it and got the house, she is devastated. No one had ever wanted the house besides her and she is pretty shocked as well. Tara is a talented artist, one that is able to make a living selling her work in the little shops in town. She also helps in her aunt’s specialty shop and is there when she meets a new man in town. Justin is smitten almost immediately and Tara is as well. After she finds out that Justin and his much younger half sister Marley are the new residents of her family farm, she is livid and refuses to have anything to do with the man.
I enjoyed the characters the most in this story. Tara, her sister Shelby, and Charlotte their now best friend step-sister, are all the main characters of this trilogy. I believe they will all get their own story and I loved that aspect. Always nice to be able to catch up with characters from one book to the next. Justin is a rich lawyer that has given up his big city life to make a home for his sister Marley. Marley is twelve and has recently lost her mother due to an overdose. She’s pretty broken and Justin is trying really hard to win her over. Marley is instrumental in bridging the gap between Tara and Justin. At least, I thought so. I’m leaving it at that.
I don’t know if the small town of Sylvan Hills exists, but if it does, I want to visit. It seems like the idyllic place to settle and raise a family. The people there all know each other and have Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions from one year to the next. Throughout the read, I pictured Gatlinburg in Tennessee as that is where the town reminded me of-only on a much, much smaller scale. It was my get away spot for years and I can picture people getting away to Sylvan Hills as well.
The romance was good, surprisingly a bit hot, and I enjoyed meeting all the characters of this small town. I thought the writing was also good and I am more than willing to read the next book, which is about Charlotte.
Recommended to adult romance readers that love a good small town story set around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Perfect for this time of the year!
Recommendations
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Oh yay! Glad you loved it, too, Lorna. I’m looking forward to Charlotte’s story after all the smoldering scenes in this one. The girlfriends was a great part, for sure.
Yes, I did enjoy the friendships too!
Sounds like a good, quick read.
It was a quick, fun read!
I would love to visit Sylvan Hills too, I enjoyed this one as well Lorna and look forward to the next book.
The author tweeted me and said that the town is Sylva NC and is just over the mountain from Gatlinburg-one of my favorite places to visit. She said I nailed it so I take that to mean she had Gatlinburg in mind when she wrote it.
I love Gatlinburg! I haven’t been there since I was a kid, but it’s such an idyllic, quaint, kind of Christmassy place in my mind. This sounds like a sweet book that’s perfect for Xmas time!
I haven’t been for probably twenty years, but I hear it’s gotten a lot bigger and busier. But still, I always loved it and went there sometimes twice a year. This was a fun Christmas read!