First sentence: In another life, Mark Rivers would've focused on the woman who'd just entered the bakery and nodded in her direction with a smile of appreciation.
Premise/plot: Mark Rivers is a former fire fighter and current town hero. He sustained severe burns while helping to save three boys and another firemen from a fire. He's been reluctant to rejoin society since then. But the new art teacher in town, Riley Madigan, may just change his mind about what life could be. Riley isn't looking for love, a Mister Right or Mister Right-Now. She rarely stays in one place long, and she's been hurt by men in the past. Art makes her happy. She came to teach art and to flip a house, not to find her happily ever after...
But in the small town of Miracle Creek, she may just have found more than she was looking for. Mark goes to Riley with a simple-not-so-simple request, to recreate his mom's nativity set. (Think wooden stand-up figures for a yard not tiny nativity pieces for the mantel.) The problem? She's not the biggest fan of Christmas. But Mark is very skilled and handy...so something might work out after all.
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one! I never know what to rate romance novels--and sometimes other genre fiction. If I rate in the moment as I'm reading it, probably most of what I'd read would rate a four or five stars. I usually get caught up in the story and want to see it through to the end. I usually have characters I'm cheering for. I want that happy ending and just smile when it's handed to me tied with a bow. But only time will tell if this is a story that I would want to reread every Christmas season or every other Christmas season. You see, I'm a big rereader. And if I really, truly love, love, love a book I'm going to be thinking about rereading it.
But I will say that I feel confident recommending this one. I especially think those that love romantic Christmas movies--you know who you are--would definitely enjoy reading this one. It is a satisfying read. I'm glad these books are published as happy escapes.
© 2020 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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