Sarah Morgan (1) (1948–)

I'm rather torn over this review. I completely understand why Kayla is the way she is about Christmas. Without spoilers I think its safe to assume that most people would be sympathetic. And Jackson is up front about everything--its not his fault that Kayla kind of...misses the point of what he was saying. This isn't to say that Kayla is blameless for reacting how she did to Jackson and his family's very enthusiastic celebration of the holiday however.

I love Christmas. I love Christmas romances, movies, music, food, decorations and most of all presents. I'm less fond of the snow...but that's kind of the price you pay for living North of the Mason-Dixon line isn't it? The O'Neil Clan is a likeable bunch, filled with relatives you love hearing about, but would probably be annoyed by if they were your relatives and not your buddy's. The grandma who wants to give Betty White a run for her money. The granddad who doesn't see a reason to bring some fancy woman from New York to help them save the family business. Jackson's mother, who's quiet grief even with her family makes it easy for her to relate to Kayla.

I think at times Morgan laid it on a little too thick in regards to the granddad. I swear I saw him waving a cane every single time he complained about something Kayla wanted to do. He really didn't want anything to change, which while it made for some telling conversations between the various members it also became tiresome.

To finish my nitpicks, the O'Neil's did not, as a family, understand personal space. Once they got over the fact Jackson (basically) went behind their backs to hire Kayla it was like open season to try and pry her open of her deepest issues. The more uncomfortable and agitated Kayla became the more I wanted to shake the family and ask if they really thought it was helping. Yes Kayla needed to confront the past and move on to be healthier, but force feeding her something that makes her visibly cringe is not the way to make it happen.

Now for what worked! Morgan makes it clear that even though Kayla has learned to not let the past rule her present, she is not in any one suddenly "Miss Christmas Superstar". And while Jackson's heart was in the right place, I was happy to see the others take him to task for not thinking it through completely.

The chemistry between the two was very warm. Yes the timeline is rather short, so this was a WHAM BAM THANK YOU courtship, but Jackson genuinely tries to show Kayla how much he cares for her. Again with more enthusiasm then careful planning, but that's kind of how his family operates. Kayla wasn't the typical flirt back off flirt back off heroine, she was pretty adamant about not wanting to be involved. She's made mistakes and she doesn't want to repeat them. I don't particularly blame her since again, the timeline is pretty quick so common sense would dictate caution.

If this wasn't a romance book. Set during Christmas. In a romantic, snowy landscape.

This is the first of three books and you can definitely see that Morgan set up the other two as romance leads. Luckily they're enjoyable and just as interesting as Jackson (though hopefully their romances go a little...smoother).

As a holiday read this is perfect. Curl up, sit with a hot cup of cocoa and remember--romance books live in a special kind of universe where reality needs never intrude.… (meer)