Review: Mine Under the Mistletoe by Kat Latham

Title: Mine Under the Mistletoe
Author: Kat Latham
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 5 December 2013

Thanks to a transatlantic house swap, California girl Ashley Turner is finally going to fulfill her lifelong dream of a proper English Christmas. Her holiday plans did not include a sexy stranger climbing into her borrowed bed in the middle of the night. But in the light of day, Ashley can't help but wonder if Santa has delivered early...

Game designer Oliver Stansfeld can't wait to leave dreary London—and all its difficult holiday memories—for sunny San Diego. But a freak ice storm and a grounded plane have forced him back to his already-occupied flat. To make up for the mix-up, the least he can do is show his pretty houseguest where to get the perfect Christmas tree before he leaves.

The more time they spend together, the more their attraction grows, and soon Ashley is tempting Oliver to give in to the spirit of the season and snuggle up for the rest of the winter. As the ice melts and flights start taking off again, he must choose between giving in to the past or risking his heart on a chance at love.

Mine Under the Mistletoe ended up being an endearing mix of fun and poignant - I wasn't expecting the poignant when I picked it up, but it really added to the story. I do, however, wish it had been a little bit longer to deal with some of the very intense feelings it began to address in the two main characters.

Ashley's one of those people that is determined to find the best in everything. She's a bit naive, but utterly kind, caring and optimistic. That's not to say that she doesn't recognize the bad things that happens - she understands them very well - but she adapts and forges ahead. I found myself liking and respecting her quite a bit (which helped with the naivete that showed up occasionally).

Oliver is dealing with some heavy, heavy guilt. This is what I thought needed to be addressed a bit more. His sister was in a car accident when she was fourteen and apparently both brain damaged and paralyzed. She died on Boxing Day the previous year. It's well understandable why Christmas is so hard for Ollie, and why he's so desperate to get anywhere but here.

I really enjoyed the way that Ashley didn't push Ollie. She let him come to terms with his issues, and his worries on his own. He'd share them when he was ready and could. And he did. It was incredibly sweet watching these two bond. I did have a bit of a problem with the quickness and intensity of Ashley's feelings though. After just a couple of days they're in love, and with all the grief they were both dealing with I felt that was a little unlikely. I did see how they could make it work though, and was happy they were going to - and the epilogue at the end left me smiling and sure in their HEA.

Grade: B

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Review: Season of Second Chances by Brighton Walsh

Title: Season of Second Chances
Author: Brighton Walsh
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 5 December 2013

When a storm strands Claire Hanlin in Chicago on Christmas Eve, the last person she expects to come to her rescue is Logan Dawes, the man she almost married two years ago. The chemistry between them is dangerously potent, but with nowhere else to go, Claire accepts Logan's offer to stay with him for the night.

Back in the home they shared, surrounded by reminders of Logan and his young daughter, Claire begins to realize how much she misses the family she almost had. After a few cups of Christmas cheer, she falls right back into her ex's arms-even though she knows it means setting herself up for heartbreak all over again.

The magic of the season has thrown him together with the woman he's never stopped loving, and Logan's not about to pass up this gift. He's not the workaholic he was two years ago-his family comes first. Now all he has to do is prove it to Claire, before the snow stops and she flies out of his life for good.

Second chance romances one of my top five story-lines in contemporary romances, I was looking forward to seeing how Claire and Logan dealt with the issues that separated them previously. How they would be able to forge a future from the remains of their past.

From their first meeting it's clear that the chemistry between the two of them is off the charts high. The sparks practically fly off of each other when Claire ends up at Logan's condo in the middle of a snowstorm that strands her in Chicago.

I really easily identified with both Claire and Logan - their feelings as they navigated through the feelings they're still dealing with. It felt so incredibly real, so understandable. Claire, hurt and determined not to let herself fall into it again; Logan regretting the decisions he'd made, wishing he could take them back and not lose the best thing that had ever happened to him. And then there were the little things: Claire thinking how much she missed the simple touches, when Logan finally apologizes it touched my heart with how sincere it was - how utterly unstoppable. This was doubly impressive considering this was a novella of only about 70 pages.

My only complaint is that the whole time they're falling in love, again, the issue that broke them up in the first place was never even a concern. The snowstorm discarded the possibility of it being a problem, and so they were stuck in a fairy-tale like situation where real life didn't intrude. Thus by the time they did have to deal with the reality of it, the only way to resolve it was through a grand gesture - which I'm just not a fan of. I'm never sure that the grand gesture translates into a life-long change, so I really, really appreciated the epilogue here. It cemented my surety in their happily-ever-after and simply made me happy for both Claire and Logan that they found a way to make it work - no matter how difficult it may have been.

Season of Second Chances is an incredibly sweet, sexy, real romance that touched my heart and made me sigh with happiness. This is the first thing I've read by Brighton Walsh, but I've already added some of her other books to my wishlist.

Grade: B+

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