Liviania’s review of The Christmas Present by Tracy Wolff
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin Superromance 8 Dec 09

I understand the logic that if marketing says something sells, you should do it.  Harlequin didn’t become the powerhouse it is by making random decisions.  Still, I don’t see the point in packaging Tracy Wolff’s latest with a generic couple in front of the tree and the generic title The Christmas Present.  It hides the surprisingly dark story from the people who might enjoy it most. (It might also cause some people to be upset due to the trigger-y first chapter.)  There is an offscreen rape/murder, attempted rape, a shooting, and some other acts of violence.  The Christmas Present is not for someone looking for a fluffy holiday romance. 

The Christmas Present resembles a crime thriller, where the emphasis is placed on the romance rather than the detective story.  (That isn’t to say the plot is half-baked.  The ending to the whodunit is a bit weaksauce, but the crime elements are generally menacing, logically connected, and further the central relationship.  Plus, most of the mystery isn’t about whodunit but about finding mitigating factors and reasonable doubt.)  Diego is a young, low-class Mexican accused of brutally raping and murdering his pregnant girlfriend Esme.  Rafael Cardoza is the man who runs a community center and acts as Diego’s guardian, hoping his ward won’t be wrongfully sent to jail as he was.  Vivian Wentworth is the attorney forced to take the pro bono case by her firm despite the fact she’s a divorce attorney.

Vivian pulls the proceedings together.  As the opening, in which she is nearly raped, shows clearly, she is an outsider, over her head and vulnerable.  However, she’s also tenacious, clever, and generally the kind of lawyer kids like Diego need but will likely never have.  As in most stories of this type, things can get over the top.  But Vivian is a grounded and sensible presence, which made the story more convincing to me.

Rafael is very alpha male, but lacks some of the more annoying characteristics of that type.  He judges Vivian harshly at first, but it makes sense given his history with rich white girls.  He’s well aware of the class and race lines in the United States, and not happy about them.  Especially not when it hurts the kids he’s trying to help.  It’s hard not to like who a guy who clearly having papa bear urges and trying to protect his young.

I read this one very quickly, as absorbed in Vivian and Rafael’s pursuit of justice as I was in their attraction.  I have no idea how accurate the court stuff was, but Wolff sounded like she knew what she was writing about, which is enough for me.  The only time I came out of the story was when one passage reminded me that the book was set during December.  Until that point, I’d totally forgotten that I’d picked it up expecting it to be a holiday romance.  (I remembered Sherry Thomas recommending Wolff in her newsletter once, so I had the author’s name in the back of my head.)

I’ll definitely pick up another book by Wolff.  I may also start reading the Harlequin blurbs closer, as clearly the title and cover can’t be relied on.  (I knew this, but old habits are hard to break.)  This book contained a number of things I enjoy, including racial tensions and action, as well as a convincing romance.  The Christmas setting wasn’t saccharine, but a bittersweet reminder that even as the season draws people together, there are still bad things happening out there.  As The Christmas Present is a Harlequin, there is a happy ending.

But Wolff makes her characters earn it.

Grade: A

Summary:

Rafael Cardoza needs a lawyer. A good one well versed in criminal law is the only hope to save the wrongfully accused kid from Rafael’s community center. So how does he end up with uptown divorce attorney Vivian Wentworth? The chances of her successfully defending this case are slim to none. If Rafael were smart, he’d show Vivian the door.

Too bad his attraction to her is clouding his judgment. And when he can finally see past his libido, he realizes that there’s more to Vivian than her family name and her designer clothes. In fact, she’s working so hard to clear the kid’s name, they just might win. It’s the best Christmas gift Rafael could receive…or would that be Vivian agreeing to stay with him?

Read an excerpt here.

Warning: The excerpt contains the attempted rape that I think is trigger-y.