Contemporary Romance published by Montlake 20 Oct 20
I’m learning very quickly I should never pass up a book by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward working together, though they also write wonderful romance individually. They give me something unusual every time, and this book is no different. Letters to Santa, second chances, and fate giving a single dad, his little girl, and a stranger the love of a lifetime.
Sadie works for a magazine writing about dating in all its forms, mostly the ones that end up not good at all. She also takes the lead in the Christmas Wish program the magazine puts on every year, granting wishes to kids who write to Santa. That’s how Sadie discovers Birdie and her dad, Sebastian. Birdie lost her mom a few years ago and is hoping Santa can bring a special friend to her and her dad, someone they both desperately need in their lives. There are a few other little things listed, so Sadie goes to work and delivers those gifts, even though it’s well before the holiday. One thing leads to another, and Sadie finds herself firmly ensconced in the Maxwells’ lives, her stories growing more outlandish, all the while wishing she’d never started on this journey because of the potential hurt she may cause.
But not only is it Birdie who steals Sadie’s heart, the little girl’s handsome and charismatic father pushes all of Sadie’s buttons in every way possible. But she knows nothing good will come of her little fibs, so she decides to come clean. I so love that Sebastian is just as taken with Sadie – and he can’t figure out why, especially due to the way she entered their lives – and he can’t say goodbye, no matter how much he believes he should. This man decides to listen to Sadie and her story, which is also his daughter’s story, instead of blowing up and making the situation that much worse.
Little by little you can feel the love blossom between these three characters – warm, happy, all-encompassing love. They have issues to get through, of course, but one of my favorite things in romance is when a couple works together to resolve issues, and Sebastian and Sadie do that wonderfully. Birdie does steal the show quite a bit throughout the story. She’s delightful. There are a couple of unexpected twists in the last half of the book, another thing these two authors do so very well to keep their writing fresh and fun and to keep their readers returning again and again.
I am definitely one of those.
Grade: A
Summary:
My love story all started with a letter.
Only it wasn’t from the man I’d eventually fall in love with. It was from his daughter. A sweet little girl named Birdie Maxwell who’d written to the magazine that I worked for.
You see, once a year my employer fulfilled a few wishes for readers. Only that column didn’t start up again for months.
So I fulfilled some of her wishes myself. It was harmless…so I thought. Until one day I took things too far.
While anonymously granting yet another of Birdie’s wishes, I got a look at her father. Her devastatingly handsome, single dad father.
I should have stopped playing fairy godmother then. I should have left well enough alone. But I just couldn’t help myself. I had a connection to this girl. One that had me acting irrationally.
Like when I showed up on their doorstep.
No excerpt available.
