Monday, April 3, 2017

Book Review: No Holly For Christmas


I was supposed to be reviewing Story Tellers, An Evening With Colorful Characters, but I never received my review copy and the publisher didn't get back with me, so I was sad about that.

Instead, I will be reviewing No Holly For Christmas by Julie N. Ford. I've read some of Julie's writing before and really enjoyed it and this romantic suspense definitely kept me turning pages!

Holly is beautiful and a former socialite who has been reduced in circumstances since her husband's death. She's trying to provide for her daughters, but things are harder than she imagined. They get harder when Holly is mixed up in a murder case and meets Brian, from the D.A.'s office.  Brian is helping out his dad who's just had heart surgery, and he's not happy about it. But when things heat up and someone tries to kill Holly, Brian's attitude changes and he steps in to protect her and her girls. Can he keep Holly safe and not lose his heart?

Both our hero and heroine have a lot of baggage. Brian is carrying a torch for an old girlfriend, and Holly is still reeling from the secrets her husband kept from her. The emotions of their backstories will pull at your heartstrings and it really sets the tone for the romance. I was really hoping they would get their happily-ever-after since they'd been through so much! I thought the story was suspenseful and there were times when I couldn't put it down. I liked the balance between the suspense and the romance--both exciting and tender--and that the storyline was believable. There was a little more sexual innuendo than I'm used to from this author, but there wasn't anything graphic. And while the title might make you think it's a warm, fuzzy Christmas read, it isn't, yet it does tie into the Christmas season. I also didn't realize this is the second book in the series, and I liked this one enough to go back and read the first.

You can download your Kindle copy here

Here's the back copy:

A story about how fate will carry us where we need to go whether we are willing passengers or not.

After being jilted not once, but twice by the only woman he’s ever truly loved, Brian McAlister has all but given up on relationships. Then, on special assignment for the DA's office, he steps into the middle of a politically sensitive murder case where he crosses paths with a beautiful ex-socialite-turned-social-worker, Holly Cavanaugh Winter.

Widowed, practically penniless, and reduced to shopping at Walmart, Holly is dreading the approaching holiday season. However, her angst isn't due to her husband's untimely death the previous December 25th, but to a secret that could reveal itself unless she can find a way to avoid the coming Christmas. To make matters worse, she unwittingly stumbles into the throes of Brian’s case and the manhunt for a killer who now has his sights set on her.

His case unraveling, Brian finds himself tasked with keeping Holly and her two daughters safe while bringing an assassin and the powerful man who hired him to justice.

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