Review: Her Holiday Man – Shannon Stacey

*I received a free copy of Her Holiday Man from Carina Press via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *

Her Holiday Man by Shannon Stacey
Published by Carina Press on 3 November 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

Christina Forrester is starting over. After a financial scandal sent her ex-husband to prison, she's left raising her young son without any of the comforts of their old life. Budgets, coupons, lawn care—you name it, she's learning to do it all on her own. Well, almost on her own—she'd be lost without Gail Broughton, the kind widow across the street. But when Gail's son comes home, Christina's vow to never trust a man again is put to the test.

Will Broughton left town because he was tired of being "that poor man" who lost his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident. But years have passed and, with his dad gone and his mom alone, it's time to go home. Only his mother's not alone. She's taken Christina under her wing, and the beautiful and determined single mother awakens something in Will he thought was buried forever.

As Will and Christina are forced to spend more time together, feelings that are more than neighborly grow between them. And with Christmas coming and a child filling both houses with holiday cheer, it becomes nearly impossible not to embrace the joy—and the love—in their lives.

Her Holiday Man is a bittersweet holiday romance, where the two main characters are both holding back for fear of being hurt once more.

My Her Holiday Man review:

When Will decided to move back home, he hadn’t thought for one second he would have to share his newly widowed mother with the beautiful woman living across the street as well as her son. At first, he was extremely suspicious of Christina, was she trying to take advantage of his mom in any way? Or was she just a lonely woman having found a friend? It didn’t take long before Will was looking forward to seeing both Nathaniel and Christina, though. But he was not at all ready to open his heart.

I loved the different relationships in Her Holiday Man so much. Both between the various adults and Nathaniel, and the one between Will and his mom, and of course the budding friendship that might be more between Christina and Will. I thought the way the story unfolded was very well done, because it was very easy to understand both Christina’s and Will’s anguish and need to protect their hearts. Their chemistry was hot, though, and it was easy to see that they could be very good together.

I enjoyed all of the characters, they seemed human and quite real to me, and they were able to make me feel for them – both their sadness, their protectiveness and their happiness touched me.

Since Her Holiday Man was written in third person past tense, I really got to know the different characters and their thoughts and feelings very well. Even little Nathaniel had a real personality and was an integral part of the story. Reading this also made me in the mood for both Christmas cookies and rich food, as well as romance, candle-light and some lightness of heart.

Some of my favorite Her Holiday Man quotes:

Let me say that I have pages and pages of highlights on my kindle, it was hard to choose just a few to share here today!

When she opened her arms, he bent forward slightly so she could hug him. The shawl draped around his shoulders along with her arms, and he breathed in the scent of Mom.

She went straight to the kitchen, since that’s usually where she found Gail, and almost ran smack into a solid wall of a man. Stopping short, she put her hands up, just shy of putting them on the expanse of chest covered by a heather-blue Henley shirt. He had dark eyes, dark hair that curled over his ears and a frown that backed her up a step.

It was hard not to respond to the amusement on her face, so he found himself smiling at her before yanking his attention back to the spaghetti on his plate.

 

 

 

 

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