3 out of 5 stars
Kindle Edition, 1st Edition, 64 pages. Published December 1st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
After Andrew’s boyfriend dumps him just before Christmas, he decides to take a job far, far away from city life. It’s a dishwashing job on a remote island off the coast of Georgia. Expecting sunshine, palm trees, and some quality alone time, Andrew is surprised to find alligators, mosquitoes, rattlesnakes, and Garrett—a devilishly handsome naturalist. Andrew desperately tries to resist Garrett’s charm, because a twice-broken heart before Christmas is just not an option. Besides Andrew’s new friend Anna might already have a thing for Garrett.
But where do Garrett’s interests lie, and will Andrew find out before he’s surprised by a visit from his ex?
A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2018 Advent Calendar “Warmest Wishes.”
Likes:
- Short.
- Sweet.
- Cute HEA ending.
- Interesting setting for a Christmas story.
Dislikes:
- So many clichés.
- No journey of transformation for the characters.
According to Goodreads, this is the one and only thing published by Ren Holly, and I hope to see more of her work in the future. This novella was fun, cute, and low angst, with plenty of setting that really gave me a good idea of the island without resorting to paragraphs of scenery description.
Because the format was so short, only 64 pages, I won’t bother commenting about how I wanted more background about the characters. I don’t even remember finding out how old they were, let alone what Andrew had been doing with his life before he up and moved to a random island off the coast of Georgia to be a dishwasher. Since this is a romance story, all that really mattered was that he was brokenhearted and wanted to get away.
The characters, despite their lack of background, were fun and interesting. Andrew and Garett were interesting characters, both with their own baggage, and Anna was a fun side character. I was ultimately disappointed that neither Andrew nor Garrett went through any sort of journey. They both had hurdles to overcome, but one potentially hazardous incident and they’re cemented together forever. It was cliché, and the not the only one.
The clichés were all over this book, from the people – Andrew’s ex and his rich family, to Andrew’s city-boy reactions to everything nature. Some were fine, other grated. Not enough to make me dislike the story, but with so many clichés, I’m definitely glad the story wasn’t longer.
Find the Warmest Wishes anthology review here and the full list of stories here.
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