The Holiday Claus by Ann Einerson
My review
3/5 stars
Lila works is the event planner at the local hotel, and is asked to pull together her brother's wedding in 4 days. Brooks is her brother's best friend, and grandson of the hotel owner. Lila has had a crush on him since she was little, and now she has to plan a wedding with him without letting her crush out of the bag.
This was a sweet and spicy romance with a very festive feel to it - I found it particularly funny that the male lead's surname was Claus. I liked that they played out the brother's best friend trope without it being overly dramatic, especially from the brother; it was nice to read something relatively straightforward.
The relationship between Lila and Brooks was nice enough to read about, but I didn't feel overly invested in them at any point. There was chemistry there, but I actually found some of their steamier scenes to be quite jarring, though I can't put my finger on why exactly. The story also started off with a fairly unrealistic plot point that threw me off and put me on a different path with the characters (I think).
Who I did enjoy reading about the most was Brooks' grandma/Lila's boss. She had a fantastically engaging character and I would have loved her to have more time on the page than she got.
Book blurb
Santa had it right with his Naughty and Nice list.
Me? I was firmly Team Nice.
Need help throwing together a holiday wedding in four days, big brother? No problem.
Need me to share my bed with your super hot best friend? If I must.
Want to be sure I won’t accidentally fall in love with said super hot best friend—Brooks Claus? Can’t promise that.
He may have moved away from our small town years ago, but there’s something about being near him again that brings back memories of that innocent crush I never quite got over.
Fifteen year old me had good taste because Brooks remains the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. Biceps to die for and a perpetual frown I wish I could flip.
He’s far too serious, much older, and exceptionally grumpy to ever be mine.
Until he kisses me under the mistletoe.
Where in the fine print does it say that being a little naughty can also be nice?
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