Title: Christmas in Paradise
Author: Brittany Larsen
Date: 2023
Quote: "I need to be kissed, and often, by someone who knows how."
That's the trouble with Hope. She likes "bad boys." Her favorites are fictional, but she's been known to get carried away when kissing the real live thing. That is why she's the mother of a three-year-old with "special needs."
When she goes to the little fictional town of Paradise, Idaho, and meets Sebastian, the first kiss sizzles. Then Seb says he doesn't want to date a girl who thinks babies are cute, because he doesn't want kids. Then Hope doesn't want to see him or even cyberchat with him any more. Then Seb, who is a biker all right but he rides an "e-bike," decides he wants to grow up and practice responsibility by bringing up a puppy, which he lets Hope's toddler name. Seb's mother happens to be a specialist in tutoring small children with "special needs," so he has a perfect opportunity to convince Hope he has what it takes to be a stepfather, while parked in the friendzone.
"Bad boy" appeal on a young fellow who's trying hard to become a good man is rare in the real world. I'm not sure I've ever seen it so I can't judge how realistically Larsen had portrayed it. The community in the fictional Paradise is believable. The small-town setting is good for cute comic scenes, as when Brittany feels attacked by a pack of squirrels who want to continue eating the mistletoe for the Christmas decorations even when Brittany starts moving it out. (Squirrels, birds, and insects do eat mistletoe, which really does grow from bird droppings on twigs, which is what "mistletoe" originally meant.)
It's a sweet romance so you know where it will end. The fun is in seeing how the characters get there and, along the way, seeing evidence that a man really is trying to change himself--as distinct from whining "Oh give me another chance, cut me a little more slack," etc. etc. until the woman leaves him because that's more civilized than strangling him. (Because, as everyone has heard by now...unless he's wearing diapers, you can't change him.)
No comments:
Post a Comment