War widow Ilena doesn't mind spending Christmas alone. But when a new doctor blows into town with the winter wind, will she get her secret Christmas wish?
Award-winning and bestselling author, international traveler, feted at a Hollywood premiere . . .
All true . . . but my regular life is a whole lot more routine. Deal with the five big puppers who share our house, babysit our grandson, battle the jungle that is our yard, pray for summer in winter and dream of winter in summer, and hunker down at the computer -- that's my real life.
I grew up in Oklahoma and had the fun of living in Georgia, Alabama, California and the Carolinas, thanks to my husband's Navy career. When he retired, we came home to Oklahoma and have lived in the same house for seventeen years. That's a real "Wow!" for someone used to the nomadic military life.
Writing was the perfect career for all that moving. Have computer, will travel. I've set books, or part of them, in every state we've lived in and been inspired by every place I've ever been. I've now written somewhere around 80 books, and I think I've got only about 8,000 stories left to tell.
My biggest hobby is starting new projects -- starting. Not completing. I'm still not done with the cross-stitched Army seal I started when our son joined out of high school. He did tours in Georgia, Colorado, Korea, Italy, Iraq, Afghanistan and Louisiana, and has been out for a few years. So I'm a little slow.
I like to think about getting organized, painting my living room in cool beachy colors, and turning my entire five-acre yard into a garden. I also dream about having every room in my house clean at exactly the same time, but I live by the motto of the woman who taught me to quilt: A clean house is the sign of a bored woman.
Dr. Jared Connor comes from a long line of illustrious surgeons who practice in the top hospitals in the country. His family is upset when Jared signed a two-year contract to work as a pediatrician in a small Oklahoma town. Jared knows he'll miss New York City and his friends, but he wants to give this a try. Things are looking up when he meets Ilena Gomez. She is a young widow who is dressed as an elf. Jared and Ilena become friends in a matter of hours. Jared just hopes he doesn't hurt her when his contract is up.
This short Christmas story was part of "A Christmas to Remember" anthology. Jared and Ilena seemed to fall for each other in record time. Of course, Jared never mentioned that he may not be staying in Oklahoma permanently, which is a problem they have to solve. My rating: 3 Stars.
This story contained all the reasons I don't enjoy novellas. I enjoyed book 1 a lot and was hoping 1.5 would be good too.
Ilena and Jared's relationship was instant and the speed of the relationship felt more icky because Ilena has a baby. Not that having a baby is wrong, but I think parents should be more cautious when seeking partners and having them around their children, but that's my opinion.
This also makes it difficult to believe the relationship and any angst between the couple comes off as unreasonable and unbelievable.
This was a very sweet story. Dr Jacob leaves New York to run a pediatric clinic in Tallgrass Oklahoma never thinking he was going to fall for a cute little elf and her son.
A decent, cute Christmas romance story. I would have rated it 4 stars except for the ending. It was too rushed and I felt the poor doctor was owed a bit of an apology. He felt second best to me.
While a sweet story, it had some disjointed spots. Pediatrician leaves his snobby family of surgeons to practice in a small town. She's an army widow with a small son, with a penchant for wearing elf costumes and Christmas trees.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Doctor Jared rebelled against his family expectations, setting up practice in a small town, not high end enough for them. What he never saw coming was the cute elf already living there. Ilena lost her husband but still tries to spread holiday cheer. Can she influence the doctor perhaps? Quick read, christmas fluff and smut.