First up is Letters at Christmas by Amber Lin that our Evil Overlords at The 'Zon tell me I downloaded (undoubtedly) as a freebie back in 2014. Gently born Sidony has had three Seasons, but her heart wasn't in it. Her heart was already spoken for, to her brother's BFF, Captain Hale Martin. These two crazy kids were madly in love and carrying on in secret, but Hale, with limited prospects, knows he needs to change his fortunes if he wants to ask for Sidony's hand. He enters into the shipping business and tells Sidony he's setting sail for one year, she'll have her one Season, and then they'll reunite. And of course he'll write her constantly! That was three years ago, and Hale has sent word that he's coming home and will be spending the holidays with Sidony and her brother. Gone two years longer than expected and oh yeah, there were no letters. Zero. None. Zilch. Boyfriend just straight up ghosted her. Of course she's still in love with him but she's also really angry - and naturally in waltzes Hale determined to win her back.
I stuck with this story because the writing is just that good. It's polished with well-done tension and character development. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't do these two any favors. It's basically "I loved you, I'm really mad at you, I don't know if I can forgive you, oopsie doodle now we're having sex." Speaking of the sex, there's a lot of it. Which is fine if you're looking for a steamy read, but given the short word count I wanted more time spent on the emotional heft of these two finding their way back together and the heroine's anger, and forgiveness, towards the hero.
What's even more unfortunate? This author seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth. Her website is down and according to Goodreads she hasn't published anything in 10 years - which is a shame because the writing is certainly more than good enough here to make me pick up another one of her stories.
Final Grade = B-
Cindy's fiancé broke her heart on Christmas Eve and since then the holiday season has been rough thanks to well-meaning family. So this year she's decided to travel to Tiny Made-Up Country in Europe That Only Exists on Romancelandia Maps to volunteer at an animal shelter - Cindy being a veterinarian. She arrives at Heathrow Airport in London only to discover inclement weather has delayed and cancelled all flights. Luckily her father pulls some strings and gets her access to a posh airport lounge and that is where she has a meet cute with none other than Prince Tristan, from Tiny Made-Up Country in Europe That Only Exists on Romancelandia Maps. Prince Tristan is on his way home after volunteering at a sloth sanctuary because of course and naturally these two tap-dance around each other by not acknowledging he's a frickin' Prince.
This is a sweet, just-kisses bon-bon of a holiday read, the stranded/layover premise is great and Wilson certainly has the romantic comedy chops to pull it off. Unfortunately the story itself leans hard into the movie of Love Actually. The whole story basically hinges on it and Lord help you if you haven't seen the movie and/or you hate it. But if you're fan? It'll probably work better for you. For me, personally, it was all a little too cutesy-wootsy for my tastes.
Final Grade = C
Anyway, Marcus recovers enough to head home and to show his gratitude he invites Liam to join him. Does he tell his sister he's bringing home a houseguest? You have to ask? Of course he doesn't.
This is when the story starts to falter for me. There's just not enough of Liam and Cecilia together on page and developing a relationship to get me to buy into the happy ending. There's a potentially great emotional scene where Liam comes across a wrung-out Cecilia having a cry in a linen closet but it doesn't go far enough. Then there's some tacked on bits involving a ghost haunting the house and an added twist of suspense when Cecilia gets locked in the cellar - leading to Marcus rescuing her, proposing marriage, and then The End. Look, I realize people married back in the day not knowing much about each other, but this was the very definition of hasty. The delightful letters in the beginning were not enough to sell me on the romance. There was just too much left unanswered for me. Great beginning leading to an ho-hum at the finish line. But have I mentioned the letters in the beginning are great?!
Final Grade = C+
And there you have it, the final TBR Challenge of 2024. I want to thank everyone who participated and followed along this year - and hey, let's to it again in 2025.
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