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The magic of Christmas—and a second shot at romance—is in the air in Shelter Springs this holiday season… Amanda Taylor isn’t a fan of Christmas, but as the owner of a local soap shop, ignoring the holiday season isn’t an option. To forget the pain of Christmases past, Amanda focuses on making the season bright for her customers at the Shelter Springs Holiday Giving Market. But when her beloved grandmother, Birdie, starts dating the dashing new resident of the Shelter Inn retirement community, Amanda smells trouble. Fortunately, Rafe Arredondo, the grandson of Birdie’s charming suitor, is equally dubious of the match. Unfortunately, he's just as fiery as his grandfather—and Amanda has zero interest in getting burned. As a single father, paramedic and assistant fire chief, Rafe has more than enough on his plate. Sure, he and Amanda share a common goal in keeping their grandparents apart. Still, that doesn’t mean he should allow himself to feel as drawn to her as he does. Even if she is great with his young son. Even if she does help the burden of his own painful past feel a little lighter… But when their paths keep crossing at the holiday market, it starts to feel like fate, prompting them both to wonder if taking a chance on love might gift them everything they’ve been wishing for.
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4.5 stars
This is a beautiful holiday story. I loved returning to the Shelter Inn to revisit the lovely residents and their meddling. In this story, not as much time is spent at the inn as in the previous one; instead, we see everyone out and about at the holiday market.
Amanda has been subconsciously avoiding her new neighbor, Rafe. Her alcoholic father caused a terrible tragedy in his family many years ago, so she tends to keep her distance from certain people. That’s no longer possible after his grandfather moves into the Shelter Inn and seems to be courting her grandmother. What starts as her expressing her concern soon turns into Amanda and Rafe becoming friends. She’s a caregiver through and through and cannot help but step in when Rafe is injured on the job. He’s not used to being idle but can’t say no to Amanda when his son Isaac is enamored with him.
I got all the feels from this story. From Amanda and Rafe’s chemistry, Isaac’s obvious attachment to Amanda, and Rafe’s caution with his young son. Once again this author brought a quaint fictional town to life and had me dreaming of Christmas.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
0The December Market focuses on the romance between Amanda, community backbone/business owner and firefighter/paramedic/single father Rafe. Both have survived tragedy and neither are looking for love, but Rafe’s son Isaac and the magic of Christmas conspire to get them together.
Unfortunately I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two characters so I never got invested in the story. I was far more interested in the budding romance between their grandparents. It’s a fine, low stakes story, perhaps just right for the busy holiday season.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for an eARC. Opinions are my own.
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