Title: Candy Cane Christmas
Author: Laura Trentham
Date finished: 11/14/16
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: October 25, 2016
Pages in book: 67
Stand alone or series: Cottonbloom series short story
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
Blurb from the cover:
A very Cottonbloom Christmas!
Jeremy Whitehurst has tried to leave his bad-boy behavior and tarnished image behind in Alabama for a fresh start in Cottonbloom, Louisiana. Unfortunately, trouble has dogged him across state lines. Stepping up and protecting a young woman from her abusive boyfriend earned him a beat-down and got him fired. Although the thanks in the girl’s dark eyes made it all worth it, he recognizes she’s just a different kind of trouble. A trouble he’s not sure he can stay away from.
One rebellious summer dented Kayla Redmond’s carefree innocence. Now her focus is on completing her associate’s degree for bookkeeping, and no one is going to derail her plans. Unfortunately, her job at Fournette Brothers Designs puts her in the path of the one man who has seen her at her worst, yet his blue eyes don’t judge her. He sees beyond the brokenness inside of her and rouses her wild side once more. But, that’s what got her in trouble in the first place.
Christmas is coming and Kayla’s ready to forgive herself and take a chance. But the holiday has only ever brought heartache to Jeremy. No Christmas miracle kept his mother clean or out of jail. Will one reckless night and some time spent in the back of a cop car be the best present Jeremy’s ever been given?
My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5
My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I recently read Laura Trentham’s Till I Kissed You and I really enjoyed it so when I saw this short story on NetGalley I was glad to have the opportunity to read it. Not only because I got the chance to hear Jeremy’s story but also because I’m really starting to get into the holiday spirit and have been looking for books to nudge me in the right direction. While this story was indeed quite short, I still think it was a good addition to the series and a good story to read. It is hard to create a very developed plot when you only have about 70 pages to get from beginning to end but I thought that the author did a good job of developing the relationship between the characters and also giving both characters good background stories. Kayla and Jeremy make a sweet couple and after what both have been through already in life, its heart-warming to see that they’re both still willing to take a chance on love. This was a good read for a short story and I would recommend, especially if you’re reading the other books in the series.
The bottom line: This was acute short story but it was definitely that, short. It was a good addition to the series though and I’m still interested to read more by this author.
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