Title: A Secret Santa Christmas
Author: Lucinda Race
Genre: Small-town Holiday Romance, Holiday Romance
Book Blurb:
Holly Ivey needs a change. After sacrificing everything for the big city office, her career is over, frozen as firmly as Antarctica. At a loss of what to do next, her father suggests she relocate to Dickens and run her grandmother’s yarn shop. But Holly doesn’t know a knitting needle from a crochet hook. How is she going to run Ivey’s Knittery? Fueled by determination and sweet memories of her grandmother, Holly accepts the challenge and moves to the quaint town, even though she feels like a fish out of water. Even worse, the holidays are huge in Dickens and, despite her festive name, Christmas just isn’t Holly’s thing.
Gabriel Reyes is the Director of the Dickens Community Center and loves working with kids and the families in town. Every year he runs a toy drive but this year more families need help. Will the town’s Secret Santa step in to fill the town’s needs, and just who is the mysterious benefactor? When Gabriel meets the town’s newest shop owner, he begins to think the lovely Holly Ivey might be the girl to capture his heart. But only if he can help her find the Christmas spirit.
Will the magic of the Christmas season melt Holly’s heart before it’s time for her to leave Dickens and Gabe behind?
My Review:
Holly has big shoes to fill but can she find the true meaning of Christmas? Holly Ivey leaves the big city in disgrace and relocates to a small town where her grandmother ran a knitting store before she passed away. With her grandmother gone, she convinces her father to let her run it. Sure, she knows next to nothing about knitting but she soon has help coming out of the woodwork. There’s handsome Gabriel who is the director of the community center. He’s friendly, outgoing, and kind. She’s built walls around her heart but slowly Gabe crashes through them. She didn’t think she was ready for love, but the heart wants what it wants. It’s Christmastime and with the help of Gabe and the townsfolk, she’s ready to carry on her grandmother’s tradition. She’s got the Christmas spirit flowing by helping others and it transforms her. Can Holly open her heart to love, too? Will this Christmas bring her what she wants most?
A Secret Santa Christmas is a heartfelt holiday romance that’ll fill you with the holiday spirit. I’m a big fan of this small-town series and I’ve grown attached to all of the characters. There’s nothing more special than spending the holidays in a close-knit community. I connected with Holly right away. She’s such a sweet woman who stayed true to herself. She was so relatable because she fessed up when she didn’t know something or needed help. Her connection to her grandmother and her grandmother’s secret was so touching, I got emotional. The attraction between Gabe and Holly started out as friends but soon bloomed into something more. The plot moved at a nice slow pace with a full cast of quirky characters and descriptive narration with plenty of heart. It’s not a long story but one chockful of holiday spirit. There’s a lovely giving back message which gave me all the feels. Lucinda Race’s writing keeps getting better and better. A Secret Santa Christmas is a wonderful holiday romance perfect for this time of the year. If you’re looking for a jumpstart on your holiday reading, pick this one up. Highly recommend!
My Rating: 5 stars
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Author Biography:
Award-winning and best-selling author Lucinda Race is a lifelong fan of romantic fiction. As a young girl, she spent hours reading romance novels and getting lost in the hope they represent. While her friends dreamed of becoming doctors and engineers, her dreams were to become a writer—a romance novelist.
As life twisted and turned, she found herself writing nonfiction but longed to turn to her true passion. After developing the storyline for The Loudon Series, it was time to start living her dream. Her fingers practically fly over computer keys she weaves stories about strong women and the men who love them. Lucinda lives with her two little dogs, a miniature long hair dachshund and a shitzu mix rescue, in the rolling hills of western Massachusetts. When she's not at her day job, she’s immersed in her fictional worlds. And if she’s not writing romance novels, she’s reading everything she can get her hands on.
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Reviewed by: Mrs. N