B-
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Theme: Forced Proximity (stranded, safehouse, etc), Holiday
Archetype: Single Parent/Guardian
This RITA® Reader Challenge 2017 review was written by Allison H. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Short Contemporary Romance category.
The summary:
LOVE ON THE MOUNTAIN
Peace and quiet—that’s all Connor Pierce wanted from the rented cabin on Crimson Mountain. Yet the caretaker turned out to be lovely April Sanders—a total distraction. As were the two little girls she was caring for. Connor’s plan to forget his painful past soon detoured into giving the ladies a Christmas to remember.
Being named guardian of two motherless girls has upended April’s world. Add to the mix a mysterious, brooding writer claiming he wanted to be left alone while going out of his way to bring a little joy to the girls, and she has quite the quandary. April had counted herself out of a happy ending. But maybe Santa still had a few surprises up his merry old sleeve…
Here is Allison H.'s review:
Christmas on Crimson Mountain is a perfectly serviceable romance novel featuring a woman who’s had breast cancer, a man who lost his wife and child in a car accident, and the woman’s two wards, the daughters of her best friend, who has just died of cancer. So there’s a lot of recent death in these people’s lives.
The female lead, April, is scared of commitment and not very good with children but is a very good cook. The male lead, Connor, is rude and scared of commitment and surprisingly good with children. The two kids, Ranie and Shay, have distinct personalities and avoid the tragic fate of being plot moppets. Both kids are in bad shape because their mother passed away and then their (unbelievably self-centered and idiotic) aunt only wanted to keep the cute younger girl. April has also dragged them out to Colorado so that she can do her job, while they just wanted to stay in California.
I remember that I mostly enjoyed the book while reading it. I felt that Connor should have groveled more after his rude and bullying behavior toward the other characters. I thought that April did a nice job of trying to move forward while acknowledging her fears about the future. But the majority of the book wasn’t memorable, aside from the Life is Sweet Bakery, which should totally be a real destination. As with many shorter romance novels, the HEA came on way too quickly for my taste, although the epilogue did a nice job of laying out how well life is going for everyone 6 months later.
I think that the best part about this book was how it portrayed people handling grief. One child acts out; the other tries to be perfect. Both grown-ups have their defenses up. So if you’re willing to handle a pretty heavy emotional load with your Christmastide romance, this novel might be for you.
Christmas on Crimson Mountain by Michelle Major also received a B in a previous RITA Reader Challenge Review.
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Thanks!
Great review, thank you! I can see clearly the context in which I would read this.
And thank you SBTB for putting in a convenient link to the other review for comparison!