Tag: Christmas (Page 1 of 13)

My Phony Valentine by Courtney Walsh
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A chance meeting. A hunky hockey player. A fake romance.
Hardly an ordinary day in the life of Poppy Hart.

My days usually consist of agonizing over my failing restaurant, worrying about my mountain of debt and nursing my broken heart.

Everything changes when I bump into a man in the coffee shop and claim him as my new boyfriend. To my absolute horror, he turns out to be hockey’s most renowned bad boy, Dallas Burke. To my absolute delight, he goes along with my story.

When his no-nonsense manager and meddling grandmother jump in the picture, they see a win-win solution for my failing restaurant and Dallas’s less-than-stellar reputation.

A full-fledged fake romance complete with contract negotiations, pretend dates and phony PDA.

But as I get to know the real Dallas Burke, who is not the man the press says he is, it becomes clear that if this isn’t real. . . someone better tell it to my heart.

Review:

My Phony Valentine was a fake dating, sports romance that was absolutely adorable and so much fun!  From that first chapter, I was hooked with a memorable meet cute.  And the characters had me laughing out loud, while I loved getting pulled into their lives and alternating between Poppy and Dallas.  This story is perfect for those that love romcoms and romance stories that tug at your heart.

I want to tell him all the small things.

Poppy was a chef in her small town, and her relationship with her sisters and family was heartwarming and such a beautiful part of this story.  Dallas was a professional hockey player who was swoon worthy and I loved his meddling Grandma.  From that first moment they met, to watching them fake date, and even practice kiss, I was completely entertained!  While they started to toe the line to more, awww this book made my heart so happy!  Especially with a fabulous grand gesture!  So with characters that felt like family, a story-line that was so enjoyable, and a wonderful epilogue, My Phony Valentine was so easy to love!

 

My Lucky Charm by Courtney Walsh
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

A humiliating break-up leads to an impulsive New Year’s Kiss with a complete stranger.
What could possibly go wrong?

It’s no secret that I love life. And Dr Pepper. But also, I love a challenge. . .

So when the coach of the Chicago Comets gives me the opportunity to help their star player, newly traded to their team, acclimate to life in Chicago, I'm all in.

I have to be. After my last job went up in flames, I have something to prove.

It turns out that the player, Grayson Hawke, is the rudest, most off-putting, reclusive guy I’ve ever met.

It also turns out that he is the beautiful stranger I kissed on New Year’s Eve.

I can do this job. I can do this job. I can do this job.

And I can. Really well.

I can make Gray’s life easier, show him all the reasons to fall in love with this city, and in the process, hopefully completely forget that the amazing kiss ever happened.

How hard can it be? We’re total opposites anyway.

I love people . . . and all their stories. Gray loves hockey . . . and nothing else.

I love to talk. Gray only stares.

I’m happy-go-lucky. Gray’s all work and no play.

There’s just one problem. The more time I spend with Grayson Hawke, the more I start to see that underneath his bristly, standoffish exterior, he’s nothing like the man everyone thinks he is.

And suddenly, all the reasons for keeping my distance, staying professional, and not falling for someone again. . .are impossible to remember.

My Lucky Charm is a grumpy/sunshine, sweet hockey romance with all of the sizzle but none of the steam. It's the second in the Holidays with Hart series, but My Lucky Charm can be read as a stand alone.

Review:

My Lucky Charm was a grumpy sunshine, sports romance I devoured.  I’ve come to realize that Courtney Walsh has a knack for writing memorable meet cutes that completely pull you in.  It’s impossible not to find yourself obsessed in just a few pages!  With a magical kiss and some humiliation thrown in there, I adored Eloise right away!  And Gray with his grumpy quiet soul will capture your heart so effortlessly.  Together, they were magical!  

I don’t want to be a girl who runs the world. What I really want is a simple life with people I love.

The tension and angst between Gray and Eloise was enchanting!  And there’s another character in this story I’m keeping my lips zipped about….except I will say I absolutely loved them and they added so much heart and fun to this story!  So with a tiny red heart, jealousy, a very unique bouquet, and a beautiful found family, this story was all the stars!  My Lucky Charm even made me shed a few tears, it’s definitely one of my top favorites!

 

My Merry Mistake by Courtney Walsh
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sometimes the perfect gift is standing right in front of you. . . You're just too stubborn to see it.

I don’t like to make mistakes. Ever.

Especially when those mistakes are witnessed by the same person—flirty Finn Holbrook—who can’t seem to leave me alone. Can I really trust him not to tell anyone that the night we met, I tried to kiss him? Or that I fell apart after I got fired from a job I loved? Or that I’m not as strong as I want everyone to think I am?

The simple fact that he’s boomeranged back into my orbit after all these years feels like a great, big cosmic joke.

Only now he’s a professional hockey player, and while he doesn’t look like the goofy college bartender I met all those years ago, he still acts like one—immature, flirty, and unable to take anything seriously.

Which is why I never, ever fall for his game.

I know better than to get swept up in romance. I don’t have time. I’m busy making myself irreplaceable in my new job with the Chicago Comets. Work isn’t just something I do, it’s who I am.

And while my sisters are constantly on me to slow down and take breaks, those things aren’t on my schedule, so . . . I push on. Do more. Load up my schedule. Overcommit. Until eventually, my stress lands me in the emergency room.

The prescription? A month off. No emails. No work. No distractions.

Unless you count Finn Holbrook, who keeps showing up at my door, determined to leverage his positive, golden retriever energy to show me there's a great, big world outside that I haven't bothered to explore, most of it covered with white twinkle lights and Christmas decorations.

I begrudgingly go along with his grand plans, and little by little, I start to see there really is more to life than work—and more to Finn than flirting.

Which makes me wonder . . . how can someone so obviously wrong for me start to feel completely right? And more importantly . . . how do I make those feelings go away?

My Merry Mistake is an opposites attract hockey romance with all of the sizzle but none of the steam. It's the third book in the Holidays with Hart series, but can be read as a stand alone.

Review:

“All I’m asking for is a chance.”

My Merry Mistake was a reverse grumpy sunshine, holiday sports romance that was so swoon worthy and addictive!  This feel good romance was absolutely adorable, but had a more emotional side to it too.  With Christmas markets, ice skating, watching Christmas movies, decorating Christmas trees, and drinking hot cocoa, this festive book was so much fun!

Is it wrong that I like things a certain way? Neat. Ordered. Tidy. Everything in its place.
It’s how I like my feelings too. I learned a long time ago that those need to stay tightly wrapped.

Raya always felt like she had to be going a million miles a minute.  She came across as so serious and having everything together.  But even though her sisters and family loved her deeply, she still felt alone at times.  When she got a job working at the same company as Finn, I couldn’t stop smiling.  It was impossible not to be happy when he was around!  I loved that he could catch her off guard with his words. She was so put together, so it was beyond entertaining to watch her get startled off her game.

“What are you watching, Morticia, if you don’t like Marvel and you don’t like sports?”
“Literally anything but those two things.”
“So, Amish romance, then?”

Finn was the ultimate golden retriever.  He had the hugest heart, always had a smile on his face, and came from a family that loved him deeply.  And he wanted Raya sooooo bad lol.  I loved his tenacity and his ability to get her to smile.  Or even get her to feel butterflies.  Watching their relationship shift from work, to friendship, to more had my heart soaring!  I loved that he got her to slow down and actually take a look around.  They were so good for each other.  But they both had some healing to do too.  

“Are you always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Happy,” I say.
“You say that like it’s a disease.” He smirks.

My Merry Mistake made me cry.  This book had so much depth, from healing from your past, to a name sign, to even a Christmas checklist.  I loved it all so much!  And while this can be read as a standalone, I can’t recommend the two previous books enough!  You got to see what they were up to, and it made me so happy!  I binged this trilogy in a week and can’t recommend it enough!

I think about the little white box of chocolate. His teasing is harmless. I can handle that and brush it off.
His kindness, though, is much more difficult to ignore.