Review: One of the better novellas of the season
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 18, 2012
I really enjoyed this story about a wounded war hero who is learning to be alive, and to love. Tony starts the book with a heavy load of survivor guilt and resentment about his fiancee jilting him because he's lost his leg. He's out in the country to deal with some business matters, when he rescues a Sweet Young Thing.There's even a pool-teaching scene, which warmed the cockles of my heart, since I had a boyfriend teach me to play pool that exact way. Of course, it ends in a clinch, but I find the kissing scenes well-written and not cringeworthy:"The two clung to each other, each suddenly free to explore the other as they had only in their dreams. The kiss fractured into many, with Tony laying down dozens of lighter kisses across Phoebe's face and neck, listening to her delighted breaths of awakening desire. Why had he thought this could never happen? He couldn't remember. For once, he was able to cast off the past that haunted him and live for the moment. A moment that was more delicious than anything he remembered."I really enjoyed that neither character is coming to this romance from a place of coercion. She is not poor or exiled by her family, he is not being forced by circumstances, they just genuinely want to be together.Read if: You are looking for a sweet winter romance with a bare minimum of Christmas trappings. There is a Christmas ball, but no fetishization of mistletoe, etc.Skip if: You are looking for extreme emotional swings. The characters do feel like they like each other, but it's not Romeo and Juliet all up in here.Also read:The Quiet Gentlemanfor a hero who is a little withdrawn but still charming.