Review: Review: Holiday Sparks
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 16, 2014
My Rating: A, I loved it.Chloe Burke has returned to her small hometown to watch over her parents' home while they are on a three-week cruise. When she blows a fuse and needs help, she calls on town electrician Scott Quinn. While Chloe doesn't recognize Scott, he has no troubling recalling the detailed teenage fantasies he had of Chloe in her high school cheerleading uniform. As a gift to her parents, Chloe hires Scott to rewire her childhood home during the three weeks she'll be staying there, finishing just in time for Christmas. With the pair alone, in close quarters, will they be able to resist their mutual attraction?HOLIDAY SPARKS is an extremely enjoyable, light-hearted romance, which can be enjoyed regardless of the season. Chloe and Scott are both kind, generous souls, with little to no baggage, so there isn't a lot of conflict getting in their way. When they agree to a "no strings attached" affair while she's in town, the heat picks up and I'll admit I had a few butterflies in my tummy. I reveled in their budding feelings, which made me smile.  Yet it was watching each internally fight the intensity of their growing emotions that truly makes the story enjoyable.Enhancing the cheerful romance are the bits of humor Ms. Stacey peppers throughout the short tale. It's the kind of humor with which we are familiar, creating a comfortable atmosphere and characters that I can relate to. Whether it is silly jokes about why Scott is spending so much time at Chloe's home or errant thoughts about how sexy the other is, the story made me smile over and over.Although this is a novella-length tale, there are some very touching moments. The pair spend a lot of time together both in and out of the bedroom, fostering those feelings of "more than friends," and allowing me to connect to the pair. I adore that Scott is so in-tune to Chloe that when he inadvertently hurts her feelings, he notices - and takes the time to figure out why. As time ran out for the couple, I admit, I had a tear in my eye and a few sniffles. This is a sign of excellent storytelling - I was completely invested in Chloe and Scott.I don't read contemporary romance all that often, but based on how much I enjoyed HOLIDAY SPARKS, I have added Ms. Stacey's backlist to my TBR. I highly recommend this short, lovely romance to all. It is utterly sweet and engrossing while providing strong characters that I throughly enjoyed.