Review: Promising Plot, but Fizzled Out
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 26, 2014
I really love romance novels that center around Christmas. Just reading about people enjoying family and friends around the tree with snow falling and the man/woman you love being near always brings a smile to my face.The two main characters Kate and Herni both have reasons for wanting to get away from their homes for the Christmas holidays. Kate still reeling from an emotional betrayal decides to hide away from her family during the Christmas season. She rents a cabin for the holidays. Henri, still dealing with the death of his wife and not being able to spend time with his children during the holidays goes away to spend time at his cabin and due to a mix-up with reservations ends up sharing the cabin with Kate.I only gave this novel 2 stars because in the end I really did not like it. The plot worked but the I had problems with the two leads separately and then the "heat" between them was not really there.First, Kate's betrayal was so big I was shocked in the end when everything seemed to be fine with her and the persons behind it since she found love again. Added to that is the fact that when I read about the "why" behind Kate was betrayed (not that it was a good reason) seeing how fast she moves in her relationship with Henri just strained my credibility meter.Second, Henri just seemed quite dull to me. You find out about his wife, his children, and the issues with his in-laws but it was brought up as this type of side-plot that really did not go anywhere.Third, once Kate and Henri get together I just did not buy it. I didn't see the "love" between the two characters which is always a problem when you have the two characters get together literally a couple of days after meeting one another. It can work in some situations but I have to feel the lust/pull for the two people right away. All I saw was a lot of "like" and as I said since we find out about Kate's unique situation I had problems buying that she all of a sudden felt lust for a total stranger like she did. The ending was too pat and unbelievable to me. I think if the storyline had been more than a few days with the lead-up to meeting each other and falling in love more realistic I would have liked the novel more.