Review: A great Christmas love story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 3, 2012
REVIEWED BY SUNNYKyle, a computer geek who is not good with romantic words, needs to ask his best friend, Caitlyn, for help with how to propose to another woman. Unwisely, the way he lets her in on this plan is with the following opening line of the book: "Caitlyn McIntyre, will you marry me?" This creates a shocking experience for her and certainly got my attention. Christi Barth masterfully turns this opening line into a story of two friends working through a delicate situation where the desire to get approval from a father and to do anything for the friend you love takes top priority no matter what the cost.The premise of the book is to come up with a great proposal by Christmas, and Christi Barth gives us a glimpse of the beautiful city of Chicago at this magical time of year. Her personal experience as a wedding planner also shines through in ASK HER AT CHRISTMAS. I enjoyed the proposal ideas Caitlyn came up with for Kyle, but for some reason, he doesn't connect with any of them, so Caitlyn has to keep trying. The undercurrent of their mutual but unknown feelings for each other creates quite a dynamic between these two great friends.Caitlyn and Kyle have a lot of fun together and rely heavily on each other's friendship, but they are surrounded and smothered by very selfish characters in this book. It is hard to embrace these callous characters, but I liked their contribution to the story. They helped thicken the plot and it strengthened the struggles the hero and heroine are dealing with. I was really rooting for Caitlyn and Kyle, but the others that I loved to hate sure made it difficult for them both. Christi Barth does a wonderful job of pulling this all together in a great Christmas love story.This novella was well-written, and even without the subplots, more heavily developed characters, and heated sex scenes that are found in a full-length book, Christi Barth does a great job of pacing the story and giving us just the right amount of detail to help us fully understand the struggles the characters undergo. I enjoyed that I could read this in a short amount of time, but I was invested in the great hero and heroine and would have loved even more (in typical Sunny fashion, I always want more). :)BOTTOM LINEI really enjoyed ASK HER AT CHRISTMAS! If you have strong friendships with the opposite sex, you would appreciate the dynamics in this story. If you enjoy the Christmas holiday or want to experience Christmas in Chicago, read this novella!RATING: B+ (4.5 stars)Note: I received a review copy of this title courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.