Review: Short, sweet second-chance romance.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 23, 2013
This is a short story about a husband and wife who married very young and got off to a rocky start. The hero, Sebastian Sinclair, Earl of Kinvarra, was self-centered with little self control or thought for others. His wife, Alicia, was spoiled, scared, and unprepared for marriage. After a miserable first year, they separated and have not met for 10 years...something I found hard to believe. Now, on Christmas Eve and in the middle of a snowstorm, she ends up stranded with her new companion, a milksop actor. Sebastian, fortunately, finds them. Sparks fly as the couple trades barbs.I liked that the other man took himself off immediately, leaving the focus fo the story on the hero and heroine. Both Sebastian and Alicia realize they both bear large parts of the blame for the problem between them, and the hero is not the annoying, egotistical sort who sits back and waits for the heroine to come to her senses and fall into his arms. Actually, I'm surprised that Sebastian did not make the effort to go to her during the 10 years.As with well-written short romances, The Winter Wife leaves the reader satisfied, but wishing the story could have been told in a long book. As it is, the story feels rather rushed and unbelievable. Ten years is a long time to avoid each other, and even long for them to pine away for each other. Still, it is a  sweet story of holiday love.The actual story is only 75% of the book- the rest of it is a sample and quotes of praise for the author. Since there are no pages numbers, I do not know if the 59 pages noted in the description are the total or the actual download, but The Winter Wife seems very short for a novella.