Christmas Comes to Main Street by Olivia Miles Series: Briar Creek #5
Published by Forever
Publication Date: September 27th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
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Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
The fifth and final novel in Olivia Miles contemporary romance Briar Creek series!
The mistletoe is out, and the gloves are off . . .
‘Tis the worst season to be single, but Kara Hastings won’t let a little Christmas funk spoil the festive season. Sure, running her own bakery is a little harder than she expected, but she can handle it. And she’ll prove it to a certain infuriatingly handsome, bossy Big City guy. She may be sugar and spice, but she can kick his butt twice.
Nate Griffin is in Briar Creek only for the holidays, and he refuses to fall for the whole “small town, candy cane-scented Christmas Wonderland” thing. He’s more interested in the fresh-faced cookie chef who always knows exactly how to get under his skin. So when Nate challenges Kara in the town’s big holiday contest, it’s not just the competition that starts to heat up. If he’s not careful, Kara won’t just melt his icy resolve against a small-town Christmas . . . she’ll melt his heart too.
Review
Much to my surprise this year, the Christmas spirit hit me very early so I have been happily inhaling all the Christmas-themed books I can fit into my schedule and I was really looking forward to this from the teasers about Kara in the previous book. The end result was mixed feelings for me and I’ll tell you why.
Kara Hastings knows what it’s like to be considered a flake. After a history of being unable to stick with anything, the time has come for her to show Briar Creek that she’s found something that she loves. As a bold step, she quit her job and poured her inheritance from her father into her new bakery and while it’s a lot of work, she loves what she is building. But this holiday season is especially tough because of the memories of her father and also the fact that she’s now the only single person among her coupled-up friends.
The last place Nate Griffin expects to find himself in during the holidays is Briar Creek, but there he is, coerced into spending time with his aunt. To his surprise, there is an upside – the town baker Kara and he finds himself wanting to get to know her better. Even though their first meeting was not the best, things could surely only get better.
Kara was my favorite part of this book because she embodies everything to love about the season. She had a dream and had the courage to bring it to life. She was determined to make a success of her dream and even in the face of skepticism from her family and friends, she just kept on which was admirable. Her pride in her accomplishments shone through and her love for her father was undeniable.
Nate on the other hand was Ebenezer Scrooge come to life. He was annoying, period. He just didn’t want to relax and enjoy himself. He may have had good intentions, but his delivery was bad and it doesn’t really matter to me that he came around in the end. It was too little, too late. I was actually so upset about him that my original review was a full out rant and it took some time to get a better perspective to write this one.
I have enjoyed this series very much and while this wasn’t the best for me, I think Kara and the town of Briar Creek made it worth reading.
About Olivia Miles
Olivia Miles is a Chicago-based romance writer. Having grown up in New England, Olivia attended McGill University in Montreal, Quebec before settling in Chicago where she lives with her husband, their daughter, and two ridiculously pampered pups.
When she is not chasing after her little ones, she is hard at work creating feisty heroines and alpha heroes with a heart. A city girl with a fondness for small-town charm, Olivia enjoys highlighting both ways of life in her stories.
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