Christmas at The Shelter Inn by RaeAnne Thayne

 

4*

RaeAnne Thayne can always be depended on to bring us sweet, emotional, heart-warming stories. This year’s Christmas at the Shelter Inn, set near the fictional Lake Haven, ID featured in so many of her stories, is a friends-to-lovers, small town romance between Natalie, a digital nomad who writes travel stories, and Griffin, a family doctor who was her brother’s best friend and her long-time crush. When she comes home to help her pregnant sister who is on bed rest, it’s the first time since leaving for college following the deaths of both her mother and brother that she’s spent any measurable time there. She ran from the crushing grief and painful memories, and despite her growing feelings for Griffin and her love for her sister and adorable nieces, she’s ready to run away once her nephew is born rather than risk falling in love and being left behind again. Griffin also has ghosts and regrets from his past that he manages to compartmentalize so that he can be a great doctor and grandson to Birdie. It will take a Christmas miracle for them to shed the restraints from past trauma so that they can acknowledge what’s obvious to everyone else in their orbit.

 

Readers looking for a clean Christmas romance with all the charm and warmth of a close community will find it in this story. Add in a fun group of senior residents at the Shelter Inn and two precocious, darling little girls and it hits all the marks. Be warned that there are triggers: fatal accidents, cancer, miscarriage, and abandonment. However, Thayne writes with sensitivity and balance so that they don’t weigh down the story. Recommended.

 

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Canary Street Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

 

Betting on You by Lynn Painter

 

5*

With Betting on You, Lynn Painter has proven yet again that she is a rising star in the YA romance field. In this enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract love story, Type A-personality Bailey first encounters laid back, wittily sarcastic Charlie in the Fairbanks, AK airport as each of them is embarking on a flight away from their fathers after spending the summer. For Bailey, her parents’ impending divorce is new and she’s leaving the only home she’s known to move to Omaha. For Charlie, it’s just the latest solo flight of many. Bailey is relieved when they land and she has seen the last of bothersome Charlie. So when she runs into him two years later, she surprised to realize that he’s maybe not as bad as she remembers. A year later, as they’re entering their senior year at different high schools, they end up working at the same resort, slowing building a friendship (although Charlie persists in referring to them as co-workers, not friends, because he believes boys and girls can’t BE friends without it becoming more and he’s not willing to risk it). They bond over crazy guests, absentee fathers, and heartbreaking exes and strengthen their friendship by frequently touching base via text. So when they end up faking a relationship as a way to break up her mother’s growing relationship (she wants her mom to be happy, but doesn’t want to lose the life they’ve built which has provided the healing comfort she needed post-divorce), will the forced proximity and practice kisses prove Charlie right and will he be willing to risk losing his best friend if he gives in to his feelings?

Painter has chosen to use a dual POV format which brings so much depth and insight to the story. Beneath Charlie’s cynicism and snark is a very wounded young man who believes that happily-ever-afters don’t exist, so having him voice his fears and justifications for his actions is key. Like her debut novel Better Than the Movies (featuring Charlie’s cousin Wes), we see the grown-up version of the “pulling girls’ pigtails in the playground” scenario play out and, despite Charlie’s misguided efforts, the intense chemistry and enviable friendship can't be denied. If you’re a fan, check out Painter’s website for bonus material on both books. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Simon and Schuster through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.