Review: Home for Christmas

Home for Christmas*
Kate Davies
Contemporary Romance
Samhain/December 18, 2007

From Goodreads ~

She left everything familiar behind-but love found her anyway. A story from The Perfect Gift. Sophia is determined to spend Christmas on her own terms this year. Her daughter will be spending the holidays with her boyfriend's family, and Sophia has no intention of staying home alone with her memories. She knows Ethan would be more than happy to keep her company. But he's her business partner-and her late husband's best friend. It's past time to stop leaning on him and learn to stand on her own two feet. A cruise to the Caribbean might be just the ticket to discovering who she is now, and what she really wants.

Ethan is stunned to discover that Sophia has decided to go on a cruise for Christmas-alone. He'd thought something more was finally developing between the two of them. If she's ready to move on after the loss of her husband, he'll be damned if he lets her move on without him!

On the spur of the moment, Ethan books a stateroom, determined to prove to Sophia that what they have goes far beyond friendship. The romantic atmosphere of the cruise sparks a passion the two had only dreamed of before-but can their fledgling relationship survive beyond the vacation of a lifetime?

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, graphic language (but don't tell my mom).

This was a sweet, quick read with a holiday theme but a very different location. The cruise ship gets both Sophia and Ethan away from everything familiar and lets them concentrate on enjoying each other. It's finally time for them to take the next step in their relationship and the romantic Caribbean is the perfect setting.

Sophia loved her husband Dan very much. That's never in doubt. But he's gone and she's not sure what her next step should be. Her heart knows what it wants but she's afraid to take the chance. The previous Christmas was so hard to get through so Sophia decides to get away but her daughter and her business partner are not thrilled about the decision.

Ethan is such a cool hero! He doesn't hesitate but follows Sophia to Florida and the cruise ship. He surprises her and is determined to show her how interested he is in her. It was just what Sophia needed to get her to realize Ethan felt more than just friendship for her.

The romance had both Ethan and Sophia learning new things about each other not just as friends but as lovers. They both have insecurities about this new relationship and while it felt they worked them out a little too quickly, I chalked it up to the cruise ship/holiday atmosphere.

Home for Christmas is a short read so don't expect highly developed characters or any great plot twists. It's fairly predictable. I would have liked more background on both Sophia and Ethan but the short format doesn't allow for that. It's not at all heavy on the holiday theme and could have easily been set during another season with few changes. A greater sense of the holiday season would have been nice.

Rating: B

*Currently available for free on Kindle.