Ethan
I’ve got my hands full.
Running for mayor of my home town in Colorado. Trying to save the family business—and doing my best to survive Christmas without murdering my brother. Nowhere on this list is room for Lexie to show up a year after our epic one-night stand.
Vegas show girl, owner of the meanest dog I’ve ever met, and the star of every fantasy I’ve had since I came home. And apparently… my wife? And she wants me to sign divorce papers.
Hell no.
Lexie
I do not get drunk married. That’s what tourists do in Vegas, not locals. But even I am susceptible to gorgeous eyes and an excellent jaw line.
I was so sure Ethan was different from the jerks I usually fall for, until I woke up married without a groom or a way to get a hold of him. A year later, I finally see him splashed all over the internet—fighting with his brother at a Colorado airport.
So, what’s a showgirl to do? Put on my best heels, put my dog in a hand bag and go find my husband so I can end my sham marriage. But as soon as I arrive in Salt Springs, that plan goes out the window.
Ethan hasn’t forgotten me and the chemistry between us is real and explosive.
Now that I’ve found him he doesn’t want to let me go.
Was our wedding a Vegas mistake? Or a Christmas miracle?
| Title: | Very Merry Married |
| Author: | M. O’Keefe |
| Series: | Kringle Family Christmas (Book 2) |
| Pages: | 202 |
| Category / Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Christmas Second Chance Romance Opposites Attract |
| Point of View: | First Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | Salt Springs, Colorado, USA |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 3rd November, 2021 |
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Passable Christmas romance
This is the second story in the Kringle Family Christmas, multi-author series that focuses on 3 siblings as they attempt to save their family’s failing Christmas themed inn. Each book focuses on a different couple and has its own HEA. This story is about middle brother – and the most upstanding of the sibling trio – Ethan and the girl he marries on a drunken whim in Vegas, showgirl Lexie.
I was sure I knew what to expect with this book. Uptight, would-be mayor of small town is surprised (and slightly horrified) by the arrival of an unknown, free spirited Vegas show girl wife who disrupts his perfectly ordered world. So colour me pleasantly surprised when Ethan is delighted by the arrival of the woman who he was smitten with from their first encounter. It was quite refreshing to have the man you would think would have to be convinced of the relationship to be the one pushing for more and being unashamedly crazy about the heroine. I liked him a lot.
Lexie was definitely a fish out of water in the small, Christmassy Colorado town but I liked the way she knuckled down and worked hard. She was a great motivator and if she was my employee, I would have adored her. However I wouldn’t want to be her friend and I ultimately didn’t like her as a heroine in my romance story. She was a bit shallow and superficial – often disregarding practicality because something wasn’t cute enough. She was at times overly confident – knowing that she was a bombshell – and at others she was overly reliant on the opinions of her mum and her bestie. I wasn’t bothered by her startling good looks as it did lend itself to the whole plot, but I’m never a fan of fake boobs on a heroine. Maybe that’s judgey but there it is.
“Oh my Christmas stars – this book was amazing!”
As I said, this book stands alone from the others in the series but each book is actually taking place at the same time. Having read the first story, The Grump Who Stole Christmas, right before this one, it did irritate me that not all the facts, conversations, events and timelines married up. Not a problem if you’re reading the books individually or you leave a gap between books but not great if you’re bingeing the series.
This book was readable and I stormed through the first half or so. It’s only 202 pages so a fairly short read for a couple of nights. Unfortunately, as soon as I put the book down, there was nothing compelling me to pick it back up. I didn’t particularly like Ethan and Lexie as a couple, I didn’t feel their chemistry and I cared not a whit for teens putting on a pageant at the inn. I really had to force myself to finish although once back in the story it was easy reading.
Not my favourite but, as often happens, I seem to be in the minority, so give it a go if you like the sound of the story, are a fan of Molly O’Keefe’s or are reading through this fun, Christmassy series. I hope you love it where I really only found it passable.
* I received this book in exchange for my honest review. *
Molly O’Keefe has always known she wanted to be a writer (except when she wanted to be a florist or a chef and the brief period of time when she considered being a cowgirl). And once she got her hands on some romances, she knew exactly what she wanted to write.
She published her first Harlequin romance at age 25 and hasn’t looked back. She loves exploring every character’s road towards happily ever after.
Originally from a small town outside of Chicago, she went to university in St. Louis where she met and fell in love with the editor of her school newspaper. They followed each other around the world for several years and finally got married and settled down in Toronto, Ontario. They welcomed their son into their family in 2006, and their daughter in 2008. When she’s not at the park or cleaning up the toy room, Molly is working hard on her next novel, trying to exercise, stalking Tina Fey on the internet and dreaming of the day she can finish a cup of coffee without interruption.
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Kringle Family Christmas Series:
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