Book Review: The Christmas Sneak (Hope's Turn Holidays) by Marie Harte

The Christmas Sneak is the second book in the Hope's Turn Holidays series by Marie Harte. While returning readers will be far more invest in the characters, both primary and secondary, those new to the series will be able to catch up quickly and enjoy the story. 

Ex-NFL star Deacon Flashman had the perfect woman in the palm of his hands, and dropped the ball. Considering Deacon’s past performances, that isn’t news. An injury cut short his football career, and then he got taken for millions by a greedy ex-wife. But Deacon’s luck has changed. He’s got a great job, and he’s recently become an uncle again. With the holidays close, he’s getting a second chance. Nora Nielson, the woman who got away, is back. Now he needs to figure out a way to get into her good graces. A relationship with Nora is everything he wants, and everything that scares him. But to let the past go, he’ll have to go big or go home. And the stakes have never been higher

The Christmas Sneak is a fun read with good characters. I liked both Deacon and Nora. I liked their dynamic, their give and take of snark and sweet. I loved the secondary characters and the story of the bigger picture of family and friends around them. I just could not love the read, as much as I wanted to. I remember when I first read this author, I was heavily invested in every series, because she does the community, family, and town connections so very well. All of that was on point here as well. I just felt like the main couple had things a little too perfect. Yes, they each had issues to work out, and they had to get better at communication, but Deacon seem to be way too perfect- his issues kind of stemmed in part from being too nice a guy- and he just kept rolling in that direction. Their individual issues seemed to line up too well, and it felt like some never really got handle, just acknowledge as a reason for certain reactions or behaviors and then the moved it on along. Honestly, I did enjoy the book as I was reading it, there was just so much potential for it to be even better that I felt was missed.

The Christmas Sneak is a good romance, with good characters. It just did not grab me the way the first books I read from this author.  

No comments: