Welcome Home for Christmas by Annie Rains

Publisher: Loveswept

Publication Date: November 8, 2016

I use the word “sweet” a lot of times in reviewing some romance books. Sweet can mean a lot of things though depending on the type of book. Sometimes it’s treacly and super sweet and you can feel that weird coating on your teeth. Sometimes it’s warmly yummy like a home-baked favorite dessert, not too sweet, and so, so yummy.

Welcome Home for Christmas is of the warmyly yummy category of sweetness. It is just the type of romance to read instead of watching one of those Lifetime Christmas movies because the characters are definitely more fulfilling.

Allison Carmichael has had some bad luck choosing men so she’s happy to remain single except for on Christmas Eve when her family celebrates and she’s made to feel like there’s something wrong with her because she’s alone. Troy Matthews would happily forego Christmas all together and that’s what he intends to do since his brother made last year’s festivities a trainwreck. But somehow he gets roped into volunteering his time to help out orphans and ends up on an auction block. Allison at the last minute decides to bid on Troy so that she could have a date for the Christmas Eve party.

After Allison has “won” Troy, they decide to spend time together so that they can learn about each other. Allison’s mother is smart and not likely to be fooled. On the few short dates, Allison and Troy begin to fall in love with each other. It’s endearing and believable.

Yes, we’ve seen it and we’ve read it before. The man on auction. Don’t toss this one aside just because the premise has been visited many times before. I promise you that this one is to read when you just want something nice and romantic and fun. But, it’s so well-written with characters you can believe in, which is such a nice change of pace, sincerely!

Yes, there’s some sexy in it. Troy is yummy and Allison is kind and they work in the way that lots of admirable real-life couples do. There’s funny and there’s embarrassment (oops, is that a sparkly vibrator?!) and there’s introspection and there’s an added little mystery. It’s really just a great blend that makes me hope that the other novels in the series are as good as this one.

Why don’t they make books like this into Lifetime or Hallmark Christmas movies? It really has everything you could want. Just sayin’.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

From Amazon:  Welcome Home for Christmas

review:  (4 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies)

The bestselling Hero’s Welcome series continues with a juicy Christmas romance set in Seaside, North Carolina, where a bustling military base keeps this small town stocked with dedicated, lovable heroes.

USA Today Bestselling Author, Annie Rains, is a contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional towns on the coast of North Carolina. Raised in one of America’s largest military communities, Annie often features heroes who fight for their countries, while also fighting for a place to call home and a good woman to love. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s spending time with her husband and 3 children, or reading a book by one of her favorite authors.

An ebook set of the first three titles in the A Hero’s Welcome Series!

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