It’s Christmas time in Ferrier’s Mountain, North Carolina.
Emilie Ferrier wants to adopt a child to fill her empty life. She’s given up any hope of meeting the ‘right’ guy. She can offer a child anything, except two parents.
Nick Garrett owns the mechanic shop that works on Emilie’s cars. He’s fresh out of the military, caring for his niece and nephew following his sister’s tragic death in a car accident. He promised her he would give her children the one thing she and Nick didn’t have: two parents.
Nick doesn’t know that Emilie is the rich woman who wants to adopt his niece and nephew. She invites them to her house for the holidays when she finds out they need a place to stay. Her plan is to convince Nick that she can be a great single mother.
Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene are a wife and husband team who have written and published more than 70 books since 1999. They live in North Carolina with their family and enjoy cooking, photography and ghost hunting.
This is a very easy to read Christmas romance that you don't have to think about. In theory, it is the sort of book that I absolutely hate; it is a rather sugar coated, clichéd story of rich, beautiful, naïve, lonely woman and hot working man fighting their attraction for each other with a couple of very very cute kids caught in the middle of the drama. It is cheesy, corny, predictable with oodles of sexual tension and some rather raunchy scenes which just stop it being labelled as "cosy". Emilie is beautiful but doesn't know and a genuinely nice person with friends and colleagues who respect and like her - yet she lives such an isolated life, which doesn't really strike a chord, somehow.
Although it is by no means the worst Kindle book I have read, there are a lot better ones out there. A couple of times as I was reading it and got that "mmm, I am sure that contradicts something that the author wrote a couple of chapters back" feeling but the kindle is not so easy as a paperback to flip back through the pages and check and what the heck, maybe its my reading skills, after all and they were minor points anyway, not worth stressing over.
So having said all the above, why four stars? Simple answer, I have no idea, but for some reason I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, it was like spending a lazy afternoon watching one of those made for TV movies on the Sky Christmas channel - you know you shouldn't, but you really can't help yourself.
Cute, quick read! The only person that annoyed me the entire time was Alain, seriously needs to mind his own business!
Okay, in all seriousness, this was a really good book. Emilie and Nick are good together their banter and inner monologues make you laugh and feel exactly what they are feeling. My heart was in knots!
Emilie and her aunt live in a huge house and have plenty of money. She is a teacher that works with at-risk youth. The one thing Emilie wants more than anything is to adopt a child. But it is so hard for a single woman to adopt. She thought her dreams were about to come true but yet again she is denied because the person giving the child up will only allow a two parent household to adopt the child.
Nick is a mechanic and he has taken in his niece and nephew after his sister’s tragic death. He promised her he would give her children the one thing she and Nick didn’t have: two parents.
Nick and Emilie meet when he tows her car. She soon learns that he is the man offering the little girl for adoption. He doesn’t know she is the rich woman wanting to adopt his niece. When she finds out they need a place to stay over the holidays she invites them to stay with her. She hopes to convince him she is the perfect person to adopt his niece and his nephew as well.
Neither of them expected what happened next.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Cozy mystery authors Jim and Joyce Lavene bring us a wonderful Christmas love story.
Emilie’s heart had been broken before by a man who couldn’t deal with her disability. She just was so afraid to open herself up to that kind of pain again. She knew she could make a good home for a child on her own and that was what she planned to do. Then Nick entered her life and as she tried to prove to him she didn’t need a man in her life they just kept getting closer and closer. It was so easy to connect with these characters.
The Lavene’s have written a captivating love story that will pull at your heartstrings. It unfolds at a perfect pace with the expected misunderstandings and drama but there is humor and more depth than usually found in romance novel today. Emilie’s work just with Adam – striving to get to the bottom of his behavior. She is a very special teacher.
If you are looking for a book to curl up with this holiday season this is one I highly recommend!
Emilie Ferrier is an affluent, thirtyish single woman who lives with her eccentric aunt in a mansion in a small town named after a prominent family member. She is attractive and lonely, but wary of men. Married once to a fortune hunter she soon divorced. She teaches school to keep busy and have a purpose in life. She seeks to adopt a child, but is rebuffed. A survivor, she turns her attention to work, where she undertakes to help a troubled boy recover from the death of his parents. Soon she meets his guardian, a handsome newcomer to town named Nick who owns and operates a auto repair and towing business. Turns out he is guardian to his nephew and niece and seeking to find a suitable couple to adopt. Sparks fly between Emilie and Nick at first, but it is not easy going in the romance department. He wants his independence, and she wants his kids. What more can one say? All these characters are likeable. Other elements in the novel: Christmastime, a device called a "lover's arm chair," a moonflower, love talk, misunderstandings, a blizzard, a lost child, and much much more than one usually finds in a romance.
There was one rich woman who couldn't have children, so she wanted to adopt one. But there were problems with that, the latest - the guardian of the child wanted her adopted to a family with both mother and father. Then she meets a man who is aguardian of one of her pupils, and it turns out, also the one who denied her the latest adoption - his little niece. The three ends up in her house for Christmas and she's determined to show she can be marvelous single mother, but she doesn't tell him her purpose. The story was dull, there's no other way to put it. No much more to say about. She had many insecurities because she was limping and had a bad marriage experience from ten years earlier. The book had some mistakes - first she tells him she's barren, but then at the end she tells him as if she did't tell him earlier. The ending was also, well... I like a good conflict, but it was not good.
Ok romance novel, read it more for the authors than the genre.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
Emilie's Christmas Love is a contemporary romance about a wealthy woman who has completely given up on love. Her one and only want in life is to adopt a child. Being without a husband means the odds of adopting are stacked against her. Because of her love of children she is a teacher. When she learns that the baby sister of one of her students is up for adoption, she makes it her mission to do whatever it takes to show the child's guardian that she is more than fit to be a single mother, but without telling him she is interested in adopting the girl.
This is a heart-warming story. The characters are likable (I especially loved the eccentric aunt!)and the love scenes are tastefully written. An easy read. I enjoyed it!
I found the story quite slow to begin with and it wasn't until around two-thirds of the way in that I started to get into it more as it kind of dragged on and it was only then that it really started to become about Christmas. You can feel the sexual tension between Emilie & Nick right from the beginning and all the way I was egging them on to just get on with it as it felt like they were never going to! When they eventually did though, it was sensually written and you could feel the passion between them. The ending was as I expected it to be, though something happened before it which I didn't see coming but it did put a dampener on Emilie's plans which were going well up until then. Can a near disaster bring a Christmas miracle for both Emilie & Nick? An easy read for a cold winter day.
Emilie’s Christmas Love is a terrific romance. The descriptions and the dialogue are superb. The characters are realistic, sympathetic, and likeable. The inclusion of a couple of adorable kids tugs at your heartstrings. There are great moments of grief, sorrow, joy, and laughter, mixed together and well paced. The classic romance conflict of lovers-meet-lovers-part is extremely well handled and believable. I am not normally a romance reader, but I loved this book because of the characters and its Christmas setting. Buy it as a gift for someone who needs an uplifting story of overcoming tragedy to find joy and love.
Really Enjoyed this Book. I connected to the emotion with Emilie. I found myself frustrated at times wanting her to realize how capable she was of her abilities and she did find her way at the end. My heart hurt for her for the challenges she went through during her life but she was such a sweet kind person. This was a heartfelt story and had a brief moments of suspense that added to the story line. I would recommend this book if you are looking for an emotional romantic book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book was a bit slow going for me. I didn't really connect well with the main couple. However, I did like the children. I felt that the lawyer friend was not so favorable and I loved the silly old aunt. She seemed to be a wise old woman no one really gave enough credit it to. If you are looking for a holiday book, then this may strike your Christmas reading needs. It's a quick story with a HEA at the end.
A great Christmas story about a single teacher who wants to adopt a child. Emilie is a very rich heiress who had polio as a child and as a result of the polio cannot have children of her own. She had a bad marriage and is sure she will never find someone to love her and that is why she wants to adopt a child to live with her and her eccentric aunt in the huge house she inherited when her parents died when she was 18 years old.
This had to be one of the best Christmas books I read this season. It was filled to the brim with feel good notions, romance, hard heads, and lovable characters!
Emilie's major wish in life was to be able to adopt a child since she was unable to bear any but time and again she is turned away for one reason or another and then as luck usually goes she ends up finding more than she bargained for!
I love a good "insecure" heroine book. She's not whiny, or overly desperate. She just doesn't believe anyone could love her for her. A really easy read. I couldn't put it down. I almost read it all in one sitting, but I started it late at night and fell asleep around 2am. Looking forward to reading more by these co-authors.
What a mess of story: he loves his niece and nephew but he’s adamant to give them for adoption; she’s always claiming to live her lu e by her terms, but keeps using her disability as an excuse for life; house with ghosts and an aunt who comes and goes and disappears in the thin air; and it’s just endless!
Really sweet Christmas story. Was slow and kind of dragged on in some parts. But overall, a very good story. I really liked Nick and Emilie's chemistry, fighting the inevitable. The children were adorable and I really liked Joda. Kooky and eccentric but a heart of gold. It was worth the read.
I love this story. It definitely proves no matter how much money you have, it can't make you happy. Two lonely people brought together by tragedy and their mutual love for two children. Loved this story.
Good easy read, slightly disappointed at end would be nice to read kids reactions to Adam & Emelie getting together and what happened after christmas etc