Brenda's holiday season is looking pretty bleak. She hasn't spoken to her half-sister, Rachel--the only family she has left--since Rachel stole her boyfriend, and Brenda hasn't dated since. Now Rachel and the man Brenda once thought she’d marry herself are expecting a child, and Rachel keeps inviting her over to have dinner with them. Brenda has already turned down their Thanksgiving invitation, but she doesn't want to spend Christmas alone, yet she’s not sure she’s gotten over her ex enough to face the two of them as a couple. But then she collides with a handsome stranger in a coffee shop and everything changes.
Alex has given up on family Christmases and miracles after watching his family slowly get wiped out, his brother the latest casualty. He has settled on living life playing the field, not trusting his luck with having people he cares about stick around, but a chance encounter with a sad-looking beauty in a coffee shop arouses his curiosity.
To make up for the coffee he spilled on her, Brenda asks the handsome stranger one favor: to accompany her to her sister’s Christmas dinner. He agrees on one condition: that she go out with him in the meantime until then. They both agree to end their arrangement after the Christmas dinner is over, despite mutual growing feelings of wanting more.
Brenda is determined to keep her heart protected, but can Alex hold onto the scared beauty for longer than the holiday season?
Rose writes contemporary interracial romance (mostly BWWM). Her stories star white-collar heroes as well as billionaires, and the women of color who fall in love with them! Some are on the sweet side, and some are on the steamy side. For white-collar heroes, check out the Sweet Redemption & Holiday Hunks series. For Cinderella-type billionaire love stories, check out The Billionaire's Desire, The Billionaire's Proposition, Secrets & Deception, and the Taking Chances series. For oddball stories, see the Dangerous Secrets series & Bite-Sized Romance.
Cute story about two people who think they'll have to spend Christmas alone until a chance encounter at a local café (involving spilled coffee and a lilac blouse) and then another chance encounter on craigslist bring them together. What is supposed to be a fake date for Christmas turns into something more, with Brenda realising she wants more from Alex than she bargained for, and Alex doing everything he can to break down the barriers around Brenda's heart.
Really liked the idea of basing their dates around the Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas". I also liked the set-up of Brenda losing her fiancé to her half-sister, Rachel. Alex's story of losing his parents and his brother was a real tear-jerker. Which is good. I like when a story pulls me in emotionally.
A Christmas Miracle was well-written, and I genuinely liked Alex and Brenda. Even though I don't care for insta-love plots, their sometimes awkward chemistry worked, and helped to overcome it. What messed up the story for me was the ease in which Brenda forgave her half-sister...I don't think I know of any woman - during the loving holiday season or not - who would forgive such a transgression of 'stealing' another woman's man from under her nose. True - you can't 'have' what was never really yours in the first place, but damn! By declaring that Alex wouldn't have come into Brenda's life if it wasn't for her back-stabbing sister's acts does not gloss over the sister's betrayal AT ALL. The story would have been more believable and likeable if there was still some 'real' icy distance between the two sisters.
This was a sweet, heartfelt story that I really enjoyed. As an author, Rose Francis has shown definite growth in her work and this story is a prime example. Brenda and Alex have both been in unfulfilling relationships that ended disastrously. Brenda is hesitant to enter any kind of permanent relationship with Alex, even though her heart tells her otherwise. She just needs his company for a Christmas dinner as her "pretend boyfriend" so she doesn't look like the lonely, desperate ex girlfriend of her sister's fiancé. Alex agrees because he sees something in Brenda that he hasn't seen with any other woman and he isn't afraid to tell her, which made me really like his character. Even when Brenda tried to push him away, he made her face her fears and work through their issues instead of running from them. Although they start off in an unconventional relationship, it quickly becomes more and Alex's way of making Brenda fall for him was original as well as adorable. Cute short with a little steam thrown in.
This was my first book by Rose Francis. I really enjoyed her writing style. I rate this book as 3 1/2 stars. I found A Christmas Miracle to be very heart-warming and romantic. The novels shows the sorrow of deception and heartbreak, finding new love and forgiveness. The one thing I didn't like - it drove me crazy that the big betrayal was never really addressed.
I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good holiday romance, and am looking forward to trying other Rose Francis novels.
The story of Alex and Brenda was emotional and intense. It was well written in many regards but skipped over other parts.
This was my first book by Rose Francis. I was not enthralled by the lead characters as I normally find myself when I am reading. The heroine annoyed me with the constant pity parties she would indulge in and the advance and retreat with the hero.
Despite my complaints, for the most part, I did enjoy the story.