Home for Christmas

Thankful #2

by Alexa Riley

Holly found the love of her life. Sure, it was a whirlwind romance and crazy fast, but she knew in her soul he was it for her. But one night he didn't show up and then she never heard from him again.

Vance Danvers had one last stop to make before he went to see Holly. It was about to be the best night of his life, but everything changed. He’s spent years trying to get back home to her...but will she still be waiting?

Warning: This Christmas spectacular is sprinkled with cheer! Cuddle up with your hot chocolate and find out if this book is naughty or nice! PS There might even be a little bonus story on the mom and dad at the end...but no peeking!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Christmas, Novella, Holiday, Contemporary Romance, Second Chance

51 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 15, 2017

About the author

Alexa Riley is two sassy friends who got together and wrote some dirty books. They are both married moms of two who love football, donuts, and obsessed book heroes.

They specialize in insta-love, over-the-top, sweet, and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something SAFE, short, and always with a happily ever after, then Alexa Riley is for you!

Feel free to follow us each on twitter @smut_sasshole & @SassNSmut

Reviews

[Carol [Goodreads Addict] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home For Christmas by Alexa Riley is the sequel to Thankful For Her. In Thankful For Her, we met Hunter and Autumn and at the very end, there was quite the surprise. Now we finally get the story as to where in the world Hunter’s brother, Vance Danvers and their mother has been all these years.

Holly was just fifteen when she first met Vance, who was much older. They barely ever spoke while working at the soup kitchen, but Holly always felt a special connection to him. Then on her eighteenth birthday, something happened to give her hope that Vance wanted more with her. Then he was gone. Now five years later, Holly has graduated college but she never got over the loss of Vance in addition to losing her Grandmother. So she is going to leave, try to get away from all the memories that plague her. Only it’s a terrible snow storm outside and she doesn’t get far.



Vance and his mother have been gone for five years, declared dead. It’s Christmas Day and they just walk in the door like they were never gone. Vance has never forgotten Holly. It was her memory that kept him going all these years. He has to find her and he doesn’t ever plan to let her out of his sight again. Only he is told that she is leaving town, that she has already left.



This is a very short story. I’m only giving it four stars because there wasn’t really enough time to fully connect with the characters. Still, in true Alexa Riley fashion, it is sweet and sexy and made me sigh. We even get a little bonus story on Vance and Hunter’s mom. I thought that was such a beautiful part of this, how it ended.

If you read this without having read Thankful For Her, it won’t be as meaningful. You’re really going to want to meet both Danvers brothers. These two books were a perfect addition to my holiday reading this year. I always look forward to AR’s Christmas books.

[The Sassy Bookworm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, I only read this one because I wanted to see what the reason was for why the brother and the Mom were presumed dead for five years, and yup, it was eye-rolling lame with plotholes a truck could drive through! AND what the f-ck is wrong with these brothers? In the first book, the brother has sex while blotto drunk and can't remember anything and had NO clue who he was screwing. This brother basically has sex (and takes the heroine's virginity) while she is still pretty much unconscious after almost freezing to death. When someone isn't entirely in control of their faculties then they are unable to give consent, therefore, having sex with them would, in fact, constitute a crime. Now I read A LOT of dub consent books and have no problem with them, but those are labeled as such and not packaged up like a happy little sweet Holiday romance. Just my 2 cents...

[♡Tonya♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really anticipating this story after reading the first book. It was a short and sweet holiday read.
-no cheating
-no ow/om drama
-both celibate during the 5 year separation
-no violence of any nature
-just ok epilogue it was more of a collective group epilogue that was only about a year out.

[Coco.V · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book before Thankful For Her without knowing that there was a link between these two stories...so it was a bit confusing for me. :(

[Bookloverme · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a sweet Christmas Novella. Finally, they all have their happy ever afters.

The story is about Vance and Holly.

They wanted each other for years but she was still young and when the time came he's going to make her his, everything changed.

Everyone thought Vance and his mom died. Their family was still hurting. Holly never got over him.

And now that they're back again, Vance found her and made her his.

It has a lovely epilogue. It was not mentioned if they're married. They're engaged already but I think they're married and also with a baby.

SAFETY:
Age: Vance-Not mentioned and Holly-23
Cheating: None
Love Triangle: None
OW/OM drama: None
Sex scene with OW/OM: None
Abuse: None
Push and Pull: None
Separation: After they had their first kiss, they were separated for five years. There's no one else for them since they met.
Virgin/Celibate/Manwhore: She's a virgin. He's celibate for a long time. No mention about his sexual past.
Condoms: No condom used. I assumed he used condoms before.
Possible Pet Peeves/Triggers: Fake death (H and H's mom)


There's a bonus chapter for the H's parents, Neil and Ariel. It was very short but still a good one.

It has a nice epilogue. They remarried.


SAFETY:
Age: Not mentioned
Cheating: He married right after he thought she's dead. He never loved the woman. He only married Autumn's mom (Autumn is the h in Thankful For Her) to protect Autumn and because he knew she's the one for his son, Hunter (H in Thankful For Her). He never touched the woman or anyone else. He also got divorced after Hunter and Autumn got together.
Love Triangle: None
OW/OM drama: None
Sex scene with OW/OM: None
Abuse: None
Push and Pull: None
Separation: Separated for 5 years. Both celibate during separation.
Virgin/Celibate/Manwhore: Nothing was mentioned.
Condoms: No condom used. It was only mentioned they were having sex. No detail.
Possible Pet Peeves/Triggers: Neil got married when he thought she died.

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Home for Christmas is another fantasy by Alexa Riley, and a sequel to Thankful for Her. But unlike the previous novella, this fantasy doesn't work for me. The reason for Vance's and his mother's 5 year disappearance is ridiculous, and not in a good way. This simply doesn't work for me.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet short and cheesy Christmas story. I loved Holly and Vance!

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

*lol* OK, this is very formulaic but let's face it: NOBODY is reading this for the "story". We're all here for the sexy-times between the MCs because AR is very good at those. Also, I didn't think the background story was much more ridiculous than the one in the previous book. However, what made me like this slightly less than the Thanksgiving one was that the sexy times were very short and few here indeed. I mean, despite knowing there will always be a HEA and nobody is cheating (which is, of course, what draws us all here), I usually am excited to finally get to the good bits and then get to enjoy them but that enjoyment was just cut too short here.

[İlkim · Rating 4 out of 5]

İlk defa standartlara uygun, sevimli bir aşk hikayesi yazmışlar sanki. Erotizm yok gibi bir şey.

[Vashti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quickie ,sweet Christmas read.I would have loved an expanded version.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was definitely better than the Thanksgiving Book IMO. It was just way too short. I would have liked seeing them before Vance went into hiding for more of their backstory.

[Jacqueline's Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

WHAT? It was ridiculous. I wanted to know more of the mom and dad, but we got the dead brother.

The reason… ridiculous.

Most of the book was story-telling, hardly any dialogue.

Not a fan.

[Corandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Neringa Neringiukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Thankful For Her, I couldn't wait for this story. I got answers to quostions, that were haunting me. BTW, you don't need to read Thankful For Her first, but I recommend you to start this journey there.
It was sweet story with Christmas spirit. Showing that miracles do happen.

[Maria... · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎄🎄🎅🎅🥰🥰🥰👍👍

[Saswati · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25*

Atleast this was better than the first one.

[Franci · Rating 3 out of 5]

#136 of 2020

#6 of 2020 Christmas /Holiday Reads

Sweet (with a little steam mixed in) romance about two people finding each other after a 5 year separation.

[*CJ* · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Home for Christmas" is the story of Holly and Vaughn.
I was going through an AR funk, and finally decided to end it with this Xmas romance!
Holly fell in love with Vance when she was a teenager, and the feeling grew only for it to be snatched away as Vance "dies". Years later, its Christmas eve, and Holly is trying to move on by leaving, when Vance walks back into her life..
Short, sweet with some mild drama and a HEA.
It was honestly average at the best as I read it within 7 minutes and didnt connect much to it.
Safe
2/5
P.S. Was kind of surprised by Neil and Ariel's story. Nice.

[Tina H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute, short read!

[Melody Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

***2.5 Star Rating***

Holly had found the love of her life. It happened quickly but she knew he was 'the one.' One night Vance didn't show up and she and his family were told he was dead.

Vance Danvers has one last stop to make before he can finally go and find his beloved Holly, the woman who was expecting him five years ago. Would she still be waiting or had another man taken his place?

When he finally finds her he had no idea she would be at death's door. Is he in time? Will she believe what really happened to him? Can she forgive him?

What bugged me:
The hero taking her virginity while she was still basically unconsious. I thought that was a tacky move. (She was only half consious and thought she was dreaming of him.) It felt more like rape to me. No thanks!
Didn't care for the ending with her mom and dad and what ensued when they were apart.
Hero is a grown man yet his dad tells him he must come home for the night on the the first night he's back. Then family members walk in on them when he had just finished taking her V card w/o her permission. 'HELLO' ever heard of knocking before you enter someone's bedroom.

All in all I was disappointed.

Story Safe
Both Celibate while apart
Virgin Heroine

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I oscillated between giving this a four or a five and settled on a four. I like the story leading up to Vance’s disappearance but after that it felt kind of anti-climactic. I did like that we got a tiny bonus book of Neil and Ariel because I just loved him so much in book one. An nice quick read but it won’t hit my reread shelf.

[Eda** · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 3-3,5 "cute but too ordinary" STARS **

[Ann Leona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, I didn't like it.

This book wasn't very good or believable, even as fiction goes. First, how was losing a man this girl hardly knew and only kissed once harder than losing her family that raised her? Second, why was this grown man pawning over a teen girl for years waiting for her to come of age? Pedophile much? Third, why was he sexing up a mostly unconscious woman who was delirious from hypothermia? Lastly, how and why in the world would the Dad marry his son's soon to be wife's mother just so his son could get with the daughter? So, now he's her stepfather/father in-law. My goodness I was confused and the book didn't even last long, I read it in an hour. Maybe I'm more pessimistic today than is normal, but this book didn't float my boat. Sorry, I'll still read other titles by Alexa Riley though. She's a good writer overall.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are just too many unanswered questions for this to be considered good. I’m sorry.

[trestitia ⵊⵊⵊ deamorski · Rating 3 out of 5]

thankful for her'ün sonunda zank diye kalmıştık hani hatırladınız mı? onun devamı bu.

hikaye fena değil. öyle ki artık Riley bile yorulmuş artık o klasik seks sahnesini yazmaya asdfasdf
ama saçmaydı bazı yerleri.
yani hatun kazadan çıktı, kurtardın geldin, soydun soyundun üzerine uzandın ısınsın diye malum kar kış, belki kadın iç kanama geçiriyor belki beyinde bi travma var, ama olmaz önce sevişmek lazım asdfasdf
yapmayın şunları asdfasd
illa bana bu lafı dedirttirceniz.
yine de normalden değişikti.

ama sondaki bonus epilogda oğlanların anasıyla babasının sevişme sahnesini yazdınız diye ödüm bokuma karıştı.
yaşlı fetişim yok thank god yani.
sorrry.
yaşlanma fobisi var zaten bende.
öğ.

nys.
keşke biraz da flashback olsaydı bu shelter'daki koruyucu bakışlı herifimizi okusaydık.

chrisması bekleyemedim asdfasf
xoxo
iko

[Elle ✟ Søren's ♡ (i'm too old for this shite) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2* STARS!

Mini Review:After the surprised left in the epilogue from Thankful for Her, I feel conflicted. The brother and mother are still alive and apparently, they have serious problem and must faked their death. Holly still couldn't move on after the devastate tragedy happened to Vance. She keeps thinking about him for years. In a big snowstorm and desperate time, Holly almost meet her death if Vance didn't come to save her. Totally big coincidence!

For an almost dead person, Holly easily respond to Vance's touch and hard on. They're almost DID it if Vance's brother didn't cock-block them. Huh... I think Holly needs treatment immediately; not a hard thrust dick. It is a BIG HELL NO for me! Too unbelievable.

[DeeReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now everything made sense with reading Home for Christmas. Loved Holly and Vance's story... so sweet but sexy also! The Bonus story with the parents, Neil and Ariel was so heartwarming too.!

4 undying love stars ****

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow Up to Thankful for Her

Couldn't wait to find out what story was concocted to reconcile how two people come back from the dead. It's a doozy, but it works. Dramatic and sexy, Home for Christmas is a delicious holiday treat!

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

On her 18th birthday, Vance swore Holly was his forever love and then died the next day. So, Holly has had a really tough time moving on with her life. So much so, she's decided to leave town. But this is also the day that Vance comes back to town, having not really been dead, but actually alive, for reasons. He goes off in search of her to beg her forgiveness and explain his absence and finds she's been in an accident. While he's trying to bring her back from the brink of hypothermia, he has sex with her while she thinks she's dreaming, then wakes up to find her dead boyfriend is really alive. Explanations and happy endings ensue.

This was kind of a let down. I mean, there was this build up for how Vance was going to have to work to get Holly to understand and be "his" again and there's this flash of anger and then he's explaining and then it's over. There was this opportunity for some pretty great angst and it looked like it was building up to it and then it fell completely flat. And once again, without any time really spent together, these two are ready to get married. We're told they're friends and what not, but we don't really get to see any interaction between them. Well, except for when he's more or less raping her on the rug...it's not brute force or anything, but she's clearly not fully conscious when he takes her virginity. That's not exactly consent either.

[Alba M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holly, después de años de vivir en pena por todo lo que ha perdido decide cambiar de aires buscando así un poco de descanso. Pero en su camino de marcha tiene un accidente. Cuando despierte y vea a su salvador puede que la paz la haya encontrado a ella.
Vance lleva años intentando volver a casa, su único deseo: volver con Holly. Pero cuando vuelve a casa y le dicen que se ha ido irá tras ella, no volverá a perderla una segunda vez.

Mira que los libros de estas tías son cortos pero esto es minúsculo. Ha sido a la velocidad de la luz, sobredosis de arcoiris y unicornios y final feliz apoteósico que lo único que le faltó fue la típica conversación telefónica del "cuelga tu, no tu" 😂🤦
Para pasar el ratito ya sabéis, está fue una historia un poquito absurda sacada de una peli de antena 3 un sábado por la tarde.