Missing Christmas

Chance of a Lifetime #3.5

by Kate Clayborn

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE ANTHOLOGY A SNOWY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!

From the acclaimed author of Love Lettering comes another unforgettable story of modern love, as Mother Nature steps in to help turn two friends into much more . . .

It’s all work and no play for longtime friends-turned-business-partners Kristen and Jasper—until an unexpected kiss turns things personal. Will it mean the end of something, or the beginning? With a major contract in the balance, Christmas around the corner, and a lot of unspoken feelings, it may take an unpredictable blizzard in New England to seal the deal . . .

Genres: Romance, Christmas, Holiday, Novella, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2019

About the author

Kate Clayborn is the critically acclaimed author of six novels. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Bookpage, and more. By day she works in education, and by night (and sometimes, by very early morning) she writes contemporary romances about smart, strong, modern heroines who face the world alongside true friends and complicated families. She resides in Virginia with her husband and their dog.

Reviews

[Dab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who said Christmas was over? I like Christmas cookies but Christmas novellas won’t make me fat.

And you know what else is amazing about novellas? Or maybe this one in particular to be fair - no time or place for prolonged third act nonsense! Misunderstandings are solved within 15 minutes as they should!

I remember Jasper from the first book, he was quite a jerk but I was hoping he would redeem himself. I love it when characters who make mistakes change and get their own books. (I’m looking at you Sebastian St Vincent!)

Jasper and Kristen have known each other for six years. Luckily we skip whatever has been slowly burning all that time and get straight to the interesting part: one bed + forced proximity = ❤️‍🔥

This was a cute, Christmas themed novella with a touch of spice, mutual pining and lots of Kate Clayborn magic!

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Beginner’s Luck, I was curious whether Ben’s best friend Jasper would ever get his own story and I’m so delighted he did in the form of this Christmas novella. Jasper has been in love with his business partner Kristen for 6 years. Talk about pining. But he doesn’t want to jeopardize their relationship so he has rules about not acting on his feelings. Until she tells him to kiss her after they close a deal and that changes everything.

This is pure Kate Clayborn perfection, a heap of feelings wrapped around some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, snowed in, only one bed. One of my favorite moments is when Kristen is missing out on her family Christmas due to an unexpected ground blizzard, Jasper tracks down her grandmother’s Christmas cookie recipe and gets the ingredients from the people whose cottage they’re stranded at so they can bake them. It was so sweet! I just loved this.


Characters: Jasper is a white recruiter. Kristen is a white recruiter/contract lawyer. They've been business partners for 14 months and have known each other for 6 years. This is set in Houston and Massachusetts.

Content notes: MMC's toxic (possibly abusive) father kicked him out when he found out he was going to college (he sees his parents a couple of times a year but he's not welcome at the ranch), ground blizzard, fade to black sex, gendered pejorative, ableist language

[b.andherbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two pining for years coworkers and best friends finally, finally kiss eleven days before Christmas. Both Jasper and Kristen are thrilled and aghast at what happened and both are so sure the other is regretting what happened. When a last minute work trip pops up and leaves Jasper and Kristen snowed in at the scientist they are trying to recruit's home, Jasper tries to recreate some holiday moments Kristen is missing out on, even though Jasper doesn't like Christmas, not one bit. Hallmark movies, cookies, and the only-one-bed situation add up to a perfectly pine-scented opportunity for some feelings and sexual tension relief.

An absolutely perfect and tropte-tastic holiday novella I will re-read every Christmas! It also begins the day before my birthday, so that makes me smile. Kate Clayborn just gets how to make my heart sing with her words. Jasper is such a babe and he's so determined to make Kristen happy and to just be near here, even if that means missing out on being WITH her.

The audio book was also delightful, highly recommend!

Third annual re-listen to this masterpiece! My only note is that the woman narrator gave Jasper a southern twang but the male narrator did not?

[h o l l i s · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably should've read this before or during Christmas but oh well.

I couldn't remember these characters from book one but Clayborn gave us enough details along the way that I had enough of an idea of their role from context and anyway the focus is their own story and it was just the perfect mix of sweet and starchy that I love from this author. I'm desperate for her new release and this was such a nice treat to stave off the craving for it -- whilst simultaneously making me want it more.

[Sam I AMNreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with anthology. A delight ♥️♥️

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a few days ago, which of course translates into a billion years ago in today's currency.

Anyway, it was fine, so far as I remember. But suffered due to being a novella. I think.

[Katy O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short and sweet friends-to-lovers (and only one bed!) Christmas romance novella. Just made me love Kate Clayborn even more!

[Victoria (Eve's Alexandria) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute utter perfection, with a glimpse of my favourite Chance of a Lifetime couple (Kit and Ben) as a bonus. Jasper (Ben’s best friend) and Kristen have been mutually pining for each other for 6 years, but haven’t wanted to ruin their friendship and business partnership. Now they’re snowed in for Christmas after a work trip went wrong, and there’s no choice but to get cosy, bake cookies, watch Hallmark movies and work through their feelings. It’s written in Kate’s characteristically witty style, with real emotional power behind it.

[steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted a holiday read the other day and boy, did this one deliver in spades. I vaguely recalled Jasper from the third book in this series. I did not remember Kristen at all (sorry girl!), but none of that mattered because by three short chapters in I was utterly obsessed with them and their love story 110%.

Yes this is a novella but it's written by Clayborn which means it is ten shades of perfection, heartbreak, love and honesty. I really could not have picked a better Christmas Eve read.

[Drache.... (Angelika) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet christmas novella that completes the series.
4 stars.

[Susan Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick but very satisfying Christmas story! Heartwarming and sweet, perfect to read during the holidays or at any time!

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read anything by Clayborn for a couple of years. This one is part of her Chance of a Lifetime series and I didn't remember anything about Jasper and Kristen, in any way or form 😅.

I was a bit thrown off in the beginning due to the familiar ways these characters towards each other (they've been working together for six years!). I felt like being pushed inside a world I didn't know. I had to "relearn" Clayborn again, I guess.

However, it shows how amazing Clayborn is when it comes to let readers EXPERIENCE FEELS! Because a couple of chapters later, I WAS ALL FOR THEM!!

The anguish of Jasper, scared that the kiss he shared with Kris changes everything! That he will lose her because of it. The way he tries SO HARD to make Kris happy and stay with him. Then heartbreak of Kris because she wants the kiss but she thinks Jasper will always put the work first.

Yes, misunderstanding and miscommunication... usually I hate them, but OH MY GOD, Clayborn is doing it so well here! Clayborn unravels Jasper for us readers, layer by layer, so we understand his reason. You guess it, I had tears again in my eyes when Jasper said it all to Kris. MY F*CKING 💖 HEART!

Then it ended beautifully *deep satisfactory sigh*

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions)]

Missing Christmas was, frankly, a bit of a miss for me. That said, I think it will be a big hit with people who love Hallmark Christmas movies and pining. For me, I'm not a fan of pining, though I do think it's better done here than a lot of times (I believe they would have pined for so long AND it doesn't make me hate either one that they did so), but I still have the common me problem where I don't know why they're in love. They're already in love at the start, and because it's a novella, I don't really have time to get to know them, so I didn't feel a connection. Personally, I almost always need to see a couple fall in love; already in love at the beginning is a hard sell for me. I definitely would have needed this to be a full novel that started earlier in their journey, but it's cute and will absolutely hit the spot for readers who love the right tropes.

[Jenica · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one does a man unable to express his emotions the way he wants to like Kate Clayborn. This was everything.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this. It's a very fast read but so many good moments right away. Loved coworker Carol and how she expressed emotion through a light-up sweater (yes, so good), plus a friends-to-lovers and snowed in trope that has lots of sweetness and a good bit of depth. I love the attention to detail the characters have for each other. While this is a quick holiday read, it's not generic by any means. Very well crafted. And it ties into the authors luck series (forget the name of the books but they have luck in the titles).

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bless you, Kate Clayborn. I can always count on you! Romance novellas are tricky, and she manages to make this one feel whole and satisfying. Clayborn's books always have such a lovely "killing me softly" vibe.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was charming!

[Bay · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh this was fucking divine and i cried the entire time

[Trianna/Treereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute addition to the series!

[Bernadette Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novella that's a very quick read. Friends turned Business Partners with an unexpected kiss and a blizzard in New England and OH MY GOD when Mother Nature pushes these two together it's perfection.

No one does Modern Love like Kate Clayborn.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute short story

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missing Christmas features an excellent friends to lovers romance set at Christmas.

Business partners Kristen Fraser and Jasper Sorenson have been friends for years. Between non-stop contract negotiations to keep their business running, there hasn't been time for anything else until they share an unexpected kiss days before Christmas. When a problem pops up on a major contract, Kristen and Jasper head to a small New England town to close the deal. But after a blizzard strands them there, their relationship is put to the test in close quarters.

Kristen and Jasper have been been attracted to one another for years but they've never acted on their feelings to avoid potentially destroying their friendship. The chemistry between these two is amazing and I loved watching them fight their feelings for one another knowing they were fighting the inevitable. With the couple delayed in New England, Kristen is missing out on Christmas with her family, something she looks forward to every year. Jasper is a bit of a grump and doesn't enjoy the holiday so I loved when he tries to recreate some of Kristen's traditions for her. There are a lot of great holiday romance tropes in this novella and the author packs a lot into it despite how short it is.

Overall Missing Christmas was a fun holiday romance and I would highly recommend it.

[GigiReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mutual pining, friends to lovers, one bed, forced proximity, office romance elements and Christmas cozy feels. This was a cute really quick read.


⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
🔥/5

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute, very syrupy sweet Christmas book. But it’s the time of year for that. 😊

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. Cute, short (63 page), novella.

I paid for it on Amazon and although it was only $3, it honestly is almost short enough that it could be one of the short stories authors give when you sign up for their newsletter.

It’s a forced proximity, friends to lovers trope. I usually love friends to lovers but this is the kind where they’ve always been secretly in love but don’t say anything and that can be annoying for me. I prefer the friends to lovers where they fall for each other after being friends first. It’s just that the trope as it’s written in this style relies on them not communicating. And I think most of us romance readers don’t prefer the lack of communication plot device. And even when they started communicating it was start and stop, which also was annoying.

But all in all, it had some cute moments. And it’s hard to feel too strongly one way or the other about a story this short. Maybe I’m feeling generous since it’s Christmas Eve and giving it one more star than I normally would. 🤷‍♀️

3 stars

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this on a goodreads giveaway (my first win!). Thanks to both goodreads and the publisher.

Now... I didn’t love this. It’s not bad but it’s not good either? I don’t know. Maybe it’s a me thing. Maybe I’ve turned into the grinch and I just can’t find joy in these types of books anymore because they just don’t feel genuine to me. Maybe it’s just that 2020 has been exhausting and I can’t deal with saccharine stuff like this.

The characters were fine: Jasper charmed me with his determined focus and Kristen was a nice heroine. They really balanced each other out and worked together well. It’s always nice to read about people who are emotionally mature.

[Yuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
Cute but didn't sweep me off my feet. Feel like this probably could've been a little longer to give the feelings/emotion a bit more space to build and land. Granted, I haven't read the other books in this series so idk how much Jasper & Kristen's characters had been built out in previous books, so maybe that would've felt like restating what fans of the series already knew?

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novellas are always a little frustrating to me and this one was very short. I felt like I didn't have enough time to care about the characters. There were only three settings for scenes, and the characters spent a lot of time in their heads. Still, it had a Christmas feel and some charm.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

*happy sigh*


It’s like two pages long but it doesn’t matter, it’s the sweet Christmas story I wanted to read last night.

[Elia · Rating 3 out of 5]

it’s a christmas novella alright!