The Christmas Games

Christmas Cove #4

by Erika Lynn

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is my dream job and to not fall in love with the swoony Sawyer Sullivan. You can help with that, right?
Love, Morgan Truly

Nobody has ever called Morgan Truly a slacker. Competitive, cutthroat, motivated to a fault, those fit better. She's done everything to get ahead and now she's set her sights on the VP of Toy Development at Magical Moments, the largest producer of wooden toys in the world.

When her boss announces a surprise merger with another toy company, the promotion of her dreams begins to slip through her fingers, and she'll do whatever it takes to get it back.

Not even Sawyer Sullivan with the square jaw and his fitted flannel shirts can get in her way.

But Sawyer is new to town and has nothing to lose. And that's bad news for Morgan. With the VP position on the line, they must battle it out in a series of competitions for the best new Christmas toy of the season.

Let the Christmas games begin.

The Christmas Games is a 34,000-word sweet romance novella set in Christmas Cove. The story stands alone.

157 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 6, 2022

About the author

Oh hey, I'm Erika! There is nothing I love more than good wine and a good book. Except for spending time with my husband, newborn son and permanently depressed looking maltipoo.

Stay in touch by following me on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/authorerika...

And sign up for my newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/fe8dd1811cd8/2024-...

Reviews

[Brianna Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave all the Hallmark Christmas movie vibes BUT I liked it more than the movies. I really liked that she had to figure out what her true passion was and look inside herself to figure out her goals. I also liked how he chose her over everything- even his dream job.

🌀Synopsis
Morgan has been working her behind off to get the VP of Toy Creation position at her company. She’s put in extra hours and extra effort to get there. Nothing is going to stop her…until there is a merger.
Sawyer has also been after the same position in his company. Now that the two companies merged, only one of them can get the position. In order to figure out who gets it they must go through a series of challenges that will decide the winner.
Things like ornament creation and ice skating don’t really decide a qualification but they do help Morgan and Sawyer get to know each other. Before he knows it, Sawyer is content to stay in his role and go after Morgan. Morgan, on the other hand, is too driven. After deciding she’s after the CEO position, she knows she has to take the competition seriously and pushes Sawyer away. One final toy competition will decide who the winner is but it turns out they can both have their cake and eat it too.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excuse me while I pack my bags. If you need me I'm Relocating to Christmas Cove. I would love to live here and absorb all the Christmas!

While the competition set between Morgan and Sawyer is definitely unconventional it certainly made for an entertaining story. I laughed so much.

I was glad to see the past characters making appearances and that we didn't forget about the Santa Swim!

Far better than any Hallmark movie I've seen!

[Becky Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morgan had always been one to make list after list to accomplish everything. And, she was very competitive at whatever she wanted. Her boss Valorie that owned Magical Moments a wooden toy company had promised her she would be the VP of the toy making someday soon. Then the announcement is made that Magical Moments and Kit and Canary are merging.

When they call the two companies together to discuss what was in store for the merger. Sawyer had been told he would be VP of Kit and Canary toy development. So going forward they came up when some competition to see which one would be named VP. The games were hilarious and Morgan was so into winning. But in the meantime Sawyer was developing feelings toward Morgan.

Great book and the town of Christmas Cove sounds like a fun place to live. Loved the characters as usual.

I received this ARC from Booksirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Anni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erika Lynn is such a talented author - the Christmas Cove series is where I discovered her works, and I truly adore this series! It’s good, clean, Christmas fun that feel like they could be the plot of a hallmark Christmas movie (but a whole lot more creative)!

This novella features great appearances from all of the previous Christmas Cove characters, and new arrivals Morgan Truly, who’s returned to town after college and is about to get a great promotion at her long-term job at toy company Magical Moments. New arrival Sawyer Sullivan is the hot stranger just appeared in town and suddenly his toy company is merging with hers, and suddenly they’re competing for the same promotion they’ve both been promised… and now have to compete in the Christmas Games to see who gets it - while fighting an intense, immediate attraction.

I truly love everything that Erika Lynn has written - the good, clean Christmas fun of the Christmas Cove novella series (if that’s what you’re looking for, this novella and this series are absolutely it!), to the super spicy and steamy Neighbors series and Havors Creek. I highly recommend picking this one up for an excellent Christmas read!! It’s perfect for everybody!

I received an advance review copy from Erika Lynn, and this is my honest feedback - thanks Erika!!

[MN Book Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Christmas is your town's thing, you have to imagine toys are too. So why not have a hand-made toy company in town?

Morgan has been aiming for a promotion and thinks it's within her sights when the big announcement turns out to be a merger of two toy companies. And two people going for the same position as Sawyer was promised the position as well. So why not turn it into a competition? The best two of out three in different activities is the winner.

And while the competition is going on, things heat up between Sawyer and Morgan. So when she turns cold on him, Sawyer doesn't know what to think. Or when he's announced as the winner will things be okay between them?

Morgan and Sawyer get their happy ending in this stand-alone book in a series.

This was such a cute story about drive and passion and what working together can do. This is also a clean romance for anyone looking for something like that. I do wish the author would have gone into Morgan's past with her parents just a bit more to know why they were so hard on her and the need to win everything. And where were Sawyer's parents in all this?

I received an advance review copy for free from Book Sirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Erika has written an enjoyable book of the happenings of Christmas Cove in Christmas Games, we meet Morgan who was busy working at the toy store when a stranger came in, living in a small town a visitor always stands out. This visitor was very handsome but soon Morgan would meet him and find out his name is Sawyer and her competition. The two are being considered for the same position both had been promised but with their companies merging- that only left one position available, who would walk away as the winner of the Christmas games? Who would become the Manager of Toy development . Would they find their way toward a budding romance or let the competition keep them apart no matter the sparks?

Be sure to grab this book and the bonus epilogue.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

[Adpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful story of a young woman, Morgan, who is fixated on her career path. Just when she is expecting to hear that she is being promoted, her company merged with another toy company and now the desired position is up grabs between Morgan and Sawyer, the two people who have to complete a 3 part competition to determine who wins the coveted job title.
This story is well written, and as it is part of a series, you get the small town atmosphere vibes and the camaraderie of the friends. (The book is a standalone book, though.)
It is an enjoyable book and I'm glad that Morgan realized that she needed to examine what SHE wanted and not let the parents continue to dictate to her.
It is a "clean" story,
I was provided a copy of this book by the author and BookSirens. This review is my opinion alone.

[Heather Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a digital ARC of this book. I haven’t read the other Christmas Cove books, and it said this could be a stand alone, so I went ahead and read it. (But I will be going back and reading the others!) I have read 2 other books by Erika Lynn and I really enjoyed them, this book was no different. I didn’t want to put it down. It reminded me a little of a Hallmark movie, which I love. Morgan has been working towards VP of the company she works for, so has Sawyer for the company he works for. They’ve both been promised that position, but when their companies merge, their bosses decide to have them compete for the position. While they’re competing, an attraction is building. But, can they be a couple and compete at the same time? What happens when only one of them can get the job? While you’re reading, you’ll be taking sides, but not between Morgan and Sawyer… between wanting them together or not. There’s a bonus epilogue you can download as well. I’m hoping Erika puts out an actual sequel.

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great quick Christmas read! Definite Hallmark vibes and I loved it! This is my first book by this author but I'm definitely going back and reading the rest of Christmas Coves stories. As someone who's very competitive, I loved Morgans competitive nature. Sawyer really was perfect for Morgan that he seemed to know just how to handle her! Also, that bonus epilogue made my heart squeeze! This book really was perfect holiday vibes!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute romance of Morgan and Sawyer. They found out their companies are merging and both were promised the same job by their bosses. They now have to compete in Christmas themed activities to win the job. While they are competing, they start to fall for one another. Morgan then takes her life back into her own hands to find her true life passions. This story has a few bumps in the road but then a happy ending!

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everybody wants to find happiness - some in their family, some in their job, some in their goals, and almost everybody in finding love - that special someone who makes them feel whole.

Happiness is to be found in the most unexpected ways, at the most strange times and in the most unlikely places. And those stories ending happily are the best!

I received an advance review copy for free via BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute Christmas enemies-to-lovers story. I enjoyed the challenges they had to go through and what they taught them. It's a quick easy holiday story and very enjoyable. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[CORINNE · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced reader copy of this book and am reviewing it voluntarily

This was a sweet story but rather odd the games didn’t really make any sense as to the job

The outcome was predictable

Nicely written

[Christina Bowling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it was a pretty cute Christmas book, and I enjoyed reading it.