Christmas Eve. A cottage in Wales. A strange woman in a Santa outfit.
Samantha Cole wakes in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to the sound of thumps, bumps, and bangs.
To her horror, she finds a strange woman in her house, dressed in a saucy Santa costume.
The woman insists she is Santa’s granddaughter, Holly, and is there for a special delivery to that address.
Holly is tall, Amazonian looking, and sexy as hell. Sam’s instantly attracted to her, but she doesn’t trust her. Or anyone.
Everything Holly represents rubs Sam up the wrong way. Brings out her defences and shrouds her in disbelief. Especially Holly’s flirty nature and the insistence that she’s there to leave the present.
Sam lives alone in her little Welsh cottage and the nearest police station is over an hour away.
It is all too much. Besides, Sam doesn’t do Christmas.
Sam lost her beloved mother on Christmas day when she was little. Since then, she has closed herself off, shut the door, and cancelled Christmas for good.
4 stars. Sue Still really manages to do great things in such a short amount of pages. This was super sweet and charming and the characters of Sam and Holly were both very likable. They have a very soft romance and the plot itself was light and the chemistry and banter between the characters was fun. A really nice read and I really like this author’s writing style.
Sam suddenly awakened on Christmas Eve to strange noises finds an oddly dressed woman stuck upside down in her chimney. Holly, decked out in red with black boots laced with leather and bells, claims she's Santa's granddaughter trying to make a special delivery.
Sam's adamant she's done with that childhood fantasy but is mysteriously drawn to the annoyingly charming and unexpectedly warmhearted woman who stirs up a past Sam has long ago buried.
Delightful surprises and rekindled magic abound as their hearts are drawn together wondering about possibilities when one of them lives in the North Pole and the other in Wales. Still, aren't there flying reindeer? This is a wonderfully fun Christmas story!
Imagine waking up in the night and discovering a woman upside down and her skirt covering her head. So starts this short but very well written story. Sam finds Holly stuck in her chimney. Sam has given up on Christmas! She lost her Mum when she was younger at Christmas time and a wish to Santa could not bring Mummy home. Holly knows a little magic can go along way and until Sam confronts her grief then Christmas will be no more. Follow along and Enjoy!
Lovely little lesson in believing in yourself and not letting past misunderstandings control your life. Throw in reindeer and you have a sweet holiday romance.
Need a quick break? Something that's a terrific brief fun interlude on the way to Christmas day? This is it! Suspend your age induced "reality" and just enjoy childlike belief in joy and the ability of wishes come true. It's fun, well written, and worth an hour of your time.
This was a very quick and quirky read. Sam doesn’t do Christmas. So when a strange, albeit very attractive and flirtatious, woman gets stuck upside down in her chimney, wearing a sexy Santa suit and claiming to be Santa’s granddaughter…things get a bit weird. It was cute and fun, but I just wasn’t invested in the characters and it’s very much an insta love story which I’m learning more and more I just don’t vibe with.
Special Delivery by Sue Still is a light-hearted Christmas novelette which gives you all those feel-good feelings for the festive period.
Sam lives alone in a cottage. During the night of Christmas Eve, she hears noises and goes to investigate, only to find a woman in a rather precarious position in her fireplace!
What’s not to love about this well-written story and the appearance of a cute animal?
Sam wakes up to find Holly stuck upside down in her chimney. Is this real? Sam hasn't celebrated Christmas since her mother died, but can Holly convince her to believe? This novelette is a fun little escape from reality to put the reader in a festive mood!
I really loved this book. It was just what I was looking for at just the right time that I wanted to read a story like this. I've read a few Christmas themed books so far this Christmas season and I've enjoyed all of them but I was looking for something fantastical, magical, whimsical and I found that in this story by Sue Still. And... if she ever thought of making this into a full length novel I'd buy it in a second. I thought she wrote a unique story about believing in Santa. From a person like me who eats up movies like The Santa Claus and the sequels I so enjoyed reading this. If you love Christmas and Santa and just the wonder of this season you should read this short book. Definitely recommend.
A sweet short story, full of fun and wonder. Sam is laying in bed trying to sleep. She lives alone in her cottage miles from the nearest town in rural Wales, when she hears noises downstairs. Holly is one of Santa’s granddaughters - a cute, flirty woman out doing deliveries. This is a short story, taking place on Christmas Eve night, the whole action takes just a few hours. It’s very much an instant attraction between Sam and Holly. It’s fun, full of humour, but also has serious and emotional parts. The descriptions bring a smile, especially of Holly coming down the chimney. This brings back the wonder and childlike innocence to Sam, making her believe in Santa once more.
I really enjoyed this story. It was great fun to read even though it brought a few tears as I remembered Christmases past. Really looking forward to reading more by this writer. Another great addition to my library.
A neat, quirky story that makes you want to believe in Christmas magic. The characters were cute and the premise behind Holly's role with Santa was intriguing. I would recommend this if you are looking for a heartwarming, easy read.
This was a super cute and quick Christmas short read. There is insta-love, magic, overcoming the past, living for the now, and a super cute reindeer. I enjoyed the writing style which made the story fun and delightful to read.
This was a bit disappointing for only 58 pages! It was cute but almost juvenile in the dialogue, the 25 year old protagonist literally leaves her life to go with the female Santa Holly, after one conversation! She was like “no one had shown her such kindness” (????) There was nothing spicy about it and their romance was nonexistent. Too much reindeer content!
I feel like this could be a nice little intro to a Sapphic Christmas romance. As it stands, it's already pretty cute, but it has the potential for so much more. Cute, funny banter, a sad back story, a lost awkward reindeer... no spice, but lots of innuendo. A quick read.
It was a cute story. Outside of a few spelling errors, the story was cute. Very hallmarky. For a short story it was decent and would recommend a read if you have some time to kill.
This came up when I was getting other Christmas novellas on KU and I’m always ready for a sapphic one but this was so damn cornball. Just not good at all.
TW: death of parent in past, controlling grandparents
Oh that was bad. I was expecting something fast and shallow and then it skewed into immediate spilled childhood trauma and growing old together? You just met this woman 30 minutes ago in your fireplace, what? #tonedeaf
I was really excited to read this lesbian holiday short. Overall the story was cute but I felt like there were some parts that did not make sense. I also really hated how the MC kept using pet names. It felt very forced.
The premise and the writing were overly simplistic. There’s no depth or definition to the characters. I don’t care about them or any relationship because it’s all so flat and hurried. Really it is akin to what a young teen would write.
The main storyline is tender and sweet, but the first half of the story was not. I can kind of see how it switched, but I almost stopped reading before I got there.