River Jackson’s riding high as the Denver Flyer’s starting quarterback, until an injury sidelines him. When Coach needs a volunteer to deliver donated football uniforms to the learning center in The Grid, River’s glad to go. What he hadn’t expected was the tiny woman with sparkling dark eyes and dreams bigger than the old schoolhouse she’s renting. He has no intention of falling for her, especially with his career on the ropes.
After a disaster turns Soledad Marcos’ life upside down, she’s glad the learning center has given her and her daughter a stable life. She buries the secrets of her dark past and looks forward to the future⸻a future that doesn’t include a dashing football player and his desire to help. Her students love River so she’s forced to ignore the unease that has held her back for years.
As Soledad draws closer to River, she learns his tough exterior masks a compassionate and tender soul she’ll resist at all costs, but turning her back on love means a bigger sacrifice that could cost more than a broken heart.
River’s recent injury has left his career in the NFL uncertain. Donating his teams old equipment to a school in need brought him to something he never knew he needed. Soledad, who seems to be married, carries the school on her small shoulders without complaint. Helping her and the children has brought a joy to him that he’s never felt. But when rumors fly of him being traded, how is he supposed to be happy about leaving her and her daughter.
This was so wholesome. I love Soledad’s determination and strength. What she went through is so sad but shows how resilient she is. River is so sweet and thoughtful, I loved him so much. And his relationship with Kalida is so adorable.
You’ll never meet a more appealing book friend than Soledad, a beautiful, kind, resourceful and brave young woman who has had to start her life over in a new country after fleeing with her daughter during a political uprising in her South American country. She has started an after-school learning center in order to meet a need in her new community and meets River, an acclaimed quarterback for the local NFL team who has been sidelined due to an injury. When he dropped off some used football equipment for the use of her students, River discovered that Soledad intended to coach her students herself even though she knew nothing about the game. He offered to be the assistant coach for a couple weeks until he was cleared by his doctor to return to his job. They would be two weeks he would never forget. This book was definitely a feel-good book that will hold your attention and, at times, keep you guessing. I recommend it! I was entrusted with a copy of this book by the author and this is my voluntarily-given and honest review.
❄️❄️ONE MESMERIZING WONDER❄️❄️ Blazing blizzards! Laura flat brought it with this tantalizing delight, hooking you from the start and reeling you in for the duration, whipping this sweet little jewel to a whole new level. Mishaps and serendipity descend in a whirlwind of mishaps and mayhem, showcasing the scattered barriers and crushed perimeters, limitations are amplified and tested, secrets confessed, revelations unmasked and promises made, exhibiting the separate struggles and soaring triumphs, baring the explosive ups and tormenting downs, putting our characters through their paces, blasting this baby to life brilliantly. The attraction and chemistry builds as each layer is peeled back baring incredibly deep emotions and an intense bond, binding them to one another beautifully. The characters are complex, genuine and realistic with traits and qualities that balance and blend, with amazing depth and diversity with enough spice to add an extra kick to the mix. The scenes are strikingly sharp with abundant details and descriptions creating a colorful backdrop that so rich and lively as though you can just reach out and touch it. Remarkable job Laura, thanks for sharing this awesome little gem with us.
This was a unique story IMO, that grabbed my imagination and pulled me in 100% from the very beginning to the heart stopping final pages! A touching story that seems totally out of the realm of possibility, but when I stopped to think, probably not! River has a pull toward Soledad from their first meeting and he does everything possible to see if it is reciprocated and give the two of them a chance. A beautiful look at the disparaging differences of wealth in this country, but on the other hand, the joy that money and some personal time can bring to others in a very simplistic way. A well written story with excellent characters all around make this a definite read for your Christmas books!
I received an ARC copy of this book, but this is my voluntary and honest review with my own personal opinions. VICKI FROM WYOMING
I loved this book! What a heartwarming Christmas story to make you feel good. I know that professional sports always look out for their team to win and make money. I just wish that sometimes teams put more energy into their players happiness. Even though it was hard on River to not be playing for Denver while his shoulder healed, I was glad it took him to Soledad’s non profit after school. You could just feel the emotions in River when he first met Soledad and her beautiful young daughter. Helping the school made him forget his pain of not playing and made him happy. Soledad was the most thoughtful, caring, loving woman. I loved being a part of her and River’s journey to find each other. There were obstacles in the way that the two had to work through. I strongly encourage you to read the book. I was given a copy and voluntarily wrote a review.
The author has created such realistic and likable characters. The love relationship develops over time. As you might expect, there is trouble in paradise, but you won’t guess what transpires. The author really knows how to deliver a curve ball. She also knows how to tie things up, leaving the reader pleasantly satisfied. I highly recommend this book to readers who like sweet romances that aren’t run-of-the-mill.
Disclosure: I was given a free ARC and am voluntarily leaving this unbiased review.
River is a quarterback playing professional football in Denver. He sustains an injury, and while healing performs other tasks for his team, like dropping off donations. The team donates used equipment to a non-profit after school recreational and study facility, which is where River meets Soledad. Soledad is like no one he has ever met before. She always thinks of others first, and puts their wishes before her own. Soledad is an immigrant to the U.S. having left escaped her home country with her daughter during a revolution. Soledad has little to nothing in the U.S., but finds a way to open the recreational/study facility. River can’t forget meeting Soledad, and finds himself volunteering at the recreational facility while he is recovering from his injury and can’t play football. The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish is a sweet romance with ups and downs along the way, but does end with an HEA. I loved it! I was given an advance copy of this book for an honest review.
The Billionaire’s Christmas Gift is a wonderful book. Laura Haley-McNeil writes enjoyable books with characters that you can believe. River Jackson is an injured quarterback that is delivering equipment to an impoverished team. This is where we meet Soledad Marcoz and as they say, the rest is history! The story shows how River’s life changes as he became involved with Soledad and the football team. The Billionaire’s Christmas Gift is a clean inspirational book and the story is amazing. You will enjoy this book. I received an arc for my honest review.
An utterly charming romance! Loved the characters. Soledad is an exceptional woman with a heart of gold. Her daughter, Kalida, is adorable. I love the setting of the old schoolhouse being the learning center and Soledad's apartment. River is good too. He really comes into his own with Soledad. He comes from wealth but isn't spoiled but Soledad seems to ground him even more. I love his interactions with the kids at the center. Wonderful, heartwarming story! I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
What does he want for Christmas? To heal and play football again. With the team he has always played with. And so because he is injured he decides to do a good deed and take the school the helmets and footballs that were donated. And he meets the lady who started the school, and her precious daughter and all the students . . . and that is the beginning of amazing love story. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts and comments are my own.
Injured and on leave from playing football for the Denver Flyers, River Jackson does something he has never done before. He takes old football equipment to an after-school program so the kids there can play football. Soledad’s history makes it difficult for things to get past friendship. See what it takes to break down the barrier and move on.
Really good book with a great story about life’s lessons.
I really enjoyed this sweet, clean story of how great loss can lead to new purpose, as it did for Soledad; and how the adversity of unexpected change can open a new direction that leads to dreams fulfilled, as it did for River. This story is perfect, not only for Christmas but all year round. I received an advanced reader copy from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I loved this romance. Soledad's past, River coming back to help, how Soledad got the money, River buying the jewels back, her changing her mind about Seattle, and her daughter's intuition. It was all so good! I received an advance copy of this book to read, but I am sharing my honest opinion by choice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Often when I read a romance I find myself getting annoyed/frustrated by the characters and their apparent inability to see the good that is right in front of them. Not so with this book. To me the characters are very realistic. I really enjoyed this book!
One special fact I love about this book is that,it went straight to the heart of the story without beating about the bush and the same time it gives you the ability to connect with the main characters... a really good story
This was my first story by this author and I really enjoyed it. River and Soledad look like complete opposites at first glance but they have an immediate attraction and chemistry. Soledad and her daughter are able to teach River so much about himself while he can teach her about the possibilities for her future.
River was on top of the world with his football career, until his injury. Soledad and Kalida thought helping children was their most important position in life. For River, his life is football. The good hearts of all involved, along with their challenges make this a great Christmas story. Heartwarming!
Received a ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review
The Billionaire's Christmas Wish by Laura Haley McNeil. Excellent and spellbinding wonderful plot in-depth characters of River a football player with an injury helping out Soldedad and her daughter Kalida who run the school where children go after the main school day. This had me on the edge of my chair throughout the whole book. Great storyline that holds the reader from start to finish.Exceptional 5*
This book had well-developed characters who came with depth. River has only ever wanted to be a quarterback -- and he has been living that dream until an injury sidelines him. He takes used equipment to an after school program, where he meets Soledad and her daughter. As the story develops, we see the things that Soledad has had to overcome. The characters are believable. We see that things we think are important might not be all someone wants --that there is room for more than one dream. This book has a HEA.
Loved this book and couldn’t put it down! River is a football player who was injured. He delivers used equipment to the school that Soledad has started for the children in the grid after school. River becomes intrigued by Soledad and the school and volunteers to help coach football. You could feel the excitement of the kids to meet a football player that was coaching them and spending time helping them with homework. The change in River as he spends time with Soledad, her daughter Kalida, and the other students is great to read about as well as his increasing interest in Soledad. The disappointment was when I finished the book! I wish there were more men out there like River. I was a volunteer ARC reader for this book and it will not disappoint
I read this book for my first Christmas story of the season. It was a freebie on my Kindle. This is a very light read. It feels like the author has no background in anything she included. The way she talked about professional football was a bit like a paper i wrote about a tennis player when I was about 9! Also, elementary school daughter spoke like an adult. As a school teacher, that felt really off-putting. Other than that, the story was sweet and clean and nice and short!
One of my favorite romance book this year, a modern Cinderella 2.0 story but with a strong woman who think about everyone but herself and when River come into her life, everything she believe in , is really turn upside down. I love how Laura put the strong character of Soledad into a small woman filled with love and selfless, it is a heartwarming read. I highly recommended it.
“The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish” by Laura Haley-McNeil has well-developed characters with great depth and feeling. At the outset itself, Laura takes us straight to the heart of the story, to connect with the main character. River, a quarterback playing professional football in Denver, sustains an injury. While recovering, he and his team donate used equipment to a non-profit, after school, recreational-study facility, run by Soledad, a beautiful, kind, bravehearted lady, an exceptional woman with a heart of gold, like no other River has ever met before. She is a tiny woman with sparkling dark eyes and dreams bigger than herself, who buries the secrets of her dark past, and looks forward expectantly to the future.
When her students love River dearly, Soledad is forced to ignore the unease and heartache that held her victim for years. As Soledad unwittingly draws closer to River, she learns his rough-and-tough exterior masks a compassionate, tender soul she is determined to resist at all costs. However, turning her back on love means a bigger sacrifice costing more than a broken heart. An immigrant to America, Soledad owns little to nothing except her lovely daughter and the recreational/study facility. Unable to forget Soledad, River volunteers at the recreational facility while still recovering from his injury.
The two main characters, River and Soledad are genuine and realistic, with complex traits and humane qualities, that perfectly balance and blend in with each other, with amazing depth and diversity. The dramatic scenes are strikingly sharp, with well-drafted details and colorful descriptions, creating a vivid, spectacular backdrop with a visibly tangible ambience, so rich and lively, that we can almost reach out and touch it.
“The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish” is a clean, inspirational story, an awesome little gem of a book, proving that great loss can often lead to new purpose, with lost dreams being fulfilled. I highly recommend this heartwarming Christmas story to light your Christmas fires and warm the hearts and hearths of your homes!
Hard to believe that someone's life can change in just a few weeks. A football players life is never just his own. River had dated many beautiful women but they all wanted something from him, his money and fame. Getting hurt can be a football players worst nightmare, the one thing that could end a career. River had never been injured before and felt out of sorts since he was told he needed to sit out a few games while his body healed. His coach asked him if he could deliver some used athletic equipment to a school in the grid, his old high school had donated the equipment. Little did he know his life was about to change.
From the first moment he met Soledad he was drawn to her, she was so dedicated to her students and school. He had never met anyone like her. She was beautiful but not in the way most of women he dated were. She and her daughter had so little but seemed very happy, he could also see she had been hurt deeply before. She tried to keep her distance from him but she was drawn to him too.
River started spending every day at the learning center, volunteering not only with football but helping students with their homework too. After the students and everyone else left Soledad invited him to stay for dinner. It became a habit, he felt bad about eating all her food so he bought her some groceries. At first the students couldn't believe the famous football player was there but soon they began to treat him like a friend.
Soledad had a secret past, she hadn't told any of her friends what had happened to her and her daughter. Because of her past she held back, men had shown interest in her before but she had never felt the pull she did with River. As days and weeks went by she and her daughter enjoyed spending time with him. But she knew it was temporary, he would have to get back to his job. He was surprised how much he enjoyed helping out at the school. Could she let her walls down and let him get close to her? Would he be able to go back to his team? If not where would he end up?
River Jackson’s riding high as the Denver Flyer’s starting quarterback, until an injury sidelines him. When Coach needs a volunteer to deliver donated football uniforms to the learning center in The Grid, River’s glad to go. What he hadn’t expected was the tiny woman with sparkling dark eyes and dreams bigger than the old schoolhouse she’s renting. He has no intention of falling for her, especially with his career on the ropes.
After a disaster turns Soledad Marcos’ life upside down, she’s glad the learning center has given her and her daughter a stable life. She buries the secrets of her dark past and looks forward to the future⸻a future that doesn’t include a dashing football player and his desire to help. Her students love River so she’s forced to ignore the unease that has held her back for years.
As Soledad draws closer to River, she learns his tough exterior masks a compassionate and tender soul she’ll resist at all costs, but turning her back on love means a bigger sacrifice that could cost more than a broken heart.
The Billionaire's Christmas Wish by Laura Haley-McNeil Christmas Billionaire Series Book Two River Jackson was a winning quarterback for the Denver Flyers. A team his dad had played on, and both of his younger brothers planned on being on. After a shoulder injury, things changed in good and bad ways. He found something exciting to do in his spare time...helping out kids at a learning center in a low-income area.
Soledad Marcos loved her life. Her daughter was doing well, and the kids at the learning center were also making so much progress in their lives. She would always love and miss her husband. She didn't have money, but she had so much joy.
A heartwarming story. River has plenty of money, but Soledad is independent and doesn't take charity. But his time at the learning center is something she'll accept. And River learns plenty too. https://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com...
This is my second book in this wonderful billionaire Christmas series. I liked the sports angle. As a mother struggling to find the line in raising children in this consumeristic age, this quote really hit me “‘My children should appreciate what they receive, not expect more,’ Soledad said. ‘If they’re showered with new things, they’ll never understand the value of what they’ve received. Possessions should be earned not passed out like presents dropping from Santa’s sleigh.’”
Billionaire. Sports. Some Spanish. A Cinderella feel for an amazing mom and her daughter. I absolutely loved this book. Nothing better to curl up with on a chilly winter day!
I received an arc of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review
This is the second book in the Christmas Billionaire series. It is a beautifully written and unique story and I couldn't put it down. I was pulled into Soledad and River's story and became completely invested. River becomes injured and is on leave from the football team he plays on. As an act of good deed, he delivers some equipment to an after-school program for kids and meets Soledad. Given her past experience, she doesn't open up easily. River's friendship is good for her and she is also good for him. Their story is an inspirational one and is so very sweet. This is a clean and charming story, and I am happy to recommend this book!
I was gifted an advanced reader's copy from the author and am voluntarily leaving my review.