Wall Street financial wizard Christopher Winters might be the undisputed ruler of every stock market he plays in on the planet, but behind the ice-cold tough facade and the brainy bravado, he keeps hidden a heart that hasn’t belonged to him in fourteen years and his charming smiles never reach his eyes. He was lucky to meet his one true love early in life, but there’s a problem: she has never … never seen him as anything more than her nerdy childhood friend.
Now every year in December he gets to spend an entire week in close quarters with her, since their families are tighter than ever, relaxing in the snowy Aspen by occupying every waking moment obsessing about what he can’t have, avoiding awkward moments all over the place and being constantly scolded by his matchmaking mother about how bad it is of him to insist on being single while they all celebrate Christmas together.
Isn’t that nice?
Hope Snow loves the Season to be Jolly with all her heart. Every year she can’t wait to leave San Francisco and the fancy art dealing world behind to go spend time with her family and the Winters during their traditional 7-days-of-Total-Christmas-holiday in their usual frosty paradise.
The best part is that she gets to see Chris, her dearest friend in the whole world, but, of course, there’s also a worst part and that is being constantly nagged by her mom about finding the one, settling down and having half a ton of babies, as if she needs a yearly-reminder about how broken she must be for being unable to fall in love!
Not this year, though.
She has a plan this time around or better yet: she has a deal in mind and the only thing she needs is for Chris to play along.
And Christopher?
Well, he loves her too much to refuse, but how far can you push a man in love before his control finally snaps?
Dear Reader:
This is a standalone, No-cheating and HEA-guaranteed sensually-sweet holiday novella that features an obsessed OTT Alpha at the end of his twinkling-lights-rope, a sassy but totally clueless curvy heroine who’s been waiting under the mistletoe all her life for her first kiss and plenty of naughty times that would make the baddest of Santas blush.
These two may have no idea of what’s going on in their hearts, but oh boy: when they do catch up, even the snow-capped Aspen gets tropical ho-ho-hot , so you might want to ditch the hot cocoa in favor of some icy beverage while you read this, fair warning!
*Please note that A Holly Jolly Deal is book 12 in the ’A Forever Safe Christmas’ multi-author collection, each one of the stories is set in its own universe so the books can be read in any order and also as standalones.
more
This story grabs you front the get-go. In this friends-to-lovers romance, Christopher is a man pushed beyond his endurance, an alpha turned caveman. Hot, hot, hot! Holly is sweetly naive, a little crazy, and absolutely perfect for her man. Set during a week long Christmas vacation in Aspen, this story leaves you wanting for nothing!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Meant To Be!
This book really warmed my heart and just made me feel great when Hope and Chris finally figured everything out after going to their family Christmas vacation. The friends to lovers trope always tugs on my heart strings and Chris has me out here crying because of the intense love he had for Hope. Such a great book with great characters! Safe, dual virgins, HEA.
A slightly different take on friends to lovers but still amazing as always. Chris has loved Hope for forever yet has always held back believing she could never feel the same. When Hope asks him to pretend to be her fiancé everything changes and the story takes off. The epilogue was my favorite part of the story. The devotion Chris has for Holly is just so heartwarming. Love this quick, easy and adorable read. I received an ARC of this book via booksprout in exchange for a fair and honest review.
A really good friends to lovers though it took them long enough romance and I have to say I really liked this little read I thought it was quite a sweet story and just loved that he knew he loved her and did not turn into a player. A great little holiday read.
The author has given us characters that we can connect with. Christopher and Hope have grown up together, but their moms keep trying to get them married off to other people. This year, they fight fire with fire by pretending to be together.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and relatable. Enjoyed the interactions between the characters.
Christopher is a financial wizard that has been in love with his friend for fourteen years, but she doesn’t know. Every year for Christmas, their families get together in Aspen and spend 7 days together. Spending Christmas together is torture for Chris because he can’t have Hope and his mother is constantly trying to set him up on dates with random women.
Hope loves Christmas and all the related festivities. Every year she gets really excited to go spend time with her family and Chris’s family in Aspen. For Hope, the greatest thing is getting to see her friend Christopher. The worst thing is being hounded by her mom about finding someone and getting married, then having a bunch of kids.
This year, Hope has a plan/deal and she just needs Chris to help her and himself get out of dealing with their mom’s. Chris loves her so much, he can’t refuse her, even though he knows it’s a bad idea.
This story had lots of feels. I did a lot of laughing and a lot of groaning over some of the stuff they went through. Loved the ending. This is a super sweet, romantic and steamy Christmas holiday romance and I definitely recommend reading this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Holly and Chris sure make up a crazy plan to get their mother’s off their backs. It’s a good thing though because they never would of discovered their feelings toward each other.
A fun filled Christmas where love is revealed.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Hope and Christopher grew up together. She was a Tom boy at heart but as Christopher grew into a teenager, he realized more feelings developed other than being friends. He moved to Ny to get away from Hope and the feelings stirring inside of him. Every year at Xmas, both their families rent cabins and spend the holidays together. Since Hope is getting up there in age, her mom is always posing match maker. What better way to avoid the matchmaking this year is if they show up and announce the two are engaged. Not liking Hope’s idea yo play their families, he goes along with it but when things heat up, he tries to run. Laying it on the line, they both realize they are in love with each other. What makes it more rememberable is they saved each other for one another. Now Xmas is their favorite holiday. They keep the engagement and later married the next month. Guess moms matchmaker forced these two to see what was in front of them all these years.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I love a best friends to lovers premise and this one was especially bittersweet. Christopher figured out when he was just sixteen that he loved his best friend Hope. He then proceeded to keep it from her since she would never see him that way, growing ever more distant. Hope never knew why Christopher pulled away. It hurt to lose her best friend and not know why. Every year their families gather for a week in Aspen to celebrate Christmas. Every year their moms also try to fix them up, shoving every eligible person they come across at their offspring to get them married off. So this year, Hope decides to make a deal with Christopher not knowing that it would change her life. Chris and Hope’s story was intense and very emotional and I flew through it. I am really loving Ember Flint’s work, she just keeps getting better and better.
Yet another great InstaLove read by Ember Flint. If you enjoy quick reads filled with strong, growly alpha males and the sweet, curvy women who tame them, then this is the book for you. I absolutely adored Christopher and Hope’s love story. TBR this great holiday treat and enjoy.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A deal to get their mother’s off their backs …………… where are the grandkids afterall??
*** 3 1/2 Stars ***
While I thought this book had a lot of promise the book description sounded like it would be a really fun, flirty and possibly somewhat steamy (in a clean sense) story it just did not live up to that for me. I usually really like Ember Flint books but I thought A Holly Jolly Deal was just okay. The H, Chris, was a lot like a wet noodle and definitely not much of a hero. Instead the h, Hope, has more gumption and assertiveness than he does in regards to pursuing a relationship. Even though Chris was supposed to be in love with his best friend Hope since he was sixteen years old he did not do anything about it or even try to be closer to her, even as an adult. Instead he just keeps running away from her even after she proposes a deal with him to get their respective mother’s off their backs for the annual shared family Christmas vacation/celebration. There were a number of other things that the characters did or had done that just did not make any sense to me, even when I suspended my ability to think. I thought the writing was good but the story-line and characters just did not do it for me.