From Rivalry to Revelry…to Romance? Competitive swimmer turned real estate magnate Michael Kelly is tastier than a Christmas cookie. But now Charlotte Locke’s sexy former lover is her top business rival…and the father of her unborn child. Determined to keep her professional cool, the hotel heiress hides her delicate condition from her family–and from her commitmentphobic ex. Until Michael … Michael moves in next door, exposing a desire left unquenched and Charlotte’s pregnancy secret. Michael may not be daddy material, but losing Charlotte and their baby isn’t an option. He’ll close the deal at any cost–even if it takes a Christmas miracle to prove this playboy is reformed for good
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It’s been awhile since I’ve read Karen Booth and I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy her writing. Holiday Baby Bombshell combines a few of my favorite romance themes. This is a second chance, secret baby, and Christmas romance all rolled together.
From the outside looking in, both Michael Kelly and Charlotte Locke had amazing lives growing up. Even as adults, they seem to be living out their dreams. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Charlotte lost her mother at an early age and never received the emotional love and support from her father that she deserved. Charlotte views herself as being flighty and consistently messing up when nothing could be further from the truth. Luckily for her, she has her two older brothers (Sawyer and Noah) and Aunt Fran. Michael’s father was a dictator who expected perfection from his sons. He wanted Michael and his brother Chris each to be Olympic gold medal swimming champions, and pushed them hard to meet that goal. When Michael left the sport, he set his sights on conquering the real estate world, much to his father and mother’s disdain. This put him on a course to meet Charlotte who is a hotel heiress.
Charlotte and Michael dated for three months. But things came to an end when Charlotte realized that she was in love with Michael and wanted more from their relationship than Michael was willing to give. Michael doesn’t do romantic relationships after a disastrous engagement. In fact, the three months of being exclusive with Charlotte felt like a lifetime to him. Michael thinks he’s happy being at the top of the real estate world until he sees Charlotte for the first time after their breakup.
This Christmas season, fate conspires to bring these two back together again. And a Christmas surprise will bring understanding and love. I should mention that sometimes book titles don’t really go with the book itself. In the case of Holiday Baby Bombshell the title fits perfectly.
I liked the characters of Charlotte and Michael. I loved the way they pushed each other’s buttons. Their passion for each other is hard to contain. I loved watching Michael grow as a person and overcome his fears. While I admired Charlotte for overcoming all the curveballs life threw at her, I wasn’t too happy with her keeping her pregnancy a secret so far into the story or her response when Michael found out. I’m a sucker for the declaration of love scenes and I have to say, I loved what Michael did. Reading Holiday Baby Bombshell introduced me to the Locke Family. I now have to go back and read Sawyer’s story, Pregnant by the Billionaire, and I’m also looking forward to Noah’s story, Between Marriage and Merger. As as matter of fact, I wouldn’t be opposed to a Chris Kelly story, if Karen chooses to write one.
**Received a copy of the book from the author and voluntarily reviewed.**
This book was kind of hard for me to get into. I felt like I was missing back story, I didn’t realize that this was the second book in the Locke Legacy. Karen Booth is a new author for me. This book wasn’t bad but I wasn’t really feeling it. As for the story line, there wasn’t really anything “Holiday” about it, Christmas was mentioned but that was about it. I think this would be great in the Locke Series if you have read the previous book.
This was actually a pretty cute read. I’ve always avoided these type of romance books, the ones with half the plot explained on the jacket.
But Michael and Charlotte’s road to the finish line was fun, and filled with stops and starts. Ups and downs and twist and turns.
It got to where it was going in a surprisingly real world consequences way. I enjoyed it.
Former Olympic swimmer turned real-estate mogul Michael Kelly meets his match in fellow real-estate seller,Charlotte Locke. They have an on again/off again romance that leads to some funny, witty moments. When they aren’t sparring off over real-estate, they are steaming it up in the bedroom! Selling real-estate comes easy to Michael but will raising a baby come easy?
Charlotte Locke wants a fresh start with her life to get beyond her past and stop being seen as the family member who can’t get her act together. She finally feels she’s got the wheels in motion for what she wants; move on from her brief relationship with Michael Kelly, climb the real estate ladder and have the love she’s longed for in the way of an unexpected pregnancy. There’s just one thing stopping that plan…Michael.
Michael Kelly is a top notch real estate agent with a competitive streak left over from his Olympic swimming days. His cantankerous relationship with his parents and a broken engagement in his past leave him feeling as though he isn’t the marrying kind. Now a real estate deal with The Grand Legacy condos brings him and Charlotte face to face after their recent breakup. He still feels something for her and it’s obvious their chemistry is still there. He’s curious why she took off for London after their split and knows she’s not telling him everything, until he finds out Christmas Eve she’s pregnant…with his child.
I really enjoyed this story. Charlotte is a headstrong woman and does the best she knows how and picks herself up even when she felt the deck was stacked against her. Michael’s change of heart comes about once his brother points out things to him when he couldn’t open himself which opens the door back to Charlotte. I loved getting a glimpse into their lives and hope to get to hear about them again in Noah’s Book which is the next in the Locke Legacy series!