An Ex for Christmas

Holly jolly fun! Layne’s friends-to-lovers holiday tale checked every box on my list.

Favorite Quotes:

He looks like a lumberjack version of Clark Kent, Byrne. Other men don’t exactly love their girl being besties with sexy, scruffy Superman.

I’m nothing but the half-batty sister who believes in tea leaves and kinda sort believes Hogwarts is real.

He gestures with his fork toward my boobs, and I glance down to see a glob of cheese. I sigh and get out yet another napkin and clean up the mess, although mostly I just smear oil around. “I’m usually very elegant on dates.”

My Review:

Kelly made all her important life decisions with a Magic 8 ball, actually with three Magic 8 balls, stashed strategically so she is never without coverage. She had one at home, one at work, and a small one on her keychain to consult when she was “out and about.” She was also superstitious and believed in the “woo-woo” of fortune-tellers, tarot cards, and palm readers. So when a homeless woman on a train platform beckoned to Kelly and told her that she had already met the love of her life and would reconnect with him before Christmas, Kelly takes that message to heart and generated an Ex List of her past boyfriends and began locating them to determine which one was her “One” in the few days before Christmas. This sounded like a cute and entertaining premise, and it was. Kelly was rather obtuse and thoughtless in her treatment of her best friend and neighbor, Mark, whom I adored.

I enjoyed this delightfully amusing and light holiday read and I always enjoy Ms. Layne’s clever wit. Written primarily from a first person POV, the narrative was confessional and packed with self-effacing humor with breezy asides from the sassy and self-obsessed Kelly. My favorite scene was the procuring of the Christmas tree, one of many scenes that kept me smirking.

Hmmmm. Good Characters. Good Story Line.

Great read, lots of humor, interesting story line, sorry to see it end. Will be looking for more books to read from this auhor!

Girl tries to get into a relationship, can’t do it, runs across a psychic on a train platform, who tells her she’s already met her one true love, so she decides to go down the list of all her loser exes, with funny results. The whole time, her *best friend* (whose been in love with her for TEN LONG YEARS ALREADY) is standing there, listening to her shenanigans with the loser exes, while HE’S standing RIGHT THERE.
When he tells her how he feels, she was shocked, because he never revealed his feelings, except for MAYBE once. And then onto the HEA, which I had no doubt of from the beginning.

This book made me laugh. While the plot was obvious, it was still a fun journey and a quick, light-hearted read. I will be looking for more from this author for sure!

Full review appeared on Reader’s Edyn on 11/09/17

Kelly Byrne is crazy superstitious. Unwilling to make decisions for herself, the single school teacher makes her decisions by shaking the Magic 8 Ball. It hasn’t failed her, so why stop using it now? She checks horoscopes and is absolutely in love with the Christmas season. But this year she sends her parents on an Alaskan cruise so she’s going to be spending the season alone. Sure, she’ll have her best friend, Mark – but he is usually the unwilling participant; not to mention super busy with his restaurant. When a stranger tells Kelly that she has already met her forever guy, a plan quickly hatches to track down her ex-boyfriends. Mark is in no way approving of her plan, but keeps getting sucked in to her hair-brained schemes. And unexpectedly, she begins to think of Mark as more than a best-friend. Terrified of screwing up her friendship, she is hesitant to entertain the thoughts. When one thing leads to another, she knows it is only fleeting. Mark is never in a relationship long, so this has to be temporary. But what does a girl do when her forever guy starts to look like her best friend instead of a former boyfriend?

Mark Blakely is the freaking perfect guy. He’s been Kelly’s best friend since school and he’s watched the wrong guys come and go over and over, like a broken record – but he’s biding his time. He doesn’t want to ruin their friendship either, but he knows they’ll have their chance eventually. He just has to time things right. Kelly is single and so is he … again … so it’s time to fight for her and force her to see who has been there all along. She thinks he isn’t interested and that he is only wanting a fling, but she’s wrong. Her confounded scheme is wrong; that crazy lady who gave her the idea to track down her ex’s is wrong; her inability to see him as the one is wrong. He’s got to prove to her that he’s right … that he’s the only one there has even been. But first, he’s got to figure out how to make her superstitions work in his favor and he’s got a plan- but so does she. And Christmas is the perfect time to pull this miracle off.

I have to admit, when I read this blurb, I was expecting something different than the spectacular characters I encountered. My mind had come up with an expectation of the plot, but Ms. Layne crafted something completely different and gloriously beautiful. Best friends to lovers can go both ways, but this worked terrifically. Mark’s seriousness and Kelly’s quirky superstition blended wonderfully. Both of them complete opposites in many ways only made them that much better for one another – complimenting each other instead of highlighting their deficiencies. Kelly is a bit of a Christmas nut, and paired with her belief in the trusty Magic 8 Ball and horoscopes, she’s a bit much to take. But something about her whimsical behaviors makes her more adorable than crazy and Mark knows exactly how to handle her. Not to mention he’s a great cook with a successful restaurant – I mean if I had a list, that would be a major qualifying point for a perfect guy.

I can’t even think of a complaint with this book other than the lack of depth with the supporting characters. The secondary characters were mostly surface, but they helped bring in a bit of depth that kept the story from containing solely the main characters. As support, the secondary characters served their purpose. While a couple of the Ex’s weren’t too terrible, others were gross and chauvinistic – to the point where I wondered why Kelly even bothered. If one of them had been Mr. Right — I shudder to think it. I mean Kelly and Mark are stubborn and it takes a bit for them to have a “real” conversation. But also, I think they were afraid to explore this new side to their relationship because the fear of loss if something went wrong was stronger than wanting to take the risk initially. For Mark and Kelly, being best friends before lovers was a terrific thing for them. While they still experienced second thoughts and doubts about taking their relationship up a notch, deep down they had a connection that many relationships lack. Their characters were endearing and their story alluring. You couldn’t help but root for them. Ultimately, I am glad I went with my initial instinct and reviewed this book. Despite the holiday theme, I feel like you could read this book at ay time of year and still find it enjoyable. And for those of you who adore Love Actually and watch it several times over the season without fail (myself included), you will appreciate the references within this story. I might even go so far as to calling this a favorite read for the season that I will bring out each year in the spirit of getting the holiday feel-good rolling. You can bet I will be reading more from Ms. Layne in the future.

Kindle version provided by Random House/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love, love, love a good holiday romance. Add in the elements of a friends to lovers trope and I’m toast. Lauren Layne made this book fresh, fun and sweet and I absolutely loved it!

I can read holiday romance any time of year-and I think I’m in the minority in saying that. Which is funny because I don’t like to listen to holiday music until after Thanksgiving…but a book? I just love falling into that holiday setting.

Quite frankly, I adored Kelly. I loved her smart, superstitious, sassy self. She was quirky and not afraid of that. It was fun watching her plot and work her way through her list, almost missing what readers were dying for her to realize.

Mark was so patient…and determined. His determination to show Kelly that they were right for each other? Total swoon factor! Plus, who doesn’t love a man that can cook? Mark was hot, sexy and had me sighing.

There’s a connection between these two that is so much more than just sexy times. They have a shared history, shared loves and dislikes. They know each other inside and out-so they think. I loved watching them unravel for each other, truly showing the other WHY they were just right for one another.

The writing here was sharp and fun. Lauren Layne is a one click author for me because she always engages me as a reader; she has a knack for pulling me into the story and making me feel like I’m there with her characters. This holiday romance definitely put me in the Christmas spirit-and I loved every moment of it. I absolutely recommend this book!

3.5 stars–AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS is the fifth instalment in Lauren Layne’s contemporary, adult LOVE UNEXPECTEDLY romance series. This is primary school teacher Kelly Byrne, and bar owner / chef Mark Blakely’s story line. AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from first person point of view (Kelly Byrne) with a final chapter by Mark, AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS is a friends to lovers, unrequited love story that follows a determined Kelly Byrne as she hopes to find ‘the one’ before Christmas. When a psychic tells Kelly that she has already met her ‘true love’ our heroine sets about to rekindle with a number of her exes, one disastrous date at a time. Enter best friend, neighbor and restaurant owner Mark Blakely, the man who has secretly waited ten years for Kelly to recognize that he is ‘the one.’ What ensues are Kelly’s attempts to find love in the days leading to the Christmas holidays, and the potential fall out as Mark battles his attraction to a woman who is oblivious to her best friend’s unrequited love.

Kelly Byrne is superstitious and gullible; a woman who believes in the ideology of the zodiac, a Magic 8 Ball, and all of the psychobabble that goes along with the mythical powers of seers, crystal balls and psychics-r-us. Our heroine refuses to take a chance until she asks a question of her ‘magical’ plastic orb. Mark Blakely is a man determined to prove to our heroine that he is her happily ever after but Kelly continues to be oblivious to Mark’s barely veiled attempts at seduction, as she maintains that one of her exes must still be the one.

The relationship between Kelly and Mark is one of a life-long friendship: more than just neighbors, Kelly and Mark also share custody of Rigby the dog. Throughout his life Mark has never wandered far from the woman that calls to his heart-a woman that continues to be oblivious to her best friends love. The $ex scenes are intimate, seductive and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Throughout the story Kelly Bryne leads a co-dependent life with not one, not two but three Magic 8 Balls. Her need and obsession to allow the plastic, mechanical device to rule all of her decisions and choices begins to get old very fast-not only for the people in her life but for the man who must endure watching the woman he loves attempt to rekindle with every man from her past. In this, I struggled to like the heroine or accept her fascination and overwhelming dependence upon the mystical powers of the 8 Ball and the stars-I would have to question the emotional stability of someone so reliant upon, and absorbed with, the questionable ‘predictive’ nature of a cheap, plastic toy. The potential humor was lost on this reader, as I couldn’t get past the absurdity of the entire situation-my exasperation and agitation grew with each shake of the 8 ball, mention of the zodiac signs, and the heroine’s obliviousness about the man who refuses let go.

AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS is an interesting story line of friendship and love; superstition and psychics; and of the potential for one woman to lose not only her best friend but a love that has endured one disastrous relationship at a time. The premise is imaginative; the characters are colorful and energetic; the romance struggles with the idealistic beliefs of one woman desperately trying to find her happily ever after, in the past. In the end Kelly’s true love had been with her all along.

After the last kiddo exits her classroom Kelly Byrne starts to feel a little giddy because her Christmas vacation is now underway, and this year she is celebrating it a little differently… she has two weeks to herself and she couldn’t be more excited. She is ready to go home and get her vacation started, but before she gets there she bumps into a woman who knows a little more about her than she is comfortable with, the woman claims to be a physic and is certain that Kelly’s holiday is about to take a romantic turn. She tells her that one of her ex’s is about to come back into her life and sweep her off her feet, so Kelly decides to embrace the woman’s prediction and creates an ex-list to narrow down “the one” she is meant to be with. But there is one man that is not on the list and should be… her best friend Mark!

Mark Blakely has had a special place in his heart for his best friend Kelly for years, in hopes that one day it may become more, but Kelly seems to be oblivious to his feelings for her. He has watched her go on date after date, and been there to pick up the pieces after each heartbreak she has had. And now that she has this idea that one of her ex’s is supposed to be her “one”, Mark is having a hard time watching her set herself up for heartbreak all over again… why can’t she see he is the one meant to be the keeper of her heart?

Oh how I loved this story, as soon as I cracked the cover Ms. Layne’s wonderful characters took over, and took me on a blissful little literary journey. These two have danced around each other for years, one never knowing that love was possible between them, and the other dying to explore the feelings he felt, and once they both found themselves on the same page it was literary magic! The story line came with lots of moments to love, moments that brought smiles and laughs, and moments that had the room temperature rising a few notches. If you decide to pick up a holiday read this year, make it this one, Ms. Layne’s wonderfully crafted story will warm you heart and put you in the holiday spirit!