Joyce Lavene (1954–2015)

There are times I wish that Goodreads allowed 1/2 stars. This is one of those times because really I'm between liking this one and really liking it. There are elements of the story that I really enjoy and yet the mystery itself wasn't that exciting for me. It got to the point that by the time we found out who killed the chocolatier, I just didn't care. But there were other parts of the story that I thoroughly enjoyed, such as Jessie & Chase's relationship and the way it grows through this storyline. In the end, I decided on 4 stars because it's better than just 3 stars, but really I feel it's about a 3.5.… (mehr)

Up until now, I would give the authors a 5 star review but this one was slower for me. My interest kept going but I was a little turned off by all the affairs by the various characters. At least the main character, Jessie Morton did not have one.
She was single, and six feet tall with blue eyes and size twelve shoes, had lost her job and returned to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I did love her description of how artificial the setting was with lots of machine-made snow and everyone acting for the roles in Santa's workshop. I felt sad that the children did not get to have a regular childhood but had to act making toys for the workshop and I wondered about child labor laws not being enforced.

Her devoted boyfriend Chase wanted her to stay there but she was determined to get back to work on her degree and have "insurance if it didn't work out. So she took up a temporary job as a toy-making assistant and wore a Christmas-themed costume. But presto, Father Christmas or Santa was murdered and his wife wanted the murder solved. Father Christmas liked playing around and that is where it got sticky, Jessie has to untangle the threads of affairs and keep her promise to find the killer.… (mehr)