I liked the characters, there were just a couple things that didn’t quite work for me.

First off, while this book is part of a series, I had no problem reading it as a standalone.

I thought Hunter and Merry had solid chemistry, however, I wasn’t really a fan of the pacing of their romance. It was kind of an all or nothing approach whereas I prefer a gradual build up, advancing little by little, but here they go from completely resisting even brushing hands to, well, brushing up against everything and to me the transition was incredibly abrupt.

While I did like that the ending features a grand Christmas gesture, the pacing issue prevented me from enjoying that gesture as much as I wanted to when again their relationship escalated from seemingly zero to sixty in a flash. I think I would have been more accepting of that moment had it occurred in say the epilogue with some time having passed.

The one bit of pacing I was really able to get on board with was the bond formed between Hunter’s daughter and Merry. I know there are romance readers out there who would prefer child characters very much in the background, but for me to buy into the happy ever after for this newly formed little family I want interactions between the kid and step-parent and this book captured those moments convincingly, plus I just enjoyed this little girl and her obsession with all things princess. ( )