I had stopped reading for almost 10 years because i had gotten into a reading slump and i was tired of being unsatisfied of every book i was reading. This book got me out of that slump. It has just the right amount of Spice. The story line doesn't get lost in it and you actually feel what the characters are supposed to be feeling. I absolutely love this book and think about it constantly! And it has been a good 2 years since the last time i have read it. :) ( )

This book had a great story backing it. An overworked doctor goes back to her hometown to visit her best friend. The best friend has an all-grown-up brother. He's Search and Rescue and she's a doctor. Sounds like a nice little fluffy Christmas read. Right away, practically on the first page, there is talk of chemistry. Then we get lots of fantasizing and a day or so into her trip her friend has to leave. Then it's full-on descriptive sex and dirty talk. I hate when an author doesn't leave that for us to imagine in our own way. I skipped 6 pages hoping to get back to dealing with the characters and where their lives had taken them. No. More skipping of pages. A couple with conversation and then MORE SEX! I always try to honor an author and make it through a book to find something positive but I am wasting my time. The premise sounded great but I'm not into erotica.

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Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

So the first book in the Wild River series is fantastic. I didn't know at first if I would like it, but Snow does a great job of setting up the hero and heroine. They have some obstacles to get past, but I loved them falling for each other and trying to make it work long distance. I also loved that we get a sneak peek at the couple in the next series I assume (the hero's sister and a coworker of his). I definitely plan on reading this series in the future!

"An Alaskan Christmas" follows surgeon, Erika Sheraton. Erika is driven and looking forward to starting a new drug trial that will help prevent people from rejecting organs after transplants. However, after losing another intern (she's too driven and not a people person) her father who is a head at the hospital in Anchorage tells her she is being forced to take two weeks off. Erika has no romantic relationships and really no friendships. However, she messages her childhood best friend Cassie Reynolds and asks about visiting her in their hometown of Wild River. Cassie's brother Reed though remembers Erika, and recalls her being a snobby girl who once ended up getting them lost in the woods at night Now he's older and hotter and does Search and Rescue for Wild River. The twosome ended up disliking each other again after years apart, but both feel attracted to each other.

So Erika at first is prickly, but once you find out her backstory (her mom's death and her father pulling away from her) you can see why she is the way she is. I also loved having the woman being the successful one in this relationship. Erika knows what she is doing and she's a great doctor. I liked we never questioned her competence. She starts realizing she wasn't a good friend to Cassie after moving away and tries to step in to heal that breech. And when she realizes how attracted she is to Reed, the sparks just fly. There is a secret she's keeping (no secret baby!) but I am glad it got resolved via another character.

Reed is very good at his job though he gave up going to school to become a EMT or nurse due to wanting to help his sister out with her business. He's a good guy and I liked how we get to see how attracted he is to Erika and how it quickly develops into something more. There is a scene where Reed goes and asks an older woman in Wild River about what to do if you want to show someone you care that had me laughing out loud.

The secondary characters were developed well enough to make you more interested in reading about them in future books. I can't wait to see how Cassie gets her man!

The writing was very good (Snow obviously knows Alaska, search and rescue, and about frostbite and other things). The flow worked too.

The setting of Wild River sounded great though it only has about 2,000 people.

The ending was great and we get a HEA. ( )

Erika is a surgeon working in Anchorage, Alaska who has been forced into taking a vacation by her hospital's board. She decides to head back to her hometown of Wild River, Alaska in order to catch up with her best friend Cassie, since it has been about ten years since they've seen one another. While there, she reconnects with Cassie's brother Reed, who works for the local Search and Rescue team. Erika ends up spending most of her vacation with Reed, and the two have a deep connection that turns into a romance fairly quickly.

Things I liked: the Alaskan setting, the outdoor sports, the scenes involving the Search and Rescue, the secondary characters, and Diva the dog

Things I didn't really like: It seemed like Erika and Reed were constantly having sex or thinking about having sex. They did other things, like outdoor sports a couple of times, and Erika assisted with some Search and Rescue missions. But my gosh, they had descriptive saucy moments ALL throughout the story and I ended up skimming those scenes. Romance stories are best (to me) when I get a good sense of the relationship building part. Meaning, I'd love to read some scenes where the two are getting to know one another or doing fun activities.

I loved the way everything ended for Erika and Reed, and I love that the next book features Cassie. I think what I was looking for at this time was something a little less sexy and more Hallmark-like, probably because of all of the talk of coronavirus and social distancing. At another time, I may have "loved" this one, where I really just "liked" it at this time.

Thank you to Harlequin publishing for sending me a free digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my thoughts in the form of a review! ( )