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Review

This is such a cute read! A fun, feisty and sexy enemies-to-lovers romance that left me with a huge smile on my face. This the prequel to the upcoming Edens series, another small-town romance from the queen of small-town romance, and I loved it.

Cleo Hillcrest is escaping her life to spend Christmas in the small town of Quincy, Montana. She just can’t take another holiday with her smothering and overprotective father and her socialite step-mother, and she’s excited to be hiding out in a beautiful inn in the quaint and quiet town. But her father has other ideas, and sends his security guy to Quincy to drag her back home. And not just any security guy, but beefy bodyguard, Austin.

Cleo and Austin met years ago when her father hired him to protect her. Cleo didn’t want a bodyguard, and it seemed like Austin didn’t want to work with her either, and he was removed from her detail. But he’s still been around, tormenting her with his very presence, and she wants nothing to do with him. She also has no intention of leaving her holiday retreat. So, what is a bodyguard to do, other than bunk down with her?

It’s a great set-up and leads to lots of bickering, bantering, and fabulously snarky back-and-forth. But as they settle in together for Christmas, they relax around each other, they open up to each other, and suddenly everything starts to change.

OMG, I love these two together! It’s so much fun watching them constantly fight, knowing that there is so much more simmering beneath the surface. The story is written in dual POV so we know exactly what’s going on with both of them, and I was so excited to watch how everything would begin to change with them. And when it does, it’s sexy, swoony, and everything I was hoping for.

“Now that I’ve had you in my arms, I’m not letting you go.”

This novella is a great introduction to the small town of Quincy, Montana, and some of its inhabitants that I’m sure we’ll be reading about in the future. Rest assured it is a standalone that won’t leave you hanging, Cleo and Austin’s story is complete, and they are only holiday makers in town, but we get to meet a few other characters with the surname ‘Eden’, and I’m really excited to learn their stories.

It’s a quick read, but it’s got the feeling of a full story with great characters, and a well-developed, believable romance. There’s an epilogue which provides great closure for Cleo and Austin, and I finished this book with a huge smile on my face.

4 stars!