Samantha Dixon is about to confess her most secret, romantic Christmas wish to Santa. Heck, what’s she got to lose with her disastrous romantic history? Like that player from her horrible blind date last week arranged by her mother. Only guess who’s Santa?
Rico del Toro loves women. So one bad date with the beautiful Samantha in a string of many, ahem, successful evenings is no big deal. But when a friendly favor playing Santa unexpectedly lands Samantha on his lap for a romantic confessional, he’s intrigued. He’s never heard a woman open her heart like that before.
But if this Santa wants a second chance, he’ll have to rethink his womanizing ways and convince her that he is the perfect package.
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1seEGYx
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my review
•Complimentary Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.•
Excerpt
The blurb
had intrigued me! And I was right when I have thought that I would love this
novel. It’s short, funny, sexy, and romantic. Did I mention funny? Because you’d
laugh so hard you’d tear up!
What more
can be horrendous and pathetic than having your mother arrange a date for you?
Samantha
Dixon had a disastrous romantic history. So her mother thought it was her duty
to arrange a date for her. But it turned out to be another disaster when a
player showed up for a blind date. He might have been hot, and sexy – but she
vowed she’d no longer fall for those. She wanted love, and romance and
everything that comes in between. When her niece pushed her into Santa’s lap,
she wondered what could be the harm in spilling her heart out?
But guess
who’s lap is she sitting on?
A favor
was called in for Rico del Toro, he certainly hated the Santa costume, but when
beautiful Samantha came in and sat on his lap, he forgot that he was sweating
like a pig underneath it. Having Samantha open up to him, was an eye-opener.
Certainly, he didn’t have women confessing about their hidden wants and desires
to him. He saw his second chance. One by one, he tries to fulfill her romantic
fantasies. And this is where the fun begins…
The
epilogue might have been a big surprise that had my brows bridging – well, that
was a bit fast… Overall, if you ask me, I’d tell you I had so much fun reading
this novel. You’d laugh out loud to with Rico’s antics on wooing Samantha. I
can’t believe he did those things to have her! Not just once, or twice, but a
couple of times at that! Thank goodness he finally learned his ‘lesson’ and
settled for the best option there is, being himself.
•Complimentary Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.•
Samantha walked over and plopped down on Santa’s lap. She took comfort from the fact that she couldn’t quite see Harold’s face under the hat, wig, and huge beard. She focused on a pretty snowflake decoration across the room. It was almost like going to confession with Father Jensen, very private, just the two of them. The cafeteria was nearly empty now, except for a few volunteers cleaning up. Even the elf had taken off.
“Oh, Santa, I know it’s silly, but I always dreamed of a sweet romance like you read about in books and see in the movies. It just doesn’t seem to be happening for me. And believe me, I’ve tried to move things along.” She sighed. “It just seems like everyone’s already married or gay or divorced with a lot of baggage. I just want to meet my Prince Charming, you know?”
At Santa’s continued silence and good listening, Samantha confided all the heartache she’d endured over the last two years due to her failed romance attempts. First she told him the worst—the Tim Johnson affair—just to get it off her chest and explain what started her on her quest for romance. Then she moved on to the day her hair and makeup were ruined in the August heat while she waited for a mysterious Mr. Hunk to arrive on the scene to change her flat tire (and yes, she confessed, she’d let the air out on purpose) and how a toothless old lady had arrived instead to inform her she had a flat. She’d had to change the tire herself, ruining her white skirt and new heels. She told him of the British hottie who moved in next door to her parents’ house that looked a little like Hugh Grant—she’d loved him in Bridget Jones’ s Diary—and just when she was thinking they might really be moving from borrowing sugar (she had a huge stash now) to actually hanging out, his boyfriend showed up.
She sighed and continued on with the advice she took from her friend to look for someone at a wedding and how that had turned out to be a second cousin she’d never met. “Luckily my mother told me before things moved off the dance floor,” she whispered.
Santa merely grunted, so she went on. “Online dating was horrible. All those men cared about was my…well, let’s just say it wasn’t working out.” She blew out a breath. “I have a huge hammer collection from all my trips cruising the aisles of Home & Tool for an eligible bachelor. I could never use them all.” She shook her head. “Besides, those guys are all married.” She straightened, suddenly indignant. “And the worst, my mother tried to set up an arranged marriage with this total player who was too handsome for his own good. He was all—” she waved her hands in the air “—look at me! Don’t you want some of this sugar? And I was all, get away from me, you phony! Thelines that came out of this guy’s mouth! If my mother had known what he was really like…” She exhaled sharply. “Don’t get me started on my mother.”
Finally, she wound down.
“This was all my niece’s idea,” she said with a rueful laugh. “Since I’m here…my Christmas wish is to meet a handsome, smart, charming man that will just make my head spin with the happiness of true love.” She warmed to her topic. “Make him be someone who brings me flowers and candy just because, writes poems for me, serenades me, and likes to hold hands while we go shopping, ice skating, or maybe even walking along the beach.” She let out a dreamy sigh. “I guess that’s too much for one Christmas wish.”
Santa’s voice went low and husky. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Her eyes flew to his, and she took a good look at the guy she’d just spilled her guts to. He smiled, and her hand went to her throat. This man didn’t have wrinkles, pasty white skin, and blue eyes. This wasn’t Harold! This was someone much younger with caramel skin and brown eyes behind those spectacles.
Santa was coming on to her!
She leaped off his lap and jabbed a finger at him. “You’re Santa. You can’t pick up women. You’re married to Mrs. Claus.”
Dear Lord, what had she just told this complete stranger? Her cheeks burned.
The Santa-Harold imposter stood and raised his palms. “I’m off duty. You want to get a cup of coffee?”
She whirled and hurried over to her niece. “Come on, Gabriella, we’re going.”
“Bye, Santa!” Gabriella called. “Merry Christmas!”
“Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas, Gabriella! I’ll make sure the elves know about your Christmas wish and yours too, Samantha!”
She froze. Omigod. He knew her name. She’d never said her name. And that voice. Her mind quickly put the pieces together, that beautiful caramel skin, the brown eyes. It was her horrible blind date—Rico.
She took Gabriella’s hand and speedwalked to the parking lot. Samantha had never been so embarrassed in her life. She buckled her niece in, muttering to herself about the nerve of some guys.
They drove home, and Samantha prayed she never, ever ran into that Harold imposter again.
the author
Kylie Gilmore was lucky enough to discover romance novels at a young age as they were strewn all over the house (thanks, Mom!). She writes quirky, tender romance with a solid dose of humor. Her Clover Park series features the O'Hare brothers, three guys you'd definitely have a drink with and maybe a little more.
Kylie lives in New York with her family, two cats, and a nutso dog. When she's not writing, wrangling kids, or dutifully taking notes at writing conferences, you can find her flexing her muscles all the way to the high cabinet for her secret chocolate stash.
Find out more about Kylie and upcoming books at www.kyliegilmore.com. Sign up for my newsletter to hear about new releases, exclusive excerpts, and subscriber-only giveaways at http://eepurl.com/KLQSX
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Thanks for reading! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
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