Book Reviews

Book Blurb

When Connor finds River on the roof of the campus admin building, he doesn’t know what to do. His friend is drunk, and shouting into a snowstorm, a bottle of vodka in his hand. The easy part is getting River down; the hard part is insisting River comes home with Connor for Christmas.

 

River doesn’t have a family, or any place outside of college that he calls home. Not that it matters to him; he’s happy being alone for Christmas in his budget motel, watching reruns of Elf. Only, Connor keeps telling wildly improbable stories of the perfect family celebrations at his parents’ ranch in Texas, and it’s wearing River down. He didn’t ask to be kidnapped. He didn’t want to fall in love with the entire Campbell-Hayes family. But he does.

 

From one Christmas to the next. This is Connor’s year to rescue River, and himself, for them both to mess things up, make things right, fall in lust and finally, for Connor to show the man he loves what being part of a family can mean.

 

Book Review

Another installment of the Campbell-Hayes saga – count me in! It’s set a few years after the previous book and it was great to see all the characters again, especially in a Christmas setting which is all about family to start with. Jack, the cowboy, and Riley, the oil man, are still very much themselves. Going through their Christmas traditions with the entire family there as events unfold was simply wonderful. There is drama, some angst, but mostly this story focuses on the love this family shares and how it affects everyone in their lives.

The focus of the story is on Connor, all grown up and at college now, trying to figure out what to do with his life. He has brought his friend, River, with him because he thinks River may need help after almost falling off the campus admin building – or so Connor fears. Hearing Connor explain “the barn” to River was hilarious, and I loved getting to see the ranch through River’s eyes. Connor has something he needs to talk to his fathers about, but he fears it will not be an easy discussion and reconnecting with everyone has to come first. Right?

River doesn’t want to come with Connor and refuses to say why. He keeps the truth of his background close to his chest, but I didn’t expect that to last very long. Connor and his dads are too perceptive to let River suffer alone, and while Connor doesn’t quite know what to do to help, his fathers are more talented. It isn’t easy for River to open up, or to trust that what is on offer is for real – but who can resist the united “assault” of Campbell-Hayes love?

Connor and River stand on shaky ground as they try to figure out whether they want a relationship or not. How it will all work is not any clearer, especially with their very different backgrounds. Connor tries to do the right thing, but it causes a lot of pain and they almost lose it all. It was hard to watch the emotional turmoil, but I hung on because – well, this is a Campbell-Hayes story and I had high hopes that the next generation would be as lucky (and happy) as the previous one.

If you’re looking for a Christmas story in the best Campbell-Hayes tradition, if you want to find out how Connor is doing, and if you’re looking for a fantastic Christmas read with all the trimmings, so to speak, then you will probably like this novella as much as I do. It’s as perfect as they come!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Signal Boost for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novella, 173 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	28-November-2018
Price	$3.99 ebook, $9.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Home-Christmas-Connors-Story-Texas-ebook/dp/B07KQYLWXY