HOLIDAY WISHES – Jill Shalvis
A Heartbreaker Bay Christmas Novella
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-246360-9
November 2017
Contemporary Romance

Napa, California – Present Day

Sean O'Riley is in charge of a destination wedding for his brother and his fiancée (Finn and Pru from SWEET LITTLE LIES) that will take place just a few days before Christmas. They arrive at the bed and breakfast where the wedding party will stay, and the person at the check-in desk turns out to be none other than the woman Sean gave his virginity to in high school. Charlotte “Lotti” Hartford isn't happy to see him, and at first is frosty towards him, but a thaw soon occurs. When a rain storm closes all the roads around them, leaving everyone stranded, it's Lotti and Sean who work together to plan alternative wedding plans for Finn and Pru. While working on the plans, it leads to some late-night sexy business between Sean and Lotti.

HOLIDAY WISHES by Jill Shalvis is a short story of reunited lovers that revolves around the wedding plans of Finn and Pru. If you haven't read the other books in the Heartbreaker series, you might end up curious about them, but you should be able to read this tale without too much difficulty. Finn took over raising Sean after their parents died, and the teenage Sean went to school with Lotti. They dated, and finally one night consummated their relationship. But as soon as she said the “love” word to him, he broke things off with her. This devastated Lotti, which has left its mark after all these years and made her hate him. While Sean is ready to resume where things left off between them, Lotti doesn't want to end up with another broken heart. But there's no denying he still makes her purr.

There's plenty of sexy hijinks between Sean and Lotti in HOLIDAY WISHES, and readers also get a secondary story with the wedding between Finn and Pru. Lotti herself was supposed to get married but broke it off recently, and planned to take off on the “honeymoon” trip alone. The bad weather changes things for everyone. HOLIDAY WISHES is a short tale, but it's long on a satisfying romance that's perfect for a quick holiday read.

Patti Fischer