When The Grinch meets Secret Snowflake…

Synopsis

Burned by love, Sebastian has sworn to remain single, but he may have just met his match.

Sebastian: Being single is under-rated. No inexplicable mystery of love for me. I admit I’m attracted to my co-worker Iris—and not just because she was wearing glowing cat paw underwear. But even though she’s breached my first line of defense, I’m set in my Grinch ways.

Iris is the Secret Snowflake for her perfect man—who is definitely not Sebastian.

Iris: No more naughty heartthrobs for me. Catching my rock star ex cheating cured me. All I’m asking Santa for is my work bonus and a nice—dare I say boring?—guy. And that’s my Secret Snowflake recipient: Ernest. But now our company has been hacked, and secrets abound. I’m working around the clock to figure out who and why—with our aloof, but oh-so-attractive company counsel, Sebastian—before I get a stocking filled with coal for the holidays.

The last thing I should also be trying to decipher is him. I know I can trust Sebastian to help me. It’s trusting my heart that’s the problem.

When things are definitely not what they seem, sometimes it takes the light of the holidays to reveal the clues to love.

My review

Ever since Iris caught her rock star boyfriend cheating on her, all she is looking for is a nice guy. And she believes she has found him with her Secret Snowflake recipient. But as she doesn’t know what Ernest really likes, she asks her colleague Sebastian for his input, as he seems to be the closest to Ernest.
However, when the company is being hacked, Iris has to work to figure out what is going on, and that also means working with Sebastian.
Joining forces means attraction that grows between the pair. But Sebastian isn’t at all looking for love, even if the more time he spends with Iris, it’s harder to ignore the attraction.
And Iris for sure should only be focusing on the job of deciphering the hacks and not trying to understand Sebastian….

Picking up a book written by Kathy Strobos for me always feels like picking up a book filled with happiness. Because she always manages to write great stories with great characters but also realistic and just real characters.

Although I have to say, that perhaps I thought that the focus would be more on the Secret Snowflake bit. But I was glad it wasn’t because it gave the characters the opportunity to show who they really are, without the Secret Snowflake being the common thread throughout the whole story.

Iris has been burnt by love in the worst way, in a way that no one deserves. So while her ex-boyfriend was a rockstar, with a bad boy reputation, it makes perfectly sense that now she is looking for the complete opposite and wants a nice guy instead.

I liked Iris from the start, because she is not only a smart cookie, she is also a kind and generous person. She knows her friends, what makes them happy. She even goes that far to make someone feel less awkward by pretending to be pregnant too (as a joke 😊).
Honesty forces me to say that I was a bit in awe of her knowledge, because IT is for sure not my cup of tea!

On the other hand we have Sebastian. He enjoys his job, but finds it difficult to let his father understand that he isn’t looking for something else and he is doing what he is truly passionate about. And the last thing he is looking for, is love. It’s not that he is a player or using women for his own benefit, but he just enjoys singledom.

I have to warn you as a reader, because this for sure is a slow burn. But that is also what the book needs. Of course there is that physical attraction and many will – they – will – they – not moments. Despite my frustrations, because I wanted them to get together asap, it’s exactly the pace that Iris and Sebastian need to understand not only their own feelings but also understand each other, and just get to know each other.

This book was so utterly sweet in so many different aspects, because we see how Iris and Sebastian are just rooting and supporting each other. They want each other to succeed in whatever they do, and don’t want to be the one holding each other back. And that is a beautiful thought, even if it as the cost of their own happiness.

I also never heard of ‘Secret Snowflake’ before, only of ‘Secret Santa’, and I liked how by using a snowflake is so much more inclusive and allowing everyone to participate.

I had high expectations of this book, as I absolutely devoured the previous books of this series and other books of this author. While it isn’t adamant having read the previous book, perhaps it will be easier to understand some bits of this book. And because they are also just delightful to read! 😊
And the cameos of my old friends for sure put an even bigger smile on my face. I absolutely loved this book, the author did a wonderful job with this story about love, respect and courage about letting fear miss you out on perhaps the best possible thing.