When a stranger becomes a houseguest…

Synopsis

Doc Hollywood meets It’s a Wonderful Life with a hint of The Santa Clause when a globetrotting toy industry mogul is stranded in this small harbor town days before Christmas.

Despite dreams to explore the world, I’ve never been anywhere other than this small harbor town. Single mom, local postmistress, and one-fourth owner of a failing auto repair shop are all the reasons I’ve remained planted where my roots began.

Hideaway Harbor is layered in love for the holidays, enticing visitors to the coastal area for a seasonal respite, so thanks to an unpredicted blizzard, it’s no surprise when a stranger plows into the town’s welcome sign.

What is a surprise is when he’s suddenly—and rather reluctantly by me—an extended-stay guest in my home thanks to no vacancies in town, some pesky matchmaking, and candy cane martinis on a Monday.

There’s something vaguely familiar about this new visitor. The combination of snow and tinsel colored hair. The well-trimmed matching beard. The laugh lines near his coal-colored eyes. How good he looks in the color red. He’s thoughtful and kind, and has a flair for the holiday season, which makes him most likely to make the top of Santa’s good guy (with a hint of bad boy) list.

After some disappointing news concerning the holidays, the hap, hap, happiest time of the year isn’t feeling so spectacular. But my houseguest’s presence builds a snowstorm of emotions in my chest, making my Christmas wish a transfer to the naughty list . . . with him.

Unfortunately, there’s a mystery behind his origins, and he has “not-staying” written all over him. With places to be before the calendar flips to December twenty-fourth, he’ll soon be gone, and I’ve encountered this heartbreaking, lump-of-coal sensation once before.

No matter how short or sweet his visit, there’s no doubt about the magic we make together, leaving me to wonder if love is the greatest adventure we take.

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Welcome to Hideaway Harbor – where Christmas charm meets small town – and six amazing authors bring you six original holiday romances steeped in heat, heart, and winter quirkiness which can be read as standalones.

My review

Lumi used to have to many dreams when being younger. Now she is a single mother, postmistress and quarter – owner of an auto repair shop. Life for sure didn’t go as expected for her, but Hideaway Harbor is her home. Winter always brings extra visitors, especially to see the Christmas Spirit that defines Hideaway Harbor. So when a stranger has an accident, it isn’t an actual surprise. What is a surprise, is that Lumi finds herself suddenly having the stranger with the name of Saint as a houseguest. And Lumi cannot deny there is something familiar about Saint, even if she cannot put her finger on it yet. And that even if Lumi is going to have an unusual Christmas, a very non – festive one, Saint is the one who is able to turn on emotions and feelings that Lumi hasn’t felt for a long time. However, there is a lot of secrecy around Saint, and as Saint won’t be staying, would good could ever come from all those feelings both Lumi and Saint are starting to have?

I have read several books of this series, written wonderfully by different authors, and that can all be read perfectly as a standalone. And each book, I was a bit afraid that it couldn’t live up to the other stories I have read. And yet, I am still waiting for that disappointment 😊

Perhaps I found this one the sweetest story of all what I have read. Of course there is some spice in it, and several swoon – moments. But there is something about Saint’s mysteriousness, and even a certain way of innocence, that made this story somehow sweeter.

In a way, I found Lumi a bit of a sad character at the start of the book. Not that I pitied her, but while she is content with her life, with choices she has made, that she isn’t her life at the fullest. There is still so much potential in her, yet her responsibilities then and now are keeping her in Hideaway Harbor.

It is also obvious how much she cares about just everything and everyone, from her son, to her sisters and the auto repair shop, to even that stranger that has just crashed his car…  

Now, as the partly owner of an auto repair shop, it is rather mandatory to help Saint out. And yes, even if she has been a bit pushed in letting him stay at her place, of she truly didn’t want to do it, she could have.

I don’t know if anyone could persuade me let a complete stranger in my place, no matter how much money they would offer. I think I am too wary, and perhaps that I have read too many thrillers to not think of worst case scenarios.

Even if the houseguest would be like Saint. Now, me being 39 years old, I have never thought of any man like a hot Santa. Yet with Saint, I had to rethink about that! 😊

I said it earlier, there is just something about Saint… He is extremely hot, but not just that. He also is caring, gentle, patient and just lovely. Mix that with a certain level of vulnerability, innocence too, and it is just a full package!

On the other hand, there also the burden of responsibility on his shoulders, the way his family is demanding his return home. A home and a business too, he is being very mysterious about. And whenever questions are asked, his answers only add layers of mystery!

The connection there is between Lumi and Saint is just amazing to read. Even if they start rather cold toward each other, slowly the attraction becomes unbearable to keep on ignoring any further. Wow, those sparks! 😊

But it is not just the physical attraction between them, but also the emotional attraction, the desire to make each happy somehow…

I truly enjoyed reading this story, as it shows how perhaps one accident can the start of a brand new adventure, and can make you feel things you haven’t felt or believed in for a very long time. And with that layer of mystery, and the seem of the impossible happening, it made me even wonder if Saint truly would be…  

I said it before and I will say it again, perhaps the sweetest story of the series, but equally beautiful!