With her husband gone and her daughter spending the holiday with her fiancée’s family, Sophia books a cruise for Christmas this year, far from her memories and even further from the very distracting presence of her friend and business partner, Ethan.  She just needs some time and space to figure out what she wants for the rest of her life, and whether or not her feelings for Ethan are real or just a by-product of their close friendship.

Ethan has been waiting for the right opportunity to let Sophia know just how he feels about her.  Having been careful to give her space in which to grieve her late husband, he has bided his time in reluctant patience – he’ll be damned if he misses his chance with her now.  Determined to finally make his move and tell the lovely widow just how much she means to him, he moves heaven and earth to land himself on the same cruise.  He’ll pull out all the stops to make both of their dreams come true, praying that those dreams will be possible together.

Home for Christmas is an absolutely wonderful tale about a mature romance between two friends who have long loved each other from afar.  With a starring couple who are both over forty, Kate Davies offers a realistic look at love the second time around for those of us who are long past the first bloom of youth, but still young enough to entertain dreams of love and forever.

As a no-nonsense widow and the mother of a young adult daughter, Sophia is mindful of her family’s needs, while still being very aware of her own as a woman.  When the death of her husband left her as part-owner in his business, she never hesitated to roll up her sleeves and work in the family business alongside her friend and partner, Ethan.  She knows Ethan would do anything for her, but worries that her growing romantic ideas about him are born of their close proximity and her dependence on his presence in her life.  While she is ready to admit her feelings, she needs time away to be sure of them before running the risk of damaging their friendship.

Of course, Ethan wouldn’t be our story’s hero if he let her get away with that.  The man is romantically relentless, determined that he won’t spend Christmas apart from the woman he loves more than anything.  Even still, he gives her every chance to keep him at arm’s length once he arrives on board the cruise ship, while hoping deep down inside that she doesn’t take those opportunities.  But Ethan means to make this relationship last for the rest of their lives, and his resolve that Sophia be sure of not just his feelings for her but hers for him are heart-warming.

Home for Christmas is a wonderfully inspiring romance that will make readers rejoice in the belief that new life and new love can most certainly happen no matter your age.

Reviewed by Jennifer

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Home for Christmas
(The Perfect Gift Anthology)
Kate Davies
ISBN: 9781599987071
Samhain Publishing
December 18, 2007
Contemporary Romance 
eBook
Trade Paperback

Rating:

Posted January 2008