Christmas Kisses (Winter Kisses #1) by H.M. Ward-a review

Christmas Kisses
Winter Kisses #1
by H.J. Ward
Release Date: December 2012
Genre: contemporary, romance, adult

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How hard is it to NOT have sex with him? Lust has melted Holly Connelly’s brain and it’s all Ryan Darcy’s fault. He’s been ruthlessly flirting with her for the past three years. Ryan’s a sex god complete with sinful body, endless wit, and an orgasm-inducing smile. One sultry look from him will make her panties jump off her body. His endless string of one-night stands has Holly thinking she’ll be just another conquest. Since she actually has feelings for the guy, it makes it that much harder to put off his advances. When they get trapped together by a snowstorm, it’s all she can do to resist him. If Holly says yes, she’ll probably regret it. If she says no, she’ll always wonder what if.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Holly and Ryan have been pining after each other for 3 long years, but never acted upon it for fear of rejection. They couldn’t be more wrong! Now that Holly’s home for winter break…will they get their Christmas miracle? Not only had I heard so many positive things about H.M. Ward, but realizing Christmas Kisses fell under the New Adult genre, I jumped at the opportunity. It gave me so much more than I expected, it was my own little Christmas gift!

I thought we were going home. I thought we’d chat and catch up along the way, and maybe share a goodnight kiss.

I’ve never been more wrong about anything in my life.

Ugh…STILL swooning as I write this review! Holly is back in Long Island six months after a hasty two-step to Texas (see what I did there?). A bad breakup will do that to a broken-hearted girl. Seems Ryan was left out of the loop over Holly’s mad dash and realizes it mattered to him; he wished he would have known Holly was leaving to…to…finally tell her how much he liked her. Had Holly even suspected Ryan reciprocated her feelings…well, we wouldn’t have this terrific book, now would we?

An impromptu meeting at a club reignites those repressed feelings! The time to act is now (especially since Holly is flying back to school on January 1st), but Ryan and Holly are so unaccustomed to being more than friends (they’d always enjoyed each other’s company while silently drooling over one another), that the awkwardness sets in…and fires off a series of misreads that had me clamoring for clarity!!! That’s part of the allure of this genre, however. NA follows high school into college when experimentation is at its peak and the lead couple is supposed to misunderstand, to confuse the obvious. You know you were there once upon a time! [Symbol] It’s the magic we feel/read when courage to reveal their true feelings surfaces.

My brain says we should just tell him. My heart thinks we should just tell him. My body thinks we should just take the syrup over there, pour it over his sexy body, and lick him.

I loved it all…pre-admissions and post-swoons. It was a fantastic read! Angst, joy, steamy seduction, and most important: Making the best out of missed opportunities. The cover models graced one of my favorite books, so I am not embarrassed to say it was a package deal! You cannot go wrong with this book and I will be researching more by this author.

The 132 page short story may be titled Christmas Kisses, but so much more happens along the way in this delight!

Reviewed by Carmen