The Christmas Keeper by Jenn McKinlay – Review, Excerpt & Giveaway
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Description:
All he wants for Christmas…
The second Joaquin Solis saw Savannah Wilson, he knew she was destined to be his wife. Unfortunately, Savannah’s sights are set on a happily-ever-after of another kind: skewering the boss who got her fired. Until then, she won’t act on the scorching sexual chemistry that is brewing between them, leaving Joaquin scrambling to find a way to capture her heart.
When the opportunity arises to use his ranch to boost Savannah’s publicity career, Joaquin doesn’t hesitate to invite her into his world at Shadow Pines and woo her with all of his Christmas loving mojo. It’s a gamble since the holidays aren’t really Savannah’s thing and helping her might also mean losing her as she plans to shake the dust off of their quaint town in North Carolina and head back to New York City the first chance she gets.
But Joaquin believes in the magic of Christmas and he knows with a little help from his friends at the Happily Ever After Bookstore, he can convince the woman of his dreams that he’s a keeper…
Review:
The Christmas Keeper by Jenn McKinlay is the 2nd book in her Happily Ever After series. This was a fun sweet Christmas spirited romance, with a great couple and wonderful secondary characters, many of whom we met in the previous book.
Savannah (Savy) Wilson, our heroine, is helping her best friend Maisy (previous book heroine) with her new bookstore. Savy lost her publicity job in New York, and is pining to return to the city she loves. While enjoying her reading, working with her friends; Savy tries to avoid the looks given her by the handsome hunky cowboy, Joaquin.
Joaquin (Quino) Solis, our hero, is known by his friends as a womanizer, but the woman he desires the most, totally ignores him. He can’t understand why Savy isn’t attracted to him, and does every thing to try to win her over. Though when both discover that Maisy might have issues with money, they begin to work together to find ways to help. In a short time, Savy gives in to the sizzling chemistry between her and Quino, and a friendship with benefits begins, with both knowing that Savy will eventually return to New York
Savy was a wonderful heroine, who was fun, smart, and independent. Quino was also a great hero, who was not only loyal and caring to his younger sister, but was determined to win Savy. I thought that McKinlay gives us a great group of recurring characters, especially the wonderful women such as Savy, Maisy, Jeri, Hannah.
What follows is a sweet fun story, with some emotional moments, as Quino’s fear for his sister Desi caused him to realize that he needed to get beyond his own issues from losing his parents. This was a nice element to the story. I also enjoyed the story line with the famous well known author, who was a recluse, but with Savy and Quino working with her, she too came out of her rut. Nicely done. Will Savy return to New York and leave Quino?
The Christmas Keeper was a wonderful story, with a fabulous sexy couple, the backdrop of the romance bookstore and famous author, and great secondary characters. If you enjoy a sweet fun pure romance, you need to read this book written so very well by Jenn McKinlay.
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
The striped stockings were not flattering, and the length of the dress on her tall frame made it a mini-dress. She cinched the wide black belt in a desperate attempt to show she had a waistline but the Peter Pan collar still made her look like a doofus. To top it all off, her pointy hat had a jingle bell on the end of it and it rang with every step she took. Ridiculous.
She stomped out of the bathroom and through the office. Whose idea was this Santa-and-elf thing? Shouldn’t they have run it by her?
She found Maisy and “Santa” on the front porch. He was leaning over the railing and waving at cars that drove by and calling, “Ho ho ho.”
Savannah glowered at Maisy.
“Oh, you look so cute,” Maisy cried. Joaquin turned around and took in the sight of Savannah. The grin beneath his bushy white beard was wide.
“Don’t!” She pointed at him. “If anyone is laughing at anyone, I’m laughing at you because you’re wearing a fake beard and a belly pillow.”
“Better than fake ears,” he said. He lifted a white-gloved finger and poked the pointy ear sewn into her hat. She smacked his hand away.
“Stop that,” she said. She turned to Maisy. “You owe me so huge for this.”
“No doubt,” Maisy said. “This is definitely above and beyond, especially for someone as ambivalent about the holidays as you. I really appreciate your digging deep and taking one for the team.”
“Come on,” Joaquin said. “Let’s go out to the street and see if we can wave people in.”
Maisy handed Savy a cloth sack full of candy canes. “Have fun!”
“What? No!” Savannah protested. It was bad enough people coming to the shop might see her but if they stood on the street everyone would see her in this ridiculous getup.
“What’s your elf name?” Joaquin asked as he walked
“I don’t have an elf name,” she snapped.
“Then let’s make one,” he said. “How about Snickerdoodle Jingle Bells?”
“No.”
“Ginger McSnowball.”
“No.” She gave him a grumpy look to mask the laugh that almost escaped.
“I know.” He snapped his gloved fingers but no sound came out. “Mistletoe Merrybottom.”
“Shut up.” This time a snort escaped and he grinned at her. She ignored him. “You can call me Elf. It’s a nice gender-neutral name that’s easy to remember.”
“Boring.” He rolled his eyes but he didn’t argue. He continued down the walkway then began to walk toward the center of town. Savy hurried to catch up to him.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Going where there’s more foot traffic,” he said. “We need to be on the corner to direct shoppers toward the bookstore.”
Savy was not having it. She stopped walking. It took Joaquin a couple of paces to realize she wasn’t behind him. He paused and looked back at her.
“Problem?”
“I am not going to stand in the center of town dressed like an elf,” she said. “Public humiliation was not a part of the bargain when I came to help Maisy out.”
He studied her for a moment. He looked as if he was undecided as to what to say. Savy almost told him not to bother since there was nothing he could say that would change her mind.
Finally, he just sighed and continued walking. “Suit yourself,” he said. “But since it’s going to take a Christmas miracle to save Maisy’s bookstore, I, for one, am willing to make an ass of myself if it helps her keep her shop.”
Jenn McKinlay’s publisher, is offering a paper copy of THE CHRISTMAS KEEPER to ONE (1) commenter at The Reading Cafe.
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