***ARC provided by publisher through NetGalley***

There are stories that make you go “awww, that’s so cute” and there are stories that make you do the aww-thing but also tug on a nostalgic heart-string. This was one of the latter.

The hero and heroine were childhood nemesis, all the teasing, pulling of ponytails, barbs, and sometimes anger only a disguise for their true feelings. Having had a childhood nemesis of my own, I know what that’s like. Unfortunately, my story didn’t end up like the one between Logan and Miranda. So, let’s talk about them and their story, shall we?

At the beginning, I was a bit “meh”-ish about it. The heroine ran a B&B was nuts about Christmas, was chair of the Christmas festival committee. Okay, I guess. Well, the “meh”-ishess lasted only until the hero came into the picture. You see, Logan made a generous donation in order to get the co-chair position on the Christmas festival committee. And reading about Miranda’s reaction to that particular development, I immediately knew where the story was headed and just what was going on. With both of them.

It was funny, light-hearted, sexy, cute, and sweet, and I loved the little flashbacks thrown in to make us understand where the “animosity” between the H/h came from. I loved the bachelor-auction twist, although I suspected there was more to the mysterious bidder than met the eye (I just didn’t guess the right person). The story flowed nicely, the characters were well fleshed-out…I just didn’t like the heroine’s reticence. Or more to the point, I didn’t like how she kept juggling with two guys at the same time, when it was obvious, there was only one possible contender in that mess.
Also, where did that guy disappear to in the end? I mean, he was always there and then just conveniently went “poof”? A bit of a loose end there.

I also felt the last “bump on the road to HEA” was a tad redundant, but it served as the fulfilling of a Christmas wish (or a Christmas miracle), so I guess it served it purpose.

But, the last few objections aside, it was a great little novella with wonderful characters, great small-town environment, and a wonderful romantic story.