Secret Santa Baby

by Robin Covington

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About the book:

Tessa Stoneman hasn’t been able to get long-time friend and business partner Nicholas Boone out of her head since they shared a single kiss in college. Even when she dated Nicholas’s best friend. Now that she’s giving up her position at GameNerdz to strike out on her own—and now that she’s single—maybe it’s the right time to see if there’s still something between them.

Nicholas knows once Tessa leaves the company she helped found, they might drift apart. Before she starts her own company in the new year, he wants to woo the woman he fell in love with during college. So he poses as her Secret Santa, gifts her with items from the song “Santa Baby,” and plans a big reveal at the company holiday party. But when his best friend wants to rekindle his romance with Tessa, will Nicholas lose his last chance?  

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Secret Santa Baby by Robin Covington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nick & Tessa met in college and along with one other best friend, started up a now successful business together. Nick has been waiting for his chance with her, patiently, and now is the time.

Tessa is leaving to start her own business. She has been in love with Nick for a while now, and it is hard to see him everyday and know he cannot be hers. Will they take a chance?

This short story was a quick and sexy read. I loved how the characters interacted with one another. It also made me wonder - will we see more of the Damien? Really simple and good read.


***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review by its publishers.

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About Robin Covington:

A USA Today bestseller, Robin Covington loves to explore the theme of fooling around and falling in love in her books. Her stories burn up the sheets. . .one page at a time. When she's not writing she's collecting tasty man candy, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and stalking Chris Evans. Don't send chocolate . . . send eye candy! Robin's books have won the Golden Leaf Award and finaled in the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice, the Book Seller's Best and the National Reader's Choice Awards. She lives in Maryland with her handsome husband, her two brilliant children (they get it from her, of course!), and her beloved furbabies.

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Nick & Tessa met in college and along with one other best friend, started up a now successful business together.  Nick has been waiting for his chance with her, patiently, and now is the time.  

Tessa is leaving to start her own business.  She has been in love with Nick for a while now, and it is hard to see him everyday and know he cannot be hers.  Will they take a chance?

This short story was a quick and sexy read.  I loved how the characters interacted with one another.  It also made me wonder - will we see more of the Damien?  Really simple and good read.  I give this book a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review by its publishers. 

This review is also available on my blog, Bows & Bullets Reviews

Tia is just looking for a senior year of fun. She's a perfect flirt and has a hard-earned reputation as a party girl. She isn't looking for anything serious as she has seen where that could lead to and wants no part of it. The first order of business on this year's list of guys to fool around with is Will. Will, however, is looking for something serious. He is a stand-up guy and doesn't much go for the love 'em and leave 'em hookups. When Tia refused to date him, he looks elsewhere, putting Tia in an awful position. Does she want him for herself enough to get over her fears or will she let him go and move on?

Tia was a character I instantly loved. Though I don't have much in common with her, I love that a character like her has finally made her way into YA literature. She's smart and confident and not a virgin. She's the heroine who is okay with noncommittal hookups and is terrified of a relationship. For all intents and purposes, she is the typical YA male. I loved the role reversal. I loved that she wasn't looking for more, that she was scared of more. She has good reason to be, seeing how her sisters lives have turned out. I also love that she hides her amazing drummer skills. She intentionally misses a beat or two so she isn't the lead drummer and doesn't have to tackle those responsibilities. She doesn't want this. She is scared she'll suck at them. I love that she is confident and not at the same time. I just love her.

Will is adorable in his attentions to persuade her into a relationship. Their friendship/whatever the hell it really is, is the stuff dreams are made of. I loved them together from the start. He's so sweet, even from the start that I couldn't help but love him. I'm a sucker for a sweetheart. He does what he can to help Tia, even when she's being a bitch. He doesn't take it all lying down, though, standing up when he thinks it's appropriate and sometimes even when it's not.
It feels so good to read another great Jennifer Echols story. I was a bit worried after I read her adult contemporary romance and didn't love it. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't come close to the awesomeness that she portrays in her YA's and I thought maybe she was losing her touch. But this proves that is not the case. Maybe I'm just not a fan of normal contemporary romance or maybe that was a fluke, but either way, this novel was fantastic.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

The writing is great, the story is interesting, and all the characters felt very well rounded. My only issue was that Tia and Will play the break up and get back together game a bunch. That always irritates me. Tia has her reasons for shying away from commitment, but it doesn't make it any less annoying for me. Either you like him enough to get over it or you don't, but pick one.

What you really need to know is that this novel has everything you'd expect from Jennifer Echols. It's witty, it's funny, it's sweet. It's the perfect combination of heart-warming and heart-breaking.  It's the perfect contemporary YA romance that breaks the tradition of virginity = good, smart girl.  Tia is flirty and fun and not ashamed of how active (or inactive) her sex life may be.  She's a great role model for teens, in my humble opinion.

****Thank you to Simon Pulse for providing me with an eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review****

Four out of the five short stories were fun to read on a random Sunday afternoon in summer, so I went with four stars (one star for each good story in the set). For cost savings, I would pick this set up rather than the individual stories.

#1 Ex on the Beach

Skip this story and start the set at story #2.This is a bad story about two dumb MCs reuniting a year after the wedding was called off. You could have drowned in the shallowness both MCs displayed. Maturity level all around was at negative 5 and dropping. The meddling families didn't help.

#2 She's Hot Now

This story hit close to home. I had the same body issues as the female MC did when I lost a lot of weight to get into the military. It is hard to see yourself as hot and attractive when for so long you were the fat friend. This story was done with sensitivity, humor, and grace. There is a nice turn of the tables on the bitchy frenemy at the end by both MCs and another (true) friend. Birds of a feather don't always flock together.

#3 Girls Just Wanna Have Finn

This was a good solid story as story #2. Male MC feeling the effects of his high school reputation.

#4 Washed Up

Now we are getting into cheesy territory, but still good storytelling. Give Grandma her due, she was right about the male MC being more than just good looks.

#5 Hot for Summer

Still cheesy, still fun. Great way to end the set.

Everyone in Florida knows Tia is a flirt. She goes to every party and never leaves alone. All she wants is a carefree senior year with no homework and a lot of hookups.

Will is the new guy from Minnesota. He's like a polar bear in the rain forest. It does not take long for him to figure out that being the new guy is worse than the Florida heat.

Tia is fine with her life until she meets the new kid, Will. His peculiar accent and charm labels him as her next target. But one night after a party changes everything. Tia does not want the restraints of being in a relationship, but Will does not get the message.
When Tia and Will are voted the Biggest Flirts in the senior class, neither of them are fine with it. The whole school is put into a gossip frenzy, especially Will's girlfriend. Can Tia and Will keep it casual or will they let their title ruin their fragile relationship?




This book was probably the most disappointing book that I read this summer. It was the opposite of what I was expecting. I wanted a realistic love story that made me laugh. This story is far from realistic and the only emotion I felt while reading was detachment. Normally, I get into a story and relate to the characters, but I had several problems trying to do this withBiggest Flirts.

First, Tia was a "perfect" main character. These kind of characters are one of my major pet peeves in books. These characters are smart, funny, athletic, attractive, etc. They are the perfect human being that everyone wants to be. Sure, Tia's life was not perfect, but her character was. She could cook, clean, make academics seem like a joke (I will elaborate on this later), play the drums, attract every guy within a ten mile radius, and she could make anyone laugh. For me, it is impossible to relate to these kind of characters. I am not flawless -- no one is. So why should fictional characters be portrayed in that way?

Second, everything serious was put on the back burner for most of the book. I love reading party scenes, witty conversations, and embarrassing moments, but they have to be balanced with actual substance. The serious parts felt forced to me and thrown into the story as breaks between the entertaining, but tiresome situation between Will and Tia. Also, academics were completely bashed in the book. Believe me when I say that you will not pass AP classes on sheer luck. WHICH IS WHAT TIA APPARENTLY DID! She also got a perfect score on the PSAT purely on natural talent. WHICH DOES NOT HAPPEN! I highly value academics in my life and seeing them degraded in this way made me consider leaving this book in my did-not-finish pile.

Third, everything was about Tia. I understand that she is the main character and all that, but secondary character development is a huge factor in any book. Tia's friends and family were often overlooked. I really wish Saywer had a bigger part in the story, or at least we got more of his back story. When I finished the book, I also realized that I do not really know that much about Will. When I finished this book I felt as if I did not know anything about the characters. There was not the usual closeness that I feel when I finish other books.

Maybe I am being unfair. In defense of the book, it did make me laugh. So, Echols did accomplish what she set out to do with this book. This book was not written to completely change the life of the reader. I was entertained, even though some parts of the book greatly annoyed me. So, I am rating this book three out of five stars. An average rating. That was all the book was to me--average. It was a standard YA contemporary.

This review and many others can be found on my original blog, Crazy for YA.