Snowflakes and Holly: A Small Town Christmas Romance (A Hartwood Holiday Romance) by Jae Dawson – Review by Roxsanne Lesieur.

Snowflakes and Holly: A Small Town Christmas Romance by Jae Dawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Holly Maryn is a physical therapist in Hartwood Falls, she enjoys spending time with her girlfriends, but hates anything to do with the holiday season, especially Christmas and this year is no exception, she is planning on delving into her work, avoiding anything Christmas related and watching movies which are full of interesting ways to kill off the main characters, she always plays it safe in life and has stopped taking risks ever since her father passed away in a tragic mountaineering accident and it has scarred her emotionally ever since. Blake Bellows is a former Olympic gold medallist who lost his leg due to bone cancer and has spent the last few years recovering from it and a car accident which injured his back, he has found friendship and a reason to keep going in Hartwood Falls, using his knowledge to train others, but he still has to have regular rehab to keep his recovery going the right way, however, he is also still extremely competitive and cannot let his dream of being back in peak condition and participating in sports again go.

As Holly is going back onto the slopes for the first time in years for her friends birthday, she is filled with anxiety and trepidation, but she cannot let her best friend down, so she takes a deep breath and starts slowly skiing down the mountain and is beginning to enjoy it, meanwhile Blake and his best friend are racing down a medium level slope on their snowboards when a young kid suddenly appears in front of him, he swerves to miss the kid, but unfortunately he doesn’t miss the woman he crashes into and this woman just happens to be Holly. After they tumble down the remaining run off of the slope, they are a mess of arms, legs and equipment as their friends race over to check that they are ok. As Holly is berating Blake for his disastrous form, she is also assessing the way he is moving and suggesting that he should see someone about the injuries he may have sustained, this puts Blake’s hackles up and he just retorts back that he knows his own body and knows when he is injured, it is something he has heard too often to count, so the groups head their separate ways, with the girls talking about the hotness levels of the guys and the guys discussing putting crisps in sandwiches and Holly’s attitude.

A couple of days later and Holly is heading into the office and getting ready to see the patients of the practice’s co-owner who has gone on maternity leave, however, as soon as she realises who the first patient of the day is, she is less than impressed and starts the appointment as she means to go on, at the same time, Blake is wondering who his stand in therapist is going to be and is frustrated to find that it is Holly, the woman he crashed into, but after a frank discussion, he decides that maybe she is his best chance for keeping his rehab on track, albeit grudgingly, as they go through the intricacies of the session, neither of them can deny that there is an attraction there, but they both are annoyed by each other, so they ignore that and carry on as patient and therapist. After the session, they run into each other again thanks to friends errands, but things aren’t as smooth as they both hope, but neither can deny the attraction there this time, but will they keep running into each other outside of the appointments, or will their fears around getting involved with someone new hold them back? This is a romance novel with a side of comedy which will keep you laughing and singing Christmas songs as you read through while discovering the journey within it.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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