GRR Reviews Red Hot Christmas (Pride) by Jill Sanders

Red Hot Christmas is a novel about wrong first-impressions, that plays into long-held prejudices. There is a character arc, but there's also more than a bit of immaturity, i.e. "why don't you just ask?" Or "why don't you just speak up?"

Amber is new to Pride, Oregon, as the new manager of Golden Oar, after having enough of managing a restaurant in a big city that was not appreciated. Her last BF had been a man-child and she would definitely NOT want a repeat. When she barely pulled into town, she almost ran over a man... riding full speed in 'downtown' main street... on a BMX. Even as he sailed over her hood, she couldn't help but be entranced by those gorgeous blue eyes... right up until he landed on the ground with road rash... and then she was too angry and indignant to care. His name is Luke, and he... doesn't seem to have a regular job except he seems to be playing games all the time. Luke now must convince Amber he's not a man-child, but someone she can trust to keep her heart.

The conflict is all about withholding information, leaving the other party to guess, and reaching all the WRONG conclusions. This can be done to either dramatic or comedic effect. But when its' about as shallow as "gaming", it feels very... nebulous. It's warm, but not that fuzzy.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can a tech geek who doesn't seem to treat life seriously convince a restaurant manager to love him in all seriousness?

Tropes: holiday, fish out ofw ater, fling to a thing scars,

Overall Rating:  3/5