I wasn't sure how I felt about the characters at first. The book started out from the perspective of the leading man, Derek, who complains about everything having to do with Christmas. He absolutely hates everything Christmas related. Our leading lady, however, loves Christmas and embraces the holiday fully. She makes friends with almost everyone she talks to, unlike Derek who avoids people as much as possible. He is described as grumpy and a Scrooge, both of which fit him perfectly. As the story goes on, our main characters are thrown together in a twist of events caused by a horrible snow storm, we also come to realize that there is more to Mr. Scrooge than we previously thought. Molly, trying to be friendly and get to know the man she is now stuck with, asks questions and tries to be understanding, but Derek won't be as open as she would like. Eventually she gets the truth from him, the reason why he hates the holidays so much, and the grief that goes with it. He never truly healed from his loss and it shows. Will he allow himself to love someone, even at the risk of heartbreak? Will Molly forgive Derek for the ways he has been acting?

Sprinkled in this sweet holiday romance are some characters that are quirky and add a humorous tone to the whole story. I found myself laughing out loud at some of their antics. These characters feel real, they have sassy moments, they make mistakes, they act unreasonable at times and even out of character. I would really love to explore these characters more, all of them, not just the mains.

While this story was a fast read, it delivered just the right mix of Christmas scenes and holiday spirit to leave me satisfied. I went into this book expecting it to be similar to a Hallmark movie. It delivered on that, but it had an added humor to it that I wasn't expecting. I was entranced, surrounded by the story, much the same as what I do when I'm watching a Hallmark movie. It had a lighthearted atmosphere, easy to read, and comfortable enough to relax and enjoy without much thought. I cared about how the story was going to end and kept reading because I had to find out. I think we all know that it does have a happily ever after, what Christmas story doesn't? But the road to reaching it is where the story lies. I wish this book had a little bit more to the story, a few more pages or chapters. I want to read as much as I possibly can with these characters.

I'm grateful that the author provided me an ARC of this book to read and review. I enjoyed the book so much and am willingly leaving this review. ( )