What will happen to two unlikely people who have to share a house during the holiday? Can they get along?
Pride and Presents by Cheryl Harper is another excellent book from the 12 Days of Heartwarming Christmas. This time we follow Beth Long as she navigates the last week before John & Lisa's wedding. She has to deal with her ex-husband being into town and having a houseguest that she hasn't met previously. The houseguest is Steven Dorsey who doesn’t make a great first impression and is an engineer buddy to John.
Beth Long
The main female character is Beth Long. She is one of Lisa's bridesmaids, and the hairdresser and makeup artist for Lisa and the other bridesmaids. Beth is going through a tough time dealing with everything that is happening around her. Then having her ex-husband home for the holidays doesn’t help matters. Beth is trying to be a good friend to the soon to be wife and husband by sharing her house with Steven. She isn’t thrilled about the arrangements and doesn’t know how to act around Steven. Perhaps, this is exactly what Lisa and John predicted would happen.
What I liked:
I like that Beth loves Christmas Town and enjoys showing Steven or anyone that is new around town. Another thing that I like about Beth is that she enjoys her work. It's always nice to find the thing that you enjoy doing in life. The last thing that I like about her is that she doesn’t seem to care if she has the house to herself or if she has a guest. Beth goes about lip sings to her favorite music and doing her things.
What I didn’t like:
I don’t like about Beth is that she is a very stubborn young lady. She doesn't show empathy very well. Beth also isn't good at communicating with Steven, and she doesn’t ask the questions that she genuinely wants to know the answers.
Steven Dorsey
The main male character is Steven Dorsey, and he is Beth's love interest. Steven is there to help John with the carousel and be there for his wedding to Lisa in Christmas Town. Steven seems strange to most of the people in the town since he doesn’t know how to act in crowds. He is also used to everyone treating him differently due to his money. Steven seems happy that Beth and the other people in Christmas Town don't treat him this way.
What I liked:
I like about Steven is that he is different from the other harlequin romance guys that I have read about and it’s refreshing. He is a great person once you get to know him. Steven is a pretty shy guy. He has a fear of crowds but doesn't let that dictate his life. Another thing that I like about Steven is that once he’s in Christmas Town and is settled in, his true self-starts to show through.
What I didn’t like:
The one thing that I dislike about Steven is that he thinks that he can use his money to get people to like him.
Five Star
I am giving Pride and Presents by Cheryl Harper a five-star rating. I thought that Ms. Harper an excellent job on this story and that I can’t wait to read more books by her in the future. The dynamics between Beth and Steven were marvelous. Those two were very cute, and I liked seeing how their romance blossomed.
Anyways until the next time enjoy this review brought to you by,
Happy Holidays!
This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove