Sleigh Bells in the Snow (O'Neil Brothers, #1)

by Sarah Morgan

[Nicole Lynn]

Review to come!

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UPDATE: Finally posting the review from my blog :)

This review was previously posted on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books

Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan follows Kayla Green, a Marketing/Public Relations expert whose quickly climbing the ranks at her company. Her latest assignment: Snow Crystal Resort & Spa. Just in time for Christmas, this newest assignment is just what workaholic Kayla needs! No more pretending to smile at the office or having to deal with all the Christmas festivity. Kayla can escape into her work. Then Snow Crystal client, Jackson O’Neil, suggests Kayla spend the week at the resort to get the right feel of the place before putting a media plan together. Kayla can’t wait to hop on the plane to escape the holidays. Time alone in a deserted upscale cabin is just what she wants! But Kayla soon learns to be careful what she wishes for as she begins to realize she hasn’t really escaped Christmas at all. Add in the large attraction for Jackson and dealing with his somewhat intimidating family and Kayla is full of distractions and wishing she was back locked away in her NYC office. But then she starts warming up to the O’Neil family, Snow Crystal and even Jackson. Now maybe she doesn’t want to escape Christmas at all?

Sleigh Bells was an adorable read and perfect for getting me into the holiday spirit. Morgan did a great job of creating her characters and bringing her readers into the Snow Crystal world. By the end of the book, I was wishfully thinking of staying at the resort (every girl needs some R&R and wintertime fun, am I right?!). I fell in love with the O’Neil family and their various personalities. I cannot wait to explore more of this family in Morgan’s later books.

The two main character, Kayla and Jackson, were written well. Kayla had a larger growth arc to complete versus Jackson, but readers are able to see both evolutions and progressions within the novel. Kayla was easy to connect with once you realized her Christmas-hating reasons and started seeing her non-workaholic side. Sometimes, I did want to shake her though. She seemed so caught up in the past, but I can see how that had become a habit–and those can be hard to break. Jackson was a more likable character for me in the beginning, but he also had his flaws. He seemed to butt heads with his family all the time, specifically his grandfather, Walter. However, seeing how his character’s interactions with his family progressed and changed throughout the novel was one of my favorite things about this story. Overall both Kayla and Jackson were great characters: believable, funny and full of mutual attraction ;)

Morgan does a wonderful job of weaving romance and the power of Christmastime within this novel. Not only did this novel provide a fun and sizzling time, it also shed light on family dynamics and personal healing and growth. I loved watching the characters reach their own personal growth as well as watching them come together. I read this book so fast I couldn’t put it down! There were so many cute moments between Kayla and Jackson that I just wanted an O’Neil brother for myself. Man when they’re determined, their determined! In the end, the novel had me smiling and feeling warm & fuzzy! It was a great book to put me in the Christmas spirit (although you wouldn’t have to read it just during that time ;)). I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the O’Neil family (as Morgan has written some superb secondary characters!) and seeing what everyone’s up to!