Izzy was practically a Disney princess. She’s sweet, innocent, and impoverished, and an absolute fountain of Christmas spirit – or, as Derek calls her, “Santa’s evil elf.” Derek, on the other hand, was quite the beast. He was so rude and unlikeable, at first, that I had a hard time warming up to him. Both Izzy and Derek had serious abandonment issues that led to roadblocks in their relationship. Izzy couldn’t believe that anyone would actually love her, and Derek was too afraid of abandonment and betrayal to love anyone. My favorite character, however, was Derek’s St. Bernard, Atticus!
“No matter how friendly they got, she had to protect her heart. They were from different worlds, and once this charade was over, she’d go back to hers, and he’d forget she ever existed. That’s what people typically did to her anyway.”
Unfortunately, I had a lot of problems that took me out of the fairy tale. The major one was that their relationship started while they were still boss and employee, and the power dynamic was very uneven. Derek ends up paying her to pretend to be his girlfriend, and while I did feel like their relationship was consensual and organic, it still left me with a bit of an icky feeling.
Also, the ending felt very rushed. Without getting into spoilers, I felt like the main conflict was not resolved properly. What Derek did to Izzy was very hurtful, and her feelings for him aside, I didn’t feel like he properly demonstrated that he wouldn’t do it again before she pretty much unconditionally accepted him back.
Overall, this is a cute and sweet holiday romance, especially if you can overlook some of the issues I had with it. If you’re looking for a sweet holiday fairy tale, then this is your book!
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.