Review: Jill Shalvis's One Snowy Night (Heartbreaker Bay #2.5)."

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2hJ5wUQ

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2fwb9WX

Synopsis

It's Christmas Eve and Rory Andrews is desperate to get home to the family she hasn't seen in years. Problem is, her only ride to Lake Tahoe comes in the form of the annoyingly handsome Max Stranton, and his big, goofy, lovable dog Carl.

Hours stuck in a truck with the dead sexy Max sounds like a fate worse than death (not), but Rory's out of options. She's had a crush on Max since high school and she knows he's attracted to her, too. But they have history...and Max is the only one who knows why it went south.

They've done a good job of ignoring their chemistry so far, but a long road trip in a massive blizzard might be just what they need to face their past...and one steamy, snowy night is all it takes to bring Max and Rory together at last.

Review: Jo 

I am really enjoying my Christmas romance at the moment to help me get in the mood for all of the festive celebrations. This one was my first read from Jill Shalvis, but this author had been on my TBR for ages. I have heard good things about her work so I was looking forward to starting this novella. As I hadn't read any of the books from this series before, I was wondering if I would feel out of the loop and a little confused with the characters of this story, however I had nothing to be worried about. This can be easily read as a standalone without any need to read the previous books or any of the books that follow this story, although I wouldn't say no to reading more books that involve Rory and Max. One of the things that I am discovering with short stories is that they always tend to finish just as the couple are getting together so I feel like I need more. I always like a whole full size novel of romance rather than a novella, but as for getting me in the Christmas mood, "One Snowy Night" did the job perfectly. 

This quick read follows the adventures between Rory and Max as they share a car journey home on Christmas Eve. The journey begins with very little romance and I was instantly disappointed with Max. He was behaving like a complete twat to Rory and I had no idea why. It was obvious that there was history between the couple which intrigued me, but I couldn't understand why or even imagine sweet Rory doing anything to earn such harsh treatment from Max. As the story continued and Rory and Max's back story was revealed, Rory and Max's frosty start soon thawed and Max had a complete personality transformation. Thank goodness that things were looking up for the pair, because everything else about the journey started to go wrong. This was the part of the story that I enjoyed the most. Christmas eve had sprinkled it's magic on Rory and Max and I was excited for rest of the story to play out. 

There was another character that deserved a mention in my review. Carl the dog played a huge role in this novella. I always love animals that play a big part in the stories I read. Carl provided an endless amount of entertainment during Rory and Max's Christmas Eve night. Without him, the story wouldn't have been as much fun. 

I enjoyed my first Jill Shalvis book, however I do have one negative comment to make. I was a little saddened to learn that this quick read was even shorter than I expected. It ended around the sixty percent mark, which I was not ready for. I thought I'd have a few more chapters to read before I reached the end. I did get a peek into other stories from the author, however I would have preferred more from Rory and Max. 

"You wanted to give me a Christmas present...This is it. This is what I want."

"Me?"

"You." 

One Snowy Night" gets 3.5 hearts from me.