Hi y’all!

I hope you’re enjoying some sunshine today. We’re ready for spring around here but it doesn’t seem to quite be on the way yet. Snow in March is a bit dreary, isn’t it?

I am thrilled to share my review of the Creekville Kisses series by Melanie Jacobson! A good friend of mine recommended this series and every book was so fun.

Book Summaries: Kiss Me Now: “Ian would do anything for his grandmother, so when Gran suddenly announces she’s leaving the family property to her pretty new neighbor, Ian is on the case. He’ll use every one of his sharply-honed skills as a private investigator to expose the gold digger and save Gran.

Brooke is living her best life far from the city and career that tried to destroy her. She’s happy spending her summer renovating the house she inherited and gardening with her elderly neighbor, Miss Lily. But when Miss Lily’s handsome—and obnoxious—grandson shows up, making wild accusations and dragging up Brooke’s past, Brooke must convince Ian he has her all wrong. But what happens when their chemistry proves even more dangerous than Ian’s accusations?“

Kiss the Girl: “At 26, Grace Winters must her promising career on pause to run her dad’s hardware store. She can’t wait to leave Creekville again, and she’ll keep everyone at arm’s length until she’s out of there. That especially means the new high school coach…no matter how cute and charming he is.

Noah Redmond knows Creekville is just a detour for Grace, the funniest—and sexiest—woman he’s ever met. He even joins forces with her to defeat the matchmaking schemes of . . . well, just about everyone trying to get them together. But when he and Grace must also tackle building a Christmas booth for the town’s biggest event of the year, he sees his chance for escape from the friend zone.

When Grace agrees to a fake relationship to convince Noah’s boss he’s ready for a promotion, the plan works perfectly until they share an unplanned kiss that changes everything. With the lines between friendship and romance blurred, is their undeniable chemistry worth risking their friendship when their future is anything but certain?”

Kiss and Tell: “Tabitha Winters, glamorous celebrity chef, loves her life and growing empire in New York. But when her best friends buy the old summer camp where they worked as counselors, she can’t turn down their invitation to appear at the opening week fundraising gala . . . even if it means confronting the memories of her first love and its disastrous ending.

But she soon discovers someone is playing an elaborate prank on her as she catches glimpses of Sawyer Reed, the heartbreaker who has no business being at Camp Oak Crest. When she uncovers the truth with a well-crafted counter prank campaign, it’s wilder than she could have guessed: even though she hasn’t seen Sawyer since he broke her heart, he’s there to collect on a marriage pact they made when they were still dumb kids.

Tabitha could never resist a dare, and when Sawyer double dares her to give him a week to prove that they still have their old magic, she’s all in to prove that he’s wrong: they’ve been over since the day he walked away ten years ago. Only she didn’t count on him knowing her better than he has a right to, or having the perfect dates to wear down her resistance. And she definitely didn’t plan on their attraction still burning hotter than the end-of-camp bonfire. In this summer camp setting, can Tabitha resist the pull of past memories while Sawyer’s knee-buckling kisses try to convince her of their future?”

Scrooge and the Girls Next Door: “Twenty-six-year-old Paige Redmond, single mom and go-getter, can’t wait to give her daughter, Evie, the Christmas of her dreams. Nothing can get in Paige’s way, not even her newly purchased fixer-upper cottage needing way more fixing than she planned.

Paige tackles the holiday with Clark Griswold spirit, amusing the entire town—except for her humbug next door neighbor, the grumpy but deliciously handsome Professor Henry Hill. With the help of colorful friends and found family—plus a feral cat and a pancake snowman—Paige and Evie wage a campaign to cure the cranky professor of his Christmas blues.

When Paige’s feelings for Henry wind up as tangled as her Christmas lights, there’s suddenly more than Christmas spirit on the line. Will Henry pull the plug on their first solo Christmas? Or can Paige and Evie convince the town’s biggest scrooge to open his grinchy heart to the holiday . . . and to them?”

I love the dual perspectives throughout the series. It’s always fun to get inside the heads of multiple characters and see the action from their points of view. I love series like this one that allow us to get to know multiple characters that we meet in other books. It was so fun to get inside Tabitha’s head after seeing her on the edge of Grace’s story. I loved getting to know Paige after meeting her in Noah’s story and seeing her connect with Grace and Tabitha’s family. And it’s always great to get details from both sides of the love story as they get to know each other and fall in love. I loved experiencing each relationship and rooting for these couples to find their happily ever afters.

The characters are well developed and beautiful relationships both romantic and familial. I loved getting to know each couple better in their story. Understanding Brooke’s past and embracing the future with Ian. Then getting to know Noah and Grace — their dreams for the future and the responsibilities they cling to. Then we get Grace’s sister Tabitha’s story and learn about her history and success. I loved how Sawyer courts her! Finally, we get Paige’s story and see how determined she is to celebrate the magic of Christmas with her daughter, Evie. I enjoyed how they win over Henry and the fun misadventures along the way. And can I just say how much I love Miss Lily throughout the series! Throughout the series, Melanie creates such lovely, complex and well rounded characters. I loved their loyalty to their families and how their relationships with them change through the series.

These novels are full of lovely romance with the perfect combination of passion and tension. Every book gives us characters with great chemistry and fantastic swoony kisses. Several of these books have scenes set during Christmas and that only added to the romance and ambiance. I loved the Christmas Town traditions and the incredibly romantic gestures we get during those traditions. I love these slow burning romances and how their friendships develop through the novels. Each first kiss is incredibly swoony, and I love the tension between the characters as they realize how they feel about each other. The endings are all fantastic and so satisfying as well!

These are lovely, closed door romances. I loved the stories, fantastic characters, and swoony romance. These were perfect reads for the holiday season and I loved going straight into the next after finishing each one. I love the bonus scenes from down the road for each couple and the epilogues. So fun to get to know so many couples in Creekville. It was so fun to be immersed in this charming town!!

What are some of your favorite Christmastime reads?
Favorite contemporary series?