Her Inconvenient Christmas Reunion: A captivating Christmas romance to fall in love with!

Izadora "Izzy' Veracruz is the manager and vintner of Stackhouse Winery. She loves her job and had even forsaken her father to be working for the competitor. Because of Izzy's dedication and love for the winery, Myrna Tabor, Stackhouse owner with no heirs to help her, bequeathed half of the winery to her and Zayn, her nephew. Zayn Joffman is a successful businessman who left his family's winery business to find his way and later did well for himself. After his aunt's passing, he inherited his family's vineyard. He had many thoughts and proposals to reinvent the winery and elevate Stackhouse Winery to fit the global arena. One thing was stopping him, and it came in the form of a woman from his past. Too bad it comes Izzy, a co-owner, as a package, who cannot be bought out and is making sure that Aunt Myrna's legacy continues (status quo). The story is from both Zayn and Izzy's POVs. They have a long history together - childhood sweethearts, to be exact. They grew up together in the winery, but Zayn, one day, left for no reason. This devastated Izzy, who thought they had "something" together, even if they were still so young. It is only after Aunt Myrna's passing that Zayn steps back into his past and to face his "sins." Izzy and Zayn's chemistry is striking in that they both do not see how well they can work with each other versus against - to better the winery. They need to sort out their pasts to run the winery effectively together. They are as complicated together as individually. Zayn is a man, riddled with much self-doubt that his frustration floored me. He is far from perfect based on his troubled past, though he tries his best to change for the better. Thus, there is still lingering trauma within Zayn; he does not trust people easily, even when they prove to be, and is critical of anyone who may show care and understanding towards him. Bottom line: he DOES NOT DO relationships. Period. The only relationship he considered was a long time ago, and it was with Izzy, which did not turn out well, and he had to leave her for her own good. With Zayn coming back to Stackhouse, his well-kept "secrets" starts seeping out and will make him question the decision he took five years ago. Readers will see his "vulnerable" side wherein he gets triggered more by his past and the consequences of his choices. There is one point in the book that I felt heartbroken for Zayn. He was misunderstood and judged based on his past, making him believe that he could not return and continue his family's legacy through Stackhouse. Something else bothered Zayn that he chose to ignore instead of taking action to correct the problem. Like myself, Izzy was sad to see a successful businessman still have this guilt haunting him. When readers find out what he has kept hidden and rationalize everything, I changed my mind mid-way because his reasons for just keeping things status quo was the best action he could have taken. It is rare for me with a character, and I wholeheartedly agree that Zayn did right. (Crazy, I know.) Izzy is a brave woman to have come from where she did. She pushed through her pain to be Zayn's unwavering supporter after everything. It took a lot out of her, and you read it in her words and actions. She was sincere and did not coddle Zayn. She knew him well enough to be the silent and relentless business partner. On the whole, I would recommend this book for readers who love enemies-to-friends, second chances, and redemption/healing stories. It is a story about a series of misunderstandings, unresolved issues (until the end), rehashed mistakes, and later, healing as the truth comes outs on why things turned simpler (if they did it right, the first time) in the end. No matter how late in the game, being honest is always the best, and it showed so well in this book. It is an easy read for readers and captivating enough not to put down the book until the end. I enjoyed it a lot.