One Christmas Eve

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and I also purchased a copy. This was a wonderful story. I absolutely adored reading it. This is a novella and I was able to read this in matter of a few hours. Zoe Randall was such a colorful character. Preston Wheeler is a solid dependable man who loves a good neutral gray color. These two are opposites right from the beginning. Preston's face gives him away when he looks at a window display of the book store right next to his new business of estate planning. Zoe is offended at his displeasure and the two exchange some words. The following is a road where both characters have to overcome past hurts that were inflicted upon them by others to get to their HEA. I adored reading this novella. It was written in my favorite dual POV format. Seeing into their thoughts especially when in a situation that was similar to one in their past and why they acted the way they did, well it was really enlighting. This was a sexy read. There were a few "bedroom" scenes so I would highly recommend this to anyone over the age of 18.

One Christmas Eve by Shannon Stacey was everything I want in a Christmas romance! I've been reviewing a lot of Christmas books already this year, but One Christmas Eve has to be one of my favorite this year. This novella didn't leave me feeling like I was cheated out of really knowing the characters like most novellas do. From the first Zoe/Preston encounter I knew I was in for a really good story. Ms. Stacey's characterization was superb. She definitely painted a picture of what the snarky Zoe and the nerdy Preston were like instead of just telling the reader. The story was lighthearted almost all the way through and just delightful to read. I was given a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

This was my first experience reading Shannon Stacey and I’m not sure what took so long for her to ping my radar, as she seems to have been quite busy with a veritable library of books listed under her name. I plan to make amends to the talented Ms. Stacey for my slacking as I enjoyed her easy-breezy writing style, snarky humor, and wily wit. I picked a nice place to start with this light, small-town, holiday romance with opposite attraction. The characters were endearingly quirky and likable while the story held my interest, was easy to follow, and developed at a good pace with tasty bites of steam, levity, and a sweet HEA for all involved.