5th Annual Happy Hunky-Days - Day 2!

DAY TWO...Happy Hunky-Days!

Seasons greetings and literary tidings to all our Ndulgent Blog readers. It's the most wonderful time of the year.....to celebrate with family, friends and fellow book lovers galore! We have enjoyed another year of fabulous reads and hope you will all join us for our 5th (holy smokes!) annual Happy Hunky-days!  Twelve fun filled days of Christmas where we treat you with gifts of joy and happiness (aka free books and very yummy eye candy!). All good readers who jump over to our Hunky Days Page will get a chance to win some really great e-books from our featured authors! Seriously, you can even be quite naughty and still get free books - just remember to enter to win!

Christmas in Venice, Christmas Around the World, Book Four by Joanne Walsh

Let it snow…?

Wasn’t she supposed to dream of a white Christmas? Right now, Ashlynne wishes the blizzards, ice and fog that have left her stranded in Venice would melt away. She’s facing a dreary holiday stuck at the airport—and she’s also run into her ex-husband.

Lorenzo di Grechi insists Ashlynne stay with him at his sumptuous palazzo apartment. He’s also promising her Christmas Venetian-style: eating, drinking, and visiting the seasonal markets and musical concerts that make the city so enchanting at this time of year.

She thought she’d moved on: laid the ghosts of their marriage which had ended so sadly and badly to rest, along with how passionately she’d loved him. But the sexual attraction between them is still as potent as ever, and he seems to have changed for the better, forcing her to question her belief that he’d cheated on her at a time when she’d needed him most.

Is this just some sort of Christmas magic at work? Or a real chance to forgive and rediscover her love for Lorenzo?

REVIEW:

Love, Christmas, a magical setting in Venice, Italy - what could be more perfect? This charming tale of two lost souls reunited at Christmas may be as believable as Santa Claus, but that is what makes it a true Christmas story. Lorenzo and Ashlynne divorced five years earlier due to irreconcilable differences - he was consumed with work and she was consumed with grief after a miscarriage - neither able to bridge the growing divide. Fate intervenes when Ashlynne finds herself stuck in Venice and runs into her ex-husband in the airport. Lorenzo offers her a place to spend Christmas and with no other options, she accepts. Old wounds are opened and eventually healed and secrets brought to light bring peace and love to two who deserve a second chance.

I couldn't help myself, I really enjoyed this story. The scenes between the couple were emotional and heartfelt, dealing with the issues of the past that ended their marriage and the growth they experience over their time apart. The writing was solid and the characters were both believable and sympathetic. Venice as a city cannot help but be romantic as far as setting, but the sexual chemistry between Ashlynne and Lorenzo made for some toe curling for sure! All in all, a lovely and quick holiday read for those looking for the romance mistletoe brings.

RATING: Four Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and a Christmas pudding with brandy sauce! Yummo!!!

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