Review: "Secret Santa" by Kristin Lee

Secret Santa by Kristin Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After being arrested for DUI on his way into town to check on his elderly grandfather, divorced single father and mechanic Axel Chase is sentenced to community service in the form of playing Santa for the holidays. The one bright spot about returning to his hometown of Kissing Springs is meeting his grandfather's new neighbor, dental assistant Alice "Ali" Gardner. There's a mutual attraction from the moment they meet, but their age gap discourages them from pursuing a relationship. Can the magic of the season bring these two wounded souls together?

I enjoyed this sweet grumpy/sunshine romance, which featured likeable characters and a healthy dose of steam. Even with the focus on Axel playing Santa, there wasn't an over-the-top Christmas vibe, which IMO means that the story could be read and enjoyed at any time of the year. Axel was a really good guy caught in a tough situation, and I couldn't help empathizing with everything he was going through. I could tell that he genuinely loved his kids and just wanted to be a part of their lives. As for Ali, while I also empathized with her feelings of abandonment and how Axel's behavior may have triggered them, I couldn't help but feel that she overreacted to his request for time to deal with the situation involving his ex-wife and kids. At that point, their relationship was all of a few days old and hadn't been defined beyond agreeing that they wouldn't hook up with other people; it's not like they were engaged! Even though I liked them together, their whole relationship just moved a bit too fast for me.

Despite that (relatively minor) frustration, I'd recommend "Secret Santa" for all fans of steamy contemporary romance. I look forward to checking out more of this author's books in the future.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

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