Monday, December 14, 2015

Review Tour & Giveaway - - I'll Be Home for Christmas

I’ll Be Home for Christmas
By Lori Wilde
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: October 27, 2015





Twilight, Texas is a town that does Christmas the old-fashioned way:

Workmen strung Christmas lights on all four corners of the square while teams of town folk decorated themed trees. . . . Performers in Dickensian costumes strolled the sidewalks. Gabi spied Miss Havisham in her wedding dress and one sad shoe. Scrooge hoisted Tiny Tim up on his shoulders. Artful Dodger led a group of soot-faced children as they pulled faux swag from participants’ pockets. Horse-drawn carriages picked up and dropped off visitors. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” poured from outdoor speakers. A light dusting of snow had started to fall, putting smiles on faces and making everything look like a snow globe world.      

 Bedford Falls from IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE had nothing on this town.      

It is exactly what Gabi Preston has longed for since the Christmas Eve she was six years old when her older brother gave her a snow globe with a tiny, perfect Christmas village inside and promised they would find it one day. He died the next day, and Gabi knew she had failed to fulfill the purpose for which she was born. Seventeen years later, people pleaser Gabi has dropped out of law school, left her home in Los Angeles, and set in motion a plan to switch homes and lives temporarily with Katie Cheek, a Pinterest friend who has her own reasons for agreeing to The Holiday style exchange. Gabi hopes time away from her parents and her life pattern of living to please others will give her a chance to discover who she is as well as allowing her to experience a Christmas-card holiday. She picks up Katie’s Camry at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport without even a pang for her BMW that Katie is driving, but she is not sure she is prepared for life in Katie’s yurt or for Katie’s sexy, Christmas tree-farmer brother whose smile is enough to melt snow--and other things.

Joe Cheek, the youngest son in a large and loving family, left his most recent landing place in Florida and came home to Twilight when his grandfather’s health issues made it mandatory that someone else run the farm. Ever since his youthful marriage failed, Joe has been a wanderer with a few months the maximum commitment he has been willing to make to a place or to a woman. He figures he can stay in Twilight until Gramps is able to return to the farm, but he believes it is just not in his nature to put down permanent roots. That’s reason enough to avoid Gabi Preston, no matter how irresistible he finds her.

It doesn’t take long for Gabi to fall in love with Twilight, its citizens, and its traditions, and—no matter how often she reminds herself that she will be leaving in a matter of weeks—it takes even less time for her to fall for a certain charming farmer whose ways are a match for his name. And Joe’s pre-New Year’s resolutions to stay away from Gabi are broken almost as soon as he makes them. The two eventually stop fighting the attraction and enjoy the moment, knowing that their feelings are more than lust but frightened of admitting just how all-consuming they are. Then Joe’s ex turns up with heavy problems and with the eight-year-old daughter that Joe thinks of as his own in every way except biology. Will the added complications combined with the doubts that plague both Gabi and Joe mean their first Christmas together is also their last?

Wilde takes readers back to Twilight for a seventh novel and a fourth Christmas visit to this picturesque town. Gabi and Joe are likeable characters, and their relationship, although it develops quickly, is based on a connection that is deeper than physical attraction. Gabi centers Joe, and he helps her spread her wings. They offer each other respect and acceptance without imposing expectations. Of course, for Gabi, Joe’s welcoming family is a plus. Fans of the series will enjoy the appearance of characters from other books in the series, and even readers who cannot remember them all (I could not) will doubtless enjoy the warmth and holiday cheer that define the interactions of family and friends. I thought Gabi and Joe’s baking Kismet cookies with his daughter was a wonderful touch.

Some may find that conflicts, real and potential, are resolved with too little angst and anguish, but many will be willing to accept that Twilight and Christmas have worked their magic and given characters their hearts’ desire and readers a heartwarming story that is perfect for the holiday. If you are looking for another Christmas reading treat, I recommend this one.

 ~Janga


I’ll Be Home for Christmas
A Twilight, Texas Novel
By Lori Wilde
Avon Romance
October 27th, 2015
Mass-Market ISBN: 9780062311412 * $7.99
E-ISBN 9780062311429 * $5.99


About the Book
Nothing says Christmas like New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde and Twilight, TX, and now Lori returns to Twilight for a brand new heartwarming holiday tale. The matchmaking members of the Cookie Club are up to their old tricks again!

Christmas in Twilight, Texas, is all merriment and mistletoe. The Cookie Club is whipping up their most festive sweets, the townspeople are scrambling to get their holiday shopping done, and Joe-a hometown guy with a restless heart-is dreaming about the woman he wants to kiss most…

…And who happens to be staying at his sister’s place over the holidays, while Joe’s sister is away. But Joe isn’t quite sure he wants to be a living Christmas present to runaway law student Gabi Preston.

Joe thinks the sassy sweetheart he nicknames “Trouble” won’t inconvenience anything but his healthy sex drive. But when he discovers the reasons Gabi escaped from her life, he aches to give her everything she’s never had. As the magic of the season draws them together, the gift of love is the only one worth giving…

Purchase Here:
I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS


Connect with Lori Wilde



a Rafflecopter giveaway

10 comments:

  1. This sounds like a delightful story and I would love to read it. Isn't the cover gorgeous? Thank you for this super generous giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds good - I've enjoyed her books. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Lori Wilde and look forward to each new book!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for stopping by, everyone! I'm on my way home from Florida. Will check in when I get there.

    ReplyDelete
  5. See, I love IAWL, so this story is probably right up my alley. :) Will have to read. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love reading Lori Wilde and Christmas books. Great giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love Lori's books and this one is on its way to me.
    ladbookfan

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love Lori's books and would love to read this. Thank you for this giveaway chance.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  9. A trip back to Twilight, TX or anywhere with Lori Wild is always enjoyable, I look forward to reading this.

    ReplyDelete