Review - - Wanted: A Mom for Christmas

Wanted: A Mom for Christmas

By Lee Kilraine

Publisher: Kensington / Lyrical Press

Release Date: November 7, 2017

Reviewed by Janga

  

Hawk Savage has been a single father since the death of his wife Holly seven years earlier. He is devoted to his two children, ten-year-old Heather and eight-year-old Henry Lee, better known as “HL.” Fatherhood was less difficult when they were younger, but with shy, sensitive Heather approaching puberty and insisting that she cannot be the only girl in fourth grade not wearing a bra and livewire HL declaring he is too old for Pokémon cards and footed pajamas but not too old to ask Santa for a mommy, Hawk is stressed. It doesn’t help that he has a headache that could mean he is coming down with the flu that is raging through Climax, NC.

Nora Joy, Olympic silver medalist in beach volleyball and two-time Sports Illustrated cover star, is looking forward to going for the gold when she is sidelined by a rotator cuff injury that could be career-ending. To add a storm of insults to her injury, she finds her boyfriend and best friend/partner in bed together, discovers that her mother/manager has spent all the endorsement money Nora thought was safely invested, and learns that said mother is resigning as Nora’s manager to manage the betraying partner. An eviction notice sets Nora applying for jobs in sixteen states, but things seem hopeless until Rent-A-Mom sends her to Climax, NC, to a motherless family in need of help. Nora is sadly lacking in Mom skills, but she seizes the opportunity anyway.

Climax is Nora’s hometown, and the family she is sent to help is that of her former boyfriend and first lover, Jackson “Hawk” Savage. Fourteen years earlier Nora and Hawk were quite an item, but Hawk has no room for a former love in his life. He never heard of Rent-A-Mom, and he is ready to send Nora packing just as soon as he recovers from the flu and then just as soon as the rest of his fellow cops recover so he can stop working double shifts and then . . .

HL is convinced that Nora is the mommy Santa has in mind for him. Heather is a bit slower to warm up to Nora, but soon the two are bonding over girl stuff. Hawk is falling for her again, body and soul. As for Nora, all three Savages are winning her heart. But Nora can’t believe that she is mother material. It will take a common enemy, Reindeer Games, and love too strong to resist to persuade Nora that she is an essential part of Team Savage now and forever.

This is another funny, sweet Christmas romance that seems designed to be turned into a Hallmark movie. It was also my first book by this author. It is the fifth book in the Cates Brothers series, but I had no problem reading it as a standalone. Nora and Hawk and his children are all appealing characters. Their story often made me laugh and left me misty-eyed a few times. The humor is character-driven, and the interactions among the key characters had a lot of charm. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you are looking for another sentimental, seasonal contemporary romance to add to your TBR stack, this one may be the perfect early Christmas indulgence.