Book Review: Snow Angel Cove by RaeAnne Thayne

I am pleased to recommend this as a delightful, character driven, sweet romance.

Snow Angel Cove
by RaeAnne Thayne

• File Size: 475 KB
• Print Length: 379 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0373779070
• Publisher: Harlequin HQN (October 28, 2014)
• ASIN: B00K9ZWH7K

Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: November 1, 2014
New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne welcomes you to Haven Point, a small town full of big surprises that are both merry and bright.
Nothing short of a miracle can restore Eliza Hayward's Christmas cheer. The job she pinned her dreams on has gone up in smoke—literally—and now she's stuck in an unfamiliar, if breathtaking, small town. Precariously close to being destitute, Eliza needs a hero, but she's not expecting one who almost runs her down with his car!
Rescuing Eliza is pure instinct for tech genius Aidan Caine. At first, putting the renovation of his lakeside guest lodge in Eliza's hands assuages his guilt—until he sees how quickly he could fall for her. Having focused solely on his business for years, he never knew what his life was missing before Eliza, but now he's willing to risk his heart on a yuletide romance that could lead to forever.

Review:
Eliza is a widow with an adorable 5 year old daughter, Maddie. Eliza closed her apartment in Boise to take a new job as manager of the Haven Point Inn in a small town. They arrive in town to discover the Inn burning down. Eliza is short on funds and has no place to go. To make a difficult day worse, Eliza is bumped in the cross walk by a car sliding off an ice patch. The driver of the car is the very handsome Aidan Caine who has recently purchased half of the town Eliza has a past reason to dislike the billionaire “Geek God” and some of the local merchants aren’t very happy with him either.

Aidan offers Eliza a temporary job as a housekeeper, organizer to prepare his new lakeside lodge for the Christmas visit of his family which consists of about 25 people: father, stepmother, siblings with spouses and children plus dogs. Eliza wouldn’t accept charity but this is a job offer too good to pass up for work she can do while sending resumes for new jobs.

Everyone loves Naddie even before they learn she has health issues. Maddie and Eliza manage to pull the intense, workaholic Aidan out of his office for some moments of fun. As Eliza and Aidan stay up late they share friendship and secrets. Aidan has his own reasons for taking time off from work and gathering his family together for a visit. When he discovers Eliza’s secret it sends him off to hide in his office working, even as his large, warm family arrives and begins their festivities.

Aidan has never slowed down enough to think about a wife and children. But now Eliza and Maddie have him seeing a side of life he has been missing. Aidan is struck by Eliza’s effectiveness, charm, devotion and patience. Although Eliza could easily fall for Aidan she is reluctant to lose her heart to another man who will put his work before family. Can these two recognize the gifts they could share before the holidays are over and Eliza leaves?

This is a character driven story set in a lovely small town setting. The primary characters, including Maddie, are well developed and their connection and growing friendship are delightful. The secondary characters, townsfolk and Aidan’s family, are fun too.

I have enjoyed other stories by Ms. Thayne and I like the easy flow and warm charm of her stories. I found this to be an easy, charming and engaging read. This may be presented as a small town romance but it is really bigger than that. This read very comfortably as a stand alone as I have not read any other stories in this series. And you wouldn't have to save this for Christmas as it could warm you anytime of the year. I highly recommend this as a very sweet, fun read to those who enjoy contemporary romance.

This is my last NetGalley selection from 2014. This qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge, TBR Double Dare, and winter COYER.