Christmas Lane: Lighthouse Bay Book 1, Amy Aislin

Career goals and yearnings for love, Zach Greenfeld is on the cusp of both...at least he wishes he were.  He's looking for a job that isn't at his family's diner and lasting love, and if that love comes in the form of a super hot older man who happens to be double his age?  All the better.  Maybe he'll get his heart's wish this Christmas.  Holland Stone is charmed by the brightness in Zach, but as an old man he's convinced there can't be anything between them.  Except the busybodies and well-meaning people of their town give Holland and Zach a chance to see they're truly meant for one another, but only if they can survive the storms of various types that sweep into their little town.

I loved Zach's intelligence, problem-solving, his heart, and his maturity.  He tries so hard to take care of everyone and show them they're appreciated and yet there's no one to care for him.  Holland is a nice guy that I liked because of what he gave to Zach.  Not only his heart, but his ability to see the younger man.  They were a good pair minus the jumping to conclusions and miscommunications.  I found both of them together to be sweet and all that is good with Christmas, creativity, and love.

There was a bit of emphasis on Zach's part to avoid sexual intimacy of pretty much all types and, given his experiences, it's understandable.  What I wasn't exactly a fan of was the one sexual experience Zach and Holland have together being off-page and with no discussion of how they resolved Zach's issue with sex.  One sentence saying that things were better than he thought they could be and a few mentions of his desire for intimacy of that nature with Holland just doesn't do the situation justice.  Plus, I just really wanted the steam =].

Overall the story was very sweet from beginning to end and I enjoyed it very much.  Finding where you truly belong and treasuring the heart you're entrusted with, Holland and Zach learn what that means and how far they'll go to keep it.  There are quite a few characters and hints about the difficulties they'll face in their own stories and I'm definitely interested in revisiting Lighthouse Bay for them.  For a sweet and fluffy story full of Christmas Spirit and lots of love, Christmas Lane fulfilled the brief with lots of heart and warm fuzzies to go around.

*$2.99 on Amazon!