Old Acquaintance, Annabelle Jacobs

When a hottie moves in next door, Sam gets curious.  But curiosity may well have killed the cat here, because not only does Sam dislike cats, of which his hot new neighbor seems to have, but that same hottie is also the cocky kid from high school that brutally put his then-best friend in the hospital.  After a few awkward coincidental meet-ups it's looking as if Charles isn't the same as he was in high school and might be more than platonically interested in Sam.  If Sam can't let go of his grudge he might ruin the best thing to come into his life and miss out on the partner of his dreams.

The premise was a cute idea of second-chances and happy futures and both men had a lot of potential.  Sam was cute but more frustrating than anything because of a grudge he held onto simply because he was stubbornly unwilling to address the situation, look at things objectively, and because he just felt quite immature.  There were interesting things about him but, for the life of me, I can't actually remember them...and that's a sign right there, isn't it?  Charles was much more interesting from the start and I couldn't wait for Sam's parts to be over to get back to Charles' POV.

As for their conflict, the issue was built up quite a bit but the moment of reckoning came and went very quickly.  I have mixed feelings about that.  It was too "flash in the pan" and yet I truly appreciated the mature way they looked back on the moment to realize that there are far more important things at stake.  There was a lot of mundane detail that dragged the story out and slowed the flow.  It took way too long for Sam and Charlie to getting together and then their reconciliation and epilogue were quite anticlimactic.  Some of the side characters pulled focus as well and that's not really what you want in a short story like this one.   The moments of sweetness, Storm, and Charlie were the parts to recommend, however, and it wasn't a bad read at all, it just stayed a nice, pleasant story rather than charming or captivating or full of holiday warmth.

*$2.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU!