With no recourse but to be thrown together to make things work Mackenzie makes the most of Andrew's predicament after a rather disastrous meet-insult instead of a blind date of the meet-cute variety. Coercing a grinch to participate in Christmas activities to save his pride and possible promotion is just icing on the cake for the holiday-loving elf. This is absolutely not a recipe for disaster, is it? More than likely it's the attraction of a forever with their complete opposites that neither of them are willing to admit to...
I have to admit, however, that I was prepared to be annoyed by Mackenzie. Often I find holiday-loving characters go over the top and are the types of people even those of us who love the same holiday go out of our way to avoid. But in the case of Kenzie I found myself drawn to her, her indomitable spirit, her brightness and positivity. She wasn't over the top and she most certainly wasn't annoying or pushy either. Unless it was for the right grump that needed the push.
It was Andrew that I was more annoyed with on occasion though. He was unnecessarily secretive and the justifications were thin and more or less ridiculous. His need for transparency once things started progressing completely mocked his own need for secrecy when the hesitations were his own. But when he began coming out of his shell and reluctantly enjoyed the things Kenzie planned for them, when he started to thaw and find joy through her eyes and revel in her just being her, that was when I joined his team.
The big conflict moment that came wasn't entirely unexpected, but it felt like a juvenile write-in rather than something truly organic to the story. What I will say for the moment was that the circumstances allowed the hurt to be less deep and severe, something that made the big gesture sufficiently appropriate for an apology. The fallout from the moment was hurtful, for sure, but there were other elements that allowed it to not be truly devastating. And then the epilogue was a short, sweet moment that really wrapped things up pretty well for being a quick read overall.
This was far better than I hoped for and has swayed me more in favor of this author, who I haven't read much from. It could have gone the way of formulaic and cliche but it didn't cross that line and I was thoroughly delighted throughout the couple hour read time it took to enjoy Andrew and Mackenzie's story.
*$3.99 on Amazon or FREE on KU
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