I reviewed the first book of this blog tour, With This Christmas Ring, last Friday. This week it’s time for the second: A Season of You by Emma Douglas, which is part 2 of the Cloud Bay series. I’ve already read and reviewed the first book of the series (which wasn’t Christmas-themed), you can find that review here.
We are back in the lovely Cloud Bay, and back with the Harper family. The second installment is not about big sister Faith, but about little sister Mina. Remember her? In the first book, she is closed off because of everything that has happened to her. She doesn’t really dare to believe in love anymore after the man she married at 18 and loved with all her heart, died a few years later, killed by a drunk driver. Her love interest is Will, who owns the local whiskey distillery together with his brother.
Will has been in love with Mina ever since he first saw her, but since she was married at the time, he kept his distance. When her husband then died because of a drunk driver, he was sure she wouldn’t want to be around him because of his job. But to this day, five years later, he is still in love with her, keeping his feelings buried because nothing will come of it.
It’s Christmastime in the quaint island town of Cloud Bay, where love is always in season…
Will Fraser has believed in love at first sight since the day he first laid eyes on Mina Harper five years ago. There was only one problem: She was happily married. Then, when Mina’s husband was killed by a drunk driver, Will figured she’d want nothing to do with a guy who owns a whiskey distillery. So he’s kept his feelings locked away, knowing that not even a Christmas miracle would be enough to melt Mina’s heart…
Mina believes her days of true love are behind her. Since losing her husband she’s kept to herself, content to do her own painting and stay out of the limelight that comes with her famous family. But when, after a freak accident, Will comes to her rescue, Mina can’t quite get him out of her mind. As curiosity turns into a fling during Cloud Bay’s first Christmas Festival, she finds it harder to convince herself that her feelings for Will are just mistletoe-inspired. Could Mina be ready to lay the past to rest and finally admit that what she really wants for Christmas–and forever–is Will?
I don’t really want to say more, because it might ruin the story for you. It’s a romance, so we all know they will end up with their own happily ever after, but I really liked the way Douglas went about it. Her characters feel so real, even though what they live through is a bit too much for me to believe. Will instantly loves Mina, but Mina needs some time to realize she really cares for Will too. She is very afraid to open her heart again after what happened to her husband and what she has seen in her rockstar family. So when she does finally give in to it, it’s really beautiful. I didn’t always like Mina very much, mostly because of the way she dismisses Will all the time as nothing but a fling. But good thing he hung in there because she more than makes up for it in the end. A great read for a quiet evening by the fire next to the Christmas tree.
Thank you, Meghan and Justine from St. Martin’s Press, for sending me these arcs in exchange for honest reviews.
Happy reading,
Loes M.
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