Series: Highland, Georgia, #3
Traits & Tropes: friends to lovers, hidden identity
Genre/Setting: Contemporary
Publication Date: 09.29.20
Heat Level: 2/5
Rating: 3.5/5
Since his parents left to travel the country, Holt Pierson has been left to manage the family farm, his eventual inheritance, on his own. He’s always been content with following the expected path, but lately he’s been inescapably lonely with no one to share his life with.
Having just left her band, Claire Smythe has decided Highland, Georgia, is the perfect place to disappear. She needs time to figure things out and between the small town and her assumed name, she should be safe from her family finding her. But when Claire meets Holt, she finds herself wanting to answer his curious questions honestly. As Holt brings Claire out of her shell, she begins to find a place in the small town, but she has a duty of her own to see to and can’t stay in Highland forever, no matter how strong her feelings for Holt have become.
I have enjoyed Holt as a side character in the previous two books in this series and was greatly looking forward to his story. The problem is that this is definitely more Claire’s story than Holt’s. Claire’s poor little rich girl angle and ridiculous hiding and flightiness just got old for me very quickly and made her extremely unlikable for me. I wanted to shake some sense into her, and she didn’t start to grow on me until about the last 10% of the book. Also, the intimate scenes here were very vague and glossed over, and since that physical connection was such a key element in the development of the relationship between Claire and Holt, I feel like that short-changed them a bit and took away some of their believability as a couple. Given how closed off Claire was, this seems like a missed opportunity to show them opening up to each other. Claire’s situation would’ve been easily solved with some communication, but she spent nearly the entire book running. I thought Holt deserved better and even though Claire shaped up for him in the end, it still felt a little too much like a happily for now ending. Perhaps that means this series isn’t quite finished but who knows. I did enjoy this one overall and found it cute, but Holt and the general Christmas atmosphere definitely carried it for me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advanced review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3007024524
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