It Happened One Christmas by Leslie Kelly

It Happened One Christmas

by Leslie Kelly

Publisher: Harlequin

Published November 15th 2011
ISBN: 0373796587 

Six years ago, Ross Mitchell and Lucy Fleming shared a hot holiday weekend in Manhattan, back when he was just a hard-bodied guy in a tool belt and she was an impulsive photography student.
Fast-forward a few Decembers: Ross and Lucy meet again, by chance, at his office Christmas party. And when they find themselves alone and snowed in after hours, it's not long before they're making their own body heat—again. Only this time, the sex is better than ever!
But is it just another holiday romp between the sheets? Or will Lucy and Ross finally get to keep what they really want this year—each other!

My Thoughts:

Ok, I admit, I am a Harlequin Blaze junkie, I need my fix every month and if the book is by Leslie Kelly all the better!! Not only is her latest HQ Blaze a Christmas tale, the storyline is about one of my favorite themes- soul mates, separated by circumstances and brought back together by fate. The timing was off the first time around, with a chance encounter six years later, can these two find love the second time around?

It can be tricky for a writer to blend the past with the present, it needs to be seamless to the reader so they don't feel disconnected with the characters and are unable to keep up with the storyline. What worked for me? ~ how Leslie Kelly alternated the chapters between the past and the present. By using this method, the characters were well developed, as though reading about them they were more realistic. 



I like the writing style of Leslie Kelly, within the first few paragraphs I was hooked. She has a way of writing that I feel an immediate connection with the characters. This book is no exception, the first few pages had me laughing, who hasn’t thought about dismembering a body part of the opposite sex? And, if you’re looking for the right tool for the job, who better to help you out then a gorgeous carpenter.

There is an immediate connection between Lucy and Ross. It is Christmas 2005, Lucy has her reasons why she avoids Christmas, and Ross is staking his independence from his family. Just as fate brings them together to spend the Christmas weekend together, it tears them apart when an unexpected call brings the weekend to an abrupt halt and their romance to an end.

Now six years to the date, destiny brings them back together. Ross’s feelings has never changed but can he convince Luce they deserve a second chance? Thanks to a forgetful Lucy and a winter snowstorm, they both get snowed in, which gives Ross the weekend to change her mind and her heart.

As with any Leslie Kelly’s book, she provides searing hot sex scenes, my Kindle was burning!!! I found myself tearing up and laughing out loud. It is a wonderful story for everyone who believes in second chances and what better time of the year to believe it's possible, then Christmas time!!


My Rating:

             

Author:

A three-time RWA RITA Award nominee, nine-time Romantic Times Award nominee and 2006 RT Award winner, Leslie Kelly has become known for her delightful characters, sparkling dialogue, and outrageous humor. Since the publication of her first book in 1999, Leslie has gone on to pen more than thirty sassy, sexy romances for Harlequin Temptation, Blaze, and HQN.
Leslie lives in Maryland with her hubby Bruce--her real-life romance hero--their three daughters and two spoiled-rotten dogs.