A wonderful story about healing, love, loss, horses, and of course Christmas!

One of my many (well 23) novella/books with Christmas + romance I got in December! Didn’t write a review for most, but this one? I had to write one!

Meet Holly (yes the perfect name for a book like this) who is returning home to her hometown for Christmas. She hasn’t had the easiest two years as her husband died and she is now trying to get her life back. To find some glimmer. Though… she needs a little push. Because Holly is still worried on going on with her life. She worries she does wrong to her husband. Thankfully, she got the help of her therapist (who gave her a list of things to do) and her cousin. Her cousin especially will be making sure that Holly does the things on her list and she is also there for her to talk to. I really felt for Holly. You could see that she wanted to do the things, but also at the same time just wanted to stay hidden. Curl up. I wanted to give her a big hug. Since I couldn’t do that, I was just rooting for her. Hoping that she would be able to find love again. To find something that makes her happy again.

I loved that she went to face her fears, starting with horses. Because her husband was a cowboy and did rodeo stuff and things went wrong.

And from that moment the book took a wonderful turn, because Holly meets Levi (for reals my favourite name) and she starts to feel things again. Yes, I agree it was a bit fast and a bit hurried, but then again, I didn’t mind. I was just happy that after two years of hiding from the world and losing all, she was opening up again, feeling a spark again, feeling attraction for someone. I did love that she set her boundaries. Yes, she wanted this and more, but she also was wondering herself if it wasn’t too soon. If it wasn’t too much. I just wanted to tell her to go for it. Levi seemed a real sweet guy who really cares about her.

And I was happy we also got Levi’s POV and learned that these two knew each other. OK, well, not that long, and it was just one Truth or Dare kiss they shared. But it counts! It does! Ha! I really loved that we got little bits of Levi’s POV, see what he thought about Holly and how he also was very much willing to take it slow, if she wanted that. Which I just found sweet. He was clearly hot and bothered (which made me laugh as he went through statistics to clear his mind, and um, other parts), he was clearly attracted, but he gave Holly the room and the space.

There are some sexy scenes in this short novella, and again, maybe a bit hurried/rushed, but also again, GO HOLLY! So happy that she was finally able to wake up from the darkness.

I loved that this took place during Christmas! It just made the setting more swoony and fun~

All in all? I loved this one. I was just rooting for both characters, especially Holly of course. It was such a sweet read about finding that glimmer of light again. Of learning that it is OK to move on. That you can still love your husband but that you don’t need to throw away your life just because he died. I would recommend it.