At least it's supposed to be. For Libby Leeds, however, the holiday season is just another reminder of things she'd rather forget. When she left Sanctuary Island as an orphaned child, she never thought she'd go back except in her dreams, dreams she's kept alive by writing monthly column of her fictional small-town life, until her publisher sends her back home for the holidays.
Owen Shepard is a fallen hero, wounded in action rescuing three of his fellow soldiers, but after a whirlwind of media attention, all this charismatic Army Ranger wants is to get back on his feet and make it to Sanctuary Island to be with his daughter in time for Christmas. What he didn't expect was to be put on a crash course with a columnist hiding her past. Will the magic of Sanctuary Island at Christmastime allow them to find healing together?
MY REVIEW:
Once again Lilly Everett has written a
book that tugs at your heart strings and right before Christmas.
This book revolves around Libby Leeds
(Elizabeth) who writes a blog that is her writings of fiction. On what it would be like to have loving
family once again who lived back on Sanctuary Island like she did when she was
a young girl. She would cook the
wonderful home cook meals from scratch she knew she had dreamt about.
You see back when Libby was an eight years
old her parents were in a terrible car accident that killed them both. Rather than she be left there to be raised
under the uncaring had of her grandfather.
Her dad’s brother Ray took her to Queens to raiser her himself never to
return to Sanctuary Island again.
This
is why when blog started being read by so many people and was noticed that her
boss Hugo Downing asked her to write for them she couldn’t refuse. But it wasn’t just for herself. You see Uncle Ray was becoming more and more
ill with Alzheimer’s and started needing 24 hour care and her apartment was
just too small.
Her lie was now coming to bite her in the
rear. Hugo Downing calls to tell her a
Sanctuary Island Army Ranger Hero was coming home after being in Afghanistan
and being injured. Sergeant Owen
Shepard, as she listens to her bosses booming voice over the phone she and his
family will be going to have Christmas dinner with her and her husband. Yeah! That
was another snag she didn’t have a husband either. Hell she hadn’t had a boyfriend in years, 4
at least.
She was in a panic and said she couldn’t
do it. But Downing’s said she could and
would. So she had to tell the
truth. So did he, he had already told
everyone in a newsletter. She had to
tell all of it but what would happen?
She can’t cook, no husband, and she doesn’t live on the island. He asked how she picked that place. She said she once lived there before her
parents were killed. He asked if she had
any family still there she said yes, a grandfather, he said get it done that
she had two weeks to make it work. Or
you go to JAIL FOR FRAUD!
She swallows her pride calls her
grandfather. He pays for her flight
out. As she’s on the ferry she bangs
into a man with her suit case. No really
she bangs into him. To her surprise it’s
Owen Shepard. She offers him a seat by
her since the ferry is packed. Right
away there’s a connection.
Owen is taken aback because he finds
himself spilling his guts to her. No to
mention he is oddly attracted to her.
She is cute, nice and she babbles but she is very genuine and he needs
that in his life. She’s real and she
doesn’t hold back she’s got a backbone too.
They exchange first names and just before
he gets there he explains he has a daughter her never met and that he agreed to
do this Perfect Christmas for her with this online magazine. When she realizes he doesn’t get who she is
she tries to tell him but he’s so excited about seeing his daughter and
introducing Libby to her. When they get
off no one is there for either of them but it is busy due to a festival. When a guy comes out of nowhere coming right
at her, Owen’s instincts has him positioning himself in front of her, but she
just seem of center with his arrival. When
he calls out her name and hugs her and she is stiff for a moment he sees that.
The guy that picks her up just says, “Follow
my lead.”
This was a very good story with a lot of
twist and turns. The characters were
interesting to say the least. I love
military stories. This one didn’t
disappoint at all. The mishaps to make
this whole thing come about was just too funny.
I give this book 5 stars.
Provided by Netgalley.com.
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