when I enter into a Kayley Loring, I'm starting to realize I'm going to get a certain formula. It works great when that is what I'm looking for, so this was quite fun to read. In this book, Cora and Nolan meet in an airport, have a travel 5-night stand and I'm all for the bubble world, so this was a really enjoyable fling to read. Loring seems to have her men chase and her women the reluctant, which again-not always what I want but when you want to read it, but this worked for me.

It was a quick hit of the good stuff-sex, a romantic and loving hero, a devilish child-this heavily centers around the romance at the expense of everything else, but with my patience that was fine. I had a lot of fun reading this, generally, although there were some shifts in scene that were choppy transitions (not sure if that's b/c of the co-authored, or...), and the characterization wasn't super tight. But it was fun. And that's good enough for me. ( )

Funny, romantic and hot!
4 stars

I’m a huge fan of Kayley Loring’s and since pairing up to write with Connor Crais, I’m becoming a big fan of his - and of them together. This book is the third in the Very Holiday series started by just Ms Loring but after the success of the authors’ first collaboration (Decker) the series now belongs to both. Nolan did appear as a very minor character in one or both of the first 2 books in the series (A Very Bossy Christmas and A Very Friendly Valentine's Day) but Cora is new to the series and this book, and the love story of Nolan and Cora, stands completely alone. Having said that, characters from the previous books do pop up and you’ll definitely miss out on in-jokes if you haven’t read the first 2 books. And you totally should, by the way, as they’re awesome!

The book kicks off right in the heat of the action. And that heat is HOT! Cora and Nolan have already met - and married - and are very committed to consummating their union. I’m not really sure I have the words to describe how blisteringly delicious this part of the book was. I have been known to skim through sex scenes if they’re overly long but with this I read. Every. Single. Word. And yes - this book will either make or ruin strawberries for you!

So with that being the start, we then go back in time - but it’s not as linear as all that and by the time we got back to where we started I’d forgotten we weren’t in the present until that time. After that, it’s a straight forward present day story.

Cora was a really lovely lead character and I enjoyed that she started being able to compartmentalise different parts of her life but really saw it all merging after she met and fell for Nolan. Her relationship with Ashton was a delight and, of course, her partnership with Nolan was chock full of sexual chemistry, friendship and love.

Nolan was pretty much my ideal kind of hero - funny but hella smart with it. And he’s cheeky, cocky and definitely a silver-tongued devil. Loved him to pieces. His relationship with Ashton was great - even when they were at odds with each other. And he was the perfect foil for Cora. Buuuut, he was also the reason I had to deduct a star from this book. I admit I’m always wary when a book has a Scottish or Irish character as it could get seriously cringey, seriously fast. Nolan didn’t, thankfully, fall into that category for me (but then I’m not Irish) but there were definite ‘moments’ that didn’t ring true and despite Nolan actually coming from Ireland - he was definitely more American “Irish” than the real thing, IMO.

The writing in this book was full-on hilarious. I laughed so much with the banter, silly jokes and the storyline in general. It was a hoot. I think Connor Crais really complements Kayley’s style and together they are all kinds of hilarious as well as producing writing that’s really easy to read and get lost in.

Having read the first 2 stories in the series, I adored the cameos of Eddie, Declan and their entourages. And I’m seriously hoping Billy Boston is ready for his own story. While the celtic connections are always going to be a sticking point for me, it probably won’t even be a blip on the radar for most readers. I still very much enjoyed the story and I’m certainly not going to forget those opening scenes for a long time to come - and I’m beyond happy with that fact. ( )