3 Stars

Charlotte Holbrook has only grieved her dead husband for five months when she finds herself agreeing to a marriage of convenience with William Vancer. With no money and a young son to care for, she knows she’ll at least have a comfortable home.

William has been jilted too many times and is desperate to find a wife and claim his inheritance. The years of his hard work to establish his business will be in vain if he doesn’t get the money on time.

The couple gets married in December and decides they spend the last twelve days of the month getting to know each other. As the days pass, William cannot help but wish for a marriage more than convenience, while Charlotte is torn between staying loyal to her dead husband and accepting the kind-hearted William into her life.

I’m the kind who likes to read about winter snow and white Christmas when the summer sun is baking me like a brunt cake in an overheated oven. (That’s a lot of alliterations, but sigh!)

The novella is a part of a series and can be read as a standalone. While the story itself works very well, there isn’t enough time or detail to connect with the characters. It feels more like watching a series midway through and winging it by reading the synopsis online.

I did enjoy reading about the snow, Christmas tree, and cold winter. The storyline moves in 8x speed but was a good one-time read nevertheless. If only there was an epilogue!

I think I’ll check out the rest of the series someday. The writing is easy to read. The books should make good reads between heavy ones.