3.25 stars

This is the first book of this author for me and it was pretty okay.

I was hovering around 4 stars and even more when the book began. What made me reduce the rating was the overuse of adverbs and the kind of awkward writing of sex scenes (two in succession somewhere around 75% of the book). What irked me was that the author's discomfort at writing them showed. A published book shouldn't have that.
The story has enough humor and Christmas to keep it happy and light despite the sad backstory of our hero. Some characters are pretty interesting and entertaining (I like characters with quirks).
Another thing I disliked was that the heroine's engagement with a man 20 years her senior wasn't even explained. The man's pathetic, and going by the spunk the heroine has, I see no reason for her to even get engaged to him. The explanation isn't satisfactory.
But I do like how the characters don't immediately jump into the bed. Instead, there is steady progress in the relationship and hence the 3.25 stars.