Summer of Love Week 5: Snowflakes and Holly by Jae Dawson

Each week Stephanie, Lenore and I will be featuring a Summer of Love review on our blogs.  If you missed Stephanie’s post from Monday, check it out at Once Upon a Chapter.  If you missed Lenore’s post from Tuesday, check it out at Celebrity Readers.

Happy Thursday y’all! Today is day 4 of our Christmas in July feature and also falls on week five of Summer of Love. Snowflakes and Holly by Jae Dawson is a sweet and often steamy small town holiday romance that just came out this month. I really enjoyed this one, reading it in one sitting, and highly recommend it. Check out the rest of our week five spots:

• On Tuesday, Lenore @ Celebrity Readers featured some holiday reads and reviewed Stranded in the Woods and Stranded for Christmas by Noelle Adams.
• Important Note: Stephanie, Lenore and I bit off a little more than we could chew when we set up the event. As such, we are moving everything back a week. Zombie Friday will take place next week instead of as planned tomorrow. All dates have been updated in the original post 😉

Week 6 begins Monday on Once Upon a Chapter.

Snowflakes and Holly by Jae Dawson
Series: A Hartwood Holiday Romance #3
Published by MoonTree Books on 2021-07-09
Length: 182 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2021 New Release Challenge, 2021 Summer of Love, COYER 2021

Will a former Olympic gold medalist and a sassy physical therapist find themselves buried in a blizzard of romantic mishaps in this small town Christmas romance?

Physical therapist Holly Maryn likes to play it safe. Losing her father in a tragic mountaineering accident left her extra careful in all areas of life—so careful, that her love life is frozen solid. But she’s content to weather another Christmas season buried in a winter wonderland of work, warmed by the laughter of her best girlfriends.

Former Olympic snowboarder Blake Bellows lives life on the edge. Or at least, he did until a degenerative bone disease stole his left leg and, with it, his career. Still, he's determined to climb his way back to the top of the athletic world, whatever the cost. But his dream is thrown into jeopardy when a wild run down the mountain tangles him in the skis and life of a golden-haired beauty.

An infuriatingly honest woman he never wants to see again.

And yet, she proves to be the one person equally as determined to see him recover.

Holly and Blake find common ground and overcome their fears together in this twinkling, mistletoe-clad tale of hope and perseverance.

Snowflakes and Holly by Jae Dawson is a sweet, small-town holiday romance about two people facing their fears and overcoming grief. I adored this one, reading it in one sitting. The town and the main couple are relatable and believable. I found myself rooting for a good outcome early on. 

Holly is a broken character, still struggling with PTSD five years after the death of her father. Once a risk-taker, now Holly is cautious and living her life in a bubble, afraid to do the things that once brought her so much joy. I ached for Holly. Her heartbreak, even five years later, is a festering wound that will not go away. Grief, true honest grief, is like that though, and I love how the author presented it through Holly. 

Blake is a former gold-medal winning Olympian snowboarder who lost not only his leg but his career to cancer. Now with his cancer beaten, he’s looking to start a new life, but he’s drifting. He doesn’t know what he wants. His entire life up to his cancer was competing and being a professional athlete. When his friend Finn throws him a lifeline as a trainer at his gym, Blake jumps on it. I understood Blake more than I thought I would. I hurt for him and the choices laid out for him. It’s not easy to shift your dreams and adjust to a new way of life. 

When he, quite literally, runs into Holly on the slopes, his life alters yet again, and it takes her with him. He thinks he won’t see her again, but he’s wrong. His PT is going on maternity leave, leaving her partner in charge of his care. Her partner happens to be Holly. I love the dynamic and tension between these two. Their banter and interactions drive the book. I love that he challenges her outside her comfort zone and that she helps him reexamine his life. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Snowflakes and Holly. Holly and Blake were a fun couple, both sweet and steamy. If you enjoy holiday romance and small towns, I highly recommend it.

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