Her Holiday Prince Charming - Christine Flynn (HSE #2302 - Dec 2013)

Series: Hunt for Cinderella (Book 10)

Can a single mom and a Scroogelike self-made millionaire find their fairy tale for Christmas? 

All Rory Linfield wants is to give her little boy a perfect Christmas. A new job and new home would be nice, too! So when a mysterious benefactor asks her to manage a shop in a picturesque seashore town, she eagerly accepts. The only catch? Her supergruff -- and supersexy! -- new boss.

The last thing bachelor Erik Sullivan needs to deal with is an inexperienced "businesswoman." Especially one whose gentle manner and vulnerable allure awaken feelings he'd rather let lie. No, it would be easier to keep his distance, because Rory and her son remind him all too much of things he once wanted, but couldn't have. But then, this holiday season seems to be full of surprises…perhaps even a family under his tree?

Good book.  Rory is the next young woman up to be helped by Cornelia Hunt's new foundation "Fairy Godmothers Incorporated".  She is recently widowed and even more recently jobless.  Cornelia offers her a chance to run a small shop with an attached apartment and even provides a mentor to help her get started.  Erik tries to keep his help to business only, but something about Rory and her son make him remember dreams he'd put aside long ago.  

Rory had been very much in love with her husband who was killed by a drunk driver. Her former in-laws had never made her feel welcome and with Curt's death have cut all ties with her completely.  Now all she wants is to give her son Tyler a perfect Christmas, find a job and a place to live.  She's happy to accept the job and home that's offered, but she's not so sure about the mentor.  Erik is the grandson of the former owners, a self-made millionaire, and too sexy for her peace of mind.  She needs his help to learn the business but she doesn't want to depend on him because he'll be gone as soon as she does.  She tries very hard to keep things business like, but Tyler has developed a huge case of hero worship.  Erik's kindness to her son melts her heart and she finds herself starting to care for him far more than is wise.  I loved Rory's determination to stand on her own two feet and move on with her life.  I felt like she went a little overboard by trying to resist almost everything Erik tried to help with that wasn't strictly business related.  It got a little easier for her to accept when it came to Erik and her son, though she worried about what would happen when Erik wasn't around anymore.  I liked the way that she was able to share some of her troubles with Erik and take comfort in what he told her.  She finally realized that she wanted to give him the same sort of support that he gave her, if she could just get him to admit he needed it too.

Erik is a successful businessman who has given up on having the kind of life he had once dreamed of.  He works long hours and keeps himself busy with business related things.  When Cornelia asks him to mentor Rory he isn't too excited about it, but will do his best.  He just wants to be able to move the property so he doesn't have to come back to it and remember the bad parts of his marriage.  He doesn't expect Rory's stubborn independence to be covering a vulnerability she just can't hide.  It doesn't take long before he finds himself looking for reasons to spend more time with her and Tyler.  When an ice storm traps him with the two of them for a few days he falls fast and hard.  I really loved seeing how great he was with Tyler.  He seemed to have just the right touch at making the little boy happy.  He also discovered that he really wanted to make things better for Rory.  I loved his gentle way of getting her to talk about her worries and his attempts to help her without trampling her independence.  I also enjoyed the way he shared his memories of the times he spent there with his grandparents and how she tried to incorporate those memories into her plans for the store.  Being there with her made him remember the good times, but he also had trouble trying to decide just what he felt for Rory.  I loved seeing him realize just what those feelings were and what he did with them was sweet.

Holiday by Design - Patricia Kay (HSE #2296 - Nov 2013)

Series: Hunt for Cinderella (Book 9)

Turning thirty? Time for artist Joanna Spinelli to put her life plan into action! Will true love be on her to-do list?

Joanna Spinelli was determined to make her design dreams finally happen. Getting a show at Marcus Barlow's art gallery was key. Sure, the straitlaced businessman might be just a little too sedate for her taste. But just one look and she could feel herself melt like chocolate….

She was like a fresh breeze to his all-work, no-play life. And though Marcus appreciated her carefree lifestyle, he knew Joanna would have to change to fit into his world. Yet by asking her to become someone she was not, would Marcus lose the things he cherished in her the most? Or would he finally learn to loosen his tie -- and open his heart?

Good book, though I did have a hard time with the hero.  Joanna is ready to take the next step to make her dreams come true.  All she needs is a way to get her designs in front of the public.  Scoring a chance to show her work at Marcus's gallery is just what she needs.  She's not sure how well they'll deal together since he's pretty conservative and she's not, but she'll do her best.  She didn't expect the heat between them and was very sure that getting involved with him would be a mistake.  But Marcus doesn't seem to agree.

I really liked Joanna.  She knows what she wants to do with her designs and she is determined to find a way to do it.  I loved her visit to Marcus's gallery and the way she refused to be intimidated by the snotty manager.  Her excitement when she got his call was fantastic and gave her a nice boost in confidence.  That excitement dimmed a little when she met him because she felt that her sense of style was one that he didn't really approve of.  She wasn't too sure about his suggestion that she pair her designs with his sister's jewelry but was willing to keep an open mind.  That open mind paid off when she and Vanessa had a chance to meet and get to know each other and they discovered that they could work well together.  Joanna was a little disturbed by his disapproving attitude toward his sister.  She also found that there was a lot that she and Marcus did agree on and their attraction kept building.  There were some great scenes of them together when everything went well. I liked the charity dinner that they went to and how Marcus made a point of introducing her to so many people. There were also times when Joanna's insecurities caused her to feel that being with Marcus was not going to end well, especially when she had to deal with his snob of a mother.  I felt really bad for her when inviting Marcus and his sister to spend Thanksgiving with her family didn't go well.  I loved the fact that she stood up for herself and let him know that if he didn't like her the way she was that was his problem not hers.

I spent most of the book wanting to push Marcus into a really cold body of water to wake him up to what a jerk he was.  I felt a little sorry for him because he'd given up his own dreams when his father died and he had to take over the family business.  But he spent way too much time worrying about appearances and trying to control what his brother and sister did.  I did like the way that he used his gallery to help various artists get started and the way that he shut down the manager when she was snotty about Joanna.  He had a good eye for possibilities which is why he wanted to pair up Joanna and Vanessa.  I didn't like the way he treated Vanessa like a child when they were at lunch with Joanna.  Or the way he kept putting down his brother.  What really made me mad about him was the way he admitted his attraction to Joanna, but kept thinking about how he would have to get her to change certain things so that she would properly fit into his life.  When he went with her for Thanksgiving his attitude about her family was terrible.  It served him right when he later made a comment about her tattoo and she told him to take a hike.  It was satisfying when he finally realized what an idiot he was, and his "go big" moment was pretty darn good.