Julia had been the daughter of an Embassador so she was never in one place very long growing up. Nick on the other hand stuck in there and wished he was any place but Holiday Harbor.
Julia had always been in the spotlight and wanted a change. So she settled in Holiday Harbor and opened a toy store. She had just been hurt very badly by her ex. So she wanted a nice small town and a new start where no one treated her special because of who her parents are.
Nick is all business. In fact, he was not going to stay in Holiday Harbor, but the whether conditions caused the airlines to cancel flights for a few days and Nick had no choice. They had over five feet of snow!
Nick and Julia were familiar with one and other. Nick, who runs an online news magazine, had heard about Julia. Not to mention Julia had made friends with Nick's sister and their family just by coincidence. Julia knew Nick had a reputation for being a kind of bad boy. Nick is very gruff and he also never comes to see his family. And when you look in his eyes, there is no sparkle.
Nick an Julia met when Nick came to her toy store. She was not impressed by his expensive clothes and shoes. And he felt a chilly vibe coming from her.
The cutest thing happens next. Julia runs a Christmas tree for poor children who's parents may not be able to afford to buy them anything. So the children get to write what they want for Christmas in a snowflake and stick it on the tree. So Nick agreed to pick a name and buy a present. He happens to pick his nieces request which states simply that she wanted Uncle Nick home for Christmas.
Julie love the Holidays so very much. And Nick did not seem to care at all. Nick was only supposed to be back in town for a day.
Nick has not been home for many years because he cannot face what he has been running from his whole life. The fact that he could not forgive himself for thinking he killed his older brother when his brother drowned one day with the two boys and their dad in the boat. And thinking about how mad his dad still is at him. His father is also the local preacher and as a boy, Nick sat through so many homilies of Hell and fire and brimstone, and it seemed to be directed just at Nick. His dad does not really talk to him. Nick believes that God no longer cares about him. Where as Julie prays a lot and goes to church every week.
Running a company takes a lot of time. But because Nick got stuck originally for Thanksgiving, he started to spend time with his niece. She gets him to do everything he does not want to like decorate for Christmas, play the piano, etc. She starts to chip away at that wall that has put up around himself since his brother's death.
Bur Julia is doing a pretty good job of that herself. In fact she prays to God that she can intervene and bring Nick and his dad back together.
Nick decided since there has been a lot of rumor and gossip, that he could write a story on Julia to explain her side of things. In his company Nick does not do the writing anymore. He owns the company so he does not have to. But he misses it and wants everyone to know how Julia grew up and what has happened to her since and why she settled down in his town. But Julie just wants a place to call home. And this town is it.
So as Nick begins the interview, he winds up helping Julia at the store, getting coffee for her, and he cannot seem to say no even when Julia insists he go to his family functions, and even, church.
This story has very likable characters and you become invested in them. Julie is trying to settle down in a new town and forget about all the bad that has happened. Nick is trying terribly to just get a flight out of his boyhood town.
You see it come very slowly but Nick and Julia start to have feelings for each other. The book takes you on a great journey that is neither in your face with to much sappy romance, nor is it too erotic. It is just about perfect pacing of how these two start to develop feelings toward each other.
What do they do? Nick has a hard time expressing himself. And Julie swears she will never let a man hurt her again.
But we see as the story progresses that Julia breaks down Nick's s emotional wall and Nick behaves differently and shows a whole other side of himself.
So do Nick and his father renew their relationship? Does Julia get to stay where she is, and where she feels most is home? Does Nick go back to his big town and his big job leaving his family behind again?
Pick of a copy of this book and find out. I can say honestly the meat of the story if you will is both Nick and Julia start out very stifled and they, through interacting with each other, so form feelings for each other. But it is done so well. You will fall in love with Nick and Julie.
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