Title:  Happy Ever After in Christmas
Series:  Christmas, Colorado #7
Author:  Debbie Mason
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  June 28, 2016
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing – Forever
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

As her thirtieth birthday approaches, deputy Jill Flaherty decides it’s time to live a little. When she walks into Sawyer Anderson’s bar in her sexiest dress, she’s not thinking that he’s her brother’s best friend or about the many women he dated during his years as a pro hockey player. All she’s thinking is that it’s finally time to confess to her longtime crush how she truly feels.

Sawyer is done being a player on and off the ice. Yet no one in the small town of Christmas seems to believe he’s ready to settle down, not Jill, and certainly not Jack, who is determined to keep Sawyer from breaking his little sister’s heart. But as Sawyer and Jill’s relationship heats up, can he prove that he’s her happy ever after?

Read on for my thoughts on Happy Ever After in Christmas.  No true spoilers, promise.

Let’s return once again to Christmas, Colorado – a small town where it seems everyone knows your business but everyone also has your back… for the most part.  A town full of charm, friends, family and that special, inexpiable draw to a small town with all it’s ups and downs.

Jill Flaherty has reached the point in her life where she has to make a decision, once and for all.  Either go after Sawyer Anderson full throttle and ignore the consequences or simply give up on her dream, the one where Sawyer loves her back as much as she loves him.  As Jill is nearing that pivotal birthday of 30 she simply wants what her friends and family have found – that one person who think the moon and sun rises on her, someone who loves her for exactly who she is and wants to make a life with her.  For Jill that person has always been Sawyer, her brother Jack’s best friend.  Now she strongly suspects that over the years Jack as warned Sawyer off of getting involved with her (annoying brothers) – but it’s time to confess all and hope that that sparkle she sometimes sees in Sawyer’s eyes means his interest is right up there with her’s.

Sawyer is ready to leave that playboy reputation behind and settle down.  Unfortunately, the small town of Christmas has a long memory and an even stronger opinion about his ability to be a one woman man.  So when Jill walks into the bar, dressed to entice and hunting specifically for him – he takes notice.  He’s also reminded that Jill is his best friend’s little sister and should be off limits… but, the time for worrying about his best friend’s opinion are gone out the window when Jill is making his own dreams seem possible.

Happy Ever After in Christmas brings us Sawyer and Jill’s romance.  And if any couple deserves a happy ever after it’s these two.  But they are going to have a very rough road before they even get close to that happy ending.  Misunderstandings, miscommunication, heartache, over protective brothers, and a woman determined to grab Sawyer for herself, even though she doesn’t love him.  With twists and turns, stumbling blocks and even them getting in their own way of happiness we are taken along this rocky journey with two people who should be together – if only everyone else would just get out of their way.

I really hope at some point we get to learn Brandi’s story.  With the right man in her life, I believe she could be an amazing character.  It was such fun to run into couples from the previous books.  With this particular story, you really are given enough interaction with those previous couples that you do not have to have read their stories to accept their place in Happy Ever After in Christmas.  But, truth be told, they might just interest you enough to go check out their stories in the Christmas, Colorado series.

I enjoyed my time spent with Jill and Sawyer and I believe you would too.  Happy Ever After in Christmas is a solid story, with interesting characters and at times the secondary characters steal the spotlight.  *grin*  If you love romance then this is one of those stories that should be on your reading list.

*I received an e-ARC of Happy Ever After in Christmas from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing – Forever and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Available in paperback, audio and for the Kindle