She’s the marine safety coordinator with strict protocols and stricter walls around her heart.  He’s the reformed rebel seeking redemption and a second chance at the only place that ever felt like home.

Six years ago, Reef Navarro’s carelessness caused a marina fire that nearly destroyed Felicity Kelsey’s career. Now the committee has assigned them as co-judges for the Sand Sculpture Nativity Competition—ten weeks of forced proximity through Christmas Eve.

Coordination meetings twice a week. Joint inspections of elaborate sand sculptures. Christmas Light Boat Parade preparations. Working together while the entire town watches with opinions they don’t bother hiding. Three months of professional antagonism transforms into witty banter, honest conversations, and the terrifying realization that opposites don’t just attract—they balance.

But when his dream career opportunity requires him to leave, miscommunication leads to a devastating breakup. Only by facing their deepest fears—his need to prove he deserves happiness, her terror of being abandoned—can they find their way back to each other.

Titles in the Sandy Claus Bay series include:  Christmas at Sandy Claus Bay ~ Starlight at Sandy Claus Bay ~ Moonlight at Sandy Claus Bay

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

Title:  Starlight at Sandy Claus Bay
Series:  Sandy Claus Bay  #2
Author:  Roxy Winterfield
Published:  December 28, 2025
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Starlight at Sandy Claus Bay is the second title in the Sandy Claus Bay series, forcing two people with serious past issues to work together on a major town event.  Neither is the least bit excited about this co-judging of the Sand Sculpture Nativity Competition.  The town collectively knows what happened between Felicity and Reef six years ago, and they are definitely watching this tension-filled drama unfold… with, of course, opinions.  Also, neither Felicity nor Reef expected their opinions of each other to change, or that the people they are today could possibly get beyond what happened in the past.  They might have a chance at forever, but rocky roads still lie ahead before that can happen.

I enjoyed Starlight at Sandy Bay.  I’ll definitely be going back for the rest of this series.  Felicity and Reef have some mountains to climb in this forced-proximity romance, and it won’t be easy to judge this event with what happened between them.  Yet I liked watching opinions change, walls tumble, and difficult choices get made.  Their story is well-written, emotional, with wit and an edge throughout.  If that sounds like your kind of Christmas Romance, then you’d enjoy Starlight at Sandy Claus Bay.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. I chose to leave a review with my personal opinion of this book.*

**I’m grateful to authors who put their work into Kindle Unlimited (no matter how long that run may be).  My book budget only stretches so far, and KU lets me read more of the amazing stories these authors offer.

This title is available on Amazon