Monique's Reviews > Three Nights before Christmas

This book was received free via Netgalley for an honest review. My review is below.

OK - I admit it. I cried a bit over this story, in a totally good way. It didn't blow me away, but it was more than solid in its emotional strength. I'd say this year's crop of Christmas stories out of the Montana Born books got started with a winner.

Lacey has just gotten out of prison, three years for drug dealing. It's been a hard road, especially for a woman who swears she's not a drug dealer. But she's home now and trying to make the best of it. I like the subtle cues that indicate stress now that she is out. They add a realism to it that belies the more rose-tinted portions that come later. She's nervous and self-conscious, then angry and belligerent. She betrays her fears and then runs. I thought she was a compelling character overall. I adored her brother just for being himself and being there for her, a strong bulwark, even if a slightly bitter one.

Austin was more of a cipher. He's straight-laced and proud of it it. He's not a goody-goody, but he definitely is a straight arrow and he has a sense that he is always right that takes some hard knocks in this book. He was Lacey's arresting officer and his strong sense that she is smart and her fellow members of the drug ring are dumb led to some assumptions. He's not happy that Lacey is out of prison; that's for sure. But he shows an incredible amount of love and guilt, especially when it comes to Josh Dekker, whose accident happened on his watch (at least that's how he sees it).

Unfortunately for Austin, that means he needs to spend more time with Lacey, the same Lacey who is trying to avoid him. She's the train expert and he needs to restore a locomotive. And so, they are thrown together. And Austin sees a completely different side to Lacey, a side he likes - a lot. The time spent together rapidly becomes time spent being intimate and then time spent living together temporarily. And then the hitch in the road you are waiting for hits. Because Lacey has a real attorney and her ex-boyfriend the drug dealer who perjured himself against her at her trial has recanted. Now Austin has to decide what he believes.

A lot of the law enforcement stuff in this book is painted in a much rosier light than reality. It's a little hard to swallow but the "Christmas miracle" softens some of that blow. I liked the story and I like the author. I'd just have liked a bit more realism on that front. The tie-in for Lacey's brother's book was obvious and I'm curious about it as well.