Lenore Kosinski's Reviews > Three Nights before Christmas

3.5 stars -- After reading His Christmas Gift by Sarah Mayberry, I knew I wanted to read the companion story about Sawyer's sister, Lacey. And it was a steamy, quick holiday read! I loved the premise of the book -- an ex-con (if wrongly convicted) being released after 3 years in prison, and her developing relationship with one of the officers who helped put her away. I had a bit of a problem with how their relationship started -- I guess b/c Lacey was already having hot sweaty dreams about Austin practically right from the start, and I just found it hard to believe that lust could overcome the circumstances surrounding who they are to each other. But then again, my feelings for a person always influence how attracted I am to them. And unless I'm remembering wrong (I feel like I'm getting a cold, so I'm not trusting my brain right now), the way he described her wasn't all that attractive either.

So yeah, the start of their relationship was a bit harder to believe. Once we got into them working on the train though, things started to pick up. I still never felt completely invested, but I can't quite figure out why. On the other hand I completely devoured the book, so I'm a bit confused about how I actually felt in the end (hence the middling rating).

Lacey was an intriguing heroine -- I really enjoyed how real her emotions were with coming to grips with being out of prison again. She could sometimes be a bit crass, and I couldn't decide if she made me laugh or cringe sometimes. Austin was harder to get a read on, but what I did learn I liked. And once their romance started to move forward, I enjoyed his sweet feelings for her.

I found the ending to be a bit unbelievable with his testimony...I give it a bit of a pass though, since it's a holiday romance and I'm feeling generous.

All in all, a solid holiday read, it was just missing that extra oomph to push me into loving it.