PostsBook Review: Secret Santa Baby by Robin Covington
Author: Robin Covington
Release Date: 20 December 2012
Number of pages: 54 pages
Source: ebook copy provided by the publisher for review
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author's website, , Barnes and Noble, Read an excerpt
Grade: 4.5 stars
Novellus superbus!
Goodreads appetizer: Tessa Stoneman hasn’t been able to get long-time friend and business partner Nicholas Boone out of her head since they shared a single kiss in college. Even when she dated Nicholas’s best friend. Now that she’s giving up her position at GameNerdz to strike out on her own—and now that she’s single—maybe it’s the right time to see if there’s still something between them.
Nicholas knows once Tessa leaves the company she helped found, they might drift apart. Before she starts her own company in the new year, he wants to woo the woman he fell in love with during college. So he poses as her Secret Santa, gifts her with items from the song “Santa Baby,” and plans a big reveal at the company holiday party. But when his best friend wants to rekindle his romance with Tessa, will Nicholas lose his last chance?.
My Thoughts: With only 54 pages Secret Santa Baby is a bite sized holiday novella, but despite its shortness it packs a nice, round and very satisfying romance.
Nick has had a crush on Tessa ever since their college years but due to his shyness and ill-timing their moment passed and he has spent years watching her be the loving girlfriend of his best friend. But now that Tessa is leaving the company and he won't be able to gaze upon her daily Nick has decided the time has come to tell her how he feels. And what better and more romantic way than to do it with Tessa's favourite holiday song: Santa Baby? So Nick follows the lyrics of the song and gifts Tessa with the wishlist presents enumerated in the song, and he does it with humour and originality. Reading about how he found a way to convert/realize the gifts featured in the lyrics made me chuckle several times. It was clear that both he and Tessa enjoyed following the trail of the presents. :-)
Then as the conclusion says: "Santa Baby / Forgot to mention one little thing / A ring, I don't mean on the phone" you can guess what is Nick's final gift to Tessa, so I won't spoil the story if I reveal that his proposal was one of the most touching, romantic and endearing proposals I have ever read:
“I don’t know anyone who knows me as well as you do. You tolerate my charts and lists and processes. You have equally appalling taste in TV, and the most generous heart. I think I know everything about you and then you surprise me every single day. [...] I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I want to lie down with you at night, and wake up with you in the morning. I want to spend all of my days with you as my best friend, my lover, and my wife. [...] Tessa, will you marry me?”
Verdict: Secret Santa Baby was a delightful surprise. I didn't know what to expect of such a teeny tiny short story, but Robin Covington delivered a wonderful story I greatly enjoyed! Secret Santa Baby is a quick, sexy and fun Christmas read, and I loved how Robin Covington combined light fun with more serious love and affection. Secret Santa Baby was a great read I would recommend you to read while sipping a delicious hot chocolate if you have an hour free during the holiday festivities (or after if you want to get back in the spirit ;-).
Plot: 8/10
Characters: 8/10
Writng: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Cover: 6/10 - I'm used to Entangled's beautiful and classy covers, so I find this one kind of a let-down
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