MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY by Monica Jackson
December 22, 2011 in B Reviews, black woman jewish man, Book Reviews, bwwm, Christmas, Novella, self-published, sensual
Description: After getting out of a terrible relationship, her mother’s new physical therapist, Nick, might be just the person Sharyn needs to heat up her holidays. But will Nick’s secrets tear them apart?
The Good: Definitely worth the price. This highly romantic novella enjoys strong structure and plotting — plus it’s a really cute and funny story. I especially loved the two main characters’ family members, who were awesomely dysfunctional and somehow perfectly familiar. Reading the character of Betty “The Dragon” Silvers almost made me want to call my own dragon grandma. Almost.
The Bad: The issue with love at first sight is that it can feel like weak character motivation. In this case, Nick goes gaga over Sharyn after one heated glance and then kind of just knows they’re supposed to be together. At times this made it feel like the characters were going along with a plot rather than organically falling in love. Also, though Nick is Jewish, it never really comes up in the relationship. Not only does he go Christmas shopping, and sit through a Jesus-themed prayer, but also at one point he receives a small Christmas tree as a present and doesn’t bat an eye.
The Naughty: Sensual.
Editing issues: Weird formatting: Nick’s POV chapters are done in bold and the action in the instant message chats got italicized a few times. Minor typos (I counted 4).
Publisher: Soul Satisfyin’ Reads
Length: Novella
Final Grade: B-
Click on the book cover to buy at Amazon for $0.99.
Wanna give me a gift? Consider spending the holidays with my book, THE OWNER OF HIS HEART.