Doc Holiday ~ Book Review ~

Book Review Template:

Title: Doc Holiday

Author: Debra Dixon

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept

Publication Status: Available

Genre: Romance

Sub Genre: Christmas

ISBN: 9780307804570

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

 

From the Publisher:

With poignant humor and sizzling romance, Debra Dixon presents a story about the magic of Christmas and promises made under a starry winter sky.

Drew Haywood needs a feminine touch to help give his young son a holiday to remember—and no one does Christmas better than Taylor Bishop. She knows how to transform a house into a home that sparkles. But when Drew lets his guard down, he finds that Taylor has much more to offer. Kissing her is like coming in out of the cold—and Drew doesn’t want to go back out.

Taylor has already raised one family—she grew up with six brothers, after all—and she doesn’t need another. She may have fallen for Drew as a teenager, but he’s asking for a Christmas miracle that would break all her rules. Still, the chemistry she shares with this sexy, single father has nothing to do with the past. Perhaps the gift of a young boy’s smile, not to mention stolen kisses beneath the mistletoe, will point the way to the one thing on Taylor’s wish list.

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: About Last Night, Blaze of Winter, and Lana’s Lawman.

Debra Dixon is a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. She has written eight romances for the Loveswept imprint over the years. In 1995 she received the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine. She has served as vice president for the Romance Writers of America, and has received the national Emma Merritt Service Award for her contributions to writers and the RWA.

My View:

I admit it, I am a Christmas Movie addict.  I don't mean those "blockbusters" that begin their life in the movie theater with big name stars.  I mean the cheesy, romantic, magical ones you find on the likes of Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, and ABC Family.  I have been known to spend countless hours between Thanksgiving and Christmas cozied up to my remote and my DVR watching these great films.  They aren't new, heck some of them I have watched every Christmas since they came out.  Some I love so much I even bought the DVD the years I didn't have cable.  However, in the past 12 months I have basically given up on watching TV completely.  In it's stead I have traveled the world and experienced countless loves and losses on the pages of books (well okay on the screen of my eReaders, but you get the idea).

In keeping with my holiday tradition, I have found a few Christmas stories that will become regulars in the future.  Doc Holiday by Debra Dixon is just such a story for me.   If you read my blog much you know I read mostly M/M Romance titles, so for me to find a M/F Contemporary Romance that I say will be a re-read, you know that is saying something.

*****Potential Spoilers*****

Taylor has been both sister and mother to her 6 brothers since her mother got sick while she was only 14.  Christmas was always important in the Bishop household, so Taylor made sure it stayed that way.  When she was 16 she had her first, and only, kiss with her childhood crush and her older brother's best friend, Drew Haywood.

The 6 year age gap caused the guilt to overpower Drew's potential feelings of love with feelings of guilt.   He went on the live his life.  He married the wrong woman who took his infant son halfway around the world so he rarely was able to be the Dad he wanted to be.  Just 2 months before Christmas, said ex-wife dumps their 5 year old son, Noah, on his doorstep.  In an effort to give the son he loves the "perfect" Christmas, he turns to an old friend whose family Christmases he wants to emulate for Noah.

For Drew it is about so much more than Christmas, but can he convince the exceedingly skittish Taylor that he wants more than a mother for his son?

*****End Spoilers*****

This book really harkened back to all those Christmas movies I love so much.  Yes the romance is a little fast, but hey it is all part of the Christmas Magic.  Plus, you have to remember that these characters have known each other for 15 years, so it is really just an excruciatingly slow burn romance, it is just that the first almost 15 years happens off-page and in flash backs.  I have a soft spot for tales of lost love found and Christmas love stories, so I certainly have a soft spot for Doc Holiday.

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I would like to thank Random House - Loveswept and NetGalley for providing me with the eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.