Overall Grade: B
Tropes: forced proximity; insta-attraction; first-responder MMC; silver fox; holiday romance; single dad; boss’s daughter FMC
L.B. Dunbar’s Holiday Hotties stories have engaged readers over the past couple of holiday seasons. This year’s offering, Grouch-ish, offers more of the same holiday spice with a fireman MMC who falls for his boss’s daughter while staying at the boss’s house. Her characters, Brock and Pear, aka Paradise, are shaded nicely in light and dark. Brock struggles with his guilt over the loss of a probie and the ending of his problematic marriage. He has been asked to his boss’s winter camp as a last-ditch effort to work through his issues. Pear has left her life behind, intent on reconnecting with her father over the holidays. Unfortunately, her father has other plans, leaving Pear lonely in his absence. When Brock arrives late and misses the shuttle to the camp, he’s left to earn his penance with Pear. It’s where Brock and Pear begin to fill something emotional and, eventually, physical in each other.
I enjoyed Pear and Brock’s journey to falling in love. Dunbar has a way of creating highs and lows in her plotting that keeps her reader engaged. However, one of my criticisms of Dunbar’s storytelling lies in her need to draw a heavy-handed allusion through her story. She’s done this in many of her stories, which detracts from the natural storytelling. In Grouch-ish‘s instance, she alludes to the Twelve Days of Christmas. Unfortunately, given the timing of her story, she adds a note at the beginning of her story to make allowances for it. I understand it as a mechanism to attach meaning to a holiday tradition; however, it’s not necessary for us to fall in love with Brock’s grumpiness turned romantic or Pear’s acceptance of her circumstances and future choices.
Overall, Grouch-ish is an enjoyable holiday romance for this holiday season. Brock and Pear will steal your heart for the holiday season.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 