Jo Reads Romance: Melissa Williams

4 stars

This is the second in a trilogy of Christmas insta-love stories by Melissa Williams. Each story stands completely alone although they all focus on a member of a bell ringing group (I know, right? How fun!) and do have some crossover (that you wouldn’t even notice if you decide not to read all three books).

This story features uptight Nadia - someone who always puts work ahead of everything in her life. She doesn’t trust easily and isn’t really a cut-loose, let her hair down, kind of girl. So she’s as surprised as anyone when she heads down to her company’s Christmas Jolly Hour and instead of staying for 10 minutes, finds herself sipping way too many Christmas cocktails and getting it on with a sexy stranger.

Despite knowing each other a relatively short time, you definitely feel a connection between Nadia and Ajay and that translates delightfully into their sex scenes. This is an insta-love story but there’s definitely a distinction between how Nadia and Ajay react to those feelings. Nadia is understandably wary while Ajay is just delighted.

And that’s one of the main things I liked about Ajay. He sees Nadia and he is smitten. He’s happy he’s found his person and is looking forward to having her in his life. He’s still a strong, alpha man, but it was so sweet that he was so all-in. I liked Nadia, too, and was pleased she acted true to her nature but even happier that she found someone who understood her.

This was a sweet, fun and Christmassy story that delivers exactly what you want and expect from an insta-love tale. I’ve been enjoying Ms Williams’ stories of late - especially the way she weaves festive magic in with the hot romance. This is a book that will have you reaching for your own Christmas cocktail and handheld bell. 4 stars.

I’m a firefighter. So when I hear bells, I run into action.

But the kind of bells I hear when I first see Libby are anything but alarming. They’re angelic.

All I want to do is throw her over my shoulder and make her mine. Her Christmas spirit is endearing, her laughter addictive and there’s nothing I want more this holiday season than her.

She won’t be a single jingle lady for long – not if Santa’s on my side.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33259027-the-duchess-deal

Title: Jingle Lady
Author: Melissa Williams
Series: All My Jingle Ladies (Book 1)
Pages: 66
Genre(s): Contemporary, Insta-Love, Christmas Romance
Hot Buttons: n/a

Release Date: 12th November, 2020

A cute, Christmas insta-love story

4 stars

Sometimes I’m just in the mood for an over the top insta-love romance and what’s even better about this story is that it’s covered, head-to-toe in Christmas magic.

Our story is short - about 65 pages and taking only about an hour to read. It’s the story about Libby and Brendan and their cute, Christmassy tale of meeting and falling in love.

Libby is the slightly quirky, slightly awkward but fully relatable heroine who, while almost burning her house down, connects with one of the hunky firefighters sent to rescue her.

Brendan is said hunky firefighter and he’s your perfect insta-hero. He’s protective, kind, sweet and completely accepting of all of Libby. Oh, and he’s hotter than a burning inferno. But what makes this more than just your standard insta-love story is that while Brendan is happy to spend time with this girl who makes his heart beat faster, he’s also completely panicked and overwhelmed by all these feelings he’s having. It struck me as hilarious and really worked to make the story more realistic…while still giving us what we all want from an insta-love story.

We get sex and it’s hot, heavy and delicious but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. There are also a number of laughs and moments which tickled me. As well as all the Christmas references. And I love me some Christmas!

This is the first in an inter-connected set of three standalone novellas about three friends from the All the Jingle Ladies bell performance group. There are snippets in this book that give hints of what’s coming in Nadia’s book (The Jolly Hour) and Gretchen’s book (Oh my Garland) but this story stands completely alone.

This was a super cute and fun Christmas story that really rung my bell in the best way. If you’re a fan of insta-love and Christmas then you’ll likely find this just as fun a read as I did. And no doubt, you’ll be looking for your nearest bell performance group to join, when you’re done reading. 4 stars.