Sara Whitney

This book was so much fun. The premise is just outlandish enough to make you laugh. The characters are just sweet enough to make you smile. And the sexy bits are just spicy enough to make you swoon and think you’re having a hot flash.

Olivia was taken advantage of, humiliatingly taken advantage of, in business by someone she thought was an old friend from college. She spent some time on the most-wanted list in Canada and was not-too-politely asked to leave. She’s come to spend some time in Illinois with her best friend CJ to try and recoup, recover, restart her career. She needs some downtime, a temporary job, and according to CJ some fun. Fun they can find at the Crimson Lounge, a strip club a town over. What Liv doesn’t need or want is any kind of relationship with the hot, handsome, friendly, smiley guy who’s their waiter at lunch, but she finally agrees that maybe the strip club would be a fun diversion. Turns out she’s so diverted she develops a crush on the sexy Santa in the hat, beard and sunglasses – and not much else.

Jonesy is that easy-on-the-eyes waiter. Friendly, talkative, but with a lot on his mind. He has taken on the responsibility of making Christmas perfect for his family and blames himself for a lot of things that are not his fault. And here is where this fun but unremarkable meet-cute gets really interesting.

Jonesy needs extra money for all those presents he has to buy so he takes on a second job. Charming waiter by day, and – wait for it – scorching hot stripper by night. And for the holidays: sexy Santa! Yep, that same Santa Liv is obsessed with. Still no big deal, right? Except now Liv is working at the restaurant with Jonesy. The longer they work together the more feelings he develops for her. But the more return trips she makes to the Crimson Lounge the more he can’t figure out how to tell her, what to tell her, if to tell her.

Their attempts to keep work in the friend zone are hilarious. His attempts to keep home-work-work separate are poignant, sweet and more than a little funny. We have more insight into Liv’s thoughts than Jonesy does and we see she is developing feelings as well – Jonesy is real, Santa is a fantasy – but he treats her like such a work buddy she can’t stand it.

My Not-So-Secret Santa is a delightful holiday read. At novella length it’s a quick read, but actually it would be a quick read whatever length since you wouldn’t be able to put it down. It’s described on the author’s website as “Hallmark after dark when it doesn’t fade to black.” Spot on description. You get the Hallmark lightness but you get to go behind that closed door. Sigh, swoon, heart going pitter-patter. Sara Whitney was a new-to-me author but won’t be for long. There is a long backlist I intend to catch up on and she’ll be on my TBR-at-once list from now on. Thanks to Home Cooked Books and the author for providing a copy of My Not-So-Secret Santa. I loved it. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.… (más)

The angsty vibes that Liv and Jonesy were giving each other was so steamy. Yet, it only got hotter with each new interaction they had with one another with Jonesy's other persona aka "Snake hips Santa."

Every time that Liv and Jonesy would speak to each other. It really was like to different men, Live was talking to. To be honest, I actually was not mad at Jonesy for not telling Liv sooner about his secret. I understood where he was coming from. However, when Liv did find out...make up s#x anyone!

I look forward to reading Wyatt and CJ's story. I need to know what their deal is. All I do know is that from their interaction with each other, things are sure to heat up and be hot.… (más)