Jen’s review of Maybe This Christmas (O’Neil Brothers #3) by Sarah Morgan

This winter, ex-skiing champion, reformed heartbreaker and single dad Tyler O’Neil has only one mission—making sure his daughter, Jess, has the best Christmas ever. The fact that his best friend, Brenna, is also temporarily moving into his chalet at the overbooked Snow Crystal resort is a delicious distraction he’s simply going to have to ignore. Theirs is the one relationship he’s never ruined, and he’s not about to start now.

Ski pro Brenna Daniels knows all about the perils of unrequited love—she’s been in love with Tyler for years. But living with him is absolute torture… How can she concentrate on being his friend when he’s sleeping in the room next door? Then when Tyler kisses Brenna, suddenly the relationship she’s always dreamed of feels so close she could almost touch it. Could this be the Christmas her dreams of a happy-ever-after finally come true?

I was in the mood for a fun Christmas romance, and I enjoyed Suddenly Last Summer when I read it earlier this year, so I figured Maybe This Christmas would hit the spot. It did give me that quick jolt of holiday cheer I was looking for, though I don’t think it’s really the kind of book that’s going to stick with me.

This book centers on Brenna and Tyler, the third O’Neil brother. Tyler was a championship professional skier until an accident left him unable to ski competitively. He returned to his family’s struggling ski resort, Snow Crystal, to help out and lick his wounds. He has also been caring for his young teenage daughter, Jess, after her mother dumped her with Tyler. Brenna teaches skiing at the resort and has practically been a part of the O’Neil family her whole life. She’s also been in love with Tyler her whole life, a fact everyone but Tyler knows. (And really, even he knows it on some level.) When the two have to move in together due to a busy resort and some meddling friends, they are both forced to confront their mutual feelings and the obstacles from their pasts holding them back.

The book paints a great picture of Tyler and Brenna’s relationship. They are friends and clearly understand each other like no one else can. They also have some smoking hot chemistry. The tension between them builds and builds and builds until I was all but screaming “Just do it!” at my screen. When they finally do get together….whew!

I enjoyed Brenna as a character. While the book never uses the term, Brenna is the quintessential good girl. That’s not to say she is bland, but she is the kind of person who has always tried to do right by everyone, to meet everyone’s expectations. Unfortunately this also means she’s never been good at standing up for herself or expressing what she really wants. She was badly bullied in high school, and she’s let Tyler (unintentionally) run roughshod over her feelings for years. (Tyler definitely wasn’t my favorite O’Neil brother for this reason, and I really did want to see him do a bit more to be worthy of Brenna’s love.) During the course of the story, she does start to get a little more confidence, though maybe not as much as I would have liked to see. I think I liked her because she felt very realistic to me–a smart, capable woman who nevertheless doubts herself frequently.

I did have a few issues with the book. First, Tyler is understandably messed up by his accident and the fact that he can no longer compete. Part of the development of the relationship between he and Brenna includes his opening up about those feelings, but then I feel like nothing comes of it. Has he resolved his feelings of loss? What will give him purpose in life now that competitive skiing isn’t an option? Some of the other characters in the book, notably Tyler’s daughter Jess, were a little too cute for my tastes. Jess is the kind of reasonable and wise child you only see in fiction, not a three-dimensional, realistic teenager. There’s a sort of “villain” in the book too, and that story line also seemed hard to believe. Finally, the ending is abrupt. I don’t like it when books don’t give me, or other characters, enough time to process that things have changed and the happy couple is ready to ride off into the sunset. Tyler can’t seem to handle his feelings, and then BOOM, he does and it’s the end.

Did I enjoy this book? Absolutely. It was sweet and slightly Christmasy and it kept me reading, even if it wasn’t quite as memorable as some of Morgan’s other books.

Grade: 3.75 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin HQN. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.