Following the magnificent Emmalita’s recommendation (as one should in all things), somehow I went to buy Charlotte Stein’s When Grumpy Met Sunshine and ended up with Catherine Walsh’s Snowed In instead. I have no idea what happened, but the book was still great and now I have a new author! Such are the transitive powers of Emmalita’s approbation*.
Now, not only did I buy the wrong book, but I read Holiday Romance and Snowed In out of series order before circling back for a second toodle through Snowed In so I could revisit all the characters (and then buy two Walsh standalones One Night Only and The Matchmaker).
Here’s what I know about Catherine Walsh so far: She writes contemporary romances with Irish settings and smart, dry, funny central characters. Some things may be derailing the leads a bit, but they are mostly on track, and they are old enough to be adults of neither the “new” nor “young” variety found in kissing books. They weren’t worried about meeting their person, but they do anyway through a the road trip/forced proximity/arranged marriage, so here we are. The writing is entertaining, the leads traditional romance level good-looking, and the final result is witty, reasonably hot, and somewhat swoony.
Holiday Romance
Andrew and Molly are Irish ex-pats living in Chicago and heading home for the holidays. Every year, they wind up on the same flight; initially, this is a coincidence, then it’s a plan, then a disaster when their flights get grounded and they set off on a planes, trains, and automobiles road trip as Molly is bound and determined to help her Christmas loving friend home to his family in time.
Structured around current events and travel flashbacks, these two sweet and compatible people ride the new relationship roller coaster one transatlantic flight at a time. I have to admit that more than once, I got a bit confused and said, “When are we?” when reading, but it’s a minor quibble and I think down to me rather than Walsh’s writing.
Snowed In
Meghan fled her wedding five years ago and is returning to her hometown for the first time since that cataclysmic event. The fact that it will also be Christmas when she stares down the friends who abandoned her in the breakup just makes it worse. Christian was the sole witness to her be-gowned flight and while he always comes home for Christmas, he is not looking forward to doing as a single person yet again. A fake partner scenario is his suggestion and she agrees to it. Having signed a contract, on a napkin, there’s nothing for it but to follow through.
The snowed in section is not a huge part of the romance because things are very much afoot before a blizzard in Ireland (?!) requires them to shelter in place, but it does make an excellent excuse for breaking down barriers and canoodling. Christian and Megan are both wry, sincere, and have some shell to crack through. Because they are grown ups, they both have done some work on themselves and have some things still to conquer. They do a wonderful job of being mutually supportive and pretending/not pretending to be into each other.
I gave these books four stars because the writing is tight, the characters well-drawn, and, most importantly, there’s a great balance of humour and sincerity. Holiday Romance and Snowed In are not quite as swoony as I’d like but they were a delightful place to have landed by accident.
*Emmalita also recommended Yossy Arefi’s Snacking Cakes and it is a superlative baking cookbook and inspired me to buy everything Arefi has published. If you are a home baker check her out!