A December Bride A Year of Weddings Novella by Denise Hunter

Book Description

"What started as a whim turned into an accidental---and very public---engagement. Can Layla and Seth keep up the façade in Chapel Springs this holiday season---for the sake of her career . . . and his heart?

Under normal circumstances, Seth Murphy - the best friend of Layla O’Reilly’s ex-fiancé - would be the last person she’d marry. But the news of their upcoming (and phony) nuptials convinces a big client that Layla may be high-society enough to work for his agency - a coup that would put her fledgling home-staging business on the map. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, even when she was dating his best friend. Maybe she’ll never forgive him for the way he hurt her back then, but he has to try. And Layla is willing to keep up their engagement farce until she’s landed her client.

For Layla, it's the chance to save her career. But for Seth, it's his last chance to win her heart."

A December Bride is a novella and is only 104 pages long.  Because it is so short, there is not much time in the story for a very complicated plot.  It also has a very predictable (but happy) ending.  But, taking the story for what it was I very much enjoyed reading it.  In the course of the short story, the author does a fantastic job of weaving a story with characters that you care about (or in one case immensely dislike.)  I will admit it got a little too romancy in one part for my taste (but not anything inappropriate for Christian fiction.)  It was a very sweet, lighthearted, holiday romance.  I would be interested in reading further books in this series.

Disclaimer:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions were my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations.