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Wrapped Up in Christmas*

Normally, I Love Wounded Hero Stories…

This book had all of the elements of a holiday tale that I would typically like: quirky small town, a busybody group of well-meaning older ladies, a wounded hero, and plenty of Christmas spirit. However, the book never really gelled for me. I didn’t get any sense of chemistry between the hero and the heroine, which is crucial for a romance of course. The heroine is a sweetheart, giving so much to her community at Christmas time because it truly matters to her. She’s also in the midst of opening up her aunt’s old home as a bed-and-breakfast. The hero is just passing through, though he came specifically to this small town because he wanted to thank the woman who made his Quilt of Valor (which is an actual organization) that did help him as he went through recovery after being injured in the military. But he ends up getting caught up in the heroine’s world because of a misunderstanding, but he decides to stay and pay back the woman who’d helped him through difficult times.

I am normally a sucker for wounded hero romance, but it just didn’t ring right for me in this particular book. Theoretically, the couple was fighting their attraction during the bulk of the book, but that didn’t seem realistic to me at all because I couldn’t really sense that attraction. Their interactions felt pretty low key because of all the other stuff that was going on in the book, like the renovations, trying to get Bodie in the Christmas spirit, and dealing with the Butterflies (that group of older women mentioned above). I liked the characters, but it just didn’t come together. On the plus side, it does have a quilting pattern from the Quilts of Valor Foundation and a yummy-sounding cinnamon swirl bread recipe.

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