SmeXmas 2012 – REVIEW: The Spirit of Christmas by Liz Talley
The Spirit of Christmas by Liz Talley
Harlequin (Nov 2012) | Ebook, 288 pages
Contemporary Romance
If you want a sweet read for Christmas then you cant go far wrong with The Spirit of Christmas by Liz Talley. Its cute and lovely, although smacks a little ..(ok..on reflection, a lot) of the Dickens Classic, A Christmas Carol. Add to that you get two love stories for the price of one!
Mary Paige Gentry is running late! She has to be at the family christmas party, now, but she still has the necessary goofy Christmas Pressie to buy. Stopping her cab at a local store she rushes out (into a puddle which her heels don’t thank her for) and discovers a vagrant, hunkered down amongst cardboard and newspapers. She offers him help only to be flipped off, so dashes back into the store to find a garish present. Whilst in there, despite a couple of problems, and the fact that she is in a rush, she decides to give the tramp a coffee… and when she gets back to him and finds he has bare feet, her kind nature ends in her slipping the crazy socks she has bought as her gift, onto the poor old mans naked, ice cold blocks of feet. And from then on, nothing will ever be the same for Mary Paige again. You see, the tramp isn’t a tramp, but a multibillionaire businessman who is looking for a person to be The Spirit of Christmas in his new marketing campaign, and rewards Mary Paige’s kindness with a cheque for two million dollars.
Naturally, the heir to his business, Brennan Henry, thinks his grandfather has a screw loose, and is even less thrilled to hear that he is being dragged into the campaign too, being expected to accompany Mary Paige on a tour around the cities. Brennan doesnt do Christmas, and he is all about the bottom line where the business is concerned. The only reason he agrees to go through with his grandfathers plans is because he believes the idea to be financially sound, and he has to keep himself in the old chaps good books. But the more he gets to know Mary Paige, the more he likes her, and the feeling is mutual.
Mary Paige seems to be a nice enough sort and manages to give Brennan the Scrooge a run for his money. Brennan has good reason for not liking the Christmas Season, which you find out a little way into the story, and its lovely to see him thawing and opening up to Mary Paige as the storyline progresses.
VERDICT:
The Spirit of Christmas is a typical Harlequin Romance. A sweet storyline, with dramas and misunderstandings, but it all comes good in the end. I loved Brennan’s grandfather. He made me smile so much, and his storyline was a lovely thread running through the book. It’s a good reminder of what Christmas should be about, instead of it all being about me, me, me, lets have a bit more for you, for you, for you.
RATING: 
LIZ TALLEY ONLINE
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2 Comments
I do like those type of books with the excentric older relative stipulating crazy demands on “those Youngsters!”
Sounds a nice read when all the blood gore and general Urban Fantasy stuff gets too much. Great Review
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cheers Gemma, was a sweet read….hot fire, and cocoa with marshmallows, snowing outside sort of thing
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