My Review:Title: Solstice Miracle
Author: Alexis Daria
Published by: Indie
Release Date: December 2016
Format: Blog Post
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Holiday
Source: Newsletter
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 12 Books of Christmas Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads
My rating:
Blurb:Two people who’ve written off love and magic find a little of both on the longest night.
After inheriting her grandmother’s house in suburban Connecticut, Rina Minkin revives her witchy improv character to help pay for necessary home repairs. When Miguel Alvarez shows up at her front door with two kids in need of a Winter Solstice miracle, even cynical Rina can’t turn them away. And the longer she spends with them, the more she wants them to stick around.
*This is a 6,500-word sweet contemporary romance short story, originally part of the Winter’s Embrace 2016 holiday romance anthology on Wattpad. Now available on the author's website.
5 stars — I actually got the link to this in LAST year’s Christmas newsletter, but I never got to it. So when Ms. Daria mentioned it again this year, I knew I needed to dive in! And it was just perfect. I think short story/novellas are SO HARD to write because it’s hard to give you enough to connect with the characters, but still have an arc that leaves you satisfied in the end. And I got all that in this one.
It took no time for me to appreciate Rina’s spunk, humour, and kindness. And Miguel…oh Miguel! Such a sweetie, he was everything I love in a book boy! And I loved the way he adored his niece and nephew, but you could see how he was struggling under the weight of caring for them in their grief. I don’t know, the story just got to me. It had a lot of layers, and I loved the way Rina used her improv skills to help the kids.
And I adored the sort of shy chemistry between Rina and Miguel… *sigh* Definitely smile-inducing.
And while I wouldn’t say no to more from these two, I loved that I was satisfied enough with where their story was going so it wasn’t a necessity. That’s the mark of a great short story/novella.
You hit the nail on the head about novellas. It’s really hard to have that immediate connection with the characters and their romances. I’m happy this one was able to do that for you. Great review!