Ad exec Krista Martin, while feeling more Grinch than
elf, still jumps at the chance to co-chair Marietta’s Secret Santa Society. Why
not? Especially since brilliant, attractive, and innovative tech wunderkind
Jonah Andrews has agreed to help. He’s well connected and Krista’s hoping for
some advice on rebooting her career. Jonah knows Krista has a not-so-hidden
agenda, but sparring with her over cocoa at their Secret Santa meetings is the
most fun he’s had since returning to his old hometown. Krista may come across
as all business, but Jonah’s positive he’s glimpsed a little girl inside her
who wants to believe in Santa… and in love.
Sweet story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Krista and Jonah
are interesting characters and I loved the small-town setting of Marietta. Small-town
stories are fun because of the "everybody knows your business" vibe versus
the main characters' desires to maintain some semblance of privacy in their
relationship.
Krista moved to Marietta from NYC eighteen months earlier
to join her friend Amanda's ad agency. She works long and hard to make their
business successful, driven by the need to prove herself to her family. It's an
odd juxtaposition because she also maintains as much distance as possible to
avoid their drama. The Martins are big in the entertainment industry and drama
around them is inevitable. The book opens as Krista prepares to talk to Amanda about
the latter's lack of focus in their work. That goes out the window when
the recently married Amanda reveals she's pregnant and having complications.
With a need to cut back on outside activities, Amanda convinces Krista to take
over her position on the Marietta Secret Santa Society.
Jonah returned to his hometown of Marietta to
house-and-dog-sit for his parents while they help his newly widowed sister. He
recently sold his high-tech Silicon Valley business for a lot of money and is
now at loose ends as he tries to decide what is next for him. With a
non-compete clause in the sales contract, Jonah figured it was safer to remove
himself from the temptations of his lab. Before they leave, they tell Jonah
that he's expected to take their place with the Society while they are gone. Jonah
is a self-declared introvert who claims to have no people skills and feels
unsuited for the job.
Krista and Jonah meet when one of the dogs he's walking
tangles herself up in Krista's legs and knocks her over, and Jonah tries to
break her fall with his body. The attraction between them is immediate and
Jonah is happy to use the Secret Santa meetings to get to know Krista better.
The older committee members think that Krista, with her marketing skills, and
Jonah, with his proven business savvy, are the perfect people to fix the
Society's financial woes.
I loved seeing the relationship between Krista and Jonah
develop. Both have been burned by previous relationships gone bad, with
partners more interested in what they could get than what they could give. Krista
and Jonah start out intending to ignore the sparks and concentrate on being
friends and partners. I loved how well they worked together, each one's
strengths making a good balance of creativity and practicality. The more time
they spent together, the stronger their attraction grew and so did their
connection. But Krista is rooted in Marietta and Jonah will return to
California when his parents return, so neither can see a future for them.
There are some sweet scenes between Jonah and Krista,
from hot chocolate at the chocolate shop to time spent with the dogs or
wandering the holiday-ready streets of Marietta. I also loved Jonah's support
of Krista when the stresses of her family's upcoming visit got to her. There's
a bump in the road to them finding their happy ever after and I had to laugh
when Krista took action to overcome it. The ending was terrific and left me
wanting to make more visits to the chocolate shop. 
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