Review: Christmas at Angel Lake

Christmas at Angel Lake (Rescued Hearts)

About the Book:

A kitten saved her...

Broke, pregnant and deserted by her boyfriend, Maddie Barrymore swerves to avoid a kitten while driving in a Wisconsin blizzard--and her life takes another turn. Like Puss in Boots, she stays in an empty house. She has the baby, the kitten, gets a job and a degree...yet every day she's ready to flee if the real owner shows up.

Five years later, he does... 

Dumped by the woman he loves, film producer Logan MacLeesh's heart is as dark as one of his movies. He plans to hole up in his grandmother's old mansion and throw himself into his work...until he discovers the sexy squatter and her four-year-old son. Before he can call the sheriff, Maddie's tale of how she ended up there entertains him. They make a deal that as long as she tells him a story every night, she and her son can stay. Even the cat, though Logan's always been a dog person.

A dog in need of saving...

Far away in another state, a homeless dog lifts his head, sniffs...and smells him. The human who's meant for him. As he heads through the snow toward the scent, his journey seems impossible, even though it's Christmas, a time when miracles happen.

My Comments:

This is one I debated about whether I should review.  I decided that I liked it enough to finish it, so yes, I'll review it.  In short, it is a sweet story but one that heaped implausibility on top of implausibility.  The writing was pretty much on par for a cheap ebook romance.  Still, I did choose to finish it,and I have plenty of other things I could be reading, so it wasn't a really bad read either.

Animal lovers will enjoy the subplot about the dog searching for his owner, but to me it just seemed tacked on.  The author, Edie Ramer must be an animal lover as she is donating part of the proceeds from the sale of the book to The Washington County Humane Society in Wisconsin.  

In the book Maddie reveals her inmost self to Logan via the stories she tells, but always in the guise of someone else.  It was an interesting technique.  

For those interested, there is one rather graphic bedroom scene and several references to male arousal.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B--