Book Review: "Deck the Palms" by Annabeth Albert

I’ve been loving the holiday books I’ve read so far, but given it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a white Christmas, it’s always fun to read about a less-traditional celebration. And what better place than Hawaii?

Nolan has been in love with the theater since he was young, and he’s been lucky to perform both on and off Broadway. He loves NYC, but when his sister-in-law has complications with her pregnancy and his brother is in the middle of his deployment, he drops everything and heads to Oahu to help.

Once his nephew gets out of the NICU, Nolan plans to stay in Oahu for the fall season, and takes a short-term job as the music teacher and choir director at a middle school. His responsibilities include directing the school’s holiday festival, for which he’s teamed with the school’s hunky shop teacher, Merry.

Merry, a single dad to twin boys who happen to be in Nolan’s class, comes across as a giant surfing curmudgeon. It’s not that he doesn’t like Nolan (although it seems that way), it’s just that he’s learned not to get attached to people who are in Hawaii for a short time. And despite their attraction to one another, Merry is determined to keep things professional with Nolan.

Of course, their collaboration and friendship includes lots of flirting and even a little matchmaking on the part of Merry’s kids. But what happens when Nolan’s job ends and he heads back to NYC? Is the possibility of love worth the risk of pain?

Hawaii is one of my favorite places, and so it’s the perfect setting for this rom-com. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and their banter (not to mention the steam) and I found many of the supporting characters to be a lot of fun, too.

Book Review: "Hired by the Enemy" by Jax Calder

Three of my favorite tropes—fake dating, second chance, and enemies to lovers—came together in this fun and steamy novella. How could I pass this up?

Liam is a personal trainer who dreams of opening a gym for people recovering from injury or illness. In order to make the money he needs, he has started working for an elite agency that provides dating and personal services for wealthy people.

When he gets a last-minute job to fly to Hawaii and pretend to be a CEO’s boyfriend for a week, he jumps at the chance. But when he arrives at the airport he gets an unpleasant shock: the CEO is Matthew, his childhood nemesis.

Matthew is proud to be the CEO of his own tech company. But when he is goaded into turning their corporate retreat into a trip for his employees’ significant others as well, he is thrown for a loop. Hiring someone to pretend to be his boyfriend is bad enough; discovering that Liam will be his fake boyfriend is even worse.

“In all my panicking and thinking through the worst-case scenarios for hiring a fake date, I never imagined a catastrophe on this scale.”

During middle school and high school, Liam and Matthew spent most of their time insulting and pranking each other, and generally making each other (and their families) miserable. Can they put their past behind them for one week? When their animosity turns to passion, is there a chance that can turn to love?

Jax Calder is an author I’ve recently discovered and I’m loving her books. The chemistry between Liam and Matthew was great, as was their banter, and I was glad that there was actual reason behind their hatred of one another. This was so great!