A Kiss for Midwinter

My heart is so warm.

This story is a short novella, about 100 pages, so it was easy to breeze right through, and with Milan at the helm of this story, you have quite a ride of romance and tension and yummy treats. Jonas Grantham met Lydia when she was a teenager, and having been a student of medicine at the time, couldn't help her when some mistakes came to light, but now he loves her. He loves Lydia, and she hates him, but he is bound to win her over and with the magic of the season, he will use any weapon at his disposal. Lydia has a secret that if found out could destroy her, and only two people know: her father and Jonas, but will Lydia and Jonas be able to overcome fears and hurts and find true love? What I enjoyed about this story was the chemistry between Jonas and Lydia. At first, they tend to argue and bicker like little children, but when you really press on further into the story, we see a romance blossom between the two, and I enjoyed the light hearted tone of the story. It wasn't very serious and set off a feeling of sweet fun. It a easy read, and can be read as a stand alone, I do love stories like this one. You have two people that need each other, and Jonas's life hasn't been easy either, but he is wonderful with Lydia, and really brings her real nature out and they have quite a connection. I want to tip my hat to Milan for writing a novella that is packed with strong characters, a story with depth and a love story to enchant. A perfect read for the season...get ready for a witty and fun romance.

:D

I wouldn't have minded more

This surprised me in a wonderful way. It's a balance of some real emotional content as well as hope and some dark, sarcastic humor. It is a novella and reads fast, but is a fully satisfying story. The family love and holiday festive atmosphere is there and does not feel cheap. I really loved the way the author used historical detail in meaningful ways. It is enemies to lovers with a grump/sunshine dynamic. That is my romance trope catnip. Mild/moderate content warnings for sexual coercion, medical abuse, and miscarriage. This is in the female protagonists past.

4.5 - I was looking forward to reading about Jonas and Lydia because I loved their interactions in The Duchess War, and this was just perfect. Courtney Milan is so skilled at making her characters flawed and yet still likable - particularly the heroes, whom I often find overbearing and emotionally stunted in other romances that I read. I actually would want to date Jonas! Amazing! Her characters have fully-developed personalities and her conflicts actually feel like conflicts, not just an unwillingness to communicate honestly for the sake of extending the plot. (My continual complaint with romances!) Courtney Milan writes about things that I wouldn't trust most other romance authors to write about in a million years - in this case a teen pregnancy - with tact, empathy, and an understanding of the full ramifications of including these things in her stories. In this book, she dealt with feelings of shame around female sexuality and made the hero incredibly matter-of-fact about birth control, and sexual physiology. In the Governess Affair the hero took special care to make the heroine feel safe and practice good consent after she had been raped. This attention to detail makes her portrayal of traumas delicate and insightful. I also have never been put off by any abusive, domineering, or misogynistic behavior passed off as otherwise, which is a rarity in this genre. The heart of it is simply that Courtney Milan is a talented and intelligent writer. She makes the characters easy to care about. She knows how to craft a romance that isn't superficial or there to service a happy ending but comes about as a result of two characters truly caring about and understanding each other. <3

Overall I think this novella fell flat for me. I was kind of anxious to get Lydia's story, but I didn't jive with her as much as I did in the first book and I just didn't think anything was developed enough. I think maybe if this had been worked more into being a full fledged novel it would have had more room to grow.

Super quick and fun audiobook and a sweet love story set during Christmas!