Name: One Walk in Winter
Rating: 4.166666666666667 (6 reviews)
ISBN: 9781635555417

Georgia Beers

Olivia Santini and Hayley Boyd Markham might be rivals at work, but they discover that lonely hearts often find company in the most unexpected of places.

One Walk in Winter

Lucia Correa

4 Stars for this Georgia Beers romance. This may well become an annual holiday re-read for me. 

Hayley Boyd Markham is the youngest (much younger than her two half-brothers) and the only daughter of Benton Markham, Founder and CEO of Markham Resorts. An international company with many resorts to its name. Hayley’s mother died a couple years prior and Hayley is floundering. Her father’s business never interested her as her interests lie in her painting, photography, spending and partying. The last two escalating to the point her father takes notice. He cuts her off and puts her in charge of an aging resort in Colorado. Her father gives her the winter season to show Evergreen could turn a profit or she will be permanently cut off. Even though she has a business degree, it may not be not enough with zero experience as well as desire. 

Olivia Santini is the assistant manager of Evergreen Resort and Spa. For all intents and purposes, she had been doing the job as the Manager for a number of years because of her incompetent boss. When her boss leaves, Olivia feels the manager job will be hers. That is until the new manager arrives, a Hayley Boyd. Who turns out to be the woman that she met while walking her dog earlier that morning. Both felt an instant attraction, even exchanging numbers to meet again for coffee.

I really liked that Beers had them meet and like each other before meeting at the resort. It avoids the usual storyline of attraction between two adversaries. I also appreciated how Beers wrote Hayley and Olivia. Too often stories with spoiled rich girls, the characters are unlikable until they change. I was rooting for Hayley from the very beginning. She was set up to fail by her father. Some of the resort employees realize that she is in over her head, especially Olivia and certainly Hayley herself. But Olivia, being the person she is and because she loves Evergreen, she teaches Hayley the ropes and continues to keep the resort running while Hayley works very hard to learn. A lesser person would have quit or let Hayley sink.

Overall, a nice romance with likable main and supporting characters. In other words, a classic Georgia Beers romance and that is a very good thing.

 An advanced reading copy was sent to me by the publisher Bold Strokes Books through Netgalley for my honest review

**Sidenote: I visit Evergreen, Colorado once or twice a year, especially at Christmas. Yes, it is a real place. It is a small mountain town, 30 miles from Denver. Some of my family live there. The big thing is ice skating and ice fishing on the lake. Burrr. But no ski resorts! Except for a short stint in Virginia, I lived my whole life in sunny So. California. Colorado is beautiful year-round. But I can only take snow for a couple week visit and they *seem* to have snow for half a year. Evergreen is a mix of year-round residents and visitors or part time residents. The town has gift shops, small restaurants & bars, a lake, golf course, deer, and elk. But no ski resort. They do occasionally get celebrity sightings (a few have vacation homes there) but the natives ignore them. Well, except when I was visiting a couple of years ago and in every shop and the restaurant we visited they asked if we saw Jennifer Lopez and ARod today?

Jude Silberfeld

I have to say, I didn’t want this book to end. You know how I’ve talked about the way I read, masking the page with my hand so my eyes won’t go faster than my brain (#dyspraxia), especially when I’m so involved in what’s happening? I had to make myself stop reading a few times to allow my eyes to reboot, so to speak.

Olivia Santini fell in love with the Evergreen Resort and Spa when she was a teenager and has basically lived and breathed Evergreen ever since. She’s worked her way up to the assistant manager position, thanks to her work ethic and her love for the place. For the last six months, she’s been acting manager and totally deserves the job. But life’s not always fair and someone else is the new manager. Hayley Boyd Markham is the youngest child and the only daughter of Benton Markham, the owner of the Evergreen resort (and many more hotels, most of them bigger and more successful). Unlike her much older half-brothers, she doesn’t really care about the family business. Her happiness comes from painting, a talent she’s inherited from her mother. Since her mother’s death two years ago, Hayley has lost her way, spending too much of her father’s money on nightclubs and parties. Her father’s way of teaching her a lesson (and of punishing her for looking and sounding so much like the love of his life) is to send her to Evergreen, asking the impossible from her.

When they first meet, Olivia and Hayley don’t know they’re going to work together, or that Hayley is reluctantly taking the job Olivia believes should be hers. The attraction is immediate, and the chemistry is obvious from the start. Georgia Beers is excellent at describing those feelings, the way they grow, the hope and the doubts. She’s also done a great job of making the setting part of the story. The walk in winter of the title is not just for show, it’s where the whole story begins.

There’s something magical about snow. There’s also something very romantic about snow and quite a few of my favorite lesfic novels have a totally sweet and sexy snow scene. Kiss the Girl by Melissa Brayden for example has one of the best. In One Walk in Winter, the snow is almost a character in and of itself. It has its own sounds and silences, almost like feelings (I’m all for feelings, they’re why I read).

This is a sweet romance, with a little angst but not so much. Still, I was whispering « No no no » at some point (you’ll probably know when when you read it) and my sigh of relief was a huge one. And don’t even get me started on Hayley’s relationship with her dad. Both are lost in their grief since her mother died and can’t seem to be able to communicate nor understand what the other is going through. This leads to Hayley basically being all alone, without a family, another contrast to Olivia’s life and her very present, warm and loving Italian family.

This book is not perfect but my ratings are not meant to reflect perfection, they reflect how affected I have been by the book I’m rating. This one gave me all the feels so it gets 5 stars.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Megan Cooper

Hey - it's a Georgia Beers.  Why are you even reading a review when you know you're likely going to pick it up?  One Walk in Winter has all the hallmarks of a good Beers' romance - strong and likable characters, a charming setting, phenomenal chemistry and a really cute dog.

Olivia Santini has a job she loves at the Evergreen Resort and Spa and she's poised to take on the role of manager.  Her ambitions are thwarted with the arrival of Hayley Boyd, the new manager appointed by Corporate to oversee the aging resort.  Unknown the Olivia, Hayley is the daughter of the owner of Markham Resorts who has been given an ultimatum by her father - shape up and step up to working in the family the business or be cut off.

Honestly, Olivia is a better person than me - if I found myself in the position of having to train and support an obviously inexperienced manager in the job I was so perfectly suited for, I would probably be a bit more snarky and resentful.  Instead, Olivia swallows her disappointment and works with Hayley to get her up to speed with he resort and the role of manager  - not to say that there isn't a bit of resentment poking through at times - but her love of the resort and desire to see it flourish outweighs it.

Olivia and Hayley are likable and engaging and despite their situation, there's an easy respect and connection in their interactions.  The initial attraction, before they find out that Hayley is now Olivia's new boss, still simmers in the background of their interactions and  builds the romance.  The chemistry definitely crackles between the two.

Hayley struggles realistically with the new role where she has no experience and the fact that her father expects her to fail. She doesn't emerge as a business superstar, but with Olivia's help she's competent enough and willing to push herself to tackle the more difficult tasks.  She is self-aware enough to know that she isn't the right person to push the Evergreen from a fading resort to a successful one.

This is a lovely little romance that doesn't cash in on a lot of angst and conflict that might have been an easy (but not satisfying) route.  Even the big conflict at the end is handled maturely and, after a good cry, the leads actually talk and don't jump to conclusions, storming away due to easily resolved miscommunication.   Definitely an enjoyable read.

Recommended

Nothing’s ever been handed to Olivia Santini, and she’s proud of her work ethic. After seven years as the assistant manager of the Evergreen Resort and Spa, she has ideas to improve the bottom line and increase reservations. When her manager resigns, Olivia puts in her résumé and waits for the interview. The job is practically hers—all she needs is the paperwork. Hayley Boyd Markham is the youngest Markham, the only girl, and the most spoiled. An artistic soul in a family of business-minded type As, she’s always felt like a bit of a screwup. After an embarrassing party situation, her father puts a hold on her allowance and gives her an ultimatum: Spend the winter as manager of the Evergreen Resort and Spa and show him it can turn a profit. Only then will he reconsider her future (and her inheritance). A chance encounter in the woods is filled with chemistry and promise, and though neither Olivia nor Hayley is looking for love, they both feel the possibility. Until they get to work…

One Walk in Winter

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