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A review by brooke_review
Wrapped with a Beau by Lillie Vale
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
With Hallmark Christmas movies filling the holiday season year after year with holly jolly cheer, it’s no surprise that novels in a similar vein are gaining popularity with lovers of everything merry and bright. Lillie Vale’s new novel Wrapped with a Beau even incorporates a Hallmark-esque film into its storyline by way of a historic home that served as the set for an infamous holiday movie made in the 70s.
Vess Hollins is in the town of Piney Peaks to handle his late grandmother’s estate. He wasn’t close to his grandmother and just wants to get the job done quickly and leave town, but there’s one problem. His grandmother’s home was featured in a much beloved Christmas movie, Sleighbells, 50 years ago, and the town, and one woman in particular do not want to see it fall to the wayside.
Elisha Rowe loves her hometown of Piney Peaks and her job as a film liaison, securing quaint places for potential movie sets. She would love to see a sequel to Sleighbells filmed in Piney Peaks, but it is going to take some convincing of the Grinch who has just arrived in town, AKA Vess Hollins. Can Elisha find a way to persuade Vess to honor his grandmother’s legacy and continue on the film series that she loved so much?
Wrapped with a Beau is one of those novels that starts strongly, but begins to waver as the story progresses. I really enjoyed the first half of this book as Elisha and Vess get to know one another as we learn more about the town of Piney Peaks, the Sleighbells movie, and Elisha and Vess’s upbringings. However, once the book moves on to “more than friends” territory, I found that the story weakened due to the characters acting, well, out of character! Elisha especially felt phony and so unlike how she presented herself in the preceding parts of the novel - I just could not connect her to the girl we got to know in the beginning of the book.
With all that being said, while I have read better Christmas novels, I have also certainly read worse, so Wrapped with a Beau falls somewhere in the middle of the available holiday fare. If you’re looking for a light, comfortable Christmas read, this book will do it for you, as long as you don’t mind some very steamy open door romance scenes!
Vess Hollins is in the town of Piney Peaks to handle his late grandmother’s estate. He wasn’t close to his grandmother and just wants to get the job done quickly and leave town, but there’s one problem. His grandmother’s home was featured in a much beloved Christmas movie, Sleighbells, 50 years ago, and the town, and one woman in particular do not want to see it fall to the wayside.
Elisha Rowe loves her hometown of Piney Peaks and her job as a film liaison, securing quaint places for potential movie sets. She would love to see a sequel to Sleighbells filmed in Piney Peaks, but it is going to take some convincing of the Grinch who has just arrived in town, AKA Vess Hollins. Can Elisha find a way to persuade Vess to honor his grandmother’s legacy and continue on the film series that she loved so much?
Wrapped with a Beau is one of those novels that starts strongly, but begins to waver as the story progresses. I really enjoyed the first half of this book as Elisha and Vess get to know one another as we learn more about the town of Piney Peaks, the Sleighbells movie, and Elisha and Vess’s upbringings. However, once the book moves on to “more than friends” territory, I found that the story weakened due to the characters acting, well, out of character! Elisha especially felt phony and so unlike how she presented herself in the preceding parts of the novel - I just could not connect her to the girl we got to know in the beginning of the book.
With all that being said, while I have read better Christmas novels, I have also certainly read worse, so Wrapped with a Beau falls somewhere in the middle of the available holiday fare. If you’re looking for a light, comfortable Christmas read, this book will do it for you, as long as you don’t mind some very steamy open door romance scenes!