Thursday 2 January 2020

Tome Thursday: White-Hot Christmas


Hello everyone!

Happy New Year!

Hopefully you're recovered, or more or less recovered, now that it's January 2nd, but if not, well, then you really had a lot of fun partying.

Which I think is fitting, given that this is the start of a beautiful new decade!

I have a few plans for this blog as well as for some other things, but first off, I have a straggler (or two) from my Christmas book list that never made it into the December shelves because you can only fit four into the month.

And I know, I know - I promised I'd be reading other things soon. And I will!

But these stragglers are just begging to be talked about, so why not give them a shot, and then move on to different, maybe greener pastures given the weather is hopefully going to start warming up again soon?

Luckily for us, the first book is less chilly than it is hot. White-Hot Christmas even sounds hotter than the average one!

Links to my previous Serenity Woods books from this series can be found at the bottom of this page, and with White-Hot Christmas my collection of Christmas Wishes is now complete. I feel very proud of myself for this accomplishment!

The setting, as usual, is New Zealand, where Brit Merle has come to visit her sister, recently married to a Kiwi. Brie and Jake are having the time of their lives, and Brie wants her sister to have some fun, too, because Merle's life back in the UK is filled with one responsibility after another.

A lecturer at university, she also looks after their mother, who, after her husband died and she had a bout of cancer, has fallen under a cloud of depression and is very much symbiotically attached to Merle.

She also keeps saying how Brie left them, angry that she found love and dared to leave her ailing mother, and that sort of thing.

Fun, right?

Not really, but that's why Merle needs a couple of weeks away in warmer climates, which is why she's there to visit.

And it's here she meets Neon.

His full name is actually Napoleon, but in all honesty I can see why he'd want it shortened, even though he bears no resemblance to the old French general. Towering over even tall Merle, a professional firefighter and intelligent to boot, something Merle hasn't seen a lot of in her lack of luck when it comes to guys, he spells trouble for her from the moment they meet.

Of course, trouble is a subjective word.

And Brie totally dares Merle with a bet about having a holiday fling with him.

Honestly, so does Jake when he and Neon talk, mind you. These people and their bets!

The end result, however, is that Merle DOES in fact approach Neon with the offer of a one-night stand, which he's happy to oblige - and not just because of the sex, either. He likes her, he's touched she picked him because he knows (from being told and doing his own math) that this isn't something she does regularly, and there's just something about her.

Both of them think that this is it, even though Neon sweetly leaves her a bouquet of wildflowers before heading in to work. But of course fate - and Ms Woods - don't work that way!

Meeting again at a Christmas BBQ, the attraction between the two sky-rockets, and they end up occupying a bathroom because they can't wait to get to any decent room with a lock.

Merle also meets his parents, who both seem like lovely people and also like her right off the bat.

Once again, even though Neon is beginning to think this might be more than just fulfilling physical needs, the two part ways, until she literally walks right into him as he lounges by the pool at Brie and Jake's place.

Taking off together, the two go exploring and also come to an agreement that, no, this isn't just a one-night stand.

Neon has an idea: why doesn't she come home with him for the four days he's off from work?

Unknowingly, this is a big deal for him, because he's never brought a woman to his house before, and he's originally very anti-commitment (then again he somehow manages to date girls who start talking bridesmaid dresses three weeks in). 

Merle agrees, and the two of them fall into a rhythm together easily, and spend his birthday together watching their favourite show, though the night before is sort of a double date with Jake and Brie.

That's when part of the whole bet process comes out, though not in a bad way, not yet.

And since Merle's leaving New Zealand pretty soon, why go into details, right?

Right.

Except it's hard for both of them when it's time to part ways, and Merle realizes she's fallen in love with Neon after he drives away (of course Neon's in love with her, too, but he doesn't recognize it yet).

That's when there's a big car accident the fire station is called to, and Neon volunteers to do some dangerous crawling into a bus that's about to blow. His friends and family are all on pins and needles waiting for a call, though thankfully he isn't hurt; his mother convinces Merle to head down to the station to be with him because he needs her, so Jake drives her down.

Honestly, it's true - Neon does need her, so she takes him home and makes sure he's washed, dressed, eats something, and holds him through the night while his nightmares keep him awake.

On my first read-through (a year or so back now) I was wondering whether this is the part when they'll be having their conversation about the nature of their relationship, and Neon is actually on the first step of it when Brie calls, explaining that she had a call from the girls' mother, innocently explained Merle's with Neon, and the mom blew a gasket.

It's a pretty horrible conversation once Merle gets to it herself, because the mother is very much unfair and spiteful and mean, digging her claws into her oldest daughter, making Merle say things she doesn't mean - like Neon being just a fling.

Unfortunately he hears it, and hurtful words are exchanged afterwards so they go separate ways. The girls both fly over to the UK since the mother indicated she has a brain tumor now, and Jake is unhappy with his cousin because the man's a bit of an idiot. Then again, if I'd heard something like that over the phone (aka being just a fling) after being ready to commit, I'd probably be as hurt as Neon.

Might not have said all that, though.

Anyway, Neon's mother clues him in that he's in love, but we all know he's going to come around eventually. The important stuff is happening overseas.

The girls arrive home, Merle in shock about everything and Brie worried, when their mother waltzes in, apparently just back from shopping, happy both her girls have 'come home'. Merle incredulously asks about the tumor - oh, no, that's fine, there never was any tumor, just the headaches. At which point Merle snaps, realizing she pretty much ruined her chances with Neon because of a mother who's selfish enough to not want her happiness, and she tells the other woman as much.

That's where she draws the line and walks out, having enough of being a slave to someone who really isn't physically sick.

Fast forward just a little bit when she's back in her lecture hall and Neon shows up, having flown from New Zealand to speak to her, not that she's feeling very generous at the time being. But he's a bit more resourceful than that and borrows a firefighting uniform to surprise her with a pseudo-striptease at the pub she's at later on.

The two of them finally talk, both of them apologising, and Neon proposes - he also says he's willing to move to the UK for her, if that's what she wants. The thing is though that Merle has seen a different sort of life which she might have in New Zealand, and she postpones their engagement until she can visit him again, maybe get her teaching certification down there, and start teaching in high school, before they call it super official.

And well, we all know it's going to be more than super official soon, don't we?

Another one of those balls that were hit right out of the park, White-Hot Christmas covers some pretty meaningful topics, about different kinds of love, and what our responsibilities are as adults - and where the line has to be drawn. In the end, love does win out, but once again the emphasis is on clear, straightforward communication. If you don't have it, trouble may abound.

And that's a wrap on Christmas Wishes, everyone! Tune in next week for something a little bit more appropriate for the chilly weather, and slightly different.

xx
*image not mine

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