HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Author: Lisa Plumley ISBN: 9780821780534 10/2008 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: KENSINGTON

When Rachel loses her Hollywood dream job, a trip home for Christmas seems like a good idea. But she never expects to find a hunk from her past waiting under the mistletoe. Red-hot stylist-to-the-stars Rachel Porter has it all. Well, sort of. Her luxury beach house is actually a loaner from her #1 client. And her cute Tesla Roadster? Well, that's just another job perk ... hers to keep, right? But when Rachel catches her #1 client in bed with her boyfriend, she exacts her revenge by tricking her turncoat "frenemy" into committing fashion suicide on the red carpet-and promptly finds herself out of a job. And her house. Her car. Her life. With nowhere to turn, Rachel does the unthinkable: she goes home to Kismet, Michigan. For Reno Wright, picking up his neighbor's daughter from the airport for a holiday visit sounds like no big deal. But from the moment he spies Rachel in the airport, Reno knows he's in over his head. The girl Reno remembers from high school looks nothing like the glammed-out man-killer who walks off the plane. But for all her attitude, Rachel is really just a small-town girl with a heart too big for Hollywood. The temperature may be freezing, but the heat between Rachel and Reno is burning hot. Reno is falling hard fast ... but will his holiday romance survive once the calendar turns?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Lisa Plumley sets her contemporary romance, HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, in the heartland in small town Kismet, Michigan, where Rachel Porter (celebrity stylist) flees from her public meltdown in L.A. after finding her boyfriend in the bed of her biggest client. The "go to" guy in Kismet is former NFL kicker Reno Wright and when Rachel's parents can't make it to pick her up at the airport, they send Reno. Reno is smitten, but before he gets a chance to speak up, his best friend Nate swears that Rachel is his dream girlfriend from high school and extracts a promise from Reno that he'll help get them together, just as soon as he isn't too afraid to meet her.

Plumley brilliantly depicts small town life where everybody knows everything about everybody else—they just don't always say it when they want to protect feelings. The folks in Kismet admire Rachel and Reno for their successful careers, even though sometimes they get carried away with their adoration and forget to respect personal space.

Plumley creates very sympathetic characters with multifaceted personalities and relationships. Nate and Reno have been best buds since kindergarten and Reno would rather chew off his leg than hurt Nate, but he's fallen for Rachel so it's inevitable that someone is going to get hurt. Reno's biggest flaw is his guilt over his success. He doesn't know why he has been so blessed, and he works hard at helping people out in order to compensate. There are a host of secondary characters that are well drawn and my favorite is Reno's wise-cracking 5-year old niece. I swear that you can tell the true soul of a man by watching how he interacts with children and animals. Reno is a true community hero.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS is a fun holiday romance—who doesn't love a good love story delivered by Santa? Reno and Rachel bring the success they've earned away from home and bring it back to Kismet to bless family and friends alike. Plumley hits all of the right marks in telling a love story, sharing passion and inspiring us to be our best.

Susan Barton