Perpetual optimist Eva Jordan loves the Christmas holidays, but this year, still mourning her beloved grandmother who passed last year, it’s getting more difficult for her to summon up her holiday cheer. Now that her two best friends and business partners are both in happy relationships, Eva’s goal for the Christmas season is meeting someone she might find happiness with too. But first she has a job to do. One of her elderly clients has hired her to decorate her grandson’s luxurious penthouse apartment while he’s away at a writing retreat. Eva’s job is to make it cheerful for Christmas and fill his fridge and freezer with delicious meals, so all is ready for him when he returns.
Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade has a crippling writer’s block, and he’s promised his publisher that his new book will be done by Christmas Eve. He’s told his entire family that he’s away on a writing retreat in Vermont, so they’ll leave him alone. The time coming up to Christmas is always particularly hard on Lucas, since he lost his wife in an accident three years ago. When he tackles what he believes to be an intruder, he’s surprised to see that she’s in fact a petite and curvy blonde, who seems as frightened to find him in the apartment as he is shocked to see anyone arrive. He quickly figures out that his grandmother is meddling and tries to persuade Eva to leave, but she’s adamant that she will carry out the job she’s been hired for. While Lucas is initially annoyed, he finds that Eva, contrary to his fears, is not a distraction to his writing, but that her presence in fact inspires him to write for the first time in months.
Once Eva completes his grandmother’s commission and leaves, Lucas discovers that he’s entirely unable to write without her in the apartment. He hires her for the weeks up until Christmas and even promises to take her to a swanky society ball, so she has a chance to possibly meet her Prince Charming. By the time the ball comes around, however, Lucas isn’t so sure he wants to watch Eva flirt with someone else.
Full review here.
