CHRISTMAS IN DESTINY –Toni Blake
A Destiny Novel
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-239259-6
November 2016
Contemporary Romance

Destiny, Ohio – Present Day

Shane Dalton recently lost his father and came to Ohio to spread his ashes before heading to a new job in Florida. Out of curiosity, after his father mentioned the town on his deathbed, he heads to Destiny, where his truck ends up sliding off the road during a snowstorm. Forced to seek shelter nearby at Candice Sheridan's house, he ends up spending the night on her couch. While she is prickly, Shane is intrigued by the cool auburn haired woman with the pure white cat. But Shane pushes aside his curiosity about Candice since he will only be staying in town briefly, but that plan soon changes when he finds out it will take a couple of weeks before his truck can be repaired. Needing a place to stay, he is offered the upstairs apartment of a kindly storekeeper. It doesn't take long before Shane is pulled into the magic of small town life in Destiny, and keeps running into Candice.

Shane is attractive but Candice isn't currently looking for a relationship after being burned once. After the night he spent at her house, she figured she'd never see him again, so is surprised he is still around. While he isn't sociable, he slowly begins to interact with the people in Destiny, many of whom are her friends, and this means being around him even more. Shane intrigues her even as their mutual attraction scares her. However, the longer he's in town, the harder it becomes for them to resist each other. Will there be a holiday fling for Shane and Candice?

The folks in Destiny are preparing for a Christmas Eve wedding, but the church and community center where the festivities are being held end up with the roofs partially collapsed after the snowstorm. Shane helps in the repairs and gets to know several people, but it's Candice he wants to know even better. Yet, she's cool and prickly towards him, leaving him to wonder if it's him or she's like that with others. But wherever he goes, there she is, and soon they're doing a movie night and helping to decorate a Christmas tree. The romance between Shane and Candice develops slowly and tenderly, until it's a blazing inferno neither can resist.

CHRISTMAS IN DESTINY opens with two weeks left until Christmas. The town is in a festive mood, with hot chocolate the preferred drink, much to Shane's amusement as he's rarely drunk the stuff in the past. Still grieving for his father, he didn't expect to be in the Christmassy spirt, but the environment around him has him changing his tune. As he gets to know Candice, something special happens between them, leaving him to wonder if he wants more than a two-week fling with her. Meanwhile, something unexpected from Shane's past has him throwing into question his life growing up. I won't explain what this is, because it'd be a huge spoiler, even if readers will get a hint of what's about to happen as they read CHRISTMAS IN DESTINY.

If you haven't read the prior books in the Destiny series by Toni Blake, one could read CHRISTMAS IN DESTINY without too much difficulty, but since several characters from prior books are a big part of this tale, it might help to know who is who. However, it isn't required reading and shouldn't affect your reading pleasure of this book.

CHRISTMAS IN DESTINY is both a sweet and spicy hot read that will grab the hearts of readers as Shane and Candice fall in love and grapple with how to make their love work. Grab a cup of hot chocolate and settle down a spell with an entertaining tale you'll not want to put down.

Patti Fischer