Warning: Spoiler's Ahead!!! This is a recap blog which means I read the book and tell you everything that happens so you don't have to read it yourself. Do NOT continue to read unless you want to have the story completely and utterly spoiled.
Book Description: Branch Connors, Alpha reindeer, CEO and hater of Christmas is in a pickle. He needs to mate on Christmas Eve, lest through a loophole in their strict shifter laws he lose his herd and company to Cousin Cletus. Just when he thinks his only option might be to mate the reindeer who has been stalking him for the past eight years, he finds the perfect secret Santa gift in his office - a curvy human called Mira. Can she be the one to save his herd and his heart?This book was published in 2018 and I've had it on my list to read for over a year. I intended to do it in December of 2018 but took a break that month. Then I intended to do it in December of 2019 but took another break that month. So you're all getting a freaking reindeer book in January. Deal with it.
We begin with a prologue. It's
December 14th and Branch is at an office Christmas party. He
hates Christmas and he really hates office Christmas parties because
everyone gets drunk and stupid and the place stinks the next day.
Branch is the alpha of the reindeer shifter herd and CEO of a company
that owns resorts all over the world. Despite this, he rarely leaves
Chicago because he's a city boy at heart. Actually he's a deer at
heart but whatevs.
Branch puts in an appearance at the
party and then ditches as soon as possible to go to his office. His
brother Harlan left a secret Santa present for him in there
and they're usually highly inappropriate (last year his brother gave
him a male sex doll). I don't think Price is very familiar with the
concept of secret Santa's. If it was a true secret Santa, Branch
wouldn't know who the gift was from. Anyway, he's worried about what
it might be as he opens his office door. It turns out to be a
beautiful woman in an elf costume.
Suddenly we're swept back in time to
December 1st. Branch's mom is holding a hat full of names
trying to get Branch to draw one. He's resisting because he hates
Christmas. This is repetitive and we've only gone two pages. He
finally draws the name because he lives for making his mother happy
and then she mentions setting him up on a date. Branch shuts her
down. He's had no interest in dating since his mate Janelle died 10 years ago.
He heads up to his office and a nervous
secretary mentions that there's some weirdness in the accounts.
That's usually the CFO's realm but Branch decides to look into it.
He finds some weird expenses to something called “Snow Bunnies”
that his brother is claiming and assumes it might be a strip bar. He
decides to put an end to that as well as to the horse drawn carriage
they are currently employing for some reason he can't fathom. Neither of these things account for the odd discrepancies though.
It's December 3rd now and
we're being hosted by Mira. She's recently moved to Chicago from
Florida after the death of her father. She's currently living with
her stepsister Tempest who runs a charity for sick and
disabled children. Mira is a baker at heart and Tempest always has her baking
for fundraisers and such. Right now she's making eggnog cookies
which sound completely disgusting. She describes herself for us –
short, curvy, pink-cheeked, blonde-haired.
Oh, and she also delivers sandwiches for a little mom and pop sandwich shop which will come into play later.
Tempest rocks up and tells Mira that
she'll be playing an elf for the holiday party. Mira happily agrees
because she LOVES Christmas.
Back with Branch. It's December 5th.
He's been summoned to his uncle's office (the aforementioned CFO)
and he's wondering what the huge emergency is. When he gets there,
his uncle, mom, brother, sister and the herd historian are all
gathered waiting for him. Alden, the historian, tells Branch
that his cousin Cletus has challenged his leadership as alpha. Branch is all
for that. A nice fight will release some of the stress and tension
of the stupid season. But Alden says it's not that kind of a
challenge.
Apparently there's an ancient law that
kicks in when alpha is inherited rather than acquired through a
takeover. The new alpha must mate within five years of his father's
death to prove his virility and ability to lead the herd. His five
years is expiring and he has until Christmas Eve to mate and declare
his intention to father a calf.
Branch is dismayed. Alpha and CEO are
part of the same package. If he loses one, he loses the other. He
instructs his uncle and Alden to try to find a loophole. His sister
Ariel helpfully says one of her friends would gladly open her
legs for him but Branch finds the idea repellent. Harlan suggests he
find someone outside of the herd, pay her to say she's mated to him
and then months down the road, accuse her of cheating and dissolve
the mating. It would satisfy the law without Branch actually having
to mate.
We're back with Mira and it's December
7th. She's delivering sandwiches to Branch's building as she often does and Harlan stops her to flirt a little. She isn't very
interested in him because he seems like the kind of guy that flirts
with everyone. He asks her about the pin on her sweater and she
tells him it's for her sister's charity Snow Bunnies (uh oh). He
pulls out his wallet and gives her close to $1000. She's amazed but
he shrugs it off as pocket change, telling her that he usually spends
more than that on shoes. He asks her to deliver him a sandwich and
then adds a second sandwich and a cupcake for Branch because he often
doesn't even stop to eat lunch.
Back with Branch. I'm assuming it's
still the 7th since Price didn't include it this time. He
is in a pissy mood because they haven't been able to find a loophole
in the mating law. I can already predict what's about to happen.
{{{My prediction: Mira finds out he
stopped the contribution to the charity because he thought it was a
strip club......which makes NO FUCKING SENSE now that I've thought
about it because Harlan was submitting that for expense reports DAYS
AGO BEFORE Harlan EVEN KNEW ABOUT THE FUCKING CHARITY.....anyway, she
goes to ask him to turn the contributions back on and he tells her he
will if she pretends to be his mate.}}}
He finds a sandwich and a cupcake on
his desk and smells a comforting sweet/spicy smell in the air that
soothes him. Even though he feels like his entire world is crashing
in on him, he's content with the food and the smell in the air.
We're back to December 14th.
Mira is acting as elf and helping the kids meet “Santa”. Santa
goes to take a pee break and Mira goes into Tempest's office where
she finds her sister very upset. It turns out Deer Co has canceled
their donation without explanation and she can't get anyone to talk
to her on the phone about it. The money was supposed to buy
Christmas presents for needy kids and now she doesn't know what
they're going to do. The chapter ends there but since the next
chapter picks up with the prologue scene, we can guess that Mira went
over there to talk to the CEO about the donation for her sister.
Branch assumes Harlan set up some kind
of escort as his secret santa gift so he just tells Mira she can
leave. She's pissed at this dismissal and starts yelling at him for
being cold hearted. The poor guy is super confused. He's also
pretty intoxicated by her perfume which is making his head foggy. Dismissing the idea that she's an escort, he wonders if this is Harlan's answer to the mating problem – a human
female to pretend to mate and then dump later. He tells her he's
tempted but there has to be a better solution and now she's the one
who is confused. She goes to leave but he suddenly can't bear to
have her go. He jumps between her and the door and tells her that
he'll go along with it. He's in. She has NO idea what he's talking
about.
Suddenly the door opens and Branch's
mother walks in. When she sees Mira, she gets all happy thinking
that Branch has definitely found a mate. Branch introduces her as
his fiancee which is a huge surprise to Mira. His mom welcomes her
to the family and then beats a hasty exit, saying she's sure they
want to be alone.
Mira gets the hell out of there as
Branch's uncle, sister and Harlan converge on his office to see
what's going on. Branch chases after her and catches her by the
elevator. She asks why he told people they were engaged and he
confusedly tells her that he thought Harlan arranged everything. He
confesses that he thought Harlan hired her to marry him but then he
can't explain why that's necessary without revealing the shifter
secret. Mira is surprised a guy as gorgeous as him would need to
hire anyone to marry him but at least she doesn't think he's crazy
anymore even if she doesn't fully understand what's going on.
He asks her why she was in his office
if she wasn't there to marry him and she tells him about the donation
issue. He assumes his mother was the one who started it even though
Price TOLD US IT WAS EXPENSED BY HARLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He says he'll
reinstate the donation and increase the amount considerably if she'll
do something for him.
Boy, I didn't see that coming.
Oh, and.......
We skip ahead a little Mira goes back
and tells Tempest about Branch's offer. He explained it all as a
legal matter regarding his inheritance and swore to her that it
wouldn't be a real marriage. They would just say they were married
and that would be enough. She doesn't really understand it but she's
considering it. Not only would it give Tempest's charity the money
they need for years to come, but Branch had seemed really desperate and she
kind of wants to help him because he makes her kitten purr. No,
she's not a shifter. That was a euphemism. She feels like she can
trust him and she's kind of hoping he'll clean her pipes real good so
she might give the fake marriage a shot. Tempest is skeptical.
We go back to Branch. He's pretty torn
up by the whole thing really. He knows he has to do this to save his
herd but the idea of having to pretend to be mated with someone
pretty much kills him. He's still extremely devoted to his mate Janelle.
Back with Mira and it's now December
15th. She's at Branch's house to finalize the agreement.
She's stunned when she walks into a surprise engagement party with a
bunch of his family. He manages to pull her into a side room and
apologizes. His mom found out she was coming over and decided to
throw the party. He tried to call Mira and warn her but didn't reach
her. She takes it all in stride and tells him not to worry –
she'll be a great fake fiancee.
She does a good job and charms his
family but Branch is just sliced apart. He remembers how he woke up
in the middle of the night reaching for Janelle for a year after she
died and he's not sure he can let himself get close with another
woman. Shifters believe in something called a “heart mate”
and Janelle was his. According to their lore, you only get one.
Mira is enjoying herself. She always
wanted a big family but spent most of her life with just her and her
dad. She particularly enjoys Branch's mom and sister. As the
evening progresses, a female member of the herd named Maris
approaches and Branch nervously herds Mira outside. Maris wants to
be Branch's mate and has already bought a dress and tested caterers.
She won't take no for an answer. He really doesn't want her around
Mira at all.
It's snowing outside and Mira isn't
wearing a coat. Branch takes off his sweater and puts it over her
head. It engulfs her and it's warm and smells like him. She wants
to keep it. She can't figure out how he's not freezing his ass off
but when she touches his bare arm, his skin is warm. While they're
standing there awkwardly, she notices one of his relatives walking
out into the deep snow, removing his clothes. Branch quickly swings
her up into his arms and tries to sprint her into the house but he's
not quick enough and she sees the man shift into a reindeer.
Mira freaks out and runs to the nearest
tree house which seems like a super dumb place. To her horrified
surprise, more relatives come outside and turn into reindeer. She's
pretty shook and it doesn't get better when Branch pursues her into
the tree house. She asks him if he can turn into a reindeer too and
he says yes.
Mira begins to calm down. She's read a
lot of shifter romance novels in her day so she accepts the reality
of shifters pretty easily. Same, girl, same. She tells him that she
really likes the books about wolf shifters and he makes a disdainful
nose and calls them “unwashed idiots”. (((Also same.))) Now that she knows the
secret, he gives her the real reason he has to mate before Christmas
Eve. He's super worried she might back out of the agreement but she
is more determined now to help him.
It's December 16th. Mira
and Branch are attending his mother's annual tree trimming party.
This is the first time he's been since he was a teenager. He ducks
it every year but Mira was excited about it when she heard about it
and there's no way he would let her go alone. They end up assigned
to a tree with Branch's sister and Uncle Clay (not the CFO uncle). Mira doesn't
like the way Clay is watching her but she can't put a finger on why
it makes her uneasy.
Clay starts asking them a bunch of
questions and Mira worries that he's suspicious about the
authenticity of their relationship. He eventually leaves but Mira is
concerned that there may be trouble brewing. To prove her right, the
enormous 15 foot tree suddenly topples toward her. Branch manages to
pull her out of the way and Harlan grabs the tree. The wires used to
tie it to the ceiling were shoddily tied. Mira sees Maris and Clay
whispering together in the corner afterwards.
December 18th. Branch and
Mira join some of the herd for ice skating. One of the members
approaches Branch and tells him how nice it is to see him there. He
ordinarily avoids the little herd gatherings and apparently this has
led some of the herd to believe that he doesn't care about being the
alpha. He realizes he hasn't socialized much since Janelle died.
He's kept himself buried in work to deal with the pain.
Afterwards, Mira tells Branch how much
fun she had despite falling a gazillion times. He worries that she's
covered in bruises and she kind of wishes he'd look. She imagines
him touching her......forgive me for this but it's a direct fucking
quote.... “where her honey seeped”. That.....that was awful.
She goes in for a kiss and is rebuffed. He tells her gruffly that
their arrangement is business only. She is embarrassed and thinks he
rejected her because she's not pretty enough.
December 19th. Branch gets
to his office and finds a half naked Maris in his private bathroom.
Unfortunately Mira arrives with his lunch right then and also sees a
half naked Maris in his office. Branch yells a bunch and has Maris
escorted out by security. Mira isn't upset by it. She knows what
Maris is up to and, besides, she and Branch aren't really engaged.
He's alarmed by how heavy her basket of sandwiches is and gets one of
the bear shifters who do security to carry it for her. She protests
at first and then assumes it's all part of the charade – he has to
pretend he cares about her.
This persists throughout the book. Any time Branch does anything to show he cares about Mira, she assumes it's all just for show.
Later they meet up again to go to an
ugly sweater party. Mira asks Branch where he got his sweater and he
tells her that it belonged to his father who loved Christmas. She
can hear the sadness in his voice and she very much relates to it.
She tells him that her father loved Christmas too and she launches
into a story about the year he got heat stroke because he insisted on
wearing a Christmas sweater in Florida. By the end she's laughing
and crying and he gently wipes the tears from her face with his
thumb. She thinks she sees desire in his eyes but then she realizes
Ariel is coming toward her and she assumes it's all an act. She
tells him she needs to wash her face and then she flees.
The bathrooms are occupied so she goes
to the kitchen. After splashing water on her face, she's approached
by Maris. Maris asks Mira how much it will take her to go away. She
knows it isn't a real mating because she's literally been stalking
Branch's every move for years and she knows he and Mira just met a
few days ago. Mira just kind of shrugs it all off and refuses to
confirm anything. Maris gets frustrated and throws a punch bowl at
her but she misses and hits one of Branch's relatives instead. Clay
escorts her out.
After Maris leaves, Mira asks Branch
about Janelle. He tells her that she had an accident while running
as her beast just days before Christmas a year after they mated. (((The book never tells us if she was hunted, hit by a car or just broke her neck falling down an icy hill. It did bring up an interesting question though - if a shifter dies while in animal form, do they shift back into a human? Can you imagine hitting a deer with your car and then going to the front to look and finding a person instead???))) They were just 19 when they mated so she was only 20 when she died.
Mira thinks she's latched on to why he hates Christmas but he says
he's hated it since he was 4 and his mom made him dress up as a
donkey. He asks her why she likes it so much and she tells him that
her mom left on Christmas Eve when she was 5. To keep her from being
sad every year, her dad did Christmas bigger and bigger until it just
turned into something she looked forward to all year.
For some reason, Branch decides this is
the perfect time to show Mira his beast and, no, that's unfortunately
not a euphemism. He goes outside in the snow and shifts and she
immediately starts to pet him. She tells him how beautiful he is and
thanks him for showing her and that just ends there.
Now it's December 20th.
It's Christmas movie night with the herd. Mira is falling more and
more in love with Branch's family and friends. And Branch despite her best efforts not to. She's already
dreading the day they break up and she loses all of this. Everyone
is just so sweet and happy to see her all the time and it's
everything she's always longed for.
It's December 21st and
Branch's mom and sister have taken Mira shopping for her mating
ceremony dress. Mira requested Branch to come along because she
feels more comfortable with him around. She feels incredibly guilty
about lying to everyone. She sees a big ball gown she kind of likes
and Branch orders the snooty saleswoman to find it in her size. Mira
goes into the little dressing room and takes off her clothes so
she'll be ready to go. The dress arrives only it's Branch carrying
it and not the saleswoman. He's absolutely gobsmacked at the sight
of her in her bra and underwear. She quickly pulls the dress on and
he can't keep his eyes off her.
It's December 22nd. I bet
you guys think I'm leaving a lot of stuff out but I'm not. It's
really just this choppy. Anyway, we're back at Deer Co or whatever
it was called. It turns out Branch's cousin Roger has been paying cousin Cletus to make a claim on the herd and that's why
the books are so wonky. It turns out Roger has a major gambling
problem and he's been embezzling from the company to cover his bets.
When Roger heard Branch was looking into the account discrepancies,
he paid the idiot cousin to make a claim for the herd to distract
Branch. The cousin was supposed to drop the challenge at a later
date after Roger had replaced the money.
Cletus is contacted and
he agrees to drop the challenge. There is no other male alpha in the family and
therefore no one to take Branch's place so the entire thing is moot
now. Branch feels literally sick to his stomach when he realizes he
doesn't need to mate Mira now.
Branch isn't ready to say goodbye to
her so he asks her to help him pick out a Christmas tree and
ornaments. After they purchase everything, he asks her to come back
to his house with him and help him set it up just to prolong things a
little bit longer. She agrees of course. They get back to his house
and he spends a very frustrating hour trying to figure out how to put
the artificial tree together. He's pretty much just punching it and
cursing when his phone rings. Mira, who is hella amused by his
troubles, goes to answer it for him since he's ensconced in random
tree parts.
Harlan is on the other end of the line
and his gaster is completely flabbered when he hears Branch is
currently putting up a Christmas tree. He lets slip the fact that
Mira and Branch don't have to mate and Mira feels her entire world
crash in on her. She was hoping to have at least a couple of months
with Branch before she had to say goodbye. She goes back into the
other room to ask him if it's true.
Branch panics and pretty much blocks
the only exit out of the room so she can't run away. He's totally
missed the fact that she doesn't seem inclined to run away at all.
She asks him why he didn't tell her and he admits that he didn't want
her to leave. He tells her that he cares about her but he's still
struggling with losing his mate and he really doesn't know what he
can offer her. She is elated that he has feelings for her at all.
She tells him that they can just spend time together for awhile and
see what happens.
Well, I'm sure you all know what
happens next. One second they're discussing how they're just going
to take things slow and see how it works out and the next she is
LITERALLY tearing his clothes off him. His poor shirt. It didn't
deserve such a violent end. He pretty much immediately shoves a
finger into her and all I can think is.....ouch.....dude, let a girl
lubricate first would ya? Then we get this.....I apologize......
“She clenched around the invading finger, her inner muscles seeking
to curl themselves around him.” Um......Yeah. So, the rest is
pretty much what you'd expect. Very vanilla. Not that I mind that.
At least he didn't partially shift or anything.
The next morning Mira wakes up to an
empty bed. Branch is downstairs and as soon as she sees him, she
knows what he's going to say. He clearly looks tormented and guilty.
He tells her that he cares for her and he wants it to work out but
he's torn apart by the feeling that he's cheating on his mate. He
just can't do this. He wants to make it up to her somehow and
suggests making another donation to her sister's charity which pisses
Mira off because it seems like he's paying her for sex.
Mira heads home, crying the entire way.
She's mad but she's also sympathetic because she can tell how broken
up Branch is about everything. Her shifter romance novels taught her
that shifters mate for life so she isn't even very surprised that
he's still tied to Janelle.
It's a new day. I think. I'm not sure
anymore. Branch is at the office suffering basically. He loves Mira
and feels like that's a huge betrayal to Janelle. He literally fell
in love with Janelle when they were children and he never pictured
himself loving anyone but her. He can't hand his heart to Mira when
it was already claimed. Harlan rocks up and asks him what crawled up
his ass and died. Branch kind of explains things and Harlan says
that maybe, just maybe, the one mate thing is wrong. Maybe you can
have two in a lifetime.
Branch kind of goes through a crises at
this point trying to figure out if he can truly have another mate.
He loves Mira every bit as much as Janelle and wants to be with her
as much as he wanted to be with Janelle. He asks himself if it's
only the “lore” that has him doubting this will work. Does he
only think he can't have a second mate because shifter lore tells him
that?
It's December 24th and Mira
and Tempest are doing their big Christmas party. Mira was supposed
to be the elf again but has begged off because she's way too sad.
She's hiding in the kitchen area when she hears a commotion in the
main room. She goes to investigate and sees a large reindeer with
Christmas lights wound around his antlers has made his way into the
room. Mira knows immediately who it is and she figures this is his
way of making things up to her so she offers him up as a ride to the
kids.
Branch spends three hours giving the
kids rides and letting them pet him with grubby hands. After the
party he shifts back and begs Mira to talk to him. She ends up going
back to his house and waiting around while he takes a very long
shower to try to clean himself up. Once he's pristine again, he begs
her for a second chance. He tells her that he thought he was only
able to have one true love in a lifetime but now he's realized he can
have two. She tells him she loves him too and that's all it takes.
She doesn't make him grovel or anything. He says they should
probably take things slow because it's going to be hard for him and
she agrees.
We skip to the epilogue which takes
place one year later. Mira is 8 months pregnant with twins so I
guess that “taking it slow” thing translated into about 4 months.
They are officially mated and Mira is now co-owner of the sandwich
shop she used to work for. Things are going well with the herd –
even Maris – and Mira loves being part of Branch's huge family.
All's well that ends well I guess.
This book is the first one in a series. They all revolve around holidays so I think the next one is about Valentine's day or something. If I can find it for free, I might read it. This one wasn't awful and I appreciated that they weren't immediately "mated" at first sight. Although they kind of were. And I still haven't forgiven Price for that Snow Bunnies expense report debacle.
No comments:
Post a Comment