“Leave the candy canes, take the pepper spray!
Nothing screams Christmas like a week spent ice skating, visiting Santa, and sharing a kiss or two under the mistletoe. Frannie Frost has crafted the perfect bucket list of romantic activities to surprise her boyfriend in the most magical place at Christmas time—New York City. When he unexpectedly becomes her ex, her plans are derailed leaving her with a choice. Wallow in self-pity at Christmas time or take matters into her own hands.
Former NHL defenseman turned personal protection agent, Andrew Bishop, loves his job—when things go as planned—but Frannie Frost is definitely not part of the plan. Still, when her brother, the man who saved Andrew’s life last year, asks him to deliver his sister safely to the airport, he can’t say no.
The only problem? Frannie isn’t leaving. She’s determined to make the most of her trip by checking off a bucket list of cliché Christmas actives that would make even Santa’s elves jealous. Andrew’s content to let her go until he learns that Frannie’s been mistaken for his client and thrust into the midst of danger.”
Series: Mentions & Features characters from “Deadly Deceit”. Review of that book, Here!
Spiritual Content- 'H's are capital when referring to God; Frannie thinks that nothing deepened her faith faster “than her brother’s dangerous career choice”; Frannie & Andrew tour a Catholic historical church (that he typically attends when he can); Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, & services (including a Mass service); A few mentions of God; A few mentions of those in the Bible (including someone being a good Samaritan & a “rob Peter to pay Paul” plot); A couple mentions of a church’s prison ministry; A mention of the Holy Spirit; A mention of a Christmas hymn; A mention of an empty manger off to the side in a church; A mention of being Blessed;
*Note: Going to see & mentions of Santa Claus; Mentions of superstitions & bad luck (a side character kisses a hockey puck for good luck); A few mentions of the ghosts in ‘A Christmas Carol’; A mention of Father Time.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘gah’, an ‘oh my word’, an ‘oh my jingle-jangle stars’, a ‘sheesh’, two forms of ‘darn’, two ‘idiot’s, and six forms of ‘stupid’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; An attempted kidnapping, Fighting/Self-defense, Being held hostage, Being threatened/attacked, Being shoved, Almost being runover, Pain, Injuries, (up to semi-detailed); Frannie goes to a bar/grill & is offered wine by another customer (she turns it down); Many mentions of threats, a ransomware attack, blackmail, crimes, criminals/thugs, stalkers, abductions, & muggings; Mentions of terrorism & terrorists (including a mention of 9/11); Mentions of hits, hitmen, the mafia, & organized crime families; Mentions of money laundering & frauds; Mentions of gambling (on hockey games and horse races); Mentions of pain, major injuries, & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol & drinking (including a side character drinking wine after getting her daughter to bed, Vivian from another book by this author); A few mentions of assaults; A few mentions of an almost shooting & bullet aimed for taking someone’s life; A few mentions of identity theft; A few mentions of prisons; A few mentions of kids teasing/bullying others; A couple mentions of the death of a police officer in a sting gone bad; A couple mentions of a dying relative’s bucket list; A mention of a skiing accident & death; A mention of a body bag; A mention of waterboarding; A mention of a robbery; A mention of explosives; A mention of wondering if someone is high on something; A mention of graffiti; A mention of a hazing initiation;
*Note: Frannie is determined to not be her mother who let her husband walk out on their family (this is a big issue for Frannie even though her brother has told her that they were better off without him; She compares her upbringing to another’s seemingly perfect family and thinks that while she’s proud of her mother now, it was hard growing up with other kids teasing her; She vowed that she’d do “whatever it took to make sure a guy never did to her what her father did to her mom”); Frannie’s brother is overprotective and she gets upset with it, wanting to be able to make her own choices; A young girl gets overstimulation in a line (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of movies, TV shows, fictional characters, quotes, & actors/actresses and other celebrities (Apollo 13, The Godfather, The Grinch, Home Alone, The Bodyguard, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Miracle on 34th Street, Die Hard, Polar Express, Eloise at Christmastime, Elf, It Happened on Fifth Avenue, It’s a Wonderful Life, North by Northwest, A Christmas Carol, Criminal Minds, The Office, Law & Order, Chris Pratt, Kevin Costner, Natalie Wood, Bruce Willis, Trudy O’Connor, Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Chris Evans, Cary Grant, Macaulay Culkin, Riggs Atwood, Whitney Houston, Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, Bing Crosby, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Nora Ephron, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Andy Warhol, & Ella Fitzgerald); Mentions of brand names (North Face, Cole Haan, Armani, Henley, Michael Kors, & Colgate); Mentions of Uber & car brands; Mentions of other pop culture references (Vanity Fair, Barbie, Netflix, FaceTime, Instagram, McDonald’s, Macy’s, Nutella, Godiva, Sprite, Coke, Nespresso, & Candy Land); Mentions of hotel chains; Mentions of superheroes (Superman, Batman, & Star-Lord); Mentions of sports teams; Mentions of Hallmark & Lifetime movies.
Sexual Content- Three almost (semi-detailed) kisses, a forehead kiss (up to semi-detailed), a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss; Staring at lips (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss (up to semi-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Nearness, Electricity, Butterflies, & Smelling (semi-detailed); Imagining & Wanting to touch, embrace, & run fingers through another’s hair (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (including muscles, up to semi-detailed); A ‘hot’, a ‘hunky’, and three forms of ‘sexy’ (including beautiful women being dressed like “sexy reindeer” in a Radio City Rockettes show); Frannie hoped that her boyfriend would invite her to stay in an extra bedroom at his family’s home and when he didn’t, she thinks it’s because of propriety more than anything else; When near Frannie, Andrew gets hots and thinks that he thought he outgrew those teenage emotions; Frannie gets defensive when Andrew asks if her family liked her ex-boyfriend; Many mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, crushes, break-ups, being dumped, & exes; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of flirting & swooning; A few mentions of women throwing themselves at hockey players; A few mentions of checking someone out & oogling them; A couple mentions of Frannie going to her hotel room alone (without Andrew; misunderstanding but implied to have been possibly suggestive); A mention of baby daddy drama; A mention of seeing a couple kiss; A mention of a second grader trying to kiss her crush (Frannie); A mention of a pick-up line; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
*Note: Towards the beginning, Andrew gives Frannie a certain smile to manipulate her feelings to get her to do what he wants (to keep her safe); When Frannie hugs him, Andrew has a thought that would “put him on Santa’s naughty list”; A few mentions of underwear (including a mention of a superstition about wearing the same underwear); A couple mentions of a man teasing another about the Radio City Rockettes being “too much women” for him to handle; A mention of a woman’s dress leaving “nothing to the imagination”; A mention of a woman’s curves (Andrew’s point of view); A mention of a doll for young girls that was “all curves, pouty lips, and in a cringe-inducing outfit” (Frannie is appalled); A mention of a fat man (Santa).
-Francis “Frannie” Frost
-Andrew Bishop
P.O.V. switches between them
268 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’m really not a big Christmas book reader or fan, so I do feel like I pushed myself to read this one. It took about halfway through for me to get into this book and enjoy the cheesy Christmas theme, but the ice-skating rink parts were my favorite.
I did really like seeing a couple from a prior book by this author and that their family had grown—but it was by adopting a little girl from Korea. That was probably my favorite part of the book because that’s near to my heart.
Frannie wasn't the smartest character I’ve ever read. Like the other books I’ve read by this author, there’s a lot of physical attraction and noticing the other’s body, including his muscles. There’s also a lot of mentions of brand names, celebrities, and movies that while sometimes added to the realness of the book, also pulled me out of the plot because it was a lot of mentions of all of that.
I wasn’t really a fan of how he was encouraging her that she could handle herself on her own in a big city—contrary to what her law enforcement brother thinks—but he’s keeping a secret from her that she actually is in danger because of someone mistaking her identity with his actual client. He does eventually tell her, but if I was in this book, I would have been an extra in the background holding up a placard that said “tell her the truth!”
I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve read her brother’s story before—even though I don’t remember any of it—but I was definitely on his side with wanting to keep her safe and unaware of everything and that’s really because she was naïve. She gets upset when the truth is revealed and it’s all about wanting to have her own life and make her own mistakes, but I don’t think her brother was in the wrong. According to his wife, his love language is to protect the people he loves; which you know fits for me too, so maybe that’s why I related to his thoughts, haha. So, and all honesty, she stressed me out with those elements and her being determined not to be like her mother who “got dumped” (who, in all actuality, raised her and her brother by herself after their dad walked out on them).
Honestly, it somewhat won me over by the end, but the romance content and attraction was just too much for my taste and she drove me batty. I can see why I have different friends who like it, but it wasn’t really my thing.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
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