The Christmas He Loved Her by Juliana Stone

I have gotten VERY behind on my reviews and have several audiobooks and books from December that I need to review and catch up with on my blog.  Please bear with me as I slowly work on catching up. I love Christmas romance novels and was happy to be able to review The Christmas He Loved Her by Juliana Stone for Sourcebooks.  While I finished the novel a week before Christmas, with my semester ending and the holidays, I sadly did not get a post up about it until now.  I apologize!

Jake Edwards has returned to the small town of Crystal Lake for the holidays.  He is a veteran that lost his twin brother in Afghanistan.  Unable to deal with the pain, he has roamed around the US until finally making his way back home.  Also at home is his brother’s widow, Raine.  Jake and Raine find themselves attracted to one another, but also very much annoyed by one another as well.  Will they be able to work through the pain and come to terms with the past and their feelings?

Honestly the story in The Christmas He Loved Her was pretty good, but I found it slightly depressing for a Christmas novel.  I also was slightly weirded out by a twin brother dating his brother’s widow.  I know it’s not technically wrong, but I just couldn’t feel the romance as I would have if Raine wouldn’t have been married to Jake’s twin brother. That being said, I did like the story and I think I actually would have liked to read it better not at Christmas.

Overall, The Christmas He Loved Her was a satisfying romance story, but not one I would read again at Christmas.

Book Source:  Review Copy from Sourcebooks – Thanks!!