REVIEW: Maybe This Christmas by Sarah Morgan

In Maybe This Christmas (O’Neil Brothers #3) by Sarah Morgan, Romance is alive and well in Snow Crystal, Vermont, this Christmas. Or, at least it is for some. Retired downhill ski champ Tyler O’Neil has sat by over the last year watching his two brothers, Jackson and Sean, meet and fall in love with the women of their dreams. Tyler isn’t looking for a wife or even a long-term relationship. He’s too busy being a single

dad to his teenage daughter Jess. Besides, if he really wanted to admit it to himself, he wouldn’t have to look any further than his longtime best friend Brenna Daniels. But Tyler knows better than to mess with the one relationship that has stayed strong and true over the years. Although, when Brenna is forced to temporarily move in with him and Jess, all bets are off. Close proximity pushes them into making a decision regarding their attraction. Tyler just hopes when it’s all said and done, he’ll still have Brenna in his life.

“We’ve been friends for years. Ours is the only relationship I haven’t messed up. I didn’t want to risk what we have by confessing that all I wanted to do was have mind-blowing sex with you.”

Brenna Daniels grew up as an unofficial member of the O’Neil family, and the bond that she and Tyler share is unbreakable. She’s been holding back over the years, though, keeping her love for him hidden. The last thing she wants to is to lose the one person who understands her better than anyone else. Running the outdoor programs and living at the Snow Crystal Resort, owned by the O’Neil family, has been a way to keep Tyler in Brenna’s life daily. His new found relationship with his daughter Jess has been enough to settle down ladies man Tyler for the moment. And Brenna, for one, is enjoying also getting to know the teenager. Staying at his lodge, seeing him up-close-and-personal daily, though? Not a good idea. But that’s the only option when Brenna’s cabin is rented for the holiday. How will she be able to avoid all that temptation without admitting her true feelings?

It touched her that he’d be so careful, and she lifted her hand and touched his face, feeling the roughness of his jaw against the softness of her hand.
“Tyler–”
“You’re beautiful.” He murmured the words against her mouth. “I’ve never said that to you before, and I should have. You’re so beautiful.”

I have been looking forward to Brenna and Tyler’s story since the beginning of the O’Neil Brothers trilogy. And boy did the sparks fly in this friends-to-lovers romance! Author Sarah Morgan certainly knew what she was doing when she paired these two people together.

So far, I’ve enjoyed meeting and reading about each O’Neil brother and their love match. I thought it was pretty fitting that this is a holiday story seeing as how the trilogy started off last Christmas with Jackson and Kayla. And although this looks to be the final full length novel in this trilogy (I’m hoping for a follow up novella) you needn’t have read the other two to understand Brenna and Tyler’s relationship. The writing here was thankfully just as well paced and romantic as I have come to expect from Ms. Morgan’s work, with dynamic characters who each fit into the storyline perfectly.

But I think what I loved most about Maybe This Christmas was the absolute devotion Tyler and Brenna had to each other as friends. So much so that they both feared ruining that friendship by exploring their attraction. I appreciated that theirs was a slow burn courtship instead of just jumping into a physical relationship right at the beginning of the book. To me, it made the story more realistic and it built up the tension between them until there were no other options but to be together. Surprisingly, even though I loved Tyler and completely related to Brenna’s aversion of confrontation, my favorite character was Tyler’s daughter Jess. She was an absolute hoot and was so perceptive for her age. Her camaraderie with her dad and then with Brenna kind of stole the show. Well, that and Ash and Luna’s–the Siberian Huskies–antics. So much fun.

I think Maybe This Christmas would be a great start to any romance fan’s holiday book binge. You can’t go wrong with the beautiful setting, the close-knit family vibe, or the genuine characters I’ve grown to love over the last three books.

Book Info:

Published October 28th 2014 by Harlequin HQN | (O’Neil Brothers #3)

“Uplifting, sexy and warm, Sarah Morgan’s O’Neil Brothers series is perfection.”—Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author

This winter, ex-skiing champion, reformed heartbreaker and single dad Tyler O’Neil has only one mission—making sure his daughter, Jess, has the best Christmas ever. The fact that his best friend, Brenna, is also temporarily moving into his chalet at the overbooked Snow Crystal resort is a delicious distraction he’s simply going to have to ignore. Theirs is the one relationship he’s never ruined, and he’s not about to start now.

Ski pro Brenna Daniels knows all about the perils of unrequited love—she’s been in love with Tyler for years. But living with him is absolute torture…how can she concentrate on being his friend when he’s sleeping in the room next door? Then when Tyler kisses Brenna, suddenly the relationship she’s always dreamed of feels so close she could almost touch it. Could this be the Christmas her dreams of a happy-ever-after finally come true?