REVIEW: The Christmas Brides of Twilight by Lori Wilde

In The Christmas Brides of Twilight by Lori Wilde, Noelle Curry, known as the wedding whisperer, has returned to Twilight to plan a wedding for a set of twins, who happen to be marrying twin brothers. If she pulls this off, it could make her career, and she’ll finally be able to step out of her movie star mother’s shadow. When she was a child, she had spent a lot of time there with her grandparents, while her mother was away on movie sets or trying to find her next husband. It didn’t hurt that she had a crush on one of the local boys, Gil Thomas.

Gil had dreams of being a musician, but now he’s a widow and a single dad to a young daughter, Josie. He lives on the property of the inn his sister owns and runs his own music hall. Back in the day, he was never interested in Noelle, but now he can’t help but notice her; she’s the first woman after his wife’s passing that he would consider having a relationship with, and they both have to work together for the wedding. Noelle isn’t planning on staying in Twilight, but both Gil and Josie hope otherwise, because all Josie wants for Christmas is a new mother, and she wants her to be Noelle.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this story, but I’m not sure why. The writing was good, and I liked most of the characters, but it just didn’t grab and hold my attention. I found myself putting it down and then going back to it later. It felt like it moved along a little slowly at times, which may have been part of my problem with it. While there was instant attraction between the pair, the actual romance was more of a slow burn.

I liked how the pair don’t rush into things, and they’re always mindful of how their actions could affect Josie. Gil is a great father, and the way he handled everything, from the bullying she was dealing with to introducing Noelle as a romantic partner, was done well. Noelle is also great with Josie.

I found the storyline involving the actual wedding planning itself to be a bit underwhelming. The twins couldn’t seem to agree on anything, and their mother didn’t help the situation. It felt like a lot of drama was thrown into the wedding storyline just so there was drama somewhere in the book, because there was very little of it when it came to Gil and Noelle. While the wedding for the twins was the main reason Noelle had returned to town, I could have done with reading less about it and giving Gil and Noelle more page time together.

While this is the fourteenth book in the Twilight, Texas series, it can be read as a standalone. I’ve only previously read book number twelve in the series, Second Chance Christmas, but I didn’t feel like I was missing anything while reading this one.

This book was a mixed bag for me; there were some things I enjoyed about it, but there were also some things that I didn’t. Overall, the writing is good, and the characters are, for the most part, enjoyable. If you’re looking for a small-town romance set at Christmastime, you may want to consider giving The Christmas Brides of Twilight a read.

Book Info:

Publication: October 24, 2023 | Avon | Twilight, Texas #14

She was the one who got away…

Noelle Curry has returned to Twilight to plan the most spectacular double wedding the town has ever seen—and do it on national television. But the woman known as “The Wedding Whisperer” is knocked speechless when she notices her teenage crush, Gil Thomas, is about to plunge into icy cold water wearing nothing more than a pair of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer swim trunks. He is the sexiest guy participating in the annual polar bear plunge and seeing him pushes all thoughts of white lace and rose blossoms right out of her mind.

He was the man who decided to stay…

Single dad Gil doesn’t regret giving up his dreams of big-city singing stardom for small-town life. But seeing Noelle—who’s blossomed from the once-gawky teenager to West Coast beauty—has him thinking of days—and nights—a whole lot hotter than his plunge in the lake. And even though he knows she’ll be heading out as soon as her work is finished, he can’t help hoping the magic of Christmas in Twilight will get her to change her mind and stay in town—and by his side—forever.