The particulars: Contemporary Romace, Samhain, available in print( Anthology) and as e-book

The Grade: A

The Source: Purchased at All Romance

The Blurb:

Jake Turner committed the ultimate mistake of falling in love with his best friend’s wife. The distance he puts between them costs both him and Ellie Matthews dearly. Jake will never forgive himself for not seeing what a bastard his friend was. Now that Ellie is free from her nightmare, Jake waits, needing and wanting. He’ll be there when Ellie is ready to spread her wings.

The review:

This is one of the first Maya Banks stories I read, and it is still one of my favorites. It is a poignant tale about moving forward. Like all Maya Banks stories, it is filled with pain, hope, fear. And love.  Jake have waited for a long time for Ellie to take the first step. The book follows their path their HEA.  It is rocky.  A lot of the conflict came from Ellies struggles with her past, and with believing that she is worth a man like Jake.  I loved how Jake was always there,  keeping her a float in a way. The other part of the conflict comes from Ellies ex.  I must say, I loved how  Ms. Banks used him to create additional conflict.  

Through the story, Christmas is a background element, that plays a part of the plot but it is very subtle.

This is a short story, and the greedy part of me wish it had been longer. But the story doesn’t need to be longer.  Another thing I missed was the fact that she didn’t name the town. It is just a small town, located somewere in Texas. But it felt odd that the town name wasn’t mentioned at all. But that is just a nit pickity.