Erika is an overworked, uptight, surgeon in Anchorage Alaska. She works at a very busy hospital and works hard every day to live up to the high expectations of her father, the head of the hospital. Erika prides herself in not getting caught up in her patient’s stories, she is there to save lives, not counsel patients and their families. Erika is burning out and she suddenly finds herself on “leave” for two weeks at her fathers insistence. She doesn’t know what to do, she only knows how to work. Maybe she should look up her best friend Cassie who she has lost touch with and go back to the small town she grew up in.
Reed is a search and rescue guide who loves his job, loves his life in Wild River, Alaska. It’s a small town and he loves the community and family that he surrounds himself with, especially his sister Cassie. One night he is helping out a friend bartending and he has to do a double take when he sees Erika walk into the bar. What could she possibly be doing here in Wild River?
Reed and Erika get off to a rocky start when they first meet and Reed isn’t very happy to have to look after Erika when his sister has to go out of town for a few days. Reed ends up taking Erika on a search and rescue mission and that’s when things start to heat up. Soon they can’t stay away from each other and find themselves falling for one another. Can they keep up their new relationship when Erika has to return to Anchorage and she has to go back to her stressful job?
This book was so beautifully written by Jennifer Snow. You can feel the tension between Erika and Reed and then as you see them falling in love you find yourself cheering on the couple to find their happily ever after. I was so happy to find out that this is the first book in a new series and I can’t wait to read the next book to revisit the characters in Wild River. Thanks so much to Harlequin, Jennifer Snow and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to read and review. This one goes on the shelf of one of my favorite books of the year.

I have a thing for books set in Alaska. I love the idea of cold weather wilderness and small town living. This book did not disappoint. This book was steamy. There was action with the search and rescue scenes and there is romance. I hope that there are more books in the series.

I will be talking about this book in my What to Read Next Podcast in December as one of my holiday picks.

Sigh... I loved this story! So good!
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I really have to say I enjoyed this book quite a bit. What made the difference for me is that the author didn’t make us wait too long to enjoy the realization that the the main characters actually were attracted to each other.

Sometimes we have to read halfway through the book to even get to the connection. But the author laid out this story in such a way that allows us to enjoy so much more of the budding and building of the relationship. That to me is a huge plus.

But this is no lighthearted read. This actually had me in tears several times and I was fully connected to Ericka and Reed’s happiness. Both of these main characters are extremely strong people and they’re beautifully balanced with each other. They have similar interests and are both workaholics.

My heart ached for them and their individual pains. Their second chance fairy-tale romance is definitely swoon worthy and this book made a huge impact on me! Sexy, enticing, heartbreaking, and a beautifully romantic Christmas story! I cannot wait for more in the series!

What a great start for a brand new series! I’m excited to read more titles in this beautiful place. Pick up this title for the holidays!

This was a great romance about friendship, love, and personal growth. Each character had some growing to do and it all worked out. I can't wait for the next title. The characters in this one both main and side shined so brightly!! I hope that the next title has some of those side characters as main characters!! This was a steamy romance that I could not put down!

From the publishers; AN ALASKAN CHRISTMAS is book #1 in the brand-new Wild River series. Set in Wild River, Alaska, readers get to explore the breathtaking beauty of the snow-covered peaks and untouched wilderness with rugged heroes who are all members of a wilderness search and rescue team.

This was Sweet, sexy, and heartwarming and I was all here for it, I really liked this one, I loved everything about this story and I cant wait for more.

Received in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great! It was the perfect mix of a steamy romance and a great love story. I loved the Alaskan setting and the Search and Rescue crew. This is must read for any holiday romance lover.

Dr. Erika Sheraton is devoted to her career. She's a surgeon at a large hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. When ordered to take a two week vacation (something she's never done) she heads back to the Alaska mountain town where she grew up. She stays with her best friend who just happens to have a handsome brother. They have an instant attraction that continues to grow into something neither of them expected. He's on the area Search and Rescue team which figures prominently in the plot. I liked the main characters, the challenges and decisions they faced, and enjoyed how Jennifer Snow brought them to their HEA. An Alaskan Christmas falls in the "open door'" romance category.

Heat Factor: Not closed door, but not light-the-snowsuit-on-fire either
Character Chemistry: Pretty sure Reed could have chemistry with anyone
Plot: How can a Very Important Person make a vacation romance work?
Overall: It is a Christmas book, but it also has depth

I expected this to be a sappy, maybe trite, Christmas special sort of book. It was set in December. It was a romance with a lot of feels. But it didn’t go quite so far as to be an ooey, gooey, nonsensical Christmas special. I enjoyed it much more than I expected I would.

The heroine: Surgeon Erika Sheraton is a workaholic who spends more time at the hospital than at her condo. She drives herself hard because she’s been seeking her father’s approval since her mother’s death when she was quite young. The most important thing in her life is the development of an anti-rejection drug that will be safer than the ones that contributed to her mother’s death after a kidney transplant rejection. Erika is forced to go on vacation in December because the hospital board has decided to enforce some rules regarding leave. What’s a workaholic with no friends and no life to do? Return to her hometown of course!

The hero: Reed Reynolds is a bartender in Wild River, Alaska, but his real career is being a lead search and rescue volunteer. Search and rescue has been driving his life since he became an adult, but he’s really been driven by his father’s disappearance when he was a teenager. He’s portrayed as the guy you went to high school with who’s so into being in the Volunteer Fire Department that the judgier among us would say he hasn’t done anything with his life “but he had so much potential!” (Bless his heart.) Personally I was concerned about his insurance situation since he’s a bartender and is constantly going out into life-threatening situations. But I really need to stop letting real life intrude on my enjoyment.

The situation: Erika springs her visit on her high school best friend, with whom she has had no contact for a decade. Friend Cassie is an adventurous free spirit, so she welcomes Erika with only a few reservations. When Erika shows up and is so awkward that she can’t even have a normal conversation without sounding like a total snob, things look like they may not go so well, but after the friends get wasted at the bar where Reed works on the first night, things smooth out. It is hard to talk to people after 10 years, especially if you feel badly about not talking to people for 10 years.

Of course, Reed carries drunk Erika up to her friend’s apartment because Erika’s shoes are completely impractical, and hot men who carry interested ladies up stairs are pretty irresistible. Sparks start to fly, but there’s resistance at first. IDK why. Seems like a wasted effort on Erika’s part certainly, particularly because Erika ends up spending a lot of time with Reed during the days as Cassie’s working. Eventually Reed and Erika acknowledge their mutual attraction and (dare I say?) feelings for each other. But this is a vacation, and as much as Erika likes Wild River and participating in search and rescue activities with Reed (slash just plain likes Reed), her life, her work, her identity, are in Anchorage. And Reed’s life is in Wild River.

For your consideration: More than anything else, identity and expectations are central in this story. Erika basically embodies everything I hate about American work/success culture. She regularly works 18 hour days and expects the doctors she’s training to do likewise. When offered a position to replace a retiring surgeon in Wild River, she straight up says she can do more important work in Anchorage. She questions why Reed would be tending bar - like why wouldn’t he be doing more with his life? She has put 100% of herself into her work because that’s where she sees herself as successful, and the result is that by any reasonable standard, her life is kind of horrible. She has no friends, her relationship with her dad (the head of general surgery at the hospital...so her boss) is crap, and her job is satisfying but also stresses her out because she’s constantly trying to do better (mostly to get her father’s attention). But she’s the best surgeon at Alaska General Hospital and she’s working on this drug that can save lives, so she is successful. And she’s financially secure with a fat paycheck and all that, which is a very good place to be. If she were happy, I’d say, “Good for you, Erika,” but she’s not, so instead I say, “Please get out of your own way, Erika.”

For his part, Reed has been embodying a solid work/life balance, and his success doesn’t fall into the classic trap of being some kind of 9-5 job that requires oodles of overtime but comes with a huge paycheck. He is excited about being a team lead for the search and rescue crew, but it’s a volunteer position. A volunteer position that requires one to be able to drop everything at a moment’s notice and conduct a S&R operation. He also enjoys working at the bar with his friend Tank (bar owner and hopefully love interest of Cassie in the next book), and he doesn’t feel inadequate until Erika rolls into town. Then he sees her drive and success and feels judged (not incorrectly), so he starts to make stupid assumptions about what kind of man would be worthy of her or some nonsense. He might wish he’d gone for a nursing degree or become an EMT.

This is the aspect of the narrative I found most interesting, because usually this sort of “unequal match” feeling stems from the man feeling more-or-less emasculated by the woman’s success. Reed needs to be “more” for Erika because...why? Presumably because if he’s going to be a man who is worthy of her, he needs to match her own success better. This is typical when a female character is “more successful” than a male character, while the reverse dynamic elicits none of the same stressors. But by the same standards under which Reed and Erika are already operating, if Erika’s a surgeon and Reed’s an EMT or a nurse, sure he might then have regular, full time employment with benefits, but Erika’s still going to be the breadwinner and her career would still outshine his (in our current cultural climate of measuring success and worth). Snow doesn’t fully dig into this apart from how it impacts the protagonists’ decisions about being together. Building off of this sidelined conflict, with the Erika-in-Anchorage and Reed-in-Wild-River and who/what-is-important consideration, Snow also explores the idea of compromise in relationships. For Reed and Erika to be together, one of them is going to have to give up something. If Erika moves to Wild River, she has to give up her drug trials and being a bigshot surgeon at Alaska General. If Reed moves to Anchorage, he has to give up being on the S&R team. So the question comes down to what’s important to them and how they achieve that. Does it mean being together or not? Life is all about choices.

So you see, this book was totally satisfying from a romance standpoint, even if it was a Christmas special, because it also had some depth in the mix.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

If you want a story that is smoking hot....An Alaskan Christmas is the book you need to read! The chemistry between the two main characters, Erika and Reed, is intense.
This my first book by author Jennifer Snow and I really enjoyed her writing style. I want to read more books by her! Can’t wait for the next book in the Wild River series.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Will appear soon at RRT: http://romrevtoday.com/

I have also posted on Amazon but it's not showing up yet.

AN ALASKAN CHRISTMAS – Jennifer Snow
HQN Books
ISBN: 978-1-335-04150-0
September 24, 2019
Contemporary Romance

Wild River, Alaska – Present Day

Dr. Erika Sheraton is a dedicated doctor who may be too dedicated, as she has few friends because she is always working. However, a stressed out Erika is causing tension at the hospital where she works, and with her father as the hospital administrator, she is under an even bigger microscope. But even she never expected to be forced by her father to take a vacation. With little interests or friends, she decides to visit her childhood friend, Cassie Reynolds, in Wild River. Soon after Erika arrives, she runs into Cassie’s brother, Reed, a nemesis from high school. At first, things haven’t changed between them, but a mutual attraction soon builds.

Reed is a member of the local search and rescue team, a job which intrigues Erika. It’s exciting and dangerous—and something Reed enjoys. While he thinks of her as a bit of a stuck up at first, he soon realizes there are more layers to her than anyone sees. Her dedication to medicine and research is due to her losing her mother from cancer at a young age and she wants to be in on the search for a cure. Meanwhile, their building attraction leads to a few hot kisses…and more. Will they end up having a short fling? Is there any chance of a future for them?

As Erika and Reed explore what their attraction to each other means, he is called out on a search and rescue mission. She gets involved, which means using her medical skills and discovers a rush of excitement. Could Erika stay in Wild River and join Reed as part of the search and rescue team? What about the research trials that are about to start at the hospital when she gets back? Would she want to abandon her goals in order to follow her heart?

AN ALASKAN CHRISTMAS actually starts in November, with Christmas barely mentioned at first. But since Christmas is in the title, don’t worry: the holiday will be incorporated as Erika and Reed’s romance continues. Their relationship is adversarial at first, a lingering effect from their high school days. But soon things shift, as sexual awareness heats up. Is it just a sexual attraction, or can there be something deeper between them? They seem so different, yet they are more alike than either realizes.

In AN ALASKAN CHRISTMAS, Erika and Reed delve into the obstacles of a future between them. It’s a journey that is introspective for both and will hopefully lead to a satisfying ending for them. Don’t miss AN ALASKAN CHRISTMAS.

Patti Fischer

Steamy enough to melt the snow in Wild River, Alaska

Dr. Erika Sheraton is a talented general surgeon and also incredibly dedicated to research into a new antirejection drug for transplant patients. What this means is that she is a workaholic to the max.

When she is told that she has to take a mandatory two week vacation to provide some balance in her life, she has no idea what she'll do or how she'll cope.

She ends up leaving Anchorage and going back to Wild River, Alaska where she grew up, hoping that her childhood friend Cassie will allow her to stay with her. Then she sees Reed, Cassie's brother, all grown up. He's the head rescue leader for Wild River Search and Rescue and to say he's changed since she last saw him is an understatement.

This is a story of finding out what and who are really important in your life and then going after it, even if you're two strong willed people like Erika and Reed.

I loved the story, the location (I always appreciate stories about Alaska), the sexy protagonists - and it was a Christmas story (kind of).

I received this book from Harlequin Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Thank you to Inkslinger and NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

An Alaskan Christmas
By: Jennifer Snow

*REVIEW* 🎄🎄🎄🎄
An Alaskan Christmas. Sounds cozy, blanketed with snow and just plain awesome! Erika is a doctor/workaholic who is on a two week mandated vacation. She returns to Wild River, Alaska to visit her best friend Cassie. While there, old flames rekindle with Erika and Cassie's brother, Reed. They have a natural chemistry, not to mention lust. As something grows between them, Erika also helps Reed with search and rescue missions because, as a doctor, her skills are needed in those situations. Erika begins to feel alive again, and perhaps even happy? It's never that easy, though. She faces obstacles, but Erika starts to realize that she can face whatever and still have people who care about her. She is worth more than just her profession. Erika, Reed, Cassie and a host of quirky secondary characters make for an excellent and complimentary community. Erika is an intelligent persistent and diligent woman who learns more than she could imagine about herself. Reed is the sexy bartender hero type, and he's totally swoon worthy. They are dynamic and likeable as a couple, and things get hot between these two. The entire setting is so lovely and gorgeous. The writing makes you feel warm and fuzzy with a dash of hot and spicy. I loved the Alaskan atmosphere, the characters' journies and the sense of magic and home that only comes from a feel good story like this one. Can I go to Alaska now?

Thank you Harlequin Publicity Team for the complimentary copy of An Alaskan Christmas! #partner

I finished An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow last night and I LOVED it! While this story isn’t all about Christmas, it’s definitely my favorite “Christmas” romance! Do not let this sweet cover deceive you, this story brings the steam!

Erika is a talented surgeon and a workaholic, until she’s ordered to take a vacation by her father. She reluctantly goes back to the small town she grew up in, Wild River, Alaska, expecting to kill time and visit her friend Cassie until she can return to the hospital. What she doesn’t expect is to fall for her friend’s brother, Reed.

Oh, I loved this one SO MUCH! Erika and Reed have so much chemistry together, they try to fight it but it’s undeniable. Erika is hard working and confident in her job, but not her people skills. Reed works to get her out of her shell and more into the “people” aspect of being a surgeon. Since Reed is part of the Wild River Search and Rescue team, there’s a lot of adventure in this story! I felt that the way they work through their blossoming relationship felt realistic, especially as the story progresses. Both Erika and Reed have heartbreaking family situations that they are still trying to cope with. This story packs a lot of heart into these pages! I loved the side characters as well, and I really hope the next story is about Cassie!

I loved every minute I spent in Alaska with these characters, this was a wonderful start to Snow’s Wild River series. An Alaskan Christmas was a five star read for me! Highly recommend grabbing this one if you need a romance with atmosphere, adventure, and steam!

#analaskanchristmas #jennifersnow #wildriverseries #harlequinpublicityteam #hqnbooks #harlequinbooks #fallread #winterread #christmasromance

Erika is workaholic surgeon on forced vacation so she goes to a old friend, Cassie, she lost touch with being so busy. It seems Erika can't stay away from the medical field as the manages to assist Cassies brother, Reed, as he works apart of a search-and-rescue team. As her forced vacation draws closer to the end she finds it tougher to go back since she and Cassie are closer as well as she and Reed have something that more then friends and can distant relationships really work?

Overall this was a pretty great book I enjoyed it. If you are looking for something that'll get you in the holiday spirit this book is not it. In fact with how little christmas situations were mention it could've happened at any point. Although this did so great for a contemporary novel. I really enjoyed how it played out, I kinda hoped for more christmasy situations but with everything that happened in this book I didn't even notice it. I loved the romance, and there was a heck of alot of steamy scenes. I loved seeing Erika in action when it came to helping out where she was needed. There is plenty to like about this book but its hard to talk about it without giving away too much. Overall this was a pretty good book I really did enjoy it.

One of the things I love so much about reading is the fact that the books I read can take me to somewhere different. I can be sitting in my home in Chicago and the next thing you know I'm on a ranch in Texas. Here's the thing, I've been on a lot of ranches and a few small-towns so I wanted to read someplace I haven't spent a lot of time at.

So when I saw this book was in Alaska I really thought about it. I knew I read one book by this author prior but hadn't read another and I wasn't sure why so that made me pause for a second until I was once again offered to review it.

I figured that had to be a sign.

And I was right! An Alaskan Christmas turned out to be a wonderful story that moved surprisingly fast. I read it only in a day which is quick for me. Two days is my usual. It's not like I can sit around reading all day and night. Boy, that would be fun. I usually read half one day and half the other. But with this one, once I started it I didn't stop.

I really enjoyed the characters. Reed is more of an open book kind of guy. What you see is what you get. He's a great guy who loves his family and friends and really loves what he does in life. I'm not saying there isn't any depth to him, just that he puts it all on the table for you.

Now Erika isn't as easy or open as a person. In the beginning, I couldn't believe the heroine I was saddled with. She is a closed-off person who takes the saying 'keeping to yourself' to a whole different level.

I wasn't sure I'd ever like her. Then she started to surprise me. She was able to learn some much about herself by taking a short vacation to a place she once called home.

I think the reason I read this book so fast is because of the characters. You really feel like you got to know them and wanted them to be happy. The author also sucked you into the town with the little bits you learn about the other people and left you wanting more. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and I'm so happy to have found a new series for me to love.

Dr Erika Sheraton works long, hard hours at Anchorage General Hospital, performing surgeries and researching a new anti-rejection drug with her father, also a top notch surgeon. After seeing how many hours Erika works, the hospital board requires her to take a two week vacation to rest, relax and prepare for the busy drug testing phase of her research that begins soon. After pouting around her condo in Anchorage for a day, Erika decides to visit her best friend from childhood, Cassie, in Wild River, just a few hours train ride away. She hasn't seen Cassie in nearly ten years, not since she graduated high school and left for college. As Erika catches back up with Cassie, and others in the small town, Cassie's brother, Reed sparks Erika's interests and so much more.

High on romance and adventure in the Alaskan wilderness, this novel is exciting and endearing. I enjoyed it's easy to read writing, that kept me turning pages late into the night, way past my bedtime.
If you aren't looking for a holiday book, An Alaskan Christmas isn't quite a Christmas book, but does occurs over the holiday period leading up to Christmas and through the New Year celebration, so don't let that scare you away.

An Alaskan Christmas is a sweet, fun, romantic holiday read. The chemistry between Reed and Erika was smoking hot and I loved watching these two fall in love. Both have so much baggage from their past that they need to overcome and you can't help but root for them. And I really loved watching Erika find herself again. She buried so much of herself in school and work after her loss and forgot who she was, so it was heartwarming watching her rediscover herself and realize there is more to life than work.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.

This was a new author for me. The search and rescue portion of the story was interesting and educational. The personal story between Reed, Cassie, and Erika, not so much for me.

I always struggle with enemies that become lovers, especially within a week's time! I had a hard time understanding and accepting their attraction. I still enjoyed the location descriptions and found the work and calls of Search and Rescue activities the saving grace.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher for my honest opinions.

If you’re looking for a romance with some serious heat and fire this holiday season look no further because this one was 🔥🔥🔥 I was a little bit fooled by the cutesy cover and didn’t expect it to be quiet so steamy but it was, just wanted to start by giving a heads up on that one right away!

Besides a sizzling romance this one had some serious depth as well, there was a lot going on between Erika and her best friend Cassie, they had a lot to work through in order to repair the friendship that was once so important to them both. There was such a fantastic storyline involving family and friendship and a romance that was both sweet and endearing but also so sexy. Erika and Reed were both extremely likable characters and their chemistry was off the charts. I absolutely loved everything about this one, the setting, the plot the relationships between the characters, it was all amazing. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book either, so pumped it’s the beginning of a new series. I’m also super excited to see that the author has extensive backlist that I can dive into as well because this was SO good.

An Alaskan Christmas in three words: Spicy, Saucy and Sweet