The Christmas Wedding Ring by Susan Mallery

I understand that this book is a reissue of an older title by Susan Mallery. that's been updated for a more modern time and Christmasified. And that would have been fine if the book was actually Christmassy... and modern. This book did not age well, even with the "updates". Molly is a royal pain in the butt, and I got so tired of reading her whine and complain endlessly. Her woe-is-me attitude grated on my nerves very quickly. And she cries. All the time. And for Dylan to just keep telling her how wonderful she is in spite of all her complaining and her endless pity parties I just wanted to smack him. The repetitive self-deprecation and "oh no, I'm not good enough" got to be too much. This is in no way shape or form a happy, Christmassy love story. The relationship never developed to a place where I believed it, and the characters lacked chemistry and depth. Very disappointing.

Molly Anderson has spent the last number of years with a ring that was given to her by a crush with a promise of a future adventure and when her life sort of falls apart she decides to call in that adventure and take a break from her life to decide what is going to be next for herself. Dylan Black has been building a business that revolves around a passion, but he has hit a crossroad when the mess of business is interfering with his ability to actually create new product and do what he really loves. This adventure is perfectly time for him as well.

I loved this story. Without spoiling a major plot situation, I had something super in common with this character and the feelings that she had with Dylan. For me this book felt close to home and since I am far removed from my moment, it was just refreshing to revisit those feelings and know that I healed from that time.

I loved the stand alone quality of this book was really appealing during the holiday season. It was great to read a book that wasn't a part of a series and have no feelings of missing out on any part of the character's backstories. I was glad to know that when I finished this story I was finishing the whole story.

Molly and Dylan were great characters to follow on this adventure. They felt like real people in a real story and I love it when a fiction story doesn't go over the stop, but stays semi rooted in reality.

I want more of this every holiday season to read!

A good holiday read, perfect to get into the true holiday spirit.

A good girl and a bad boy are always something fun to read. Molly and Dylan had a past, and they both walked away. In this novella, it was fun to have a holiday twist.

I enjoyed this fun and quick read.