Kayla Green, from London, is now a Manhattan marketing
firm's hotshot in tourism and hospitality, and she just
wishes Christmas would go away. To distract herself from
bad memories she takes on an account of a family-run ski
resort in Vermont.
SLEIGH BELLS IN THE SNOW is the first of three books about
this O'Neil family. Jackson O'Neil needs help to promote
the business, but he has been successful in his own right
before going back to his country roots. He owns European
ski resorts but left handling the Vermont location to his
father, who has now passed away. His grandfather is still
there, and brothers, and family disputes stifle every
improvement Jackson wants to make. Nobody else supports
his bringing in a publicity firm, even though he's
convinced that investment is required to clean up the mess
his father left of the business. Kayla has no idea what
she'll be walking into with them!
The ladies of the family, Jackson's mother and grandmother,
try to smooth matters over and get on with running the
house, but they're not really up with the times. Nobody in
the town of Snow Crystal does business with national media,
or social media either. Jackson is now the outsider who
has to force change. He doesn't think bottling their own
maple syrup is enough of a draw in a stagnant economy.
Maybe he could persuade Kayla to come and stay for a week,
to soak up the local flavour and help him get the message
across. The average Manhattanite thinks of a week as a
very long time in business, but as it happens, Kayla can be
persuaded, if it gets her away for Christmas. The snag is
that she doesn't ski. And she's never met a moose.
Quietly amusing as it combines opposites and makes them
attract each other, the story quickly shapes up for a fun
read. Kayla is an easily sympathetic character, interesting
men without realising as she buries herself in work. The
introduction to Jackson's family is not very clear as it is
hard to tell who everyone is and what the family
relationships are. Later we meet them individually and
learn their characters. Jackson sympathises with Kayla's
wish for quiet, given the rush of business life, but it
does make her come across to us as antisocial. With her
buzz words, integrated marketing campaigns and social
networking, she's incomprehensible to the solid country
folks. She's also dressed impractically, strange for a girl
who lives by researching locations.
The author Sarah
Morgan gets it right when the British girl doesn't know
what a snow angel is. We've only heard about them from US
TV in the last couple of years. The adult romance develops
in a very short space of time but as Jackson says, it helps
to cement Anglo-US relations. SLEIGH BELLS IN THE SNOW is
one of the more varied and better-written Christmas books
around, as well as commencing what looks to be a fine
trilogy.
USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan heats up the
season with the O'Neil brothers in a brand-new holiday
series!
Once upon a time, Christmas was Kayla Green's favorite time
of year. Now all the workaholic wants for Christmas is for
it to be over—as fast as possible! So when duty calls her to
snowy Vermont to close a deal with a new client, Kayla is
grateful for an excuse to avoid the holidays for another
year.
Jackson O'Neil left a thriving business behind to return
home and salvage his family's resort—it's in his blood, and
he can't let it fail. Now that he's got marketing whiz Kayla
Green working with him to put Snow Crystal on the map,
success is on the horizon. The fact they strike enough
sparks off each other to power all the Christmas lights in
Vermont is just an added bonus.
Kayla might be an expert at her job, but she's out of her
depth with Jackson—he makes her crave the happy-ever-after
she once dreamed of, and it's terrifying. As the snowflakes
continue to swirl, will the woman who doesn't believe in the
magic of Christmas finally fall under its spell?
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