Sean O'Riley is stressed out because he's his brother Finn's best man, and a wedding is a scary thing, indeed. Finn and his bride to be Pru booked the Hartford Bed & Breakfast for the bachelor and bachelorette parties, while the wedding itself will take place nearby in Napa Valley in two days' time. But Sean is stunned speechless when he sees Lotti Hartford manning the reception desk. Ten years ago, Sean messed up when Lotti told him she loved him, and he didn't reply. With everything that had happened in his life, Sean just couldn't commit to anything. They were both sixteen, and he was irresponsible and wild, and sadly, Lotti moved away and they drifted apart. But now, how can she not recognize him? Or is she purposely pretending not to? But the weather has gotten worse, it's raining cats and dogs, and the wedding party is stuck at the B&B. Can Sean make up for the time lost?

What a treat: a Jill Shalvis novella for the Holidays! HOLIDAY WISHES has our favorite characters from the author's Heartbreaker Bay series, and for those who haven't read those books, no worry, this novella stands perfectly on its own, but better yet, in those few pages, Ms. Shalvis gives us Lotti and Sean's complete backstories and I felt I knew them, then and now. What was very nice is that I really got the feeling that Sean had changed, that he had matured; it was not just being told he had, and I believed in their making things right the second time around. HOLIDAY WISHES is sweet, sexy, and bittersweet at times, and it was very well done, because even though it's a short read, it has everything you expect from Ms. Shalvis: hilarious and snarky dialogues; Peaches, Lotti's pet parrot; a little Christmas ambiance, as the story takes place two weeks before the Holidays; family and friends; and a happy ending that was not rushed, but felt just right. And there's even a bonus excerpt of the next Heartbreaker Bay novel! Would Christmas feel the same without a Jill Shalvis book? I don't think so!