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A Fool's Gold Christmas

A Fool's Gold Christmas - Susan Mallery I've been waiting for Evie's story. After the hints in the previous Stryker brother's books about her outcast status, I was interested to see what the author would do with her character. In some ways, this story played exactly like I had expected and in other ways didn't work like I had hoped. We had hints of whom Evie's partner would be in previous books, so Dante's appearance was no surprise. It was also no surprise that Evie's mother's mistreatment would play a factor in the story line. While I didn't like how everyone (except Dante) was encouraging immediate forgiveness of her mother's past, again, there was no surprise. What did surprise me was the role that Charlie played in this story. Charlie is the firefighter mate of Evie's brother Cole. She, too, had mother issues and was able to offer advice and encouragement. I don't know why I was surprised; maybe I just assumed that Evie would develop a closeness to her other sisters-in-law because they were such feminine and outgoing personalities like herself. Short-sighted of me, I know, but I am so used to the out-going heroine being the guide for everyone. The author's stories are known for emphasis on familial relationships, and this was no exception. Both Evie and Dante deal with issues of trust, love, and abandonment. It was a good holiday romance; not to heavy on the emotional angst but still filled with meaning. I enjoyed reading about Evie and Dante and re-visiting the matriarchal town of Fool's Gold. I can tell that there will be more stories set there and will definitely be reading those.