Book Review: Christmas in a Small Town, by Kristina Knight

Christmas in a Small Town
(Slippery Rock, Book 4)
Kristina Knight
Mass Market Paperback, 380 pages
Harlequin Super Romance
December 5, 2017
Christmas Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Diverse Reads, Holiday Romance, Interracial Romance
Source: Ebay

Synopsis:  Running out on her wedding was the best decision ever!

A cheating fiancé sends Camden Harris fleeing to her grandparents’ home in Missouri. When her ex follows, determined to win her back, Camden makes a deal with neighbor Levi Walters: they’ll pretend to be in love and she’ll support his plan to buy her grandparents’ land.

The boy from her childhood has grown up into an impressive man. His charm, good looks and sweet gestures make it difficult for Camden to remember this is fake. And Levi’s kisses only confuse her more.

This book first caught my eye last December, when I decided to sign up for a blog tour promoting it. The cover gave me such a "feel-good" vibe, with the featured couple smiling so broadly. They certainly have the happy glow of people in love! Of course, I was also pulled in by the title. I would love to be able to experience Christmas in a small town (preferably with snow on the ground, too)!

Even more importantly, the fact that this is an interracial romance also pulled me in. I think this was, in fact, my very first interracial romance, as far as I can remember. From now on, I will strive to read more such romances!

I didn't have the time to read this novel last Christmas season, but I did keep it in mind for the future. So this year, I was finally able to get to it!

The plot is an often-used one in romance novels -- the fake romance that then turns into a real one. However, I thought it was skillfully handled in this novel. That's because it was tied in to the female protagonist's search for her true self. 

The theme of the quest for one's true self was one of the most appealing things about this book, and it also made Camden Harris a very likeable protagonist. 

Ever since her father's passing, Camden had been following her mother's life pattern for her -- competing in beauty pageants, and helping her mother run her own pageant contestant training business. When her mother had later remarried a wealthy lawyer with the "right" political and society connections, Camden was thrust into a world that was really foreign to her. And somehow, she became engaged in the process -- to Grant, who had her mother and stepfather's seal of approval, but whom Camden didn't love.

So here she was in Slippery Rock -- in a wedding dress. She had run away from her own impending wedding, in Kansas City, after finding Grant "doing the deed" with her best friend....

Levi Walters, the man Camden hadn't seen since their childhood in Slippery Rock, was a very appealing character, as well. He and Camden were such a great couple! Levi had been a star football player, until a serious knee injury kept him from continuing to pursue a career as a professional player. He then turned to dairy farming.

I LOVED Levi!! He was such a sweet, gentle guy.... Although he was very much attracted to Camden, he respected her enough to give her some space, as she was just coming out of a bad relationship. He never pushed her too far, until, of course, the attraction between the two of them became too strong for them to control.

When Camden first stepped into the "Slippery Slope", the town bar and community meeting place, wearing a wedding dress, Levi was smitten. It was only after a few minutes that he recognized Camden as the grown-up version of the girl who used to tag along with him and his friends on their mischievous childhood adventures. 

I really enjoyed the relatively fast development of their romance, as they warily adjusted to each other's personalities. Levi had not been planning on getting serious with anyone. His previous relationships had never gotten to that point, because he made sure to always remain detached. He had plans. Levi was by no means a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants person. He was cautious in the extreme. And he was not the type to bare his soul to anyone, least of all women. Camden was almost the exact opposite -- bubbly and spontaneous, although she, too, was somewhat reticent about revealing the details of her past. She and Levi shared two qualities that paradoxically pulled them toward each other: a passionate commitment to their chosen path in life, and a caution about entering any long-term romantic entanglements.

Camden found her own life path in returning to her paternal grandparents' farm. She convinced her grandfather, Calvin, to reopen his stock dog training school. She immediately threw herself into the task of setting things up for the reopening, starting with the training of an adorable border collie pup named "Six". Nothing and no one would deter her from staying in Slippery Rock and working with the school, as well as participating, along with her grandfather, in stock dog competitions. Not even Grant, who pursued her to Slippery Rock, would rattle her to the point that she would willingly abandon her dream. And I loved how Levi supported her in this!

The secondary characters were also very likeable -- except for Grant, the obnoxious, snotty CHEATER who only cared about Camden as a sort of "business investment". UGH. I couldn't believe how low he was willing to stoop to get Camden back! And love had nothing to do with it.

Another aspect of the book I greatly enjoyed was how no one in the town of Slippery Rock criticized Levi and Camden's relationship because of the race factor. Levi was well liked by the town inhabitants, and had lots of friends. Although I found this a bit unrealistic, given the close-minded nature of people in small towns, I also found it very refreshing. Camden's family were just as accepting of Levi. It would be GREAT to see more of this in the real world!

I would have loved to have gotten to know Levi's family better. After all, the author did provide plenty of details about Camden's family, especially her grandparents. The reader does get to know Savannah, Levi's sister, but not nearly enough. It would have been especially nice to have known more about Levi's parents, especially Mama Hazel, his mother.

Levi's friends and their significant others -- wives and girlfriends -- were great, and they all welcomed Camden, making her a part of their lives right away. Camden became friends with Savannah, and reconnected with Julia, someone she had been friends with during her beauty pageant days.

The setting for the novel is lovely -- the wilderness area around the town of Slippery Rock is nicely described. The town itself is not that vivid in my memory, though. I wish Knight had described more of its businesses and other buildings, especially how they were decorated for the Christmas season.

In spite of the great things I've mentioned about this book, there were a couple of things I didn't like, which is the reason I'm giving this novel four stars, instead of the five I was hoping to give it, when I first began reading. 

One was that the story doesn't have a very "Christmasy" feeling to it. Yes, some Christmas events were mentioned, but they were really glossed over. I just didn't get the vivid feeling of being in a small town at Christmastime. So, this novel could really be read at any time of year. I wouldn't have minded this so much, if the title itself hadn't proclaimed that the story was taking place precisely at Christmastime.

The second thing was the emphasis on sex. While I don't mind the inclusion of sex scenes in romance novels, I don't want them to be TOO graphic, and especially not if the setting includes the Christmas season. There were just too many pretty explicit scenes between Levi and Camden. One tastefully described bedroom scene would have been enough. I got that they were strongly attracted to each other. That was very obvious from their first meeting. Instead of using up so many pages on describing passionate encounters between these two characters, I feel that the author could have provided more detailed descriptions of the Christmas events and decorations in the town. 

In spite of these objections, I felt this book deserved at least four stars, because the romance between Camden and Levi was a delight to read, the conflict in the novel was very well handled, and heck, the author did make me wish I had grown up in a small town!

MY RATING:

Once upon a time, Kristina Knight spent her days running from car crash to fire to meetings with local police--no, she wasn't a troublemaker, she was a journalist. Her career took her all over the United States, writing about everything from a serial killer's capture to the National Finals Rodeo. Along the way, she found her very own Knight in Shining Cowboy Boots and an abiding love for romance novels. And just like the characters from her favorite books, she's living her own happily ever after. 

Kristina writes sassy contemporary romance novels; her books have appeared on Kindle Best Seller Lists. She loves hearing from readers, so drop her a line!

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