Elijah Lane left Whiskey River under a cloud of suspicion about a car theft he didn’t commit. After a stint in the army and years learning the wine industry, he’s back, ready to develop an elite boutique winery. With backing from a Hollywood A-lister, Eli intends to prove that this boy from the wrong side of town has made it big. There’s no one he wants to prove it to more than Rachel Wilson, the high school sweetheart who didn’t believe in his innocence and married someone else practically the minute he left Whiskey River.
Busy running her specialty baking company, widowed Rachel has no interest in romance—even when her first love comes back to town. Though she feels guilty that she didn’t stand behind the boy her mother persuaded her was certain to become a Barrels ne’er-do-well like the father who abandoned them, she has neither the time nor the energy to explore second chances.
Moved by the star-crossed couple’s repressed passion, which is hotter than cinnamon candy and sweeter than sugar icing, a benevolent Christmas ghost, who lives for happy endings, might just be cooking up a delicious new chance for Rachel and Eli.
Titles in the Whiskey River Christmas series includes: A Texas Christmas Past by Julia Justiss – A Texas Christmas Reunion by Eve Gaddy – A Texas Christmas Homecoming by Nancy Robards Thompson – Once Upon A Texas Christmas by Katherine Garbera
Title: A Texas Christmas Homecoming
Series: Whiskey River Christmas #3
Author: Nancy Robards Thompson
Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance
Published: November 16, 2017
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Felicity, our matchmaking ghost, has a real challenge in front of her this time in the once in love young couple Rachel and Eli. Separated when Eli was scent to California to attend required vocational schooling – for something he didn’t do – Rachel went on with her life. She didn’t want to believe the things her mother said Eli had done were true, but he never contacted her before he left so she let a young love die. Her marriage a short time later wasn’t what she thought it would be, yet at least she got her adorable daughter from that union. Now Rachel’s life revolves around Katie and the cookie shop she’s opened in Whiskey River. Her life is full and with adding catering and another dream on the back burners, well, Rachel is full to bursting with things and people needing her attention. She never, ever thought she’d run into Eli again. And she certainly never expected to suspect that a ghost was playing a part in their romantic reunion.
Eli left Whiskey River as a young man with an unsettled future. He’s returned as an adult passionate about his calling in the creation of amazing wines, ready to go into business with two of his life long friends. He also has returned for answers from Rachel. He’s never really stopped loving her, and her betrayal never set right with him, there had to be more and he was determined to find answers. What he did find was a love that had never grown cold and a woman who is afraid to trust herself or let others in to her life. He intended to change that… eventually.
I enjoyed Rachel and Eli’s romance very much. Parents think they’re doing the right thing for children, and maybe at times they do. But once the children are adults, their future is up to them. What you see in front of you isn’t always the entire story, and Eli’s situation proves that very well. Felicity is her usual fun, loving and mischievous self. I adore her matchmaking ways. If you’re looking for a Christmas romance to celebrate love, family and good memories then I”d recommend the Whiskey River Christmas series as every story is slightly connected, and each story gives you a delightful couple and the timeless magic of love.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
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