A nice very short holiday romance that happened overnight. First third was story setup via characters thoughts, middle third the event, last third sex. Grant has always been attracted to childhood friend Annabeth and she secretly felt the same.
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A MacKenzie Christmas by Liliana Hart
(Novella #7: MacKenzie Family Series)
Source: Purchase
Rating: 3/5 stars

Thank you to everything holy that the MacKenzies are a very large family with loads of hot men!! Liliana Hart has created a huge extended family that it dealt with in the tiniest way in this seventh MacKenzie family novella. Grant MacKenzie is one of a group (YAY!!! A new group!!!) of siblings that are cousins to Dane, Thomas, Riley and, Cooper MacKenzie. As is customary, Grant and his siblings have gathered at the old MacKenzie farmhouse for the holidays and though Grant loves his family, he has had all a single man can take.

Grant MacKenzie knows without doubt or hesitation that his future includes a wife and kids. He knows he wants these things sooner rather than later but the only woman he can see this happening with in Surrender is Annabeth Martin. Grant has known Annabeth for most of his life and has watched her grow up alongside his sister, Darcy. Though Annabeth seems more reserved than Darcy, she is younger than Grant and he is sure she is nowhere near ready for the type of life he is after. Unfortunately, Grant can’t seem to stop thinking about Annabeth when he is awake and sleep doesn’t help either since she keeps starring in his naughty dreams. What is a man to do??

Annabeth Martin has spent most of her life without a family of her own. Darcy MacKenzie’s family has always been there for her and though she has always been welcome at any and all family functions, Christmas is the one holiday Annabeth won’t crash. For reasons that are her own, Annabeth doesn’t do Christmas and this Christmas is no different. With the day off and no plans, Annabeth heads out to the pond on the MacKenzie’s property to ice skate. Unfortunately, the ice isn’t quite as solid as she though and fortunately, Grant is available to rescue her. As we all know, harrowing experiences have a tendency to bring to people together 

The Bottom Line: This is another example of a MacKenzie getting shafted. Grant is the first of the cousin’s branch of the MacKenzie clan to get his own “book” and he just doesn’t get the story he deserves. Grant is such a sweet man and his desire for a wife and family of his own is heartwarming. Add to this the context of Christmas and the girl he truly desires falling into his hands and you have a mix of what should be a long and endearing read. Instead, A MacKenzie Christmas is a short and sweet sprint to the finish line. ( )

I enjoyed it. This author packed a lot in this short story. Even though it corresponds to a series, I was able to follow without having read the other books. However, I like the characters, the family, so I'll be looking for more by this author. ( )