My enormous thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for Lillie Vale’s Wrapped with a Beau. It’s my pleasure to share my review today.

Wrapped with a Beau is published in paperback today, 12th October 2023, by Zaffre and is available for purchase here.

Wrapped with a Beau

In its heyday, Piney Peaks and its beloved Christmas house were made famous by Sleighbells Under Starlight, a romantic holiday movie. Fifty years later, the small town is ready for a new love story.

Elisha Rowe has her heart set on one thing and one thing only: putting her hometown back on the map. So, when she gets the chance to secure the long-hoped-for sequel to Sleighbells Under Starlight, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure everything goes smoothly. Unfortunately, that includes claiming to have already gotten permission to film at the town’s historic Christmas House-permission she was very much denied by the mysterious new owner.

City boy Ves Hollins is only back in Piney Peaks long enough to sell the house he inherited from his great-aunt. The holidays have always been tough for Ves, and it’s not any easier when he’s distracted by memories of a Christmas long, long ago, and the irresistible charm of his new neighbour, Elisha. He has no plans to put down roots or fall in love…even if Elisha is unravelling his hesitations like a bad Christmas sweater.

There’s no question the two are opposites in every way. Ves is undeniably frosty. Elisha is brimming with warmth. He doesn’t do commitment. She never runs from a challenge. But as the two grow closer, they quickly realize that the growing spark between them may be just what the season calls for…

My Review of Wrapped with a Beau

Someone is breaking into Maeve’s house! 

Wrapped with a Beau was an unexpected novel. I’d expected a romantic read with enemies to lovers and a happy ever after ending and to some extent I got that – think candy canes, romance and snow, but I hadn’t reckoned on either the level of sexual explicitness or the emotional pull of the story. It’s pretty racy in places! 

There’s a clever structure to Wrapped with a Beau because it’s a Russian doll of a novel; reading like a romantic Christmas movie with a romantic Christmas movie as a catalyst for the action. This gives it depth and layers and a sense of history that I really appreciated.

Both Ves and Elisha are warm and convincing, but it was Ves who held the most fascination for me because he develops more and there’s a sadness and isolation in his past that feels touching to read about. That said, I liked the strength of character in Elisha too. She is principled, friendly and certainly no push over. Indeed, all the characters are well depicted so that there’s a real sense of community in Piney Peaks.

The Piney Peaks setting is gorgeous. It’s vividly depicted and very attractive. Lillie Vale has the ability to appeal to all the reader’s senses with a filmic quality so that each one is extremely well catered for highly entertainingly. I want to move there immediately. I loved the sense of social intimacy and the way Ves and Bentley are treated and viewed quite differently by those who care about Elisha. 

As well as a spicy romance, Lillie Vale considers family and belonging, the way our treatment as a child might impact us as adults and how actions speak louder than words so that as well as being a fun read, I found real moments of affecting emotion in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wrapped with a Beau, because it’s romantic, sexy and entertaining. Certainly it has all the elements one would expect from the genre but there’s rather more to it too!

About Lillie Vale

Lillie Vale is the author of books for both teens and adults, including The Decoy Girlfriend, Beauty and the Besharam, The Shaadi Set-Up and Small Town Hearts, an American Library Association’s 2020 Rainbow Books List selection. She writes about secrets and yearning, complicated and ambitious girls who know what they want, the places we call home and people we find our way back to, and the magic we make. Born in Mumbai, she grew up in Mississippi, Texas, and North Dakota, and now lives in an Indiana college town.

For further information, find Lillie on Twitter/X  @LillieLabyrinth and Instagram or visit her website. 

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