Unwrapped by: Katie Lane

Synopsis

GOOD THINGS COME IN SEXY PACKAGES . . .
Jacqueline Maguire has a problem tying the knot. After fleeing the altar (again), the runaway bride drives off with no particular destination in mind. Which is how Jac finds herself stranded in a snowstorm with a hot, hard-bodied stranger who treats her to the naughtiest night of her life . . . but come morning, he's long gone.

Contractor Patrick McPherson is deeply committed to his bachelor lifestyle. No strings, no rings. As the Christmas season approaches, however, Patrick still can't quite forget his curvalicious one-night stand. Then Jac shows up unexpectedly, and all holiday hell breaks loose. Because this year, Patrick is getting the biggest Christmas surprise of his life . . .

My Review

This novel was such a treat to read and just in time for the holidays... Honestly, I couldn't put it down. It was the right mixture of hot romance mixed with a good dose of humor and a little bit of fantasy mixed in. I definitely want you to read this novel so I will try my hardest not to give away too much of the little nuggets that made this novel a pleasure to read. Keep in mind that this story is a holiday novel set over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The fantasy part of the story is wrapped into that aspect. We also discover that Jacqueline  or 'Jac' is also a dreamer of sorts and some of her imaginings and thoughts can sometimes go in the direction of fantasy. There were times when I wasn't sure if things being discussed in the story were actually happening - but nothing that would totally confuse me and make me lose interest in the book. Through character dialogue, I was often still grounded in the story. I had to be careful not to think of Jac as a ditz because it could come off that way if you're not really paying attention to the storyline. 


Lane did an incredible job creating this tension in Jac and Patrick's relationship by having them move forward with separate story lines and huge unspoken secrets between them. A little less than a quarter of the way into the novel, Jac and Patrick's story lines finally converge again as they navigate these secrets.

Seldomly do I laugh out loud while reading, but I definitely laughed a few times while reading Unwrapped. I laughed at the outright humor, but I also found myself enjoying some of the quirky interactions that happened in the story. I enjoyed the various matriarch storylines (no spoilers here!) and the best friend. The character's personalities were vivid and seemed to jump off the page and come to life at times. Something that was a little unexpected and had me wondering if this story is part of a series of connected stories was the attention to detail in the secondary storylines. Maybe this is my ditz moment, but it caught me off guard a little. I expected the story to pretty much only focus on Jac and Patrick, but there were a few storylines that seemed somewhat independent of them - possibly setting up for another story or continuing a previous one?

Last but not least, I TOTALLY enjoyed the physical descriptions of the two main characters Jac and Patrick. For me, half of buying into a romantic storyline is believing in the physical chemistry between the characters. I was very happy to read that Jac was a voluptuous, dare I say full figured and sexy character. Patrick epitomized hunkiness with his oversized muscles and very masculine facial features and blond hair. It was a welcome departure from some of the other physical combinations I've read in recent novels. I would definitely recommend that you run and read this for the holiday season!