Jane Zielinski has her hands full this December. The last thing she needs is to be upstaged by her former childhood BFF, Bella Bradley, who blows into town with handfuls of cash and a sexy business partner, Nate Wright. But a little competition never hurt anyone, and Jane’s ready to do whatever it takes– including flirting with Nate–to get Bella to pack up and leave. Fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne will love Grinch Girl, a spicy and humorous Christmas Romance from Michelle Dayton.
Sometimes, the real story isn’t the beautiful city girl returning to her small town to save Christmas—it’s the townie chick who never left.
Jane Zielinski has her hands full this December, working three jobs and directing a homemade reality dating web series, Single Bells, as a stunt to keep her small town competitive with the ritzy resort towns luring tourists. Then the gorgeous Bella Bradley, Jane’s childhood BFF who had no qualms about skipping town when times got tough, returns with handfuls of cash and her smoking-hot business partner Nate Wright on her arm.
Jane can’t believe she’s being upstaged again, especially when Bella uses the Single Bells activities to rekindle a romance with her high school boyfriend—the man Jane had envisioned her future with. So if a little competition could convince Bella to leave town—again—Jane is ready to take the mittens off. And she’s not above sabotage, cheating, or flirting with Nate to win. Let the reindeer games begin…
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Review:
Just when I think, so, I really loved the last book in this series, but the next one couldn’t possibly be *as* good, right? But then I pick up the next one, and yeah. Yeah, it IS.
LOVED Grinch Girl!
Like the rest of the series, it’s written in first person from the POV of the main female character–in this case, that’s Jane. She’s working roughly a bazillion jobs trying to keep afloat and harboring not an insignificant amount of resentment about the fact that she’s felt trapped by obligation and circumstance in the same small (and somewhat trashy, according to the nearby more prosperous towns) town that she grew up in. When the story opens, she’s struggling to keep her surrogate grandmother’s business afloat during the first winter season since Greta’s death and having a bit of a time with it. In fact, the entire town’s businesses are struggling, and no one’s quite sure how to fix it.
But Jane’s superpower is that she’s a fixer–or at least, she tries to be with the limited resources she has–and this time she’s come up with a (hopefully) brilliant idea. A holiday-themed online dating show set in her hometown that will feature the town, its residents, and most of all, its businesses. It’s so crazy it just might work…but then her current nemesis and former BFF Bella comes back to town and signs up to participate.
(For readers of the series, Bella was a secondary character in the previous book, Escape Girl . The MCs of the first 3 books are waaaaaay out on the periphery of this one, with mostly mentions here and there so this would work as a standalone. But as I’ve said with all of the series books so far, WHY DO THAT TO YOURSELF? READ. THEM. ALL.)
Bella looks like a Disney princess, and was high school sweethearts with the one eligible nice guy left in town, the one Jane kinda sorta had her eye on for herself. She’s clearly going to be the good girl heroine of their dating show, and since they need even numbers for the show, Jane decides to cast herself in the role of bad girl villainess, AKA Grinch Girl.
Except Jane’s not really a bad girl, or all that grinchy, really. And the work colleague that Bella brings to town with her, Nate, sees right through the act to her gooey center. (And OMG, not only does he appreciate competence p*rn, he uses the phrase in conversation in reference to Jane. Be still my heart.) But Nate–and Bella–are going to be leaving after the holidays.
And Jane’s sick of being left behind. Of not being good enough. Of not being chosen. So…better to just keep her distance from both of them, right?
Well, she’ll try. But fortunately, they have other ideas which they eventually will manage to get through to her thick skull. Because the HEAs here are glorious.
Have I mentioned that I love this series? <3
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
About the author:
There are only three things Michelle Dayton loves more than sexy and suspenseful novels: her family, the city of Chicago, and Mr. Darcy. Michelle dreams of a year of world travel – as long as the trip would include weeks and weeks of beach time. As a bourbon lover and unabashed wine snob, Michelle thinks heaven is discussing a good book over an adult beverage.
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