An Ex for Christmas

Lauren Layne is one of my favorite authors. Going into her books, I know she is going to introduce me to a couple with whom I want to be friends - people I wish I knew in real life.

And now she combines that with a frisky Christmas friends-to-lovers romance that will have you looking for mistletoe everywhere you go.

A resolute believer in signs, Kelly conducts her life based in no small part on what her myriad of Magic 8 balls tells her to do. When a woman at a subway station tells her that she will find her true love before Christmas and that he's someone from her past, Kelly immediately assumes the dude is an ex. As she heads home, she writes up a list of those exes, determined to track down her true love.

The first guy she runs into is her lifetime best friend Mark. It's clear that there is more to the two of them than just friends, even if Kelly can't see that. Layren Layne shows you from the start that Kelly need no look further than her back yard, but that's not the kind of girl Kelly is. She is someone who needs to learn from her mistakes, even if she breaks your heart while doing so.

Since this is a Lauren Layne romance, you can expect some deliciously hot sexy times. And since it's also a holiday romance, you can expect Christmas charm wherever you go. I loved watching Kelly slowly realize what she has overlooked, and I absolutely loved how Mark tried to show her the truth. My only wish is that he'd been a little bit more developed. There just wasn't enough Mark, which isn't a complain so much as a compliment. He's a great guy.

An Ex for Christmas is a fast-paced, fun, holiday romance that will warm you up - in more ways than one.

After being told by a psychic that she's already met "The One" and she'll reunite with him by Christmas, Kelly is a woman on a mission to connect with her exes to figure out who the lucky man is. Mark and Kelly have been best friends since high school but he's not really into the psychics, magic 8 balls, and general reliance on fate that Kelly is. He tells her, at every chance, that this plan is ridiculous but Kelly just can't let it go. The lengths that Kelly goes to to track down her exes and ignore her growing feelings for her BFF are hilarious.

This is my first Christmas book for the year and it definitely put me in a holiday mood. I couldn't really get why Kelly was so obsessed with magic 8 balls and psychics but Mark's response to all it was fantastic. He was constantly the voice of reason, the reminder of why these men were exes, and was quietly there waiting for Kelly to get a clue. I loved their friendship and laughed so much. This holiday story was sweet with some heat and the perfect start to the Christmas season.

*This is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*

I have been reading this author's books since her first release, out of them all...and there's some pretty awesome ones...An Ex for Christmas has become my favorite. It's difficult to say why succinctly, only that through her writing, Mark and Kelly came alive on the pages. Their joys, their sorrows, the laughter, and the heartbreak all became tangible, creating a bond with this reader that'll not easily be broken, even long after the book has been completed.

Mark and Kelly's story is filled with lively, clever and witty banter...one of the author's trademarks...while at the same time, the dialog is fast paced, smart and emotion evoking. The couple didn't just suddenly find their HEA, it had been growing over tens years, recognized exactly when it needed to be, when Kelly was receptive to its gift. I have found Ms Layne to be masterful in creating emotions in her readers...this was done in spades in An Ex for Christmas.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.