Single by Christmas

Our Review

SINGLE BY CHRISTMAS by Rosa Temple takes place entirely during the month of December, except for the epilogue, and is a very appropriate title. The prologue sets up the ending, and the rest of the book takes us day by day through the month. The epilogue gave nice closure with a happily ever after that was totally unexpected, given the nature of the story up until almost the end.

The writing is solid and the story kept my interest. Unfortunately, the characters didn’t have much depth. What you see is what you get, and I couldn’t connect with much of it. Alex likes to party and drink way too much, and everyone around her expects it– even her straightlaced scientist boyfriend, Charlie. This is definitely a story of opposites attract, but I don’t see why he puts up with her. He’s black, she’s white. He’s more serious, she loves fun. He’s prompt, she’s always tardy–if she shows up at all. Alex thinks her life is more important than his and doesn’t seem to pay much attention to what Charlie says or feels. But still they click and I could feel their affection for each other, though I couldn’t understand it.

SINGLE BY CHRISTMAS is filled with family and friends, secrets, lots of drinking, and bouts of sadness, all set during Christmas. The steamy relationship was done well. I laughed a time or two and even shed a tear. The story was heartbreaking throughout, but I still found myself turning the pages to see what would happen next and I was glad I did, since there were twists and turns to the story that definitely kept my interest.

Temple is a new-to-me author. I will definitely give her books another try to see if there’s more substance to them than the way Alex, Charlie, and their friends were portrayed.  I liked the cover with the heart broken in two. Very appropriate.