Once Upon A Winter's Heart by Melody Carlson, and a giveaway

Emma Burcelli has suffered over a decade of dating disasters. But she concludes that love is officially dead when her grandfather Poppi suddenly passes, leaving her grandmother Nona devastated. To help out, Emma works in the family bookstore, which Nona insists must be decked out in sweetheart décor as Poppi would have done for Valentine's Day. Although she feels like a V-Day Scrooge, Emma quickly learns to enjoy the task with the help of a handsome family friend, Lane Forester, who shows her that hanging hearts is much more fun when done to the tune of Dean Martin. As Emma and Lane share time and memories of Poppi, she reconsiders the notion that romance is alive.

Just as Emma's heart begins to lift, however, she learns her sister has already staked a claim on Lane. Emma's mother and sister insist Lane only sees her as a future sister-in-law, but she can't help wondering if it could be something more.

My review:
  I have always enjoyed Melody Carlson's Christmas novels, and thought for some reason that this book was a Christmas novel, but it is a Valentine's Day novel. I groaned somewhat when I discovered that, but settled down to read it.

The book is a fast read, coming in at just 155 pages, but it was a good read. The romance does go pretty fast, since it is a short book, but it isn't one of those overly mushy romance novels. It is about two people who aren't sure romance is still alive and worth pursuing. Throw in a sister who wants the same guy for herself as the main character is falling for, and you have more conflict in a family that already has conflict.

 It is a sweet and short romance, not something I typically read, but I did enjoy it and would highly recommend it to the female part of our population who enjoy romance novels. It is a clean and wholesome story, with not a hint of sexual talk or innuendos.

 One thing that did bother me: I am in the camp of Christians who does not drink alcoholic beverages and feel anyone is better off not doing so, Christian or not, and it bothers me a bit when that has to be part of a story, but I shrug it off. But this book had a lot of wine drinking in it, far more than necessary to mention in any book, and that bothered me. And it isn't typical of Melody's books.

About the author:

Over the years, Melody Carlson has worn many hats, from pre-school teacher to youth counselor to political activist to senior editor. But most of all, she is a writer who loves to write! She is a bestselling and award-winning author of more than 200 books for children, teens, and adults--with sales totaling more than five million. Carlson's passion for 'true to life' fiction has had great success for both the young adult and women's markets. Informed and aware of the challenges and struggles facing teens today, she writes young adult novels that she hopes will change lives and women's fiction to which women of all ages can relate. Her popular series, Diary of a Teenage Girl (Multnomah), has sold more than 600,000 copies and her popular Christmas novellas have sold over 250,000 copies combined. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. They enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.

Giveaway:
The publisher is giving one copy of Melody's book to a lucky winner. Comments on the review are welcome, but not required to enter. Enter via Raffelcopter.

The giveaway ends March 10.

a Rafflecopter giveaway