Rachel Porter is on top of the world. As the most sought-after stylist in L.A. with a client list that includes Alayna Panagakos, the current "It" girl in Hollywood, Rachel has everything she could want -- fame, an expensive car, a house on the beach, and a phone that's always ringing, at least until the morning she catches her boyfriend in bed with Alayna. Rachel exacts her revenge by dressing Alayna in a horrid outfit for the star's birthday party bash, and twenty-four hours later, Rachel has lost everything -- her top client (and most of her lesser ones), her expensive car, her house on the beach, and her reputation. Quite simply, her life as she knew it is over. So, she decides to return to her hometown of Kismet, Michigan, for the holidays to give the whole humiliating experience a chance to blow over.

Ex-NFL kicker star Reno Wright loves Kismet, especially around the holidays. Holidays mean lights and decorations, and the annual neighborhood display contest. But this year, Reno is dealing with a few unexpected glitches. For starters, his parents had a major fight the day after Thanksgiving, and his dad has been sleeping on his couch ever since. Then he agrees to pick up the daughter of his neighbors, the Porters, at the airport, and is startled to find a woman who doesn't consider his superstardom something to fawn over. But the delectable Rachel Porter is strictly out-of-bounds; Reno's best friend Nate has announced Rachel Porter has been his dream girl since high school, and he wants Reno to help set him up with her. Now Reno's torn between the woman he wants and loyalty to his best friend, a choice which only gets harder when Nate keeps avoiding Rachel whenever Reno sets up a chance for them to meet. Spending so much time with her without Nate around is making her harder to resist, especially when she begins to talk about the possibility of not returning to L.A. after the holidays. What's an honorable go-to guy like Reno supposed to do?

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS was entertaining, although I found myself drawn more to the secondary characters than Rachel and Reno, who both come off as a bit ego-centric. Reno's friend Nate, however, is just adorable -- a man of NFL proportions who likes to make fudge, has a sentimental side the size of a football field, and has absolutely no clue how to approach women. Then there's Reno's sister, Angela, who has a crush on Nate but has never found a way to tell him. Their blooming romance is incredibly appealing, and steals the show from the main characters at every turn. The town of Kismet is fun and filled with holiday cheer, which makes HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS a good choice for a cold winter's night.

Book Summary

Jet set stylist Rachel loves her job and her life. But the good times come to a halt when Rachel learns that her best client has been sleeping with her boyfriend--a perk that's definitely not included in her services!

Impulsively, Rachel gets her revenge--thanks to a hideous designer mashup of an awards show ensemble--but her satisfaction comes at too high a cost. Blackballed from the glamorous life forever, she heads home to the last place she ever thought she'd return, her snowy, tiny, totally UNsophisticated Midwestern home town.

A short-term Christmas fling might be just the thing to put the jingle back in her bells, Rachel decides when she arrives...and the local guy who's had a crush on her since high school looks like an excellent candidate.