Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Breakfast Included

SERIES: Snowed Inn series

AUTHOR: L.C. Chase

PUBLISHER: Wild Roan Press

LENGTH: 132 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 11, 2022

BLURB:

What’s worse than being stranded at a mountain resort by an avalanche three days before Christmas? Being trapped with your teenage crush—who kissed you and ran away.

Reno Pierce spends all his time creating music in his studio, quite happily alone, but at the insistence of his rom-com-loving dad, he finds himself at a Colorado mountain resort speed dating event. His dad wants Reno to bring his ‘Mr. Right’ home for Christmas, but what he finds instead is his teenage crush. Twelve years ago, he’d been head-over-heels in love with his older brother’s best friend, Tate. His straight best friend. But everything changed one magical night, when Tate kissed him like his life depended on it—and then ran away.

Six months after a bad breakup, Tate Boylan is still feeling the damage done to his confidence. Thanks to his hopeless romantic sister, who booked him a quaint cabin at a mountain resort and insisted he ‘boost his morale’ with a night of speed dating at The Retreat, he’s feeling much better. Until he sits at a table across from his best friend’s younger brother. The one he’d fallen for as a teen, kissed at a party, and never saw again.

Now that an avalanche has cut the hotel off from the rest of the world, Tate might have a chance to prove to Reno that this time he won’t kiss and run.

All the books in the Snowed Inn collection are standalone stories and can be read in any order.

REVIEW:

As I have stated before, I love these multi-author series. One general theme and a different spin on it. I especially love when the authors must chat and give little cameos from the other books.

Reno Pierce is going up the mountains to a speed dating event to please his overly romantic dad. It doesn’t hurt that he is finally getting out of his recording studio and taking a break from his true love…creating music. What he never expects is to run into the boy, no Tate Boylan is now all man, that was his teenage crush and  stole his heart with his first kiss then ran away never to be seen again. Tate can’t believe his luck. Reno is at the same speed dating event as him and now they are forced together in the cabin he’s staying at due to an avalanche that has them snow bound for the foreseeable future. But can he get the sexy and gorgeous Reno to trust him when he ran the last time they were together?

This one was a true gem in more ways than one. First it gave me all the warm fuzzies that I need especially in a Christmas book. Secondly, it introduced me to a new-to-me author that I can’t wait to read more of their books. Thirdly, I realized that, even though the characters had on page intimacy it didn’t have to be graphic and actually really worked for me. I knew that they were being safe but didn’t need a play-by-play description on how to prep and how to apply a condom. It was a nice, and very pleasant surprise, to just focus on the characters, their emotions and not the act itself.

I do love a best friend’s little brother book and this one was perfect. Both Reno and Tate wanted each other and it’s now obvious that that had been the case since they were young. But teenagers have a way of avoiding tough conversations at all costs. And Tate hiding his true self complicated that more so when they were young. I get where Reno was cautious about starting something with Tate. He was really burned before and his heart couldn’t have taken a one and done.

One of my guilty pleasures when reading a book is to go to YouTube and watch the videos of the important songs in a book. Imagine my surprise when I clicked on  the special song Reno played for Tate “Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours” and saw that part of it was filmed right next to my island home. That endeared  me to this book even more ☺️

My husband and I are huge Hallmark Christmas movie fans and that’s just what this book felt like. It was a quick read that made me feel good and I sighed at the end. Now I want to read the rest of this series if they are as delightful as this sweet little treasure.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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