Snowbound Bride-to-Be by Cara Colter
Harlequin Romance #4137
Contemporary
ISBN: 978-0-373-17627-4
Reviewed by Vanessa




Emma White is always looking for that perfect Christmas memory.  Since she didn’t have one she tries to create it for others.  Running a bed and breakfast that is falling down around her ears she turns it into a Christmas wonderland for the holidays to raise extra money to buy gifts for the needy.  With the roads closed to through travel Ryder Richardson is forced to seek shelter for him and his baby niece at Emma’s inn.  She doesn’t normally take guests at this time of the year, but seeing Tess she can’t help but open her door to them.  Ryder Richardson has his own demons to fight.  He blames himself for the tragic accident that took Tess’s parents the previous Christmas and can’t even stand to see the lights and decorations that denote the holiday.  He has chosen to hide from the holiday not really living at all and he refuses to celebrate Christmas even for his baby niece, Tess.

Snowbound Bride-to-Be was much more than a romance story it was about growth, acceptance, looking for a deeper meaning as well as the miracles in things.  I liked that it showed the growth that Emma realizes by her experiences with Ryder.  How she learned that her happiness wasn’t dependent upon another, but that the other person would just enhance who she already was.  It was enjoyable when Ryder discovered that he wasn’t looking at the miracle that was given to him, Tess had survived and so did he.  He didn’t realize these things until Emma pointed them out to him because he had shut himself off and refused to see the other side.  Snowbound Bride-to-Be showed that the characters started on one road determined to end up in a certain place, but somehow got diverted to another path only to discover that that was where they needed to be after all.  I absolutely adored Snowbound Bride-to-Be. I especially liked the part where this big, strong, manly-man is referred to as “momma” by a sweet, little toddler with a wild head of hair!