A December Bride

Book description:  "What started as a whim turned into an accidental---and very public---engagement. Can Layla and Seth keep up the façade in Chapel Springs this holiday season---for the sake of her career . . . and his heart?

Under normal circumstances, Seth Murphy - the best friend of Layla O’Reilly’s ex-fiancé - would be the last person she’d marry. But the news of their upcoming (and phony) nuptials convinces a big client that Layla may be high-society enough to work for his agency - a coup that would put her fledgling home-staging business on the map. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, even when she was dating his best friend. Maybe she’ll never forgive him for the way he hurt her back then, but he has to try. And Layla is willing to keep up their engagement farce until she’s landed her client.

For Layla, it's the chance to save her career. But for Seth, it's his last chance to win her heart."

My review:  I made the mistake of starting this book at 9:30 at night.  It's a good thing it is a novella, otherwise I probably wouldn't have made it to bed until the wee hours of the morning.  It is that good!  There are very few novellas that actually develop the story well enough.  A December Bride is one of those few.  Even though things move quickly in the story, Layla and Seth have enough of a background to make the story-line seem plausible. Both characters work well together in order to make the story believable.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  I received a complimentary e-copy of this book through the Booksneeze blogger program.  All opinions are my own.