Christmas on the Strand by Loretta Wheeler

Blurb:

Winter on Galveston Island is a bevy of all types of weather imaginable. From gusty winds, Savanna Burke refers to as Male Gales, to a mixture of sleet, ice and once in a great while, snow. This winter, Savanna’s found the island winds are bringing change, for her, and for Terence Whittaker, Galveston Island’s well-known clairvoyant. 

Come visit Galveston Island with Savanna during Christmas and find the wonder of Christmas on the Strand. 

Christmas on the Strand is the prequel to a series of cozy stories titled Southern Breezes. All the stories are set on Galveston Island, sharing the lives of a group of people who visited the island when they were young and have returned to claim it as their permanent home. 

Donna's Review: 

Yes, I know. Christmas is gone. But when you’ve got to read something quick, you go to your backlist and find something quick. 

That’s how I picked up Christmas on the Strand by Loretta Wheeler. Being a native Texan myself, the appeal, of course, was that the setting was on Galveston Island.

This is a novella, so it is not lengthy. I am not particularly a fan of novellas, but Wheeler has a smooth southern drawl to her writing that sucks the reader in. The setting is well done and captures the Galveston flavor. (Made me want to go back for a visit!)

The characters of Savanna Burke and Terence Whittaker are nicely drawn, and their goals, while not particularly earth shattering or dramatic, are keen nonetheless. Even the animals have personalities in this book. The plot moves along at a steady pace. Usually novellas tend to lag because they are so thinly written. Not the case with this book. Wheeler has written a book with enough goal and conflict within the characters themselves to drive the plot forward to its end.

I also appreciated the fact that the hero and heroine did not jump into bed the first chance they got. Savanna had some morals, and that appealed to me. I liked both of the main characters so much more for that.

Now, this is a bit of a paranormal flick, so for those readers not wishing to dabble in that genre, you might wish to pass this by. There was not much of that going on here, but I cannot vouch for Wheeler’s other work as I have not read it. Typically, that is not my cup of tea, so if I do not read her other works it will be because of the genre and not her as a writer. (Although . . .  I would really like to know what happens with these two next . . .)

I understand Wheeler will be writing other books that will be companions to this one. No doubt, readers will be enthralled with Savanna and Terrence and will be coming back for more.

Easily 5 roses. 

Length: 72 pages

Digital Price: $0.99

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTMAS-STRAND-Loretta-Wheeler-ebook/dp/B00R0DPTDS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424304840&sr=8-1&keywords=wheeler+loretta

Thanks for visiting, Rose, Julie, Donna & Rochelle