A review by tearainread
A Christmas Hope by Stacy Henrie

4.0

What a great story! Slow burn romance (especially for a novella under 100 pages) between two wonderful characters. Maria Schmitt was a side character in the first book, but you don't have to read that book to enjoy this story. Dale Emerson was wounded on the front lines in France and lost his job due to his injury. The meet cute happens one week after the Armistice, but many of Dale's colleagues are still in France tending to the wounded. He is in Sioux City, IA to take over the running of the bank from his uncle. Maria is a dedicated bank teller, which was a rarity in November 1918 (and yay! she was also a suffragette and Dale was a supporter of the women's vote). Dale is able to do the job of bank manager, but his heart is in medicine and he finds a new way of getting back into healthcare. The big reveal shows that Maria loves Dale enough to let him go and follow his heart, and shows that Dale is seriously committed to making Maria his wife. Just a really satisfying romance in 91 pages.