A review by youkaymelis
The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The story starts out with the classic grumpy guy meets sunshine girl, except for the fact that they've known of eachother for years. And also the fact that Rafe was the first responder on scene when Amanda's fiance died in an accident many years prior. And also the fact that Rafe's late wife also died and he's not looking for a relationship, let alone one with someone with a sad complicated past. Now initially you get hit with quite a few characters at once and it can get overwhelming. Part of this is my fault because I found this book at the library and went for it. Turns out there's a part 1 in this series set in the same universe and it focuses on Amanda's brother and his relationship. So you technically can read this book on its own, but it would be helpful reading the first one. That being said, I still enjoyed the world building and the characters themselves. Amanda's friends are pretty pushy about getting her back in the dating scene and honestly, real life is sometimes like that too. She's mostly avoided it given what happened and Amanda busies herself to the point of overhwhelm with work. The story is told through both perspectives so each chapter alternates between the main characters. I actually was caught off by the first kiss ngl (I'm totally sure many saw it coming tbh) and it was so sweet and cute and I just wanted to yell at Rafe to kiss her again. The sweetest part of this book is probably Isaac. He's absolutely adorable. That said, there are heavy topics discussed including drunk driving, death, addiction, and a possible suicide vs accidental death. Even without physically knowing eachother back then, Amanda and Rafe's lives have been entangled for a long time. The ending sadly felt a little rushed but still happy to have a happy ending.
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