Holiday Endearment

A Billionaire Second Chance Holiday Romantic Comedy

By: Dhara Shah

Narrated by: Amie Kieffer

Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

When Eric's carelessness makes Layla pay her life's biggest price, will they get a second chance at loving this holiday season?

Eric was born a billionaire, but his take on life was different from that of his father. His father was a visionary, a self-made man, and a renowned workaholic. Contrastingly, Eric valued his experiences, his friends, and his family. Eric visited his grandmother every Christmas who lived in Flagstaff, their hometown. He dated Layla as a teenager, whose father owned a local Indian restaurant in Flagstaff. Their relationship progressed from being friends to lovers, as they kept seeing each other every holiday season. The wealth disparity never bothered them before.

One day, their relationship ended abruptly when he hurt her. Layla lost everything she had because of him, and disappeared. Years later, as an adult, he can't stop thinking about her. He doesn't know why she disappeared for a couple of years, but was aware of her arrival back to Flagstaff. Layla hasn't forgiven him and continues to avoid him. Eric wanted to see Layla one more time to fix whatever it was he presumably broke. Will Eric and Layla realize their love for each other and reunite this holiday season? Will their wealth disparity and cultural differences tear them apart yet again?

©2022 Dhara Shah (P)2023 Dhara Shah

Fun, sweet romance

Eric and Layla’s story was really good. He left her 5 years ago and she has avoided him every time he came back to town. She’s not able to avoid him this Christmas season. We get glimpses of their first time around and they had such a sweet beginning because of her heritage they had to hide their relationship. All the things happen after their breakup. He doesn’t know what happened when he comes back and learns about it from her best friend. He makes things right with Layla, then she has trouble with her dad. I really enjoyed the story and getting a glimpse of the Indian culture was fascinating.
I only gave 4 stars for the performance because sometimes I was confused with the female narration if it was Eric telling his side or Layla hers. The female narrator was good though.

Fun intercultural romance

Layla and Eric are from the opposite sides of the world, opposite cultures, and opposite lives. They avoided each other every holiday season. Mostly Layla, because of what Eric did to hurt her. But every Christmas, Eric comes home from San Francisco to see family and hope to see Layla.
When everything she plans doesn't turn out right, she quickly finds out he and her are still meant to be together. But with different religions, cultures, and views on marriage, it's hard for them to keep both families happy.
Secretly dating, getting sick in a blizzard, having a first kiss, and baking with family is all in this heart warning romance!
I felt like I was reading a Hallmark Movie and I absolutely loved it! Having both Indian and American cultures in this book and seeing how they both are formed together kept me reading this book!

Favorite quote:
“That’s what I’m saying, Eric. It’s a Christmas party, not a princess ball. This is such a long dress it’s touching the ground, and it has a cut on the side, revealing a part of my thigh. It’s also off-shoulder from the top and it’s blue, so not a Christmas color. Are you sure I won’t overdo it?” “No, you will look like a princess. I want you to wear it. Please! I’ve been wanting to see you in this like forever.”

This is a fun book to read any time of the year!

Meh. Cute story

This story follows Eric and Layla, who dated for a time and went their separate ways. He's white American and she's Indian American. The cultural stuff is always cool in these stories. The miscommunication trope here is one of my least favs. The story still works, the characters are still cute, but this one didn't draw me in like others from this author has.

Endearing Holiday Romance with Irresistible Holiday Magic

This is a cozy small town vibes, second chance at love, holiday romance. The story line is great for the holiday vibes with multiple holiday activities infused throughout the story. Despite having a complicated past, the chemistry between the FMC and MMC, Layla and Eric was undeniable. Their relationship development was packed with emotion, pops of humor, and irresistible holiday magic. The story is told in dual pov, but is narrated by a single narrator for those like myself who listen to the audiobook. The audio narration was well done. Speech pattern was fluid with good flow and no distracting background sounds were observed. Overall, liked this read!