The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake, #2) by Juliana Stone
Contemporary Romance
October 1, 2013
Sourcebooks

Reviewed By Tori

Jake Edwards, one of the three original bad boys of Crystal Lake, has come home to face his past. After witnessing his twin brother’s death in Afghanistan, Jake finds himself sinking into a dark pit of despair. He thought his brothers death was the worst thing he could ever endure. Until he realized he was falling in love with his brother’s widow, Raine.

Raine Delgotto Edwards has always been a part of the Edwards family and Jake’s life. Growing up with Jesse and Jake, it was no surprise to anyone when she and Jesse married. After Jesse’s death, Raine has been living in limbo, unable to move forward. She can’t eat or sleep; floundering helplessly against the depression that encases her. She lost more than her husband that terrible day, she also lost Jake, and that just about killed her.

Now Jake is back in town to fulfill the promise he made his twin. To take care of Raine.  But Raine doesn’t need Jake to take come back because of a promise…she needs him to come back because she loves him.  Raine hopes she and Jake can finally face their demons together and go forward with their lives before the darkness consumes them both for good.

First off, The Christmas He Loved Her is NOT a normal holly jolly Christmas story. The second book in Stone’s Bad Boys of Crystal Lake trilogy, this is a somber tale of grief and despair. A melodramatic offering that addresses the tragic consequences of war and death on the families left behind. There is so much pain in here it was very hard to read and assimilate. Angst and bittersweet sorrow intertwine as we slip effortlessly back into the lives of these residents and the stories they have to tell us. Multiple storylines running abound, all intertwining and conversing on the main attraction, Jake Edwards and Raine Delgotto Edwards.

This was a hard for me to read and review. On one hand, the poise and emotion conviction Ms. Stone puts into the story and her characters is exceptional. Ms. Stone leaves nothing to chance and your heart bleeds for everyone who loved Jesse Edwards. His parents. His wife. His brother. All of them are suffering from his death and trying to cope in their own ways. Jake drinks and suffers not only from PTSD but also survivors guilt. He and his brother were together when the tragedy occurred and Jake could not save him. Add in his attraction to his sister in law and you have a Shakespearean drama in the making. Raine, Jesse’s widow, suffers from deep depression and guilt over her feelings for Jake. Jesse’s parents live with losing a son and being unable to help their surviving son. The emotions and actions presented are real and honest in light of what they are all facing.

On the other hand, this book opened some old wounds for me that were hard for to deal with.  I felt the emotions and actions were an overly dramatic outpouring of pain with no real solutions offered. Quite a few tropes were used that overwhelmed this reader. We are continuously faced with Jake running away from his feelings and Raine struggling to hold it all in and present a happy face to the town and her family. Why none of them were in counseling I don’t know. Raine and Jakes journey is hard won but I couldn’t help but feel like everyone was stuck in this endless cycle of guilt and despair and suddenly they weren’t.  I’m not sure exactly what the catalyst was.

We see old friends and meet a new one who I am sure is the heroine of book three. We get a small glimpse into what Cain and Maggie have been up to, along with the third bad boy in the group-Mac Draper. I missed the humor and spontaneity that was present in book one. This one has very few moments of levity. The action is low key; this book is more emotional based and centers almost completely on our protagonists.

The ending leaves us with more questions then answers. Though we are led to believe Raine and Jake are well on their way towards a bright future together, I’m unsure of the realities of that unless they both seek the counseling as I mentioned earlier. I would have also liked more memory scenes about Jesse from both Jake and Raine. I found it odd that neither of them spoke or thought about him in happier times.. Also, Raine and her mother’s conflict seemed to flare then die with no resolution. I hope this and more will be addressed more in book three.

Though I didn’t enjoy this as much as book one,  it’s a story that will appeal to many readers.  I was pleased with the pains Ms. Stone took to stay on the path she set up and didn’t feel the need to use cheap plot devices to push the story into an unbelievable happily ever after. I am looking forward to Mac’s story as I think he deserves a HEA more than anyone in Crystal Lake combined. Book three, The Day He Kissed Her, will release April 1, 2014.

Rating: C

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