Book Review: Snow Kissed by RaeAnne Thayne

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Snow Kissed Summary

In some ways, this is like a Hallmark Movie in a book, but in other ways, it is so much more.

Holly is a single mom living in Shelter Springs, a small mountain town in Idaho. Her daughter, Lydia, is five years old with Down syndrome. You feel the stress in Holly’s life from the first pages: She’s the owner of a busy floral shop, she is doing her best with her daughter, and she is a new homeowner.

On top of that, she is heading into the holidays minus her assistant (Kim), who is in rehab, with a Christmas wedding she has agreed to do the flowers for. And this isn’t just any Christmas wedding; this is the wedding of her ex-husband’s sister, Kristine.

She has also been taking care of her assistant’s daughter, Audrey, who is 12 years old, but at least Audrey helps her by watching Lydia for her. The good news is that help is on the way. Audrey’s uncle Ryan is planning to fly in from San Diego to watch her for a few weeks until Kim is out of rehab.

What Holly didn’t expect was how attracted she would be to Ryan, the very handsome military helicopter pilot, from the minute she lays eyes on him. And what neither of them expects is how much they both need each other.

This story turns into a surprising fake romance when Ryan learns that Holly could use a date to Kristine’s wedding, and Ryan could also use some help adding some Christmas magic to Kim’s house to make it a warm environment for both Audrey and Kim (when she comes home). The two decide to make a trade for each other’s services.

As the two start to spend more time with each other, a genuine friendship and romance start to form.

Do you know from the beginning that these two are going to end up together? Of course. But it doesn’t mean they both don’t have some serious hurdles to overcome to get there.

Snow Kissed Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this fake-romance Christmas novel!

I added this book to my list of 2025 Christmas books to read, but I had a lot more to say about it than I could fit into that quick review.

What I like about Snow Kissed:

• The perfect Christmas romance: This is the perfect Christmas read with all the Christmas vibes: There’s decorating for Christmas, a Christmas wedding, a Christmas market, and more.
• A romance with some depth: I like a sweet romance, but I also like when a romance has some depth to it. Both Holly and Ryan are dealing with some very heavy issues.
• It’s a clean romance: I know some people love a spicy book, but I personally find sex scenes in books very awkward. There is one scene in this book that gets a little hot and heavy, but Holly puts the brakes on it.
• Fake-romance trope: I have a few romance tropes I really like, and the fake-romance trope is one of them. There’s something about feeling like you’re in on the joke that adds a fun element to the reading experience.
• Small town romance: Whether it’s a mystery or romance, I’m a sucker for a small town. It makes me feel like I’m in Stars Hollow!
• It’s pro-life. The backstory behind Holly’s pregnancy with Lydia and her decision to go through with it definitely gives this story a nice pro-life element I did not expect. (It makes me sad we don’t see as many people with Down syndrome as we used to because, unfortunately, we know what happens to them. Just keeping it real. )
• It’s inclusive. In the same vein, I like that it highlights the challenges of raising a child with special needs, and how some are accepting but some are not.
• The kids. I liked the inclusion of the kids in the story. You see how Audrey has had to grow up a lot faster because of her mother’s challenges.
• Senior members of the community. At one point, Ryan starts helping Holly with some floral deliveries, and he makes a delivery to the local retirement community. His interaction with the residents there might be one of my favorite scenes. It also showed Thayne’s ability to cover topics like black helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War.
• A religious element. There’s also a nice religious element, from a prayer before meals to a church providing meals to those in need and childcare at a bridal shower. These are all very realistic ways a church is typically involved in a community.
• A quick, enjoyable read. The last thing you need during the busy holiday season is a book you feel like you have to slog through. This book moved at a nice pace.

This book is not for you if:

• You don’t like a predictable romance. I actually find this a funny complaint about books like this, but if you don’t like a predictable book, you won’t enjoy this one.
• You don’t like cheesiness. Yes, there is some cheesy language. It’s not every sentence or even every page or chapter. But if this is something you can’t handle, definitely don’t read this book.

Thank you to Canary Street Press for sharing an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Read the Shelter Springs Series

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this book is part of a series.

(Don’t let that deter you from reading this book. It totally stands on its own.)

But if you find yourself wanting more Shelter Springs, as I did, here are the other books in the series:

• Christmas at the Shelter Inn
• The December Market

As of this writing, both of these books are included in Kindle Unlimited, if you are part of that program. (If not, Amazon usually has a good deal on KU this time of year.)