Title: Venice Actually (Holidays In L.A. 2)
Author: Kelly Reynolds
Published: October, 2023
Publisher: Self-published
Readership: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance (novella)
Rating: ★★★★★
I received a copy of Venice Actually in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Getting evicted right before the holidays wasn’t on Leighton’s Christmas list. Rather than inconvenience any of her blissfully happy friends or run home to her family in *gasp* Ohio, she turns to her last Los Angeles’ newest soccer coach and her boss’ best friend, Killian. From his sunny disposition to his infuriatingly good looks, Killian’s got a knack for pressing all of her buttons. Well, almost all of them. So, why can’t she stop thinking about unwrapping his package?
Killian only has one Christmas to finally make Leighton Wheatley his. He’s been harboring feelings for the buxom babe for almost a year, but between his anxiety, her prickly attitude, and I-10 rush hour traffic, something always seems to get in the way. But now they’re staying under the same roof – during the most romantic time of year – and he’s finally got the opportunity he’s been hoping for. That is until her family pays them a surprise visit for the holidays. Suddenly, he’s being upgraded from roommate to fake fiancé… and much to Leighton’s surprise, there’s nothing fake about his feelings.
As it turns out, Christmas isn’t the only one coming fast this year.
Venice Actually is a low-angst, high-heat holiday romance novella. This book features a British, golden retriever hero with Ted Lasso energy and Roy Kent f*ckability, a mid-size, pansexual sass queen with a thing for knitting, baking as a love language, sexy times on the soccer field, sexy times in the shower, and (naturally) sexy times while watching Murder She Wrote.
Venice Actually by Kelly Reynolds is the second book in her Holidays in LA novella series and I will read anything she writes. Last year I read and reviewed Meet Me In Los Feliz and absolutely adored it and Venice Actually was no different.
Leighton and Killian are mutual acquaintances with friends in common who end up fake engaged over the holidays after Leighton is evicted from her apartment and moves in with Killian after he offers up his spare bedroom. Never mind he’s been in love with the pansexual mid-sized woman of his dreams since he first met her and now needs to spend the holidays with her and family.
Kelly is fantastic at including a casual diversity and pop culture references into all her books – she’s a millenial who knows millenials! – and her characters are engaging and leap off the page. Leighton struggles to connect with her family because she has different expectations of her life compare to her parents while Killian is a former pro-footballer-turned-coach who’s a total golden retriever/cinnamon roll dealing with anxiety. Together they compliment one another and have great chemistry and banter. Plus, through in a host of wonderful side characters (including plenty of appearances by the couple from the first book) and this is just a delightful holiday novella that will entertain you.
Rep: Pansexual, mid-size heroine, anxiety, PCOS
Tropes/Keywords: Holiday romance (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year), forced proximity, opposites attract, fake engagement, only one bed, cinnamon roll, golden retriever, he falls first, football/soccer, British hero, dirty talk
CW/TW: Fatphobia, anxiety attacks, alcohol/drug use, car accident resulting in injury (historical, off page), death of parents (historical, off page)
Noveltea Corner 