Review: Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

Title: Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan
From Manhattan with Love Series Book Three
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

It will take a Christmas miracle for two very different souls to find each other in this perfectly festive fairy tale of New York! 

Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she’s given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn’t expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner.

Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife’s death looming, he’s isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn’t appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?

Review:

The third installment in Sarah Morgan’s heartwarming From Manhattan with Love series, Miracle on 5th Avenue is a delightfully charming opposites attract romance.

Eva Jordan is a bubbly, upbeat romantic who always tries to find the silver lining in every situation.  She fervently believes in happily ever after and although she has not yet met her Prince Charming, she has not yet given up hope she will find eventually find him. Eva is down to earth and although she always looks for the best in people, she is quite perceptive. She is rather chatty and she has an endearing tendency to speak whatever thought comes to mind.  Eva is a funny, kind-hearted and compassionate young woman who goes out of her way to help the people she cares about.

Crime writer Lucas Blade is cynical, jaded and has a bad habit of always looking for the worst in people.  He is still grieving the loss of his wife and he has become a virtual recluse in the three years since her death.   With both a book deadline and the holidays fast approaching, Lucas is at a very low point when he Eva enters his life.  Grumpy, rude and wanting to be left on his own, Lucas has no choice but to find a way to keep Eva by his side when she becomes the unexpected inspiration for his next book.

Despite their differences, a surprising friendship quickly springs up between Eva and Lucas.  She refuses to let his negativity bring her down and her unrelenting cheerful attitude slowly but surely begins to have a positive effect on Lucas.  With a genuine affection growing between them, they reveal the hidden parts of themselves that they have not felt comfortable showing anyone else.  A mutual attraction simmers beneath the surface but for various reasons, they try to fight giving in to their desire.  However, it is inevitable that they act on their passion but will Lucas’s complicated past prevent them from finding their happily ever after?

Miracle on 5th Avenue is a captivating addition to Sarah Morgan’s  From Manhattan with Love series.  Both Lucas and Eva are complex characters with realistic flaws and human foibles that readers will find easy to relate to.  The rapport between Lucas and Eva is instantaneous despite their somewhat unconventional first meeting and it is an absolute joy watching their friendship deepen into love.  This enchanting love story will melt readers’ hearts as it comes to a sweetly romantic conclusion.