Red-Haired Ash Reads

This is a Christmas Carol retelling about a wealthy alien who owns most of the city named Eben Skruj. When his business partner dies he finds that to fulfill the wishes of the contract to gain all of the business he must attend three social events with a companion. While straightforward, only one female had met his terms, a human one. The grumpy Skruj finds himself falling more for his human companion though with each event. 

This was a surprisingly wonderful retelling. Eben and Bobbi’s story was sweet and very low angst making it a great holiday read. Eben Skruj is a grumpy bachelor who spends his time working and acquiring wealth after a bad breakup. He doesn’t trust people and has isolated himself, but these events force him to be around people and make him realize how alone he was and that not everyone is bad, nor is it bad to spend money. I really liked seeing Eben open up and let Bobbi in. He was just a  grump who just wanted to be loved, and I really liked him. 

Bobbi was a sweet woman who spent her days working hard and taking care of her younger brother. She takes this job to make extra money to try and give her brother an actual Christmas day. Bobbi was just an extremely kind and compassionate woman who really cared about those around her. She saw through Eben’s barriers and realized that he hid a lot of feelings behind his blank faces. I liked that while she was sweet, we also saw her get jealous and protective of Eben as well. 

Overall, this was a great alien retelling and a great holiday romance. I was very surprised by this romance and now want to read more Christmas Carol retellings.

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