Julia Kent‘s Christmasly Obedient was featured on Sadie’s Spotlight last Christmas season. The promo material included a copy of the book. However, I was in the middle of a kitchen remodel last December and didn’t do any purposeful Christmas reading. But I happen to be doing a Christmas Reading Challenge this year, so it got read at last.

Tree picking in glorious, downeast Maine. Snow. Santa. Roaring fires, people you love, and a good life. What more could a guy want?

Or, rather, two guys?

Mike and Jeremy have a quiet life with Lydia, on her parents’ family campground in Verily, Maine. It’s a little boring, sure, but after the craziness of their old lives, what’s wrong with boring?

Besides, Jeremy and Mike find Lydia anything but.

As Christmas looms, and an unexpected oops leaves them all in a state of uncertainty, they have to ask themselves: is it time to let life be a little less boring?

And what’s inside that slim box Lydia’s giving them both on Christmas morning?

When I first went through all my books and picked out the Christmas themed one to make a Christmas reading list, I included Christmasly Obedient. I later took it off the list because it is number four in a series and I neither own nor have read the previous three books. I didn’t think I had the time to do so during the period I’d allotted myself for the reading challenge. Then, I came across two reviews that stated the book had been read as a standalone and it was fine. So, I put it back on the list and read it.

Turns out the book does stand alone. Now, I won’t pretend I didn’t feel the lack of those previous three books. By this point the threesome is established, the characters have had three books to grow and get to know one another, etc. And yes, you notice that. But the plot contained within this book does stand alone and it’s quite sweet.

I liked seeing everyone come to terms with the situation. I liked the family cameos. There wasn’t a lot of sex, but it was the right amount of spice for a short read. I did think the guys came across as unlikable at times. But I also sensed that their gruff personalities were meant to have been tempered in previous books. So, what I was supposed to see was that the situations wasn’t unrealistically hearts and roses, not just grumps.

All in all, I enjoyed it.