Her Naughty Holiday

Starred review from September 5, 2016
Reisz’s fast-paced contemporary has everything anybody might want in a Thanksgiving romance. She crafts credible, fun characters, drops them in Mount Hood, Wash., and gives them comfortably familiar holiday problems to tackle in their unique way. Clover’s Greenery owner Clover Greene has been too busy literally growing her business to bother with men. Erick Fields is a tool-belt hero who’s had a crush on Clover ever since she consented to hire his 17-year-old purple-haired daughter, Ruthie, despite the teen’s criminal past. Clover doesn’t notice Erick’s interest until the whole Greene clan decides to take advantage of Clover’s hospitality. Invited or not, they’re coming for Thanksgiving dinner. Now she needs to produce both a turkey and a boyfriend that will keep her meddlesome family satisfied. The eponymous naughtiness ensues after Erick volunteers to play the role of boyfriend—to the hilt. Rita-winner Reisz (the Original Sinners series) throws in plenty of sex and just enough tension, charm, and passive-aggressive family banter to make for delicious, festive R-rated fun.