This book was a sweet little novella about a new mother who goes looking for the father who walked out on her son and instead finds his brother, and the together the three of them form a family. I loved the banter between Dina and Ben and I loved that neither of them felt any shame over their physical attraction to each other. I also adored that Ben found Dina's weight to be sexy, and that once he fantasized about Dina's "thick" thighs. This was perfect for a Christmas read.

(Provided by publisher) ( )

Abandoned by her baby's father, Dina is out of money and options, but not spunk. Packing up 10-month old Dash, she takes a five day cross-country bus trip (thankfully endured off-screen) to track down the no-good and demand he kick in to support his son.

Unfortunately, the only things Virgil (the no-good) is kicking are daisies, since he's dead. Luckily for Dina and Dash, Virgil's brother Ben is not only alive - and sexy - and sentimental, and he's also about ready to emerge from a long period of mourning.

I received a free copy of this novella via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Note: my copy had considerable formatting issues, but I am assuming those have been corrected in the for-sale versions.

Dina is brassy and sassy and speaks without a filter, which makes her hilarious. (And yes, she's also curvy, and self-conscious of having gone from dancer-thin to what many consider chubby, during and following pregnancy.)

I loved Dina and Ben, and was very happy that, poor and desperate though she was/is, Dina didn't leap at Ben's proposal of marriage right off. Baby Dash... maybe a little TOO perfect, from looking exactly like his uncle, to never pitching a fit or having the runs or otherwise behaving like babies generally do when they are tired or stressed or in a strange environment, but I concede that it's POSSIBLE for a baby to be that adorable and "good."

All in all though, this is a delightful short holiday read, with all the trimmings - snow, holiday decorations, family reconciliations... I will definitely be looking to read more from this author.

( )

Have Yourself a Curvy Little Christmas by Sugar Jamison
Dina Gregory has left LA with her infant son and has arrived in town. She shows up at the father's house and is shown in.
She learned Virgil is not there but Ben is and he delivers her a blow. Virgil died and he can see the Rowe in Dash, her son.
He gives her a temporary proposal to stay til after Christmas, then she can make up her mind whether she will marry him and raise Dash as their own or she leaves.
They each have their past to get over and move forward. Love the sights of the holiday around town. They do spend time together and get to know one another a lot more intimately.
Love how he takes control over the house and runs it himself. Love what he springs on her for their celebration of a Christmas meal.
She is so hung up on her big girl figure that she thinks no one could ever want her over a skinny woman.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. ( )

This novella has been sitting on my currently reading shelf for a long, long time. I fell for Sugar Jamison hard in her debut novel, DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD. She's a brilliant author that writes quirky, feel-good romances. But. Dina was a boyfriend-stealing, backstabbing hoe of a sister in the last book, so I wasn't exactly eager to start this short holiday read.

However, in HAVE YOURSELF A CURVY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, it's two years and one ten-month-old baby boy later and apparently she's all grown up and she's changed. She's no longer the thin, bitchy, jealous sister like she was in the past.

Never heard that before, have we?

Of course, I was appropriately suspicious of this new, curvy and definitely improved Dina. She can't just go from the evil villain to heroine all in one night. Or can she?

I found myself falling under Dina's crass yet hilarious spell, just like her ex-lover's brother, Ben. While we were being seduced by her sparkling personality and vivacious curves, I completely forgot about Dina's not-so-seductive past.

When Ben sees his nephew for the first time, he realizes he can't let Dash and Dina walk out of his life. He lives a cold, lonely existence as the last living memory of his family, but he's finally thawing out thanks to Dina and her adorable son.

Dina and Ben are a cute couple. They both have a odd sense of humor and have endless love for those they care about. I do think that Ben's guilt for moving on after the death of his wife is kind of ridiculous. I can understand the guilt — he feels like he's cheating, I get it. But dude it's almost been a decade and you're acting like a man who just old this wife two years ago! Granted, I've never lost a wife, but you'd expect a man to be able to move on after nine years. Or maybe that's just me?

This book is everything you want in a holiday romance. Characters that you'll fall in love with (especially Dash, he's so cute!!), cutesy chapter titles stemming from Christmas songs, and a happily ever after. At the end, I was wishing HAVE YOURSELF A CURVY LITTLE CHRISTMAS was a full-length novel instead of just a holiday short.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Read my reviews at http://nobookleftbehind.booklikes.com i ( )