Laura Ziepe

This is a very strong 3.5 star book. It could have been higher if one of the story-lines (Grace's) had been a bit tighter and actually full of tension. Most of her story-line was self-inflicted and I thought her hiding what she was up to was beyond ridiculous. I really loved Amber and Rachel's storyline. I always get a kick out of romance novels set during holiday events so this one was a nice pick me up due to the winter blues that I have going right now.

"Tis the Season to Be Single" is about three women (Rachel, Grace, and Amber) going through singledom during the Christmas and New Year.

Rachel expects her long term boyfriend Mark to finally propose. Too bad she finds out he wants to break up with her and also is seeing her best friend.

Grace is tired of her husband Simon ignoring all that she does for him (cooking, cleaning, etc.) and is starting to realize that the romance in their marriage has gone. She finally decides to tell him she wants to be separated while she thinks about what to do next.

Amber is a commitment-phobe. After having her father leave her and her mother when she was younger, Amber would rather meet a hot guy and immediately set him free again. Things change though when Amber comes back from holiday to find out her childhood best friend Jack is now engaged. Amber is starting to realize that maybe what she feels towards Jack isn't sisterly love at all, but something more. Once all three women realize that they are now single, Amber pushes them to embrace the single life with a pact to stay single and be each other's dates for their company's annual holiday party.

Rachel's story leads things off and starts the book off strong. I felt for her and wanted to smack her boyfriend and her so-called friend. I think that Ziepe does a good job of showcasing how one-sided her relationship and friendship really was. And I did love the fact that Rachel wasn't a doormat just waiting to be walked on again by her so-called friend. I do wish though that Rachel had realized that being single was more than okay. We get to see her do just two dates in this one and I wanted more of her having funny dates or out there dates with men.

Amber's story was very good too. There is a sub-plot about her father that actually kind of worked in the overall story. Amber realizing that she is in love with Jack was nice to read about. And I loved that she didn't try to do anything to wreck his relationship. I hate young adult or new adult books that show two people emotionally cheating or one of the main characters trying to do their best to wedge in between the two people who are dating. Ziepe does a good job of showing Jack's picture perfect fiancee and how initially Amber couldn't find fault with her.

Grace's story annoyed me for some reason. I think it's because she acknowledges things in their marriage got hard when they tried for a baby and failed and doesn't see that maybe that's what is going on underneath things. I also am never on the side of passive aggressive characters which is what it sounded like Grace was at times. I do wish that Ziepe had shown her family's reaction more to her being separated from Simon. That didn't ring true to me at all that she would just be moving in Rachel and not a peep from her sister or other relatives about it.

I did love that all three women worked together which allows them to be in more scenes together. Also all of them do make-up and we get to read about how Grace does extra work at weddings. I was pretty curious about what the other two women did too. Amber seems to be a I will do this job until I get bored person.

The writing was good though I wish the book was longer. Ziepe could have added even more character development to this book by including in characters that are spoken of and never seen such as Grace's family. We get lots of Rachel and Amber's family and other important people in their lives. Grace seems to only have Rachel, Amber, and her estranged husband. Also as I said above, it would have been nice to see Rachel go on even more dates before her HEA that came.

The flow was good and Ziepe manages to balances all of the stories. I just felt somewhat bored by Grace's after it becomes apparent where Ziepe is going with it.

The ending was very sweet and I liked that all three women got what they needed and all got a HEA.… (plus d'informations)