An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow was an attractive book, judging from its cover, but I did not enjoy reading it over Christmas. Within its 378 pages we get to know Dr. Erika Sheraton, a surgeon from Anchorage, and Reed Reynolds, a bartender and volunteer emergency rescue worker. They fall for each other and have plenty of passionate sex, sometimes all night, yet the two of them can’t seem to get their act together to decide what to do when the Christmas holiday ends. Erika, you see, is a workaholic at her hospital who was forced to take a vacation in little out-of-the-way Wild River, Alaska. She is instantly drawn to her childhood crush when she runs into Reed, the brother of her best friend Cassie, whom she hadn’t seen in many years.
I read these kinds of novels because of the ostensible Christmas content. Look at the title, for one: Christmas is in it. With Alaska as the setting, snow is guaranteed. There’s sure to be cozy fireplaces, hot chocolate and outdoor Christmas markets, right? Wrong. I was exasperated that the novel, in spite of its misleading quotation on the front cover, was so devoid of Christmas content. I started this book on December 16, and felt I only needed a week to finish it. However I required two weeks to read this, and it wasn’t because I was too preoccupied with the holidays. The storyline was uninspiring to want to resume reading it further, but, because I finish every book I start, I knew I’d get it done likely before the year-end.
One situation that hangs over the book for hundreds of pages is Erika’s worry about how Cassie will react when she finds out that she is dating her brother. I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes over how much Erika is stressed out about this. I mean, who cares? Why is she so worried about this? I couldn’t see any reason in the two women’s past history for Cassie to worry one iota about Erika’s personal life, or to concern herself much over her own brother’s. Why the anguish and secrecy? I am sure Snow wrote it that way to add a dash of surreptitious spice to their triple-X relationship, yet it didn’t seem genuine. Of course, when Cassie eventually finds out that the pair are in a relationship, she is ebullient with delight. As any reader knew she would be.
Erika and Reed do enjoy romping around in bed, and the novel is full of all-night escapades. Without planning it this way, I can make the conclusion that the theme of my 2025 Christmas reads was the surprising degree of sexual content within most of these novels. I had never encountered so much sex in any of my past Christmas novels over the years. How did I stumble on so many racy Christmas books last year? I’d never even encountered the phrase “cockblocking” until I picked up this book. And Erika does so much indecisive come-hither biting of her lower lip, she’d be a shoo-in as the new model for The Rocky Horror Picture Show cover art. Every time she bit her lower lip I said aloud Not again. What a cliché that Snow overworked to no dramatic effect.
The lusty couple are torn between their respective locales and occupations. Erika is glued to her big city hospital and Reed is devoted to his rescue work. It shouldn’t be too complicated for the pair of them to work something out, yet come the novel’s end Snow leaves it to deus ex machina to find a solution where each one gets what she or he wants. What a lame ending.