A GIFT FROM TIFFANY'S

Two men find themselves buying gifts at Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue on Christmas Eve, but when there’s an accident, packages are rearranged and lives changed by a few simple twists of fate.

London widower Ethan Greene plans to propose to his girlfriend, Vanessa, on a special trip to New York and takes his daughter Daisy with him to shop for the perfect ring from the perfect store. Daisy knows that gifts from Tiffany’s are magic, especially at Christmas. Her mother, a New York native, told her so before she died. So, when she and her father stop to help a man who’s been in an accident and the diamond ring gets mixed up with a simple silver charm bracelet, clearly something is amiss, and Daisy is convinced her mother's responsible. Rachel Conti hopes that a romantic Christmas vacation with her boyfriend, Gary Knowles, will bring them closer together, but she never expects to come back to Dublin engaged. Wrapped up in the magic of the moment, she’s blind to Gary’s surprise when the ring appears, but back at home, even she can’t avoid the reality that something’s up. Everyone around her is acting downright cagey, and Ethan Greene seems to be underfoot all the time, all the way from London. Could Gary’s good Samaritan have something else in mind? Ethan is handsome and kind, and his daughter is adorable.  Having him around makes Rachel reevaluate her relationship with Gary and what she wants out of a marriage, but when the truth comes out and all the cards are on the table, Rachel and Ethan will both find they have some surprises in store. Hill is an acclaimed Irish author, and this is the American release of a European best-seller. The story is generally a nice, gentle read, with good characters and a vaguely meandering plot—a little long through the middle—that will keep most of the target audience engaged, since romance readers are vested in a “happy-ever-after,” which arrives in an unexpected way, despite some unsubtle red herrings designed to lead one in the wrong direction.

Nothing electric or spectacular, but a nice, sweet Christmas romance wrapped up in a pretty robin’s egg blue box.