It Happened One Christmas by Leslie Kelly

Underwhelming festive romance
3 stars

Six years ago, Ross Mitchell and Lucy Fleming shared a hot interlude over Christmas that neither would ever forget. But with her a struggling photography student and him a labourer with a hot bod and a tool belt, it wasn’t the right time for them.

Fast forward in time and the pair once again meet by chance but this time she’s a successful photographer and he’s head of a global corporation. They still don’t seem to be in the right place yet they still have chemistry and the sex is better than ever.

But are they destined just to be each other’s holiday fling or will they get the gift of love this Christmas?


I love Leslie Kelly and so was really looking forward to this book, especially as I love a good Christmas romance. Perhaps that’s partly the reason that I was quite underwhelmed with this book.

Don’t get me wrong, the writing was good (as always), the characters were both likeable and relatable and the plot wasn’t terrible. It’s just that the story seemed to lack any sparkle. The story is told both in the present day and in flashbacks to six years ago when Lucy and Ross first got together. I found this made the story a little slow going and I found myself continually wanting to get back to the modern day chapters so I could see how the pair were getting along now and not back then.

Lucy was also fairly peeved at Ross which led to a lot of the conflict for whether or not they would be able to make things work. However, when it got to the reason that the pair split up in the first place I couldn’t believe it. Sure, it was a legitimate reason for breaking up but certainly not for being mad at someone – I just didn’t get it.

Overall, a little lacklustre and good for a quick read on a cold night but nothing overly special I’m sorry to say. 3 stars.