ARC Review: Holiday Games by Jaci Burton

Jaci Burton has been an auto-buy for me for a really long time. I love all of the stories that I have read by her, and the Play by Play series is definitely one of my all-time favorite series. So when I found out that she was releasing a holiday novella featuring Gavin and Liz, I knew I had to read it. I figured that even though novellas can sometimes seem too short and unsatisfying that this one would be different since Liz and Gavin are already together. This one was the opposite of that for me though, and I found myself becoming distracted and wanting to skip whole paragraphs.

Gavin and Liz have been married for awhile now and having been trying to have a baby for the last year. Even though every negative test upsets and disappoints Liv, she becomes more determined than ever to make it happen. Liz is not one to easily give up and she never stops until she gets what she wants. Liz takes every opportunity to jump her husband in order to make a baby. Meanwhile, the entire Riley family is also preparing for Jenna and Ty's wedding. As they try to balance wedding plans, Liz is also preparing to host her first ever Riley family Christmas dinner. Will Gavin and Liz get the news they are hoping for in time for Christmas?

I really love the characters in the Play by Play series, and I especially love Gavin and Liz. They are absolutely perfect for each other and I have rooted from them from the very start. I love that Gavin is so head over heels for Liz and that he has always put her first. I also love Liz despite some of the things that she did when we first met her. I always knew that she was only trying to do the best she could for her clients even if it wasn't the right thing. But ever since she realized her mistake and made things right, I have thought that she was great. She is determined and smart and I really enjoyed seeing the softer side of her. At first you never would expect that she would be the mother type, but being with Gavin seems to have really brought out a different side to her. I love that the two of them are able to balance each other out and have such a great connection. They still had every bit of steam and were really sexy together.

My problem with this story is that it really didn't have much of a plot besides Liz and Gavin having a lot of sex in order to try and make a baby. I felt like everything else was just used as opportunities to bring back well known and loved characters. Even though it was great to see them, it was really sort of a jumbled mess to me. There was so much going on in order to bring everyone back, and yet really there wasn't much to keep the reader interested. Unfortunately this one just wasn't what I have come to love and expect from Jaci Burton, and I was just wishing for more to keep me interested. I think if you are a fan of the Play by Play series that you might enjoy this novella. Besides the fact that Christmas is approaching, it really doesn't have anything to do with the holidays though as the focus is Liz and Gavin's baby making and Ty and Jenna's wedding. The thing I liked about this one was that we did get to see our favorite characters and get to catch up with what is going on in their lives. It was nice to see how their HEAs were going and to see just how happy they were. But other than that, this one was a bit of a disappointment for me.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase:  | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |