Wish List by Sylvia Day

Wish List (novella)

A part of the White Hot Holidays series by mixed authors

Sylvia Day

Contemporary Romance/Erotica

Published in 2005

H/h - Nicolas James/Stephanie Martin

Setting: Present time.

  

Read in May, 2012.

My rating:

                                                           [spoiler alert]

This short story by SD was this close to having 4 stars and I was so willing! Wish List was a fun and sweet story, until the abrupt ending, which left me feeling I’m missing sometime vital here. Other than that, I loved the whole premise, loved the interaction between Nick and Stephanie. Nick was a treat to read, seriously!

From the blurb, you can already see that Nick and Stephanie worked at the same place. Both have been fantasizing about each-other for over a year now. Nick, although dated other women in between, has always had hots for Stephanie, who at first seemed like didn’t care for his interest. She didn’t care for womanizers as a whole. She wasn’t the type who takes any sort of relationship for granted. It was frustrating for Nick because he knew his past with women is enough to give someone like Stephanie to turn back and run... He just didn’t know how to approach her. I liked Nick’s honesty and his efforts. I loved the fact that even though Nick was a womanizer, he was one who fell head over heels first.

Stephanie, on the other hand, was wary of his advances. She has been burned by love in the past and ended a messy marriage with a man who was not the type to make commitments for long. Stephanie has a son, about whom Nick didn’t know. She also didn’t think she was the type of girl Nick would ever be interested in. And she didn’t want Kevin, her son, to have a messy life, like the one he leads while residing with his father, who is with a new woman every month and the poor boy has to note their names down so that he doesn’t mix them up! But that doesn’t mean she can’t fantasize about Nick and have a naughty wish list for Christmas... Loved that list, especially the last one of those wishes. Ooh lala!

The starting was really funny, the whole ‘Secret Santa’ exchange thing in their office. Nick actually found out Stephanie’s naughty wish list and it gave him ideas on how to win her... I was laughing hard by Nick’s equally naughty gesture and Stephanie’s utter horror (and surprise) when she finally figured out about it. Oh Nick was priceless in being her Santa! Muhahaha

The whole ride was so much fun, with Nick trying to convince a reluctant Stephanie that he’s the best choice for her and he’s willing to do anything (whatever is written on that list, he does all that and more for her!). To prove that he wants a serious relationship. To prove that he has fallen in love with her. It wasn’t really hard for Stephanie to fall for Nick, with his good looks and charm, among other things of course *winkwink* but the only thing remained to be seen was if Nick can actually convince her of his intentions. I thoroughly loved that ‘convincing’ process... OMG, he can f*ck me within an inch of my life anytime! Just being honest here, he was that good IMO.

But when it ended, the problems that brought in Stephanie’s reluctance to pursue any kind of relationship with Nick were solved just like that and I felt that it ended in the middle, which was disappointing. Maybe I was expecting more because I was enjoying it so much, I don’t know. I still think some of SD’s novellas are simply great, my most favorite being “Mischief and the Marquess” from the anthology Perfect Kisses (review posted here), which comes highly recommended from me! For Wish List, 3.75 stars.