“The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish” by Laura Haley-McNeil has well-developed characters with great depth and feeling. At the outset itself, Laura takes us straight to the heart of the story, to connect with the main character. River, a quarterback playing professional football in Denver, sustains an injury. While recovering, he and his team donate used equipment to a non-profit, after school, recreational-study facility, run by Soledad, a beautiful, kind, bravehearted lady, an exceptional woman with a heart of gold, like no other River has ever met before. She is a tiny woman with sparkling dark eyes and dreams bigger than herself, who buries the secrets of her dark past, and looks forward expectantly to the future.
When her students love River dearly, Soledad is forced to ignore the unease and heartache that held her victim for years. As Soledad unwittingly draws closer to River, she learns his rough-and-tough exterior masks a compassionate, tender soul she is determined to resist at all costs. However, turning her back on love means a bigger sacrifice costing more than a broken heart. An immigrant to America, Soledad owns little to nothing except her lovely daughter and the recreational/study facility. Unable to forget Soledad, River volunteers at the recreational facility while still recovering from his injury.
The two main characters, River and Soledad are genuine and realistic, with complex traits and humane qualities, that perfectly balance and blend in with each other, with amazing depth and diversity. The dramatic scenes are strikingly sharp, with well-drafted details and colorful descriptions, creating a vivid, spectacular backdrop with a visibly tangible ambience, so rich and lively, that we can almost reach out and touch it.
“The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish” is a clean, inspirational story, an awesome little gem of a book, proving that great loss can often lead to new purpose, with lost dreams being fulfilled. I highly recommend this heartwarming Christmas story to light your Christmas fires and warm the hearts and hearths of your homes!