I read both Rainshadow Road and Dream Lake before I read this book although the events in this book happen before the other two. I don't know if Kleypas had a series really planned out when she wrote this because whereas the other two books' storylines slightly intersect with each other and things that happen in the foreground in one also happen in the background in the other, this book stands alone. You can also tell as a reader, if you've read the other books first, that there are some slight timeline inconsistances. It's nothing that diminishes the book, but was definitely noticed. 
 The book was a quick read. I almost would have liked it to be longer because I really liked Maggie and Mark's story. In Rainshaow Road they are already a couple, but here is where we are supposed to get their backstory. Even though the book takes place over a few months (ending of course on Christmas Eve) it seems to fly by to the point where their relationship felt very quick and rushed, but if you step back and look at how many months it was supposed to take, it was anything but quick. 
 Mark has just been given some life changing news. Upon his sister Victoria's death he becomes the legal guardian of her six year old daughter Holly. Mark a confirmed bachelor who doesn't see marriage in the future with anyone is now responsible for a child. To help, Mark moves in with his brother Sam and they both take the responsibility of helping Holly through it rough time in her life and give her the love and care she needs. Having Holly really makes Mark reconsider his life, it makes him start to think about more than himself obviously because it is more than him. 
 Maggie is new to town and just opened a toy shop. She's fun and whimsical and believes whole heartedly in magic. She's been hurt in life and part of the reason she moved was to get away from her old life, start over. She doesn't want to be in a relationship because she feels it will only lead to heartbreak in the end. 
 They both start out with an easy friendship. Holly even opens up to Maggie in a way that she hasn't with Mark's current girlfriend Shelby. 
 This was a cute and sweet story. I like that it didn't really rely on the supernatural / magical element as much as the other two books have and likely Crystal Cove will as well. It was just a straight up contemporary romance.