Written for: Beyond Reading 
 Fool's Gold has yet to disappoint me - I'm happy to say. Opening the book, I expected two grouchy individuals, with some sarcastic humour, uniting to battle against the cheery christmas-lovers - I got almost the exact opposite. A Fool's Gold Christmas, from the very first pages, was funny and light. Unlike most contemporary romances, Susan Mallery's focus was more on Evie's coming into herself - coming into her family, her place in the world and shedding deep pain - rather than the raw romance. Evie and Dante formed a relationship more quickly than usual - an easy, carefree relationship that had me smiling and sighing at every other turned page - which made for a lot of acclimating; a good thing. Dante made an excellent counterpart for Evie; he was sweet and very encouraging - always cheering her up and motivating her, which made for added cuteness. Evie, who I thought would be Scrooge herself, was tenderhearted and very giving. Though Evie was a little bitter, she was still very open and accepting - reluctantly, at first - of her family's love. Since I hadn't liked May in Summer Days, I had expected to have my initial dislike amplified while reading her previous crimes. Not so. I actually empathized a good deal with May and found myself rooting for the relationship that began forming with Evie. 
 What I loved as well, was that we finally got to be properly introduced to the mysterious Gideon, whose cameo was significant enough to point towards him being a future hero. In addition to Gideon; Ford was, again, mentioned heavily, hinting at a book coming up. Think it stops at Gideon and Ford? Wrong. A new female, Tammy, was introduced(unless she was in a novella I didn't read) and another male, Angel, was mentioned. There was a little telling scene with Lillie, Patience's daughter, as well, and Patience was pointed out often enough that I'm still holding out for her and Justice's story - which is, perhaps, next. 
 Some things I didn't like - it's great that Evie and May moved on, but I felt like the past wasn't really 'hashed out'; it felt like some shouting and then a 'well, let's move on', which wasn't vey satisfying. (view spoiler)[ Susan Mallery tends to write romances where, towards the end, the hero realizes 'oh, snap! This is getting deep - I must break it off', he does, then realizes he can't go on without her and wins her back. I don't mind these endings at all, but I was hoping for something different this time and, technically, it was a little different but I was hoping, with Evie and Dante's relationship being so easy, it would have been a little smoother. I did like, however, that the breakup happened a little earlier on than usual (and I do mean little), because it showed that Evie, though heavily attached emotionally, did not die without a man - it showed that she was independent and strong, even while having her heart broken. (hide spoiler)] 
 Though they had sex; there were no love scenes which did not take away from the novel (although it may disappoint some persons).