There are any number of books where the hero has to fight potential rivals in order to win his lady love’s affection. In Baby, It’s Cold Outside, it’s not the Other Man Colin Reeves has to vanquish in order to win Emily Stanfield’s affections – it’s the entire town of Tall Pines.

Tall Pines is a pretty little town that cherishes its traditions. Colin Reeves has no respect for the town and thumbs his nose at all the little traditions the townspeople hold dear. He has been suspended several times from high school for his pranks. Emily Stanfield is from an old town family and she is respectful of the town’s traditions, although she is not a stick in the mud. Emily is pretty and fun and she and Colin know each other slightly in high school. Nothing comes of their relationship since as soon as he graduates, Colin leaves Tall Pines. Emily stays.

Ten years later, Colin has made a career as an architect with a base in Paris, France. He travels all over Europe and Asia designing buildings and is quite the jet setter. Emily has turned her old home into an inn and settled down to a comfortable, albeit dull, life. When Colin comes back to Tall Pines to spend Christmas with his family, both their lives change.

Colin has to share a room at home with two nephews and, desperate for some peace and quiet, he asks Emily if there is any room in her inn. There is, but he’ll have to share it with her. No problem – Colin has good intentions and plans to spend the night on the couch. Emily, though, has been celibate for two years and would like to change all that. Colin and Emily make love and even though they planned on a one night stand, a blizzard forces Colin to stay in Tall Pines longer than he expected. They discover that they are powerfully attracted to each other, but Colin has a job in Europe and Emily has an inn to run in Tall Pines.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a pleasant but rather bland romance where for once, the small town is not the focus of all that is good and wholesome. Tall Pines is full of yentas. The entire population of the town is a bunch of busy bodies who make it a point to know exactly what is going on in the lives of each and every person who lives in the town (so much for a secret affair). When it looks as though Emily might sell her inn and move to France, the townspeople take some drastic steps in order to keep her in Tall Pines where they think she belongs. However, the power of true love can beat small town busy bodies any time, and all ends happily.

Colin and Emily are nice enough but a rather bland pair. I didn’t sense much of a connection between them and to me, it looked as though sex was the most important thing in their lives (they really scorch the sheets). When they were out of bed, they weren’t very interesting. Colin had issues with his family and Emily had issues with the town. Then Colin and his family come to an understanding and ditto Emily and the town. Ho Hum. This book is part of the Blush series in the Blaze line and I think it was supposed to be funny. It wasn’t. It had its moments of charm, but funny? Not really.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a pass the time book. I read it, it allowed me to pass a couple of hours pleasantly enough, but it’s not a memorable book or a comfort read, it’s just an average series romance.