Ella Hayes is a new-to-me author, but if The Single Dad’s Christmas Proposal is anything to go by, I’ll likely be reading her again. Set primarily in ski resorts of Chamonix, this was a romantic Christmas story. While the author covers some serious emotional territory, there is something about this tale that feels warm and celebratory, too. Since the final TBR Challenge prompt this year is “Celebration!”, this 2021 book felt appropriate.

The story starts in Paris, where Simone Cossart is in dire need of money. Once an aspiring musician, she now struggles to make ends meet as a single mother in a freezing cold apartment. After her husband’s accidental death, her in-laws rejected her, leaving her to raise the couple’s daughter alone. 

Simone works in the office at her daughter’s school, and when the au pair who normally cared for her daughter’s friend Yann had a family emergency, she asked Simone if she would like to work for Yann’s father over the Christmas holidays. Yann’s father was single, and needed someone to accompany him and his son to Chamonix as a nanny.

The complications build from there. It turns out that Yann’s father, Dax D’Aureval, is a renowned freerider, carving out new trails on his snowboard. Historically, he’s been a bit of a work hard, play hard kind of guy, and several months ago, he learned to his shock that a short fling had produced a son. Worse yet, the child’s mother has died, so now Dax is trying to process this news and step up to be the best father he can figure out how to be.

Both of these single parents are in uncertain emotional territory, and the author sets up their dynamic very well. On the one hand, we have the reserved and cautious Simone. She has seen how life can go terribly wrong, and she’s trying to protect her daughter as much as she can. Also, she loved her late husband and clearly hasn’t explored dating since his death. However, she now feels drawn to Dax, though his choice of occupation makes her anxious.

Dax, on the other hand, loves the adrenaline rush of freeriding, despite its dangers. The author does a great job of showing his love of adventure, while throwing in hints that Dax has more self-control than casual observers would give him credit for. There are little touches throughout the story to show that Dax isn’t as reckless as Simone fears he might be.

Dax and Simone’s children are each clearly good friends, and the dynamic between this little foursome often feels warm and inviting. Considering that Dax and Simone are on a vacation with young children, it’s fun to see how they find couple time as well as time with everyone together over the course of the story. This book doesn’t break new ground, but I enjoyed the author’s descriptions of the freeriding world (a sport you will never catch me trying) and the romance was a light, fluffy fairytale read.