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Operation Toy Rescue

by Sarah Hadley Brook

Operation Toy Rescue - Sarah Hadley Brook
Editions:Kindle: $ 3.99
ISBN: 9781634867801
Pages: 80

When Jules Evergreen lands in trouble at the North Pole and gets shipped off to Snow Hope Island for ninety days, he never expects to take up the cause of the forgotten toys waiting for new homes. Falling for his new boss is not on the agenda either, but his heart has other ideas.

Felix Winterson has grown up on Snow Hope Island and now runs the place. He isn’t thrilled when party boy Jules arrives, and Felix tries hard to ignore the man’s charms. He has other problems, anyway. For years he’s tried to get Santa to look at the growing inventory of damaged toys in the warehouse, to no avail.

When Jules comes up with a plan to save the toys, the men find themselves working closely together. As Christmas Eve looms, there’s a lot at stake. Can they save Snow Hope, convince Santa to rescue the toys, and fall in love all at the same time?

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Excerpt:

Jules opened the laptop and logged in, ready to get started. He really wanted to take that trip to the warehouse with Felix, and the quicker he finished logging things in, the quicker that could happen. As he carefully opened a rather large box, he heard a door open and turned to see Felix, Eve, and Zuzu hurry out of Felix’s office. All wore a look of panic, and his heart jumped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“The Big Guy is coming for a visit three days before Christmas!” Eve said. “We just found out. He never does this. Never, Jules.” Her voice rose as she spilled the news.

Jules caught Felix’s gaze, holding it for a moment. “Isn’t Santa coming a good thing?” he asked, confused.

“We don’t know. He never does this. Never,” Eve reiterated.

“She’s right,” Felix said. “What if he wants to make major changes? Or move us to the North Pole?”

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Jules crinkled his brow. In his mind, moving to the North Pole would be great. Felix would be closer to Jules. “You don’t want to live at the North Pole?”

All three of them looked at him in shock, their mouths gaping.

“What?” he asked.

“The North Pole is headquarters. It’s chaos,” Zuzu explained.

Okay, I’ll give them that. But there were good things, too.

“But you’d be closer to…” He gazed at Felix and felt his cheeks heat. “The main operation,” he finished lamely.

“But we like it here. Our island is beautiful and we’re like a family. What if we’re torn apart?”

“I don’t think Santa—”

“You don’t know, Jules,” Eve broke in. “Maybe he thinks we don’t do enough to help these toys.”

Felix vigorously nodded his agreement, so Jules shut his mouth and sat in front of his laptop, considering the possibilities. He finally glanced up, his lips curving into a small smile as he eyed all three. “Then I guess there’s only one thing to do, guys. We need to show Santa how important the island is to children all over the globe.”

“How do we do that?” Eve asked, her brow furrowed.

“By developing a kick-ass plan to get these ‘inadequate toys’ into the hands of kids,” he explained, expanding on what he and Felix had talked about last night. But calling it a plan made it feel more real. More promising.

Again, they gaped at him. Well, all but Felix, who grinned. Happiness filled Jules’s chest and his heart raced as he grinned back, warmth spreading through him. Their gazes held and Jules felt like Felix was peering inside of him. Like he was seeing the real Jules. Not the guy that always screwed up. Not the guy that thought only of himself. But the one that finally—finally—wanted to do something worthy. Something that would bring others joy.

“Jules is right. We need to work together to show Santa we can handle the responsibility of taking care of the toys on this island. To prepare them for new homes. To convince Santa to take them with him on Christmas Eve.” Felix straightened his shoulders as determination flitted across his face and hope flashed in his eyes.

Jules couldn’t look away. The man was beautiful in every way.

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Tanja on Goodreads wrote:

This book was amazing. I always love reading Sarah Hadley Brook’s books, but this one tops them all. Right from the start, I was drawn into the story, and I couldn’t put it down. Immediately I saw that this was not your average Christmas story. It was whimsical and funny, and I couldn’t help grinning, and all through the book, I had a big smile on my face. It is a delightful story with all the feel-good vibes and deeper messages that belong in a Christmas story.

The main characters are Jules and Felix, who are just too cute for words. I loved them. Jules has been banned by Santa to Snow Hope Island because of one transgression too many. What could have been a horrible punishment turns out to be the best time of his life. He finds himself, his purpose in life, and best of all, his man. Felix runs Snow Hope Island with their warehouses full of toys. Toys have to be perfect to be given to children. At least that’s Santa’s opinion. But what is imperfect? With a little bit of imagination and a lot of TLC, every toy can be perfect for a child. The fun part is that all who work on Snow Island are sorry for the toys, not the children. It’s their mission in life to give the toys a loving home.

At first, Felix is a bit grumpy, but he soon falls for Jules’s charms. They are so sweet together and make a wonderful team. Their enthusiasm persuades the other Islanders to put extra effort into making it a special Christmas this year. Even the big guy, who is not the jolly old Santa as we often see him, agrees with their plans in the end. There is a bit of drama, but it’s kept to a minimum and adds just that extra bite to a sweet story.


About the Author

Sarah Hadley Brook reserves her evenings for her hobby-turned-passion of writing, letting the characters she conjures up in her mind take the lead and show her where the story will go. She dreams of traveling to Scotland some day and visiting the places her ancestors lived. Sarah believes in “Happily Ever After” and strives to ensure her characters find their own happiness in love and life.