Christmas Future

Ipson (Ideal High) switches from YA to adult (but very teen-friendly) romance with this modern retelling of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, a charming sweet contemporary about a somewhat Scrooge-like PR pro and a bighearted doctor. After Scarlett Ambrose’s business partner cleans out their joint business account for a lavish honeymoon, Scarlett accepts a PR gig that takes her from sunny Phoenix, Ariz., to snowy Anchorage, Alaska, where she’s assigned to advertise the Final Frontier as being packed with Christmas spirit. Compassionate physician Gil Pennington, fresh off a stint serving the underprivileged in Riverside, Calif., is in Alaska to clean out the office of his late father, a professor and Dickens expert. Both Gil and Scarlett are engaged to others when they meet, but the immediate spark between them leaves them unsure of their previously planned futures. Chaste text flirting ensues, as do innocent embraces on the aptly named Mistletoe Drive. Scarlett and Gil’s speedy romance is devoid of explicit sex but loaded with longing, sweet kisses, and hand-holding. There’s also an extensive array of quirky supporting characters. Readers who love squeaky-clean romance will find this tale irresistible. (BookLife)