Not Without Noelle by Dulcie Dameron | Book Review

What happens when you combine a clumsy woman, a grumpy man, and a hunter-green Jeep? Dulcie Dameron explores this combination in her delightful novella, Not Without Noelle.

Follow along as Noelle attempts to reestablish her name by up and moving to another town, proving to herself and others that she isn’t just a klutz. Every journey worth taking has obstacles though. The smug, Scrooge-like man, Danny Hetrick, is that obstacle.

In this sweet and amusing novella, Noelle and Danny must learn to overcome each other to get on with their lives. Will they be able to get past their differences and live in harmony, or will they forever be rivals?

I love how this story has something interesting play out on every page. From the moment I started reading, I was hooked! It’s full of tender moments, gasps, and laughs.

The romance is pretty clean, but there were a couple of areas that seemed a bit borderline to me. My main concern is that there were numerous occasions where love interests were alone together in a room/house.

In real life, that can make for some sticky situations. While the characters mostly chatted, there were quite a few moments where massive sparks flew in closed spaces.

To me, those areas seemed to take away from the growing sweet, innocent love between the characters. Now that I know the characters didn’t end up in bed together, it doesn’t bother me as much, but it’s definitely still concerning.

So, for this novella, I think it just depends on your comfort level. I added any concerning things in the content warnings. 🙂 (Am I the only one who thinks content warnings can seem worse out of context? Lol.)

Besides that, this book was truly a masterpiece! While this book is a standalone, it’s the third in a series, so it takes a little time to connect with all of the side characters.

This is simply because some of the side characters have been in previous books, so the author didn’t describe them as in depth.

Even though there were a few spots where I felt like I was minorly out of loop, Dulcie did a great job at bringing all the characters to life for the people (like me) who haven’t read the othger books in the series.

Genre: romance + Christmas

Keywords: small town, Christmas event, working together, second chance

Romance: grumpy + sunshine

Faith content: mild (small mentions of faith + the birth of Christ)

Status: Third book in a series, but it can easily be read as a standalone.

P.O.V: first person

Page count of paperback: 115 pages

Content warnings:

A man does a double-take when he sees a woman’s curves.
Brief mention of a man stripping down to his boxers (he was alone in his apartment)
Use of sheesh.
A man buries his face in the crook of his wife’s neck.
A woman trips and falls into a man’s chest.
A woman pays attention to a man’s chest, noting that it’s chiseled.
A man notices the scent of a woman.
A man and woman spend time alone in an apartment (nonsexual, but they are attracted to each other)
A man wants to close the distance between him and a woman, craving to lose himself in her warmth.
A man and woman stare at each other’s lips, implying that they both desire to kiss.
Mentions of married couples kissing.
Sweet forehead kisses.
A man grabs a woman’s waist and pulls her down to sit on his lap.
A man rubs his nose along a woman’s throat/neck.
Multiple occasions of butterflies and tingles.
A woman gets goosebumps from a man’s presence.
A woman wishes for a searing kiss.
Semi-detailed kisses between a man and a woman (not married).
Couch cuddles between a man and woman (not married).
Gravelly sound escapes a woman’s throat as a man takes the lead in kissing her until her knees go weak.
A woman rests her lower legs on a man’s lap for a foot massage.
A woman dances her fingers up a man’s biceps.