This was my first story from Stephanie Shea, and it most certainly will not be my last. I LOVE the holiday/festive/Christmas season; stories set during that time period absolutely have to do it justice to score highly. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I need to drown in a bath of Christmas cheer, but either the story or the scene setting needs to hit the time of year home – Shea does this really well throughout Noche Buena.
Whilst the story is only 136 pages long, there is a wealth of plot and character development in that condensed format; I actually would have loved for it to have been a full length novel, I was so into it!
Noche Buena is an unusual version of the much loved second chance romance trope. The main character’s: Camila Morales and Sutton Davies, are already married, and thus the second chance concept is centered around the desire for re-connection in this established couple.
Camila Morales is a romantic who holds her parents marriage in high esteem, but as a divorce lawyer she knows all too well that happily ever after is not always set in stone. Sutton Davies meanwhile is floundering under a mountain of imposter syndrome, and whilst she secretly takes steps to work on that, she unknowingly fuels the well of doubt growing inside of Camila about their marriage and Sutton’s fidelity. When Camila’s parent’s announce the end of their thirty year marriage three weeks before Christmas, Sutton knows she has her work cut out convincing Camila that true love and happily ever afters do still exist.
I enjoyed the focus of a story being on a married couple rather than new love for a change. It allowed for an exploration of what happens when both parties notice and feel the disconnect in their marriage, but each shy away from bringing it into the light for fear of their issues being unfixable. With the pressures of marriage and everyday life, Camila and Sutton’s journey back to each other serves as a reminder to readers of what’s important in any relationship. That maintaining true love, outside of the heat of passion and shiny newness, is a journey. One of continuous commitment to stoking embers and re-fueling the fire to allow the flame between two people to forever burn bright.
“…I’m starting to realise there’s no blueprint to marriage, Cam. Falling in love, falling hard and fast…That’s the easy part. It’s everything between that makes a marriage. Knowing someone at their best and worst, navigating everything that makes life as fucking tedious as it is beautiful, and still choosing, wanting, that person at the end of it all. That’s marriage.”
Noche Buena, Stephani Shea
I also appreciated that Shea doesn’t just suddenly have Camila and Sutton fix all their issues in one fell swoop, there is a depth of communication, openness and raw vulnerability to their discussions that many authors either never aim for, or indeed miss. It creates a tender richness to their struggles and insecurities in a way that makes their story all the more heartfelt.
It would be remiss of me not to point out the BIPOC diversity and representation that can be found throughout Noche Buena; yet another great reason to check out this holiday story for yourself.
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