My December reads whisked me away to Lake Como in Italy, then to the Lake District and then a gentle stroll through a fairytale Christmas town primed and ready to film a Hallmark Christmas film. This month was all about reading for pleasure and dependent on my mood. I wanted to throw myself into the Christmas spirit by reading cosy romcoms that made me feel aglow with festive cheer. I read some wonderful books that I fell unexpectedly in love with and some that were not quite as enjoyable.
Review
Starting off strong with a festive romcom, Wrapped with a Beau by Lillie Vale. I unexpectedly loved this book. It’s a Christmas romcom that is heart warming, lighthearted and once things get going I couldn’t put it down. I devoured it in two days. Third person with a dual pov of Ves and Elisha that centres around a Christmas devote small town. Elisha’s Christmas spirit is contagious and through their friendship Ves goes from a Scrooge to well loved in the community and finally finds a place called home. The plot centres around the upcoming production of a well loved Christmas film from decades ago. I wasn’t as invested in this storyline but I enjoyed the comedic and light hearted dialogue between Ves and Elisha. Their chemistry was the centre of the plot.I would have liked the conflict to have more impact instead of easily resolved. At points there were too many side characters / side narratives to keep track of, this often felt a little overwhelming. Overall, a lighthearted and fast paced Christmas romcom that is perfect to get into the festive spirit.
I was whisked off to Lake Como with an ex-convict and an uptight chef who needed to pretend to be a couple to secure their dream job in The Italian Job by Kathryn Freeman. The concept has so much potential and escaping to live in a castle in Italy is the dream! However, the execution was ok. I didn’t think Anna and Jake had a lot of chemistry and Jake was the one to lose the most out of the situation. Anna was fine, yes she couldn’t get a job in a restaurant in the area she lived, but she wasn’t as tarred by reputation as Jake. The writing style was ok and easy to follow, but the author was telling rather than showing in many scenes, for example – when Anna and Jake are in the car traveling to the food market, the scene ends abruptly saying they went and came back. I think this would have been a good opportunity for Anna’s passion for food and cooking to come through to the audience. This would have made her character much more rounded and explore why she needed the job in the castle. Jake on the other hand is called ‘intelligent’ by Anna, but is reduced to being a handy-man when he was previously a firefighter. The author reduces Jake to being shallow without substance.
The conflict was easily resolved and Miles Rutherford doesn’t have any ‘punishment’ for his actions aside from the chef in his restaurant being bad. I would have liked to see some form of failure instead of him just disappearing. The same with Nigel, he doesn’t inherit the castle but he isn’t punished for his vile personality. The reader is told that Anna and Jake can’t get jobs in their local area because of the influence that Miles has, but this isn’t really shown. If Anna went through a sequence of job interviews that inferred that Miles interfered, then this would have made her move to Italy much more needed. Finally, the jump between Italy and what I assume is the UK isn’t impressive. I think adding in more context and history to the surrounding area of Lake Como, and emphasising why life is better in Italy, would make the story more compelling. I liked the idea and their were good scenes and dialogue but something was missing.
Is it really Christmas if a house doesn’t resemble a migraine in light form? well in the Lake District that’s exactly what Mr Christmas’ house looks like in Confessions of a Christmasholic by Joss Wood.
However, judging by the cover, book title and blurb I think I read an entirely different story. I was not expecting the novel to take the turn it did. The pacing was slow and repetitive and the ending inconclusive. Despite the continual mentions that the book was set in the UK, there was nothing in terms of setting, descriptions or colloquialisms that really screamed British Christmas. This wasn’t for me and I think the plot needed to be streamlined and character development was heavily needed to show how these characters needed each other in their life.
This was a short novella by Tessa Bailey that I was eager to delve into as I hadn’t read a short form of Bailey’s work. However, Same Time Next Year was a strange and disappointing read. I don’t know what I expected but this wasn’t it. The plot seemed to disappear halfway through the book and the ‘conflict’ was easily resolved before the book really took off. The characters were underdeveloped and lacked any jeopardy to their relationship. I was really hoping this would be a New Year themed novel that took place over the holidays and festive good feeling. But this started in January and ending the following year with little ounce of festive feeling. I don’t know what happened, I think the author wanted to write a hockey- sport – marriage of convenience novella and then slapped on a Christmas themed title and cover. I think this book would have benefited from exploring the theme of starting a new chapter in the New Year and falling in love at a midnight kiss and never seeing that person again until the following year and having a cute romcom inspired by Cinderella.
Final thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed delving into Christmas themed novels that shocked me in the best way and I was disappointed by others. I think I am a greedy reader that wants more character development and to be utterly surprised by the twists and turns of taking a basic trope and setting and subverting the stereotypical ideas.
2023 has been a rollercoaster of books with my total book count sitting at 34 and reading many Netgalley ARCs and new genres that I’d previously been too cautious to jump into reading. I hope 2024 brings more fun, inspiring and shockingly good books my way. I also hope to contribute more honest and imaginative book reviews and write more of my own short stories and finish my debut fantasy novel to add to the book shelves for readers to enjoy.
Stay tuned and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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