Reading level: Adult
Genre: Chick Lit/Romance/Holiday
Size: Paperback, 384 pages
Release Date: October 2011
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: NetGalley
Note: This is a steamy read!
First Line: "Mum, where are we spending Christmas?"
Summary (from GoodReads):
Love is in the air this Christmas!
Christy was hoping to skip Christmas this year. Her kids have other ideas - they've put their dad's name at number one on their Christmas list. So it looks as if Christy will be hightailing it up to the Lake District to play happy families with her ex!
Snow-capped mountains and roaring log fires - Alessandro's home is like walking into a Christmas card. Is it really safe for her to spend Christmas with her dreamy, funny - no! - entirely infuriating ex-hubby?
Miranda has completely the opposite problem. Being single and pregnant at Christmas was certainly not her wish come true. She doesn't believe in miracles, but then resident hunk Jake sweeps her off her snow-covered shoes. Come Boxing Day dare she dream that Mr Sex-on-Legs might be for more than just Christmas?
Christy was hoping to skip Christmas this year. Her kids have other ideas - they've put their dad's name at number one on their Christmas list. So it looks as if Christy will be hightailing it up to the Lake District to play happy families with her ex!
Snow-capped mountains and roaring log fires - Alessandro's home is like walking into a Christmas card. Is it really safe for her to spend Christmas with her dreamy, funny - no! - entirely infuriating ex-hubby?
Miranda has completely the opposite problem. Being single and pregnant at Christmas was certainly not her wish come true. She doesn't believe in miracles, but then resident hunk Jake sweeps her off her snow-covered shoes. Come Boxing Day dare she dream that Mr Sex-on-Legs might be for more than just Christmas?
My Thoughts:
I'm not quite sure where to begin with this one. I was super excited to read my first bit of UK chick lit. And I totally and completely fell in love with the cover. I kept seeing these super cute covers on blogs everywhere and silly as it sounds I was so excited to finally read a book with such a cover. And then the book in no way lived up to that cover:(
First of all...I had the unpleasant surprise that this was actually two novellas (Christy & Miranda) which were combined into one book-the characters being friends which served as the tenuous thread that connected the two.
Second, I had a very difficult time connecting to the characters or to the story lines. Although the setting and the season led me to expect a great feel good chick lit/romance experience...I waffled between being completely bored by the story line and the somewhat flat method of storytelling and feeling completely annoyed by all of the main characters who were prideful and uncommunicative which basically caused all of the strife in the stories.
I did enjoy picking up a bit of British English (it took me about 100 pages to realize that a jumper was a sweater...I kept wondering why they all wore dresses over their jeans! lol) and I also thoroughly enjoyed Christy's daughter and her delightful matchmaking efforts which included instructing her younger brother to spill his juice on the couch so their parents would be forced to share a room.
On the whole though, I would be hard pressed to find anyone to whom I would recommend this read. The story lines were predictable and even annoying and the writing and characters just fell flat. I almost gave up on it many times but only pushed through because I wanted to fulfill some holiday and NetGalley reading commitments.
First of all...I had the unpleasant surprise that this was actually two novellas (Christy & Miranda) which were combined into one book-the characters being friends which served as the tenuous thread that connected the two.
Second, I had a very difficult time connecting to the characters or to the story lines. Although the setting and the season led me to expect a great feel good chick lit/romance experience...I waffled between being completely bored by the story line and the somewhat flat method of storytelling and feeling completely annoyed by all of the main characters who were prideful and uncommunicative which basically caused all of the strife in the stories.
I did enjoy picking up a bit of British English (it took me about 100 pages to realize that a jumper was a sweater...I kept wondering why they all wore dresses over their jeans! lol) and I also thoroughly enjoyed Christy's daughter and her delightful matchmaking efforts which included instructing her younger brother to spill his juice on the couch so their parents would be forced to share a room.
On the whole though, I would be hard pressed to find anyone to whom I would recommend this read. The story lines were predictable and even annoying and the writing and characters just fell flat. I almost gave up on it many times but only pushed through because I wanted to fulfill some holiday and NetGalley reading commitments.
Was it worth my Time?
Some other reviewers did like this one better than I did. Check out their reviews for a more balanced overview:
Thank you for your honest review. It helps me decide whether to read the book or not.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame you didn't enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Sophie Kinsella for books of this type :)
I agree, the cover is beautiful! But it's a shame you didn't enjoy the book very much. Like Nicola said, Sophie Kinsella is great for chick lit type reads!
ReplyDeleteMegan @ Storybook Love Affair
http://storybookloveaffair.blogspot.com
@ Donna - I debated even posting a review...but then I know that I want to read negative reviews as well as positive
ReplyDelete@ Nicola & Megan - I'll add Sophie Kinsella to my TBR!! Thanks!
I agree, it has a cute cover! I also requested this title from NetGalley but haven't managed to read it yet - I hope I'll like it though. It's a shame you didn't :(
ReplyDeleteThe British English bit made me smile - I could actually imagine you sitting there like "what the bloody hell is a jumper?" haha. It must be weird, reading such things for the first time though. :)
Thank you for your honest review and Happy New Year.
Oh and Sophie Kinsella IS great! And Marian Keyes too - she's Irish so it might take you a while to get used to the language but I adore her. :) x x x
Darn, the main character named Christy... I was sure it would be a 5 star book. :)
ReplyDelete