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donnaratcliff's review
4.0
I read this short festive story last night in the space of about an hour and a half. It's completely different from the type of thing I usually read, thrillers,mysteries and crime, but after a long day at work this was a lovely light read with a strong Christmas message underlying it. Holly, the main character, comes to realise that despite her ambitions to get away from her small hometown when it all comes to the point family is what is important.
I'm glad I took a step outside my usual preferred genres because I thoroughly enjoyed this story and Talli Rolands easy and witty writing style really appealed, I'll definitely be checking out some more of her books.
I'm glad I took a step outside my usual preferred genres because I thoroughly enjoyed this story and Talli Rolands easy and witty writing style really appealed, I'll definitely be checking out some more of her books.
louhbu's review
3.0
Cute short story, which was a little disappointing as once I finally got into, it ended. A nice little Christmas read though.
gg1213's review
3.0
This is a pretty predictable light read that is meant as a nice little holiday story to quickly fly through during an otherwise very hectic time of year. My condensed thoughts are that it's a cute story. A one-sitting read to get through between other books. However, it's very far from perfect and there are a few small issues that readers will easily pick up on if they are doing more than just casually reading through.
Right away Holly is a contradictory character. On the one hand she thinks she is ready for higher level clients, yet she has no idea how to organize things or get her bearings. She is frazzled beyond the point of being believable and yet, she thinks she's the professional member of the family business. Her lack or preparation is painful to read about if you try to analyze it and she trusts a random stranger with an event she makes a very big deal about pointing out her career depends on to go well. She is clueless about things, yet is annoyed her mother doesn't know the very things she was clueless about not a few paragraphs earlier. She knows Alex for less than a week and yet is surprised that there are details about him she doesn't know.
Elsa's character pushes the mean girl generic qualities too much. I find it hard to believe an A-list celebrity assistant wouldn't realize that if her boss's party goes badly, she looks bad, not just the party planners. She's the one who hired the people to do the work, after all.
Alex is supposed to be the ultimate good guy which directly contradicts the way he judges Holly for making a choice career wise that is the entire reason she is in America at all...also, he's known her for a matter of days!
The ending was rushed and tried to tie it all together and end all the conflicts, but there must be repercussions for some of the actions the characters took.
In the end, it's a free book, only about 60 pages, so if you want a quick holiday read, go for it...but I'm sure there are better Christmas stories out there.
Right away Holly is a contradictory character. On the one hand she thinks she is ready for higher level clients, yet she has no idea how to organize things or get her bearings. She is frazzled beyond the point of being believable and yet, she thinks she's the professional member of the family business. Her lack or preparation is painful to read about if you try to analyze it and she trusts a random stranger with an event she makes a very big deal about pointing out her career depends on to go well. She is clueless about things, yet is annoyed her mother doesn't know the very things she was clueless about not a few paragraphs earlier. She knows Alex for less than a week and yet is surprised that there are details about him she doesn't know.
Elsa's character pushes the mean girl generic qualities too much. I find it hard to believe an A-list celebrity assistant wouldn't realize that if her boss's party goes badly, she looks bad, not just the party planners. She's the one who hired the people to do the work, after all.
Alex is supposed to be the ultimate good guy which directly contradicts the way he judges Holly for making a choice career wise that is the entire reason she is in America at all...also, he's known her for a matter of days!
The ending was rushed and tried to tie it all together and end all the conflicts, but there must be repercussions for some of the actions the characters took.
In the end, it's a free book, only about 60 pages, so if you want a quick holiday read, go for it...but I'm sure there are better Christmas stories out there.
jen286's review
3.0
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
Mistletoe in Manhattan is a different type of Christmas story. Instead of being a romance where two people fall in love and live happily ever after in this story we learn that Christmas is all about the family, though **slight spoilers** there is a bit of a love interest that doesn't really go anywhere. It is a bit unsatisfying as I would have like it to not be there, or maybe have a follow up book or something. Oh well, it was still a fun holiday read.
Holly works for her family's Christmas party planning business. She want to break away a bit and do more parties, not just Christmas parties. She is getting tired of all the holiday things all the time. When a British film star wants to have a British Christmas party last minute in New York he hires Holly to handle it for him. She flies from her small hometown to Manhattan to plan the party that will hopefully help her family's business grow and expand across the pond.
Once Holly arrives in New York things don't go exactly as she planned. There is a lady who is not too thrilled to have Holly planning the party who pretty much is useless since she wants to see Holly fail. There are the extras that are added after she already planned most of the party that make it so she can't catch her original flight out which would have had her home on Christmas Eve. There is just a lot that Holly didn't realize, the way these people do business and run their lives is not like what she is used to. Really it makes me glad I don't have to deal with famous people.
Through all of this Holly has the help of the friendly bartender at her hotel bar. He helps her figure out where to get everything she needs and helps her explore New York a bit as well. He also helps Holly realize that if she can spend Christmas with her family she should. She shouldn't be one of those people who puts work first.
Overall it was a good read, but the slight romantic interest which didn't really do much left me wanting more, or less. Still I enjoyed the story. It had just enough holiday fun for me.
Mistletoe in Manhattan is a different type of Christmas story. Instead of being a romance where two people fall in love and live happily ever after in this story we learn that Christmas is all about the family, though **slight spoilers** there is a bit of a love interest that doesn't really go anywhere. It is a bit unsatisfying as I would have like it to not be there, or maybe have a follow up book or something. Oh well, it was still a fun holiday read.
Holly works for her family's Christmas party planning business. She want to break away a bit and do more parties, not just Christmas parties. She is getting tired of all the holiday things all the time. When a British film star wants to have a British Christmas party last minute in New York he hires Holly to handle it for him. She flies from her small hometown to Manhattan to plan the party that will hopefully help her family's business grow and expand across the pond.
Once Holly arrives in New York things don't go exactly as she planned. There is a lady who is not too thrilled to have Holly planning the party who pretty much is useless since she wants to see Holly fail. There are the extras that are added after she already planned most of the party that make it so she can't catch her original flight out which would have had her home on Christmas Eve. There is just a lot that Holly didn't realize, the way these people do business and run their lives is not like what she is used to. Really it makes me glad I don't have to deal with famous people.
Through all of this Holly has the help of the friendly bartender at her hotel bar. He helps her figure out where to get everything she needs and helps her explore New York a bit as well. He also helps Holly realize that if she can spend Christmas with her family she should. She shouldn't be one of those people who puts work first.
Overall it was a good read, but the slight romantic interest which didn't really do much left me wanting more, or less. Still I enjoyed the story. It had just enough holiday fun for me.
jules_writes's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the short story and my only one complaint was that it wasn't long enough, I wish it had been a full length novel!
Good writing, nice characters and definitely a Christmasy feel to the story.
Good writing, nice characters and definitely a Christmasy feel to the story.
cathylpowell's review
4.0
A perfect story for Christmas. When Holly gets the chance to escape from her small town in the UK to go to Manhattan to organise a celeb party for a Brit based in New York, she doesn't hesitate. You then read about how Holly plans the event and has someone try to work against her. But she meets Alex who changes her thinking about things.
inspirationalley's review
4.0
A lovely short, easy read. I will definitely look out for more by this author.
pupylov's review
4.0
This was a fun quick Christmas goodie! Good characters that you can quickly relate to and fig right in!
crownab's review
3.0
This book was disappointed as I was expecting a novel not a short story. The story line was fairly predictable, but entertaining. A pleasant read for a wintery night in but beware it only takes a couple of hours to finish.
pastelplanet's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0