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the_knitted_reader's review
4.0
Most Wonderful by Bryce Oakley is a sweet f/f Christmas romance, like Hallmark movie sweet. Except it might be another hundred years before Hallmark dares have 2 girls kiss IN one of their movies. (Y’all heard about the Hallmark/Zola crap right?)
Emilia is a Scrooge, completely focused on growing her bookshop, with no time for a personal life. She meets Cody who works in the bakery next door. Cody is feeling a bit lost, and doesn’t think she’ll be sticking around long. Neither woman is prepared to find love, but Christmas works its magic on them. Of course there is conflict, but after really only reading YA LGBTQ books, it was such a lovely thing that the conflict had nothing to do with their sexuality or discrimination.
Emilia is a Scrooge, completely focused on growing her bookshop, with no time for a personal life. She meets Cody who works in the bakery next door. Cody is feeling a bit lost, and doesn’t think she’ll be sticking around long. Neither woman is prepared to find love, but Christmas works its magic on them. Of course there is conflict, but after really only reading YA LGBTQ books, it was such a lovely thing that the conflict had nothing to do with their sexuality or discrimination.
netgyrl's review
3.0
3.5 Stars - a cute, quick Christmas read
Enjoyable Christmas romance. I think the blub described one of the characters as an "ice queen", but if you measure your ice queens against, say, Mirands Priestly, than Emilia doesn't really come close to ice queen status. And that's fine. She is a bit of a bah-hum-bug about Christmas and has a business mindset and she seems like a very nice person. Cody is also just a dream boat so you are rooting for them the whole time. The angst didn't really make sense to me because I didn't understand why they wouldn't just immediately take about the situation. It resolves quickly so - whew. It ties up nicely with a one year later epilogue.
Enjoyable Christmas romance. I think the blub described one of the characters as an "ice queen", but if you measure your ice queens against, say, Mirands Priestly, than Emilia doesn't really come close to ice queen status. And that's fine. She is a bit of a bah-hum-bug about Christmas and has a business mindset and she seems like a very nice person. Cody is also just a dream boat so you are rooting for them the whole time. The angst didn't really make sense to me because I didn't understand why they wouldn't just immediately take about the situation. It resolves quickly so - whew. It ties up nicely with a one year later epilogue.
josb's review
3.0
A short little romance set around Christmas time. The characters felt well developed for the shorter length of the book. The "I love yous" came pretty quick considering, but the author did well to make sure the relationship was quite healthy so the quick progress did not bother me that much. It is important to note that the one MC reads less like an ice queen and more as a misunderstood neurodivergent surrounded by neurotypicals.
I did deduct a star because I felt like the book could have gone through another edit. It was clear earlier versions were written in first person and some of that language still lingered.
I did deduct a star because I felt like the book could have gone through another edit. It was clear earlier versions were written in first person and some of that language still lingered.
verumsolum's review
5.0
I'm not much of a crier, but the ending to Most Wonderful did such a great job of pulling together so many of the threads from the book that I have to admit that it pulled a couple from my eyes.
A bookstore, a bakery, some Christmas, and some love… every ingredient came together in a way that felt real, embracing what we were reading it for, without dropping into cookie-cutter cliché.
A bookstore, a bakery, some Christmas, and some love… every ingredient came together in a way that felt real, embracing what we were reading it for, without dropping into cookie-cutter cliché.
lsnack's review
5.0
Excellent character development, delightful dialogue, and just plain good storytelling.This is a must read Christmas story. I will read more from this author.
carriegessner's review
2.0
A breezy, quick read. I wish I liked it more, but the characters felt pretty thin and the conflict felt manufactured rather than organic. There were also some glaring errors that could've been caught by a careful proofreading. I'd read more by Oakley in the future.
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