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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book really sucked. I wanted to read a cute story about a failing bookshop becoming a holiday-themed bookstore. Instead, I read a story that was half romance and filled with the most random character traits. One guy is only known for liking trees, the other guy is an author who can't do anything for himself, the sister is just pregnant, the children are all brats, and the boss has a Nazi for a dad? There were also a lot of comments about bodies. I'm trying to read a Christmas novel to get in the spirit, and the author decides it a good idea to include comments on how fat our MC is? Bad.
398 pages
398 pages
1.8 stars. Not giving it a 1 star because I looked at my 1-star books, and I looooathed those books. I just want a high quality cozy Christmas romance read. ☹️
A delightful holiday read. I loved the relationship between the sisters as well as the one between the aunt and her nieces/nephew. And....who wants to travel to Edinburgh with me now?
Cute. The audiobook is a little annoying, but nice to listen to while rolling cookie dough and decorating the tree.
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
Excellent for finding the Christmas spirit within you!
A novel filled with warm emotions and light-hearted humor, but tackling very important matters with a very straightforward way
I would love to have a next novel about Carmen and her family as the life of the heroes fills me up with the Christmas warmth !
A novel filled with warm emotions and light-hearted humor, but tackling very important matters with a very straightforward way
I would love to have a next novel about Carmen and her family as the life of the heroes fills me up with the Christmas warmth !
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was kind of sceptical going into this book. I'm not a romance reader and the reviews that I read were not promising. But it turns out I actually quite liked the story. And let me start by saying that most of the negative reviews seem to hate the main character for her lack of achievement and not doing much about it, and I did not experience that at all. I hypothesize that people who cannot take a distance and see the character development and journey that Carmen is on, are just highly absorbed in spending every minute making their own life perfect (or rather seem perfect) and are secretly jealous that someone can live a life without putting in all that effort.
And then putting in that effort, when something comes along that matters to her. I think a strong point from this book is how the bookshop as well as the kids are catalysts for Carmen's personal growth and motivation to engage with life. As Carmen is let go from her retail job she is kind of pushed into a decrepit book shop by her sister, while also having some baby sitting work at her sister's home. And so her journey begins.
I do agree with most reviews though that the rest of the characters were somewhat 1-dimensional with the exception actually of Mr McCredie. Still, the patterns of interaction between the characters tell you a lot about them, which helps you fill in the 3d-blanks. The boys in the love triangle are clear caricatures (as a guy I must say I'm slightly annoyed that they always have to be tall - if we do body positivity for fat people, can we maybe accept that shorter males are also viable life partners? :P). The kids though were wonderful. I really loved Carmen's growing relationship with the kids. I heard someone complaining they were perfect and I agree, but vehemently disagree that they are unrealistically perfect. I feel they are depicted with clear differentiation in their preferences and character and I think if I would have to raise them, I would find it quite as taxing as raising my own.
I did not really vibe with the love triangle but that's on me for reading a romance book. I think it was well executed and reminds me of every romantic movie I've ever seen. Nothing special, obvious outcome, continuous misunderstandings, the formula. But good enough to keep reading. Although I did really like Oke and I found his background interesting.
What I found a bit messy were the two completely unrelated plot-conveniences by dream. I added a weird element that did not have any purpose as it actually supported two different plot lines by having two different people have unrelated dreams. I can only explain it by some awkward backwards engineering. Then again, they were short bouts that did not dominate the book.
Like a good Christmas book, all characters (that deserve it) get a good ending and there are quite some feel good moments along the way as well. A very enjoyable read all in all.
And then putting in that effort, when something comes along that matters to her. I think a strong point from this book is how the bookshop as well as the kids are catalysts for Carmen's personal growth and motivation to engage with life. As Carmen is let go from her retail job she is kind of pushed into a decrepit book shop by her sister, while also having some baby sitting work at her sister's home. And so her journey begins.
I do agree with most reviews though that the rest of the characters were somewhat 1-dimensional with the exception actually of Mr McCredie. Still, the patterns of interaction between the characters tell you a lot about them, which helps you fill in the 3d-blanks. The boys in the love triangle are clear caricatures (as a guy I must say I'm slightly annoyed that they always have to be tall - if we do body positivity for fat people, can we maybe accept that shorter males are also viable life partners? :P). The kids though were wonderful. I really loved Carmen's growing relationship with the kids. I heard someone complaining they were perfect and I agree, but vehemently disagree that they are unrealistically perfect. I feel they are depicted with clear differentiation in their preferences and character and I think if I would have to raise them, I would find it quite as taxing as raising my own.
I did not really vibe with the love triangle but that's on me for reading a romance book. I think it was well executed and reminds me of every romantic movie I've ever seen. Nothing special, obvious outcome, continuous misunderstandings, the formula. But good enough to keep reading. Although I did really like Oke and I found his background interesting.
What I found a bit messy were the two completely unrelated plot-conveniences by dream. I added a weird element that did not have any purpose as it actually supported two different plot lines by having two different people have unrelated dreams. I can only explain it by some awkward backwards engineering. Then again, they were short bouts that did not dominate the book.
Like a good Christmas book, all characters (that deserve it) get a good ending and there are quite some feel good moments along the way as well. A very enjoyable read all in all.