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atamano's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, and War
kelseyfontaine's review
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Was an easy Christmas read to get you in the mood for the holidays. Pretty much a Hallmark movie made into a book. Some parts of the plot were predictable, and I don’t think the romantic aspect was completely necessary. Comments surrounding weight/eating habits were also made, which didn’t make much sense and weren’t necessary at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Eating disorder, and Death
Minor: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Cancer
vj_thompson's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I swear Mary Kay Adams books always get me out of a reading slump. Her writing is easy to follow and create a world you feel like you are living in along side the characters. The Santa Suit is a novela I’ve wanted to read since last year. I liked the story plot of a newly divorced woman moving to a small town and tackling a fixer upper farm house. The story behind the sant suit’s previous owner was magical and the ending had me tearing up. Love love love 💕
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, War, Eating disorder, and Body shaming
Minor: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual content, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Grief
dani_reis's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
It was okay. Very strong Hallmark Christmas plot. The entire town being pushy about the FMC's choices for the holiday were irritating.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Infidelity
Catfishingreadingwithmeredith's review
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Diversity in age
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Previous relationship of a character was infidelity that is retold with mild details, one character is really focused on her body and loosing weight for a guy, one fade to black scene with mild innuendo, if there was any language I didn’t really notice it enough to mark it as mildcameronestridge208's review
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity
theespressoedition's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This story felt like it would've been better suited to the Hallmark channel than anything else. It was cheesy, a bit uncomfortable at times, and filled with idyllic small-town vibes.
While the story itself was cute in concept, the execution fell a bit flat for me.
First of all, the romance was a heavy dose of insta-love and while the first 85% of the book kept it light and sweet, there was one scene at the end that confused me with its more provocative language. It felt inconsistent.
Next came the characters. While some of them were really cute (like the candy shop owner and the elderly gentleman the FMC befriends), the others were really bizarre. I especially disliked that one of the storylines involved a young woman who is openly trying to starve herself to lose weight because she lied about herself on the internet to her long-distance boyfriend who she's never met and wants to be engaged to by Christmas. UMMM??? Talk about a giant red flag moment here.
All-in-all, I wouldn't pick up this book again. There were some cute parts of the story, but I really didn't enjoy it very much at all.
While the story itself was cute in concept, the execution fell a bit flat for me.
First of all, the romance was a heavy dose of insta-love and while the first 85% of the book kept it light and sweet, there was one scene at the end that confused me with its more provocative language. It felt inconsistent.
Next came the characters. While some of them were really cute (like the candy shop owner and the elderly gentleman the FMC befriends), the others were really bizarre. I especially disliked that one of the storylines involved a young woman who is openly trying to starve herself to lose weight because she lied about herself on the internet to her long-distance boyfriend who she's never met and wants to be engaged to by Christmas. UMMM??? Talk about a giant red flag moment here.
All-in-all, I wouldn't pick up this book again. There were some cute parts of the story, but I really didn't enjoy it very much at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria and Eating disorder
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content
larareads's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Fatphobia
gem114's review
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Adorable. That's the best word to describe this book. Definitely written for fans of HGTV and Hallmark Channel. There are things I could complain about, but there's really no reason. I feel like most readers know what they're getting themselves into when they pick up a book with a Santa suit as major plot point.
This was my first Mary Kay Andrews book, and I will definitely read her again.
This was my first Mary Kay Andrews book, and I will definitely read her again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Death of parent
booksbytheglass's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
what a cute wonderful festive read!! this book was exactly like a hallmark movie wrapped up in one.
it was a quick read that I binged in about 3 hours (just around 200 pages) & I felt so warm and cozy inside when I was done!
ivy moves to a small town in north carolina where she buys an old christmas farm fixer upper and intends to spend the holidays by herself with home renovations. except, the town will not let her do just that. between finding an old santa suit that may or may not be magical, reading old letters from kids, meeting old and new neighbors, ivy soon discovers that this town is magical all on its own.
sure, there were some parts that I was internally cringing, but would it be a hallmark-y romance without that? as someone who works in marketing, those aspects were a little off the mark, especially when she build a website from scratch in a few hours. like honey, you’re not that good.
BUT I loved ezra and phoebe and lawrence and all of the characters in this town that made ivy feel like one of them. it was such a fun festive read & I would recommend it to anyone looking for just that!
rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: napa valley cabernet sauvignon
it was a quick read that I binged in about 3 hours (just around 200 pages) & I felt so warm and cozy inside when I was done!
ivy moves to a small town in north carolina where she buys an old christmas farm fixer upper and intends to spend the holidays by herself with home renovations. except, the town will not let her do just that. between finding an old santa suit that may or may not be magical, reading old letters from kids, meeting old and new neighbors, ivy soon discovers that this town is magical all on its own.
sure, there were some parts that I was internally cringing, but would it be a hallmark-y romance without that? as someone who works in marketing, those aspects were a little off the mark, especially when she build a website from scratch in a few hours. like honey, you’re not that good.
BUT I loved ezra and phoebe and lawrence and all of the characters in this town that made ivy feel like one of them. it was such a fun festive read & I would recommend it to anyone looking for just that!
rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: napa valley cabernet sauvignon
Content Warnings
Minor: Infidelity