The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
Part of me still can’t believe it took two people to write this book. It’s so unbelievably terrible that I’m surprised it has such a decent rating on Goodreads. Some people really will rate a book highly just because it has a bit of spice in it.
Enjoy these wonderful sections of my review as I don’t know if I have the energy to talk about this book in a new way. “There was absolutely no reason why they should be making this pact. They knew each other for about two hours before they made it. This guy has been reading her emails and sending unsolicited responses for god knows how long but of course that creepiness doesn’t matter when she sees him and he’s apparently hot.
Also, the villianification (is this a word?) of his ex-girlfriend was horrific. He’s clearly a massive creep, I’m not surprised she preferred his brother. Further proved by him saying ‘Hearing that no man had planted his flag on planet Riley for a long time made me a little crazy’. Gross.”
This entire book was a The Hating Game rip off but with more spice and less time. At least having the characters get together in The Hating Game made sense. They knew each other for a much longer period of time and they didn’t get it on within a few hours of knowing each other.
Synopsis: Eggnog. Check. Roaring fire. Check. Hot romance audiobook. Check!
Riley Kennedy’s emails keep getting crossed with her male colleague, Kennedy Riley. The infuriating man forwards them along with his annoying commentary and unsolicited advice. At least she never has to see him in person, since they work in different locations…until they come face to face at the office holiday party.
As luck would have it, Kennedy turns out to be outrageously handsome…though still a jerk. Yet somehow he’s able to charm her out on the dance floor—and convince her to participate in his crazy he’ll go home with Riley for a Christmas party and pretend to be her boyfriend, if Riley agrees to be his date to a wedding. It sounds easy enough. Little by little, however, the act they’re putting on starts to feel like so much more than a Christmas pact—and Riley’s about to learn there’s more to Kennedy than she ever imagined.
Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters
This book is less than 150 pages but it felt like 1000. What I thought was going to be a nice quick read to finish up my 2024 festive reads, actually became one of my least favourite reads of the year.
Looking back at my review made me realise I summed up my issues with this book perfectly the first time round, “Christmas Is All Around would have been much more Christmassy if every single festive event wasn’t skirted over. Every time it was a case of “we’re going to do this Christmas-related thing that would probably make for an entertaining section of this book” which would then skip straight to “so that thing happened, here’s absolutely no detail about it but you get to hear more of Charlotte complaining about how much she hates Christmas”. This whining got old very quickly and made Charlotte quite unlikable. Her attitude towards Christmas could have been excused but this extended towards her family and honestly, she was just plain mean sometimes. She constantly referred to her niece with horrible names or descriptions. I get that she doesn’t want kids herself, I feel you there, but I’m not a child hater or judge people that do want children.
Charlotte likes to remind the reader that she’s not ‘the artist type that is a burden to their friends and family’ but she seemed to have conflict with everyone in her life. She may not have been a burden financially but she clearly had a lot of unresolved issues that, in the grand scheme of the book, were there just to spice things up a bit. Don’t even get me started on how horrible she is to Graham and he just takes it the whole time. I did like him, but that’s because he had no flaws and as a by-product of that, no personality.”
I have no time for people who are outright nasty and how are you supposed to root for a couple that you really don’t like?
Synopsis: Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won’t let her move on. When a piece revealing that her reluctance nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister.
But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she’s accidently left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London by Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business—and the funds to keep their historic house running—relies on holiday cheer, and Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors.
Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission illustrating iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs. Graham offers to help escort her, as long as she’ll commit to an art workshop at Eden Priory. But as Charlotte’s chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham. Charlotte may not love Christmas, but is it so bad if you’re also falling in love?
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Book Review: Snowflakes and Sparks by Sophie-Leigh Robbins