*I was given an ARC of A Winter Wedding Adventure in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Boldwood Books and Leonie Mack for my copy of the book*

Synopsis:

Adventure guide Kira Watling is not a natural with guest lists and flower arranging…

But the destination wedding agency she works for always goes above and beyond. And it’s her job to escort an important guest from Salzburg to the venue, a gorgeous chalet nestled in the mountains. It should be simple, but an overnight delay due to heavy snowfall leaves her stuck in close quarters with her very handsome, very eccentric charge, Italian opera singer Mattia.

Clumsy, yet sensitive, Mattia is unlike anyone Kira has ever met. Spending an evening exploring the Christmas markets and then making their way through the snow-covered mountains to the wedding the following day, Mattia gets under Kira’s skin in a way no one else has. They can’t ignore the very unexpected attraction, but Kira has a job to do. And whilst Mattia is open to love, bitter life experience has taught Kira to guard her heart.

Continually thrown together by wedding disasters, Kira finds her resistance to commitment sorely challenged by growing feelings for the charming Mattia – and the determination of the bridal party to make these snowbound nuptials a success. But can there be a future for a tough outdoor guide and an opera singer when the snow is finally cleared?

Review:

I’m not sure what’s going on with the festive reads in 2025, but this is the third one I’ve DNF’d. I just could not connect with A Winter Wedding Adventure in the slightest. Getting just over halfway through it was a bit of a struggle, which is a shame because I did like the concept of the book.

The “adventure” part was over way quicker than I expected considering it’s the title of the book. Maybe more adventures happen after but I got over halfway through and everything was building towards the wedding. Maybe some chaos would take place, but I was already over the book and it’s hard to make yourself continue once you reach that point.

Something else that’s hard is taking a male romantic lead seriously when he’s constantly referred to as a “boy” and is babied by every one in his life. It genuinely felt like they were talking about a toddler sometimes. Mattia is 27, but it felt like I was reading a book with a teenage lead. Even the way he talked and acted in his own chapters were really young. Such a weird choice. 

I didn’t like Kira very much. She gives off a major ‘I’m not like the other girls’ vibe purely because she’s outdoorsy and likes to climb mountains. Like actually get over yourself. She’s also so negative about love and she acts like planning weddings is the worst thing in the world. Like yeah, you can think that but don’t talk about it around the people you’re working for. I don’t know exactly what happened to make her feel this way but I’m guessing her boyfriend left her on their wedding day.

Also, the ‘romance’ was super insta-lovey, which I don’t usually mind in contemporary romances but when the characters are complete opposites it makes no sense. Within the first few pages of meeting each other they’re basically lusting for each other, but also Kira finds Mattia to be really immature and annoying. She’s only five years older than him but she acts like he’s a child. It honestly felt more like Kira was Mattia’s mom rather than someone that’s interested in him romantically. 

I’m genuinely sad to have yet another DNF, but A Winter Wedding Adventure wasn’t for me – you can’t win them all I suppose.

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Like this post? Why not read this one too: Audiobook Review: Booked for the Holidays by Liz Maverick