Claus and Effect

Claus and Effect by Piper Rayne Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: November 14, 2023 Publisher: Indie Pages: 253 ISBN: 9798887142371 Genre: Romance | Contemporary Source: ARC Add to Goodreads

Synopsis: Tessa and Tre are complete opposites. Tre is trying to get home to Portland to see his family for Christmas. Tessa has no family but sets off across the US in the hopes of finding true love and her forever family. When a series of mishaps put a wrench into their plans, the duo are forced to rent a car together in the hopes of driving to Portland. It seems like everything that can go wrong does or maybe it’s just the universe working to keep these two together long enough so they go from strangers to lovers.

Review: I love a cheesy holiday romance! Toss in a strangers-to-lovers trope and a road trip to get home for the holidays, and I am hooked. I could see this playing out in my head like a Hallmark Christmas movie and there were a lot of hilarious parts that made me chuckle.

What I liked the most: I loved the witty banter between the main characters. Tessa was a very lovable character. It was impossible not to root for her and wish for that happy ever after.

What I didn’t like: The ending felt very rushed. It started with the scene of them together in Portland at the hotel and then sped up fast. I wish it was a bit slower with more details and background. It seemed to take forever to get to Portland but then suddenly when they made it, everything went fast.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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Holly vs. Mr. Ivy

Holly vs. Mr. Ivy (Christmas in Connecticut, #3) by Amanda P. Jones Website | Twitter | Instagram Publication Date: July 5, 2023 Publisher: Indie Pages: 291 ISBN:  Genre: Romance | Contemporary Source: ARC Add to Goodreads Available for Purchase: Amazon

 

Synopsis: Holly is an executive chef at a notable restaurant who is also caring for her sick mother. Her staff sees her as nothing but an ice queen, but Holly has a strict rule not to be friendly with her staff because she knows they’ll take advantage of her niceness.

Rhett is a happy-go-lucky general manager at the restaurant, looking to prove himself to his uncle so that one day he can open his own business. When his uncle tasks him with improving the restaurant’s revenue by the end of the year, Rhett must try and get on Holly’s good side, or else they both might end up out of a job.

Review:I am a sucker for a holiday romance! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. I was so excited to read this; look how adorable the cover is! This book exceeded my expectations, and I had a really hard time putting it down!

I found Holly’s character to be really relatable. She has a hard time letting people get too close to her, and that can often come across as standoffish and icy to other people. I love how throughout the story, she was open to change and worked really hard on being a better person. She saw so much growth throughout the book!

Rhett’s character was really sweet and endearing. Even though he comes across as this carefree, happy-go-lucky guy, I could still feel the pain inside him that he kept hidden. Like so many of us, he hid away his darkest parts out of fear of rejection.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a love story featuring reverse grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, and forbidden romance, that takes place in the fall leading up to Christmas.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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Eight Days of Christmas

Eight Days of Christmas

(Pineridge, #1)
by Starla DeKruyf

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Publication Date: Oct 19 2021
Publisher: City Owl Press
Pages: 308
ISBN: 9781648980992
Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Holiday
Source: Own

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Available for Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: Isabella Whitley hasn't been back home to Pineridge, Colorado in over ten years, but must return to celebrate the family's Eight Days of Christmas tradition along and her younger sister's Christmas day wedding.  But when a snowstorm grounds Isabella's flight, her only options are to wait out the storm until the morning or to get a rental car. That's when Isabella's high school sweetheart, Leo, enters the picture. Turns out Leo is also on his way back to Colorado because his younger brother Landon, is the groom in the upcoming wedding. By the time Leo and Isabella get to the car rental, there is only one car left so they reluctantly agree to share the ride to Colorado.

Being in close proximity to each other brings up a lot of past feelings and resentment and both Isabella and Leo must learn to navigate those feelings if they are going to survive the Whitley's Eight Days of Christmas, Norah and Landon's wedding, and then go on their separate ways once again.

Review: This book is legit holiday magic! Right from the beginning I couldn't help but get Hallmark movie vibes. Can I also just swoon over how absolutely perfect the cover is? It's definitely in the top 10 of all-time favorite covers - shoutout to whoever did the cover art! Also, can I please be a member of the Whitley family? A family that does the eight days of Christmas, every single year? Yes, please! I want to make gingerbread houses, go sledding, bake sugar cookies, and string popcorn. The Whitley family is the quintessential holiday family that everyone wants to be and reading about them doing all those adorable holiday traditions just makes readers want to celebrate the holidays that way as well.

I will admit that bits of the story are a bit cheesy and at times I wanted to smack both Izzy and Leo and tell them to get over themselves. However, that's what I love about romcoms and Hallmark movies, they are all so cheesy but in the most delicious way possible. Everybody loves a feel-good story and I enjoy reading about characters that aren't perfect, that make mistakes, that say or do stupid things because that's what makes it more realistic. 

“Shouldn't all of this be easier? If two people love each other, shouldn't that be enough?”
― Starla DeKruyf, Eight Days of Christmas

Overall I give this book 4 stars because the story is adorable, the characters are fun, and the cover art is charming.

Special thanks to City Owl Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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