I did not love this book. It went by way too fast and there wasn’t enough time to really get to know the characters or for them to develop.

Monica Adams Skips Christmas is very sweet but waayyy too short. I don't know if I'm not a novella person, or if I just haven't found the right one, but this had way too much going on. Monica is dealing with a recent breakup, a sick grandfather, a family who is too busy working to spend time with her, dropping out of college, and falling for someone new. At least one of these plotlines can be cut, and this story wouldn't lose anything. If anything, Monica, and Paige, her love interest could become more developed characters. Every time I thought I was finally getting to know Monica, some sort of drama happened and any growth was forgotten. I was not a fan of her family, and felt all her problems with them wrapped up way too quickly. I did like her relationship with her grandfather, the discussions of her Polish heritage and the romance was sweet if underdeveloped. I thought pretty much all conflict related to Monica's ex was not needed, but it add least allowed Monica to grow a little!

Overall, this was fine. I don't regret reading it at all, and if you're looking for a quick, cute Christmas read maybe try it out! There are definitely better sapphic holiday romances but this certainly a welcome addition to the stack. More Holigays, please!

This is a short and sweet novella. It was written very well. I enjoyed the author’s writing. The story was okay, it felt a bit rushed, even for a novella. I felt that if the author had written even a little bit more they would have been able to keep it novella length while adding a bit more to the story. The characters were nicely written. I loved Grandpa Jerzy. This novella was that fun, typically cheesy Christmas romance without being overkill, but I also felt it was missing something.

Monica Adams Skips Christmas by Krista Harper

Shout out to #southsidemountainpress and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this #eARC !

Monica Adams is thrilled to be home for the holidays and away from the pressure of engineering classes for a few weeks. But once she arrives home her boyfriend promptly dumps her, her parents have relocated her to the basement in order to give her grandpa her bedroom, and her parents have no free time to spend with her. She quickly enters Grinch mode until she finds someone possibly worth coming back out of her shell for. 

This was a super quick holiday read. It is all about what’s important in life; a good reminder for this time of year. It was quick paced, cute and quirky. I highly recommend for those looking for a quick holiday read. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄 - 4/5

Really short little novella, and under developed, I wish it was longer so we could get more out of the characters and the story. The Polish stuff... some of it was okay... but a lot of it didnt really make sense and was kind of weird.

3/5 stars

This is a quick novella, 80 pages.  I was left wishing I had more.  We know very little about who Monica actually is.  We know she is polish, a freshman and is oblivious to how much a conceited jerk her ex-boyfriend is.  We know nothing about who she actually is as a person.  

Yes the author tells us she is going to school to become an engineer and that she is Bi but how about showing us rather then telling us.  She also never mentions that she isn’t happy with her major until the very end when it’s like oh really that’s a surprise to EVERYONE! 

That was my biggest issue with this book is I wish she spent more time showing us details instead of telling us.  

She also really isn’t skipping Christmas, she talks about not liking Christmas once in the book and then it only pops up again at the end.  Some consistency would have been nice.  

It was a cute quick read that I wish had been longer so Kristas Harper could have given us more time to learn about Monica.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of Monica Adams Skips Christmas in return for my honest opinions.

This is a short sapphic romance novella.
It is very short, too short to unpack all that it's brought up and the writing wasn't strong enough to support it, it almost read very indie and it left me a bit disappointed.

It was a nice, fast paced book with a very pleasant writing style. I think the story line could have gone a little deeper like the Alzheimer's from the granddad, and also the feelings through the story. 

But eventually a very comfy Christmas book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Monica Adams Skips Christmas" by Krista Harper is a short and sweet story about a young woman named Monica returning home for her first Christmas after her first year of college. While waiting for her ride home at the train station, she learns that her boyfriend, Bryce, has been cheating on her and wants to break up. Monica's pretty sure that this is the start to a terrible Christmas break - until she runs into Paige, her cute neighbor 

If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I'm absolutely a sucker for sapphic holiday romances. And this definitely fit the bill! But on top of the Christmas cheer, Harper also tells a story of the Adams family: Monica's parents, Polish immigrants who moved to America in the hopes of a better life for their children. Monica's sister, an aspirational woman born in Poland but raised in America, who went on to study law. Monica's grandfather, who is sweet but who Monica worries may need more care than her parents realize in his old age. And Monica (of course) who went to college to become an engineer but who is currently wondering if that's what she wants to do for the rest of her life. Harper examines the inter-generational relationships of this family and how they've shaped Monica's life. I thought it was done well, and was still interesting to read. 

And then there's Paige - the perfect love interest, she's fun and interesting and (naturally) an art student who works at an independent bookstore. We get lots of sweet trope-y romance moments and they were all so fun to read!

I don't want to say too much and accidentally spoil the book (it's a short, quick read, after all) but suffice to say this is an adorable Christmas read if you're looking for sappy sapphics with a bit of extra plot and character study thrown in the mix! I only wish there'd been more of it to read.

Here is my honest opinion: If an author is going to write a short novella at least let the characters have some sort of chemistry. There was no chemistry between them. It honestly felt like friends then boom “I like you”. I didn’t care too much about the lack of depth because it’s a short cute little novella, there isn’t supposed to be a huge amount of depth.

I love a good quick read like this, and when you add in a gay awakening storyline Im always interested. I think this would have worked better as a full length novel just so all the themes could have been explored in greater detail. I would have just liked to get to know the characters a bit more.

It was cute but since it was pretty short it felt rushed and could have been fleshed out more. I think this would have worked for me a little more if it was longer.

I really loved this one! I actually didn’t know it was a novella before starting it and honestly I would have loved to read a full novel about Monica and Paige, they deserve it!

I can relate to so much of Monica‘s life, especially the shitty sister. Yes halfway through she was kind of nice but it was shitty what she did before nonetheless and having a sister similar to her.. it‘s annoying and in my opinion Monica was okay with it way too quickly!
Anyways, I absolutely love Seth even tho he was there for like 2 seconds but I fell in love with him right away. Wish I could be his best friend!!
Paige is so bubbly and lovable, I loved her energy and she is so perfect for Monica.

Obviously, a lot of things were cut short because of the book being a novella and I feel like they could have been explored more, like literally everything that happened with her grandpa, her relationship with her parents and sister‘s family and of course more about Paige and all the stuff that happened before Monica flew home for Christmas.

Overall I absolutely adored this cute and quick Christmas read!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

A super cute, super short, hallmark Christmas, LGBT+ romance Novella! 

That says it all really! 

The book was pretty good. I loved the development of the characters, however I felt like the book itself was a little under developed. 

I know the whole point of novellas is to be a quick read, but I just felt like I (as the reader) was going to the effort of constructing the scene in my head, more than what the actual words on paper was outlining. This would normally be a great example of the whole ‘show, don’t tell’ tip in writing literature, but as I said, it left the whole book feeling a little like I was following the bullet point form of the draft instead of the fleshed out Novella. 

The two MC’s were very cute together. They were an awesome mix of sunshine/grumpy energy, sprinkled with that friends to lovers vibe. I like the representation of LGBT+ romance, but also the coming together of two really interesting cultural groups. 

I also really like the idea that this book comes across as super relatable. One of the MC’s is struggling with what to do at University/college and where she wants to take her future. I believe readers will see themselves in that plight and insecurity and want to read further.

This was fine for a novella but didn’t really give any emotional connection to the characters. I think there’s too much in the story. Immigrant parents, aging grandparents. Family, cheating. Breaking up. Biphobia. There’s just too much to take on in 80 pages.

👩🏻‍❤️‍👩🏼BOOK REVIEW👩🏻‍❤️‍👩🏼

Monica Adams Skips Christmas - Krista Harper 
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️ 

This is the sweetest little novella I’ve ever read. It follows Monica as she visits her family home for Christmas after a devastating break up. There, she learns more about herself, her family and love than she thought she would. 

“What to Expect:
🌲2 hour Short Read
🌲Friends-to-Lovers
🌲Grumpy vs Sunshine
🌲Sweet, Feel Good Holiday Nostalgia
🌲Guaranteed Happily Ever After

Representation:
💜 Sapphic Romance
💜Bi-Sexual MC
💜Lesbian Love Interest
💜Polish Immigrant & Japanese Characters”

Published: November 29, 2022
✨ Available now on Kindle Unlimited!

Thank you to @netgalley, @xpressotours and @kristaharperwrites for the opportunity to read this one!

#monicaadamsskipschristmas #sapphicreads #lgbtreads #christmasreads #novella #kindleunlimitedromance #bookstagram #netgalley #bookreviews #netgalleyreviews #bookshelf #booktok #sapphicromance

Honestly this was not for me. I did not enjoy it. I know it's meant to be short but it was rushed and not even done well and there eas a lot left to be desired. The premise could have potential but everything fell flat. I didnt like the characters. The family sucked. It didn't feel like a feel good Christmas story to me. I don't like giving one stars bit this was just awful for me. 

Thank you so much to Netglley and the publishers for a chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

It was a good novella it just needed to be longer for what was included in the book.there was definitely too much going on for how short a book it was.I did feel like there was a lack of an emotional connection between the two main characters. I did enjoy it though it was sweet and quick.

This was the perfect Christmas novella. It was fast-paced, loaded with representation, and very cozy. I loved Monica Adams as a character and loved seeing a little peek into her life. I would highly recommend it for everyone looking for a cute easy to read Christmas contemporary.

This is a short read that gives some holiday vibes but isn't super Christmasy. Monica Adams returns home when her high school boyfriend dumps her. A Merry Christmas isn't looking like a possibility until she gets reacquainted with her upstairs neighbor, Paige.

This is a no spice, sweet book with a quick romance that doesn't feel like instalove as both characters have been acquainted with each other for several years. There's a lot going on between both the characters relationships and Monica's own dysfunctional family. We meet a lot of characters and most feel fairly fleshed out. We also get a lot of story but it doesn't feel rushed. Both the main characters were likeable, though I feel like we don't get to know Paige as well as I would have liked. I loved the care Monica shows for her grandfather and how much character development we get even within a short story. I did feel like we could have gotten a full book out of this story and I would have definitely read it!

Very cute afternoon read with light holiday vibes and diverse representation. If you're finding you can't focus on long books this holiday season, I would pick this up!