Joanna Boulouri's festive rom-com is full of charm, warmth, fun and so entertaining featuring 30 year old lawyer, Nick Harris, set in London and Oxford. Nick hits rock bottom after being fired from his prestigious law firm hits, broke and desperate, he grudgingly takes on the position of Santa at Southview Shopping Centre. His Z-list celebrity glamorous girlfriend, Angela, a reality show star, drops him fast, although it takes Nick a while to come to terms with this. Depressed and thinking of himself as a failure, surrounded by elves that include the initially hostile Izzy and the squeaky voiced criminologist, Laura, Nick listens to what children want for Christmas, dispensing gifts to them. His world is to change dramatically when he meets cute 4 year old Alfie O'Brien whose only wish is to see his mother, Sarah, happy again after his father's death.

Nick sets up the beautiful, funny, and kind single mother Sarah with his flatmate, former work colleague and best friend, Matt Buckley, on a date, and to his surprise Matt falls for Sarah. Nick has been friends with Matt since university, so close as to practically be brothers, despite their different social and economic backgrounds, and have been there for each other at their lowest points, such as the death of Nick's mother and Matt's break up with Karen, which he never really got over. Nick develops a close relationship with Alfie, enjoying babysitting him while Matt and Sarah go out on dates, with all of them going out together on various occasions, such as ice skating. It slowly dawns on Nick that he has strong feelings for Sarah on Matt's birthday, something which makes him feel sick to his stomach. Finding the pain of being around Matt and Sarah together too much, he takes up a job working for a homeless charity in Oxford.

Bolouri is an expert at writing a rom-com, although it is rather light on the romance side, making me smile and laugh throughout the romantic entanglements of the love triangle, and their social circle of friendships. The highlights for me were the close affectionate and bantering relationship between Nick and Matt, their bond so close that Nick would never knowingly do anything that would hurt him and risk their friendship, and Nick and Alfie's endearing relationship, Nick is just so good with him. I have never read Bolouri before but I will now lookout for her next book. This is a lovely festive read, so entertaining and with great characters, that will appeal to many readers. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

This was a wonderful, witty and well written romance.  Full of really great characters that felt true to life.  The author writes so well and I was fully engrossed in Nick’s professional and personal life and was willing him to get his well deserved happy ending. If I could award more than 5 stars I would.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a preview copy of this book. A total joy to read.

Neither Hilarious nor Heartwarming!
I didn’t find this a particularly interesting story. For me this book was like listening to a public speaker who uhm’s and err’s or repeats the same phrase constantly. You get so irritated and distracted that you stop listening to the content and instead start counting the distractions. Which is exactly what I did - there were 322 profanities/vulgarities within a 285 page book.
Told from a male point of view this may well explain the language, though the women swore as well, so maybe not. I certainly didn’t feel it added anything to the story and if I hadn’t agreed to review, I would have given up on the book within the first couple of chapters. I am not sure what was supposed to be funny, it certainly didn’t raise even a giggle from me, let alone outright hilarity and the only heartwarming thing, was a little boy’s Christmas wish for his mother to be happy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Yes, finally a proper Christmas rom-com that is witty, sharp and makes your heart melt. 
I've seen complaints about the language content of this book and first I'd like to address that; this book is written about millennial adult characters who are grown up professionals (lawyers), I don't think the book would have been very realistic without a few f-bombs and sweary banter. Most of the British Christmas romcom movies I can think of (Love Actually, Last Christmas etc) all have profanity, and frankly if you're going to read a book written by a comedy scriptwriter, who's previous books have all been raunchy, sweary comedy then it's to be expected, maybe they need to stick to Harry Potter to spare their outrage. However, if you're reading this review and bad language in a Christmas book really riles you then swerve this one. 

I loved the characters, especially Nick and Sarah but also their close friends, there's a real sense of them reaching peak adulthood, settling down, getting married, having kids, and I felt it realistically portrayed that time in life where friendships evolve and not everyone is at the same stage any more. I could understand Nick's manchild personna but also had such a soft spot for him considering his background and how he hadn't had the easiest of times. He was fundamentally a good person trying to do the right thing but still figuring out what that was. 

Yes, it's a love triangle and of course you can kind of imagine a certain predictability about where things will go, but I think the main appeal of this story is the characters journeys as well as the fundamental parts of Christmas spirit that spins through it all, i.e. cute kids, feel good moments, goodwill, friendship, simple gestures, and of course getting a bit tipsy to "Santa Baby".

 I think it would make such an entertaining film.plot, I'd go and watch it (if we ever get to cinemas again). I could find myself thinking who would make a good Matt, Sarah and Nick etc. The way they interact, mess up and have fun was brilliant, I couldn't help but grin and laugh out loud to this book. 
Perfect if you love Gavin & Stacey combined with the tension of One Day In December and the steamy chemistry of The Flat Mate.

This was simply a delightful Christmas romance. I went in with some apprehension, because when stories feature a love triangle, I usually end up hating the people involved and that really ruins any enjoyment the story could bring. But all throughout this story, I kept liking the characters involved in the love triangle more and more. Joanna Bolouri gave her characters the complexity needed to make this story work, without ever letting those complications drag down the mood or the pacing of the story.

Nick was a great character to follow as he tries to rebuild his life after losing his job and his girlfriend. His anxiety and slight jealousy were balanced out with his sense of humour and the love he has for his friends. As he carves out a new life for himself, he starts to figure out what he wants out of life and he grows a lot as a person.

It's hard to really nail a Christmas romcom, but Joanna Bolouri did it. All I Want for Christmas is a story full of heart and laughter, and the perfect way to spend a few hours curled up on the couch.

All I want for Christmas 

I’ve been a fan of @joannaboluri’s since I read The List a while ago. I’ve read everything she’s released since then so when I saw this was coming I knew I’d be picking it up. I received a review copy from @quercusbooks via @netgalley. 

Nick’s life is falling apart. Everyone around him his getting married, having babies and basically passing adult level 50. Desperate times call for desperate measures and Nick turns into Saint Nick with a stint as Santa at his local shopping centre. This is where he meets Alfie whose one Christmas wish is to see his mum happy again. 

The story follows Nick as he tries to uphold his promise to Alfie that his mum will be happy again but it’s definitely not as straightforward as it seems. Nick came across as a really good man throughout this whole novel and despite having a bit of a thing for Sarah he stayed true to his best friend. 

This book is heartwarming, Christmassy and full of selfless love. Perfect for the run up to the most magical time of the year. If you’re looking for more be sure to check out The Most Wonderful Time of the Year also by Joanna.

An interesting love story. I really enjoyed it. Read it in a night. I  loved the main character Nick and his flat mate Matt. . It was nice to read a story where honesty and integrity played off. So nice that Matt was genuine.

Nick lost his job before Christmas and  is forced to take a job as a centre Santa. He meets Alfie who wants Santa to make his mum happy again.

Not your typical Christmas book as it takes place over 12 months not just the holiday period. But it gives the characters and story more depth. Following them through Job changes, break ups and make ups. You become really invested in the story and keep your fingers crossed for a positive ending. Alfie is an adorable 4 year old who brings another dimension. Told from the male perspective. I throughly enjoyed it and will be looking out for other books by this author.

Really enjoyed this story and all it offered, Nick was a really likeable character and you could feel his emotions as the book went on. Nice easy read :-)

Funny and fabulously festive, All I Want For Christmas is the perfect read to warm you up this winter.

All I Want for Christmas is recommended for fans of Beth O’Leary which is why I chose to read it. I’m a big Beth O’Leary fan but to me this novel completely lacks the charm and warm feeling I get from reading one of Beth’s awesome books. 

This is a very personal opinion but when I read a Christmas set contemporary book there are a few things I expect from it... typically to feel warm and fuzzy, and just good about life in general. What I do not enjoy is a book with swearing / curse words. To me it detracts from the season of goodwill. I’ve never been that comfortable with too much swearing in fiction but I especially find it unsettling in a book about the most wonderful time of the year. So when the main character in this novel started swearing from the get-go I was immediately jolted out of my positive expectations. And this crass language continued throughout the novel from multiple characters and I thought really detracted from the plot.

This was however a very readable novel and unusually for light, contemporary fiction it was written from a male perspective which added a refreshing dynamic to the novel. 

The main character Nick has recently lost his legal eagle job and ends up, much to his chagrin, taking a job as a Santa in a shopping centre. One day while working as Santa a little kid named Alfie sneaks into the grotto and asks Nick (as Santa) to make his mum happy again as his dad (her husband) has recently died and she’s very sad. Sarah, Alfie’s mum, then comes running up to find Alfie and Nick is immediately struck by her. He finds her charming, beautiful, all sorts of wonderful really, a charming Nick pledges to himself to make this woman happy. So he decides to set her up with his best friend Matt.... I know... even though Nick likes her himself.... the point is that Nick doesn’t see himself as being in a good place. He feels like a failure at life and relationships, and therefore his gut reaction is that he can’t make someone else happy...

The story then unfolds over the whole year; this isn’t a book where all the action takes place at Christmas. The novel is instead bookended by the festive season... and not very much I feel either. I just didn’t feel the Christmas magic that I wanted from this novel. As I’m reading an ARC (advance reader copy) pre publication I read this in October so the book not being too Christmassy doesn’t hugely negatively impact me right now. However, I know if I’d bought this book to read over the Christmas period I would have been disappointed because there simply wasn’t enough descriptions of Christmas centred events / themes etc. 

What I did like is that this book was an interesting exploration of the love triangle trope. You could really feel Nick’s conflict and self loathing as he realised he was in love with his best friend Matt’s girlfriend. I thought that aspect of the book was well handled... 

Mild spoilers from here.

However, what felt peculiar to me was the portrayal of Sarah. I never understood why she stayed with Matt. They didn’t have a strong connection and this is a woman with a young child... why would she let her child get hang out with a man she was arguably ambivalent about? 

The ending of the novel was quite predictable, and definitely rushed in my opinion, which was disappointing to me. I think more needed to be made of the reverberations within the friendship between Matt and Nick instead of having a quick dramatic moment. I wanted there to be greater exploration of their feelings, how their friendship would evolve after this etc. Similarly I felt Sarah’s feelings weren’t explored deeply enough either. The novel spent so long building up to the reveal of who truly loves who that I was very frustrated with how it all fizzled out 

End of spoilers.

Overall, this one just wasn’t to my personal taste sadly and I don’t feel this is an author that I would return to in the future 

 
*An e-copy was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley for honest review*

I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining book with a Christmassy feel.  It is delightfully light read with more than it's fair share of humour as it follows the main male character, Nick, who along with this friend  Matt, share a flat in a 'Men Behaving Badly' style of living when Sarah comes on the scene.  Excellent characters throughout, not only the main ones but the rest as well and totally believable plus a few eccentric ones along the way.  

A refreshing change to have a romance written from a man's angle and it certainly hooked me reading it, as I did, on a very wet day so an ideal curl up and cosy wintery read.

Date reviewed: October 5, 2020

When life for the entire universe and planet turns on its end and like everyone else you "have nothing to do" while your place of work is once again closed and you are continuing to be in #COVID19 #socialisolation as the #secondwave is upon us,  superspeed readers like me can read 300+ pages/hour, so yes, I have read the book … and many more today.

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.  

From the publisher, as I do not repeat the contents or story of books in reviews, I let them do it as they do it better than I do 😸.

What if the love of your life was your best friend's girlfriend, and you were the one that set them up?

When Nick loses his job and is dumped by his glamorous but demanding girlfriend, he is forced to grudgingly accept work as a Santa at a local Christmas grotto. As his friends are getting married or promoted, Nick spends his days being terrorized by unfriendly elves and cried on by snotty, spoiled children.

Then he meets 4-year-old Alfie. All Alfie wants for Christmas is for his mum, Sarah, to be happy again. Moved by the boy's selfless wish, Nick arranges a date between Sarah and his best friend, Matt. But as Sarah and Alfie become part of all their lives, Nick realizes that happiness for Sarah and Matt might mean heartbreak for himself.

OMG, I have not laughed out loud while reading a book for so long but this book had me giggling like an idiot.  It is hilarious and I utterly enjoyed it from page one to last. If you are looking for a sweet, fluffy read, this is it - please read it as it is seriously fantastically cute.

As always, I try to find a reason to not rate with stars as I love emojis (outside of their incessant use by "🙏-ed Social Influencer Millennials/#BachelorNation survivors/Tik-Tok and YouTube  Millionaires/snowflakes etc. " on Instagram and Twitter... Get a real job, people!) so let's give it 🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅

If you like a book that wakes up the butterflies in your stomach while making you laugh out loud and snort while on public transport then this book is 100% the book for you. 

It is a delightful Christmas story that Hallmark needs to buy the rights to and make a movie of ASAP. It is a great read that will warm even the coldest of hearts. 

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest opinion.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus books for letting me read this. 
I found that here, I'd judged a book by it's cover. I expected a fluffy Christmassy romance and it's definitely not one. It's a story completely told through Nick's eyes. We see the male relationship Nick has with his best friend as he struggles not to fall for his girlfriend. It could be called a slow burn romance, but it's more about Nick sorting his life out to where he wants to be.
3.5 stars

Festive, fun, laugh out loud and sweet. 

It is rare that an author strikes that great balance between humour and romance, slices of life and big events. Joanna Bolouri does it wonderfully in this book and rests assured this won't be the last book of hers I read.

This is another great Christmas read. One of the reasons Joanna is a favourite author of mine is because she hits the spot with the romance / comedy split and this book is no different.

Our main character Nick has found himself without a job and ends up being Santa in the local shopping centre. There he meets a young boy named Alfie who asks him to make his Mum happy.

This book is absolutely delightful and was a joy to read. You quickly fall in love with Nick and his flatmate Matt. Alfie is adorable and the double entendres make you chuckle the whole way through. 

A definite read to break up the stress of everyday life!

I really enjoyed this book, having a slightly different feel to it due to the story being told from the male point of view.

The story was based on likeable characters who you really cared about and this was an easy to read book.

The only negative was that I felt there was a bit too much swearing in it.  I'm really not a prude, and maybe this is the way younger people talk these days (wow, now I feel ancient!!) but it did feel a bit much.

Ok so I did start writing a review right but it just wasn’t flowing right and wasn’t me. It was dead cheesy and sounded like I was lying about the book. So I’ve decided to just give you me notes that I made when I was reading it. Enjoy 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

Male protagonist (Which is nice. Rarity in this genre)
Nick Harris - skinny armed idiot.

Ugghh The Sun - the rag - JFT96!

Fuck sake! Russian Santa! 
I now in my head have fake Santa talking like Bert Kreischer telling us how his new Russian mafia friends talk. It has amused me greatly! 

It’s nice to be able to be at ease with a book. One in which you relax straight into and forget your troubles

This book proper tugs on the good heartstrings. Nick is an absolute beautiful soul, especially with kids 
His over use of the word fucking is incredible though. Defo my kind of person. I’m defo right at home here.

Joanna Bolouri is easy reading made incredibly fun. She has a fantastic way with words and doesn’t fail in giving you authentic characters that charm you from the get go.

I then tweeted and instagrammed our JB this:

Bolouri, why when Mrs, Buckley opens the door and exclaims ‘There's my boys!' Did I choke up?
Woman, you're hilarious, I love you, but this book is hitting me with all the feels and I just didn't sign up for that. Stop it. Well don't, but I deliberately picked this book to read to be uplifting and happy-go-lucky. It is that, but the feels, the bloody feels. For fuck sake what are you doing to me?

Carrying on....

I adore Matt and Nicks friendship. I’m on absolute pins here waiting to see what happens next. If what I have in my head is true, that friendship is not surviving at all and I will be distraught.

We all need a Nick you know. Humble, quick witted, extremely charming, good looking and apparently very good in bed. Oh, and he wants to make someone extremely happy that is all. - Ok, I take it back, he’s more of a cat person than a dog one so that’s me out ! 

Ending was super fast! But worth it. But cringe at times but for some reason I’ll allow it. What the fuck is up with me.

Oh my god! Oh my fucking god! Nooooo. My heart can’t take it. 

Authors do try to give real life and to be fair most fail miserably. But there are a few I have in my favourite pile that actually can pull it off. Most seem to be northern like and I do hold that as a competition to any southern author to make me eat my words. But yeah, our Bolouri is defo up there at the top at giving us actual real life. The dregs and dirt and grit that we need to make it authentic. Spot on.

Friendship, betrayal, love and lust, theme parks, claridges and dodgy looking Argos watches. Clever comebacks that have you actually laughing out loud and not just pretending to through text LOL. And wobbly lip heart wrenching moments that make you want to cry. Santa Claus and our very own Saint Nick certainly do give us everything we need for Christmas. Bolouri certainly has made her mark here with All I Want For Christmas. It melts the most cold and icy hearts faster than a mug of festive mulled wine. 

An emotionally complicated fuck up of a book that radiates nothing but love, family and friendship. Everything Christmas is all about. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5

P.S. Spot is the worst dogs name in the entire world.