Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

At Twenty five Maggie Green thought she had her life on track: she was in a long-term relationship, along with a successful career in finance and a fabulous apartment in London to match her lifestyle.

Suddenly everything falls apart.

The company that she worked so hard, devoted her time to makes her redundant, not only that but she gets dumped all on the same day.

Add to this, a worrying call she’s receives from her doctor.

Now, her pride in tatters, Maggie goes to her family home for the Christmas period. A place she hasn’t returned to for two years.

But, no one knows is aware of the real reason why she hasn’t been back. No one, except the one person, who she is nervous about seeing again.

So does Maggie make peace with her past?? Will she find love this Christmas??

Recommend it.

‘An Imperfect Christmas,’ a wonderfully written, heartwarming seasonal romance written by Tanya Jean Russell to be published November 19, 2020, reminds us about the magic of Christmas and the strength of family in the midst of challenges.

Maggie Green has it all; a glamorous life in London, a corporate accounting job including a promotion in the works, a handsome, career-driven boyfriend and a great bank account. She’s come a long way after losing her parents in a tragic car accident when she was eleven years old. Sadly, as much as this seemed to be her dream, it still doesn’t fill the void in her life. Something is missing. Suddenly, her life becomes as dark and foreboding as the November weather that’s just rolled in. In one fell swoop she’s lost her job, her boyfriend, Rupert, has dumped her and she’s just been informed to schedule another appointment with the oncologist. Realizing again that everyone leaves her life just when she needs them the most, she decides to return to Honeyford, the family farm that she left two years ago and vowed never to return. Why did she leave so abruptly? Why is the farm pulling at her heartstrings when she hasn’t been back? Does she find what fills the void?

I immediately connected with the characters. They were raw and flawed and so eager for growth and change. I loved watching them transform as the plot unfolded. Russell stuffed each one with so many endearing characteristics and so much potential for growth and connectedness. I was excited to see a seasonal book that had so much emotion and rich character development but was even more impressed with her writing style. Readers can’t help but get involved in such a storyline as it offers everything they are looking for in a quick seasonal romance novel; snow, a Christmas wedding, hustle and bustle of the season, lost love, forgiveness, the importance of family, and a second chance at love all wrapped up with a beautiful bow. The family dynamics and Aunt Agnes’s crazy scones were just the added extras that made this an exceptional read. I could see myself living next door to the Parker family and being welcomed as heartily as Maggie. This novel makes us forget about the virus momentarily and takes us to a time and place where our challenges are forgotten, and we are reminded that family is everything and Christmas together is something to value and appreciate. May we never forget the magic of Christmas.

Thank you to Tanya Jean Russell, Sapere Books and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again, the time when I renew my love/hate relationship with Christmas themed books.

The book opens with Maggie dumped by her boyfriend and her job at the same time as she learns her pap smear has turned up some anomalies. Potential, I think! But no, Russell just squandered it all away… *sigh*

The book just slips into a carbon copy of a million others: Maggie returns to her hometown where her ex, Nathan, lives and who she obviously still has feelings for, she still has to see Nathan as her sister is marrying his brother, she loves Nathan’s family as they all rallied around when her parents were killed, blah blah blah.

The main conflict is that Maggie doesn’t trust Nathan to dump her again as he did when they were younger. This conflict is not enough to sustain the whole book and basically the characters just talk in circles about it until my head hurt. Like so many others, Russell fell into the ‘got to have a high word count’ trap. This book, truly, would have worked better if it was half the size it is. *sigh*

The cancer storyline sounds admirable but... I was looking forward to Russell exploring it more but it was more of an afterthought and a B plot which is glossed over before she got back onto the ''not trusting Nathan to stay with Maggie' bandwagon.

One of my biggest beefs with Christmas books is that a Christmas setting is never an important factor and that it is plainly obvious a lot of these books are written without the theme and then it is added later. I think this is the case again here. There are Christmas scenes here and there but it wouldn’t make any difference to the plot if it was set in the English summer.

Talking of England, Russell’s descriptions overall are a little weak. I also had no sense of an English village at all. In fact, some references sounded very American and wrong. *shrug*

Anyway, An Imperfect Christmas started out promising but, unfortunately, in the end, turned out to be, as the title suggests, less than perfect.

2 out of 5

I read this book as an escape from the day and the world around me. Less than 24 hours later I finished the book with a smile and a bit more holiday spirit in my heart.

This is a lovely romance story that I received through Sapere books and Netgalley. The characters are all delightful and they seem almost too perfect and happy but isn’t that why we read romance novels. To find happiness and love though different stories. Maggie is a hard working and serious woman who is expecting a promotion at the big corporation she works for. As she is leaving for 6 weeks vacation for her sisters wedding she is told by her boyfriend that she had been found redundant so now is without a job. On top of that he breaks up with her. Maggie home with her tail between her legs feeling like a huge failure when all she has wanted was to make her sister proud and to help financially take care of her and her niece.

The story that follows covers lost love, first love, starting over and the importance of family. This book will make you smile and you will be routing for Maggie to make the right decisions. The Parker family is one i would enjoy being part of. ❤️

Maggie Green has just been told about an abnormal smear result before being dumped by her boyfriend and finding herself redundant. This is not exactly a typical start to a love story but that's exactly what this book is, a love story. It is also a story about family, friends and finding love even when you think there's no hope.
Personally one aspect that stood out for me was the way in which the author dealt with the subject of cervical cancer through Maggie. It showed the impact and worry caused by the diagnosis which impacted on her decision making. It also reinforced the importance of early detection and treatment in a subtle way. While that message wasn't the main focus of the story it was an important one nonetheless. A really enjoyable story with a perfect ending.

Feeling ready for the cozy and heartfelt Christmas spirit kind of book? An Imperfect Christmas by Tanya Jean Russell definitely gave me christmasy and cozy vibes!

Maggie Green and Nathan Parker have been neighbors and best friends since they can remember. Parting ways after high school, both were able to become successful in the work force, but still felt a piece missing in their lives. Back home in their small town of Honeyford, Maggie and Nathan come face to face after years of avoiding each other. Dealing with misconceptions, health struggles, and loss has Maggie ignoring any type of support from those around her.

I really loved the relationships and growth of the characters in this book. Maggie has been through some hard struggles in her life that have had major impacts on her relationships. Traveling along the rocky roads of life , Maggie learns how important family is and how to open her heart to opportunities. Maggie is a very relatable character which gave the story the ability to hold on to your heart strings. I also loved how the family dynamics were shown in this book. Family comes in all shapes and sizes and I think this dynamic really added to the story.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was how abrupt the ending was. Of course I never really want books to end, but this seemed very sudden after all the building throughout the story. I got invested into the characters and was hoping to know more of their journey after the resolution.

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a quick, light, and christmasy romance.

A big thank you to Sapere Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!
Grab this book on 11/19/20!

What a great book to read to welcome the incoming Christmas season!

I think what I loved the most about this book was the relationships that the characters had with one another. It was so pure, supportive, and full of love; something that is always a blessing to see in novels.

Maggie, our main character, was somewhat annoying because she was so stubborn and arrogant at times that I literally wanted to jump through the book and slap her. Nathan’s dedication to Maggie though was beautiful, and something that is to be desired in all relationships I think. He definitely had a lot of growth and Maggie had some too, but could have more.

This is a cheesy friends-to-lovers Christmas romance that provides a perfect distraction from current events .

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Maggie who is twenty five finds out she is fired from her job at the same time she is returning home for her sisters wedding. She is excited for her sister, but is nervous about returning home. This book was well written and I enjoyed the different characters.

An Imperfect Christmas is a Christmas-themed novel by British author, Tanya Jean Russell. Just as accountant Maggie Green, on temporary leave, is heading back to Honeyford to help out with the family accounting business and attend her sister’s wedding, she receives some concerning health news. Then she loses her prestigious London job. Then her sophisticated boyfriend, Rupert drops her. As if returning to her childhood home, and the likely presence of the man who rejected her in her teens, isn’t stressful enough.

Nathan Parker is back in Honeyford for good. He’s bought the Old Barn up on Castle Hill and is converting it into a home and carpentry workshop. He wishes he’d been able to tell Maggie about his plans for their favourite place, but he will first have to repair the friendship he fractured in their teens; he wishes there could be more between them, but it seems that now Maggie is dating his London-based brother, Dean.

At Frederick and Green, Uncle Walter offers her a partnership in the business; her sister and niece desperately want her to stay close, and neighbours, and friends, everyone in the village is so welcoming; and after some misunderstandings are cleared up, Nathan vows he will be there for her, come what may.

But everybody leaves: can she trust Nathan not to leave her like last time? And is it fair to land him with her potential illness? Maybe she’d be better off in London with a high-power job and Rupert and his coffee machine…

This is very much a tale of people making assumptions, not communicating, injured pride and running away to lick wounds. Maggie is a bit too proud and precious to completely endear herself to the reader, being stubborn and unforgiving for longer than necessary; when it finally comes, the showdown with Rupert is excellent, though.

The Parker family are enjoyable, although Nathan might just be too good to be true; little Evie is a delight, and Dean and Grandma Agnes are fun. While the main protagonist is a little frustrating, this is ultimately a sweet romance.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Sapere Books

This is the story of Maggie Green, who's life falls apart just as she is facing a difficult experience in going home after years of being away. It follows her as she deals with the emotional fall out of the things that happened to her, and how she brings herself back into a new kind of normal over the Christmas period.

I enjoyed the story, while I felt there wasn't too much in it to do with Christmas itself, it felt like the written down version of a traditional Hallmark movie and struck a nice balance between emotions, the storyline and the events. Reading Maggie's thought processes allowed me to identify some of my own issues, and in this it became relatable and very real to me. I felt the characters were genuine, and lovely. Flawed but perfect in their realness.

It's one of few stories like this that have ended and I have not been desperate to know what happened next. The ending was perfect, relaxingly so. Commendations to the author.

The book started slow but I came to like the characters and got involved in their different story lines. Maggie has trust issues and needs to find where her heart belongs. Is it back where she grew up or the fast paced London career she worked hard to achieve. The ending was predictable but it was an enjoyable read .

This book looked like it was gonna be really good, but everything just felt a bit flat! The lack of character development plus the pace and style of the book left it lacking. Not for me

The book sounded like it was going to be a really good read, but I just couldn't connect with the characters. Some people might like it, but I didn't. Thank you Sapere Books via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The premise of the story was great- however the poor writing and lack of character development made it very hard to finish

I received an advance copy of, An Imperfect Christmas, by Tanya Jean Russell. Maggie is having a hard time of it, just found out she might have cancer, her boyfriend dumped her, and she lost her job. Will this be Maggies last Christmas? Her worst Christmas? I really liked Maggie, she is a good character.