[Thanks Netgalley for the ebook. This review is my honest opinion but just another opinion, you should read this book and judge it by yourself]

//SPANISH REVIW//
Lo siento muchísimo pero no he conectado para nada con este libro. Muy probablemente sea cosa mía y no del libro, porque no soy muy fan de esta clase de historias y la he leído en un mal momento, pero también me parece que la venden como algo que no es. Para mí, no es una novela romántica, es más bien una novela de amistad y de intentar dar una segunda oportunidad al amor en tu vida. Sí, hay atracción entre los protagonistas pero toda la novela es ver cómo ambos se van acercando y cómo al final pueden acabar juntos. Por supuesto, ni guarrerismos ni nada, con un besito en toda la novela vas que tiras. Y encima ellos dos tampoco me han hecho especial gracia. Me parece que la escritora de muchas vueltas y cuenta muchas cosas que alejan el foco de lo que se supone que es lo importante de la historia, la relación entre ambos. He acabado pidiendo la hora, vamos.

A great book to read during the festive season. Shakespeare-loving Belle and Rory were both great characters. I also feel that little Marsha should get a special mention as she was super cute and added a little something to the feel of the story.

This is a true Christmas read. Covering every day in December, you follow the lives of Belle and Rory as they reconnect/ Rory comes back into Belle/s life through his job as a reputation manager. Belle’s father is in sore need of one! With a tragic backstory, you soon realise that there is quite a lot toihim and wonder why he has stayed away from home for sol long. Belle’s passion is Shakespeare and despite her privileged upbringing is determined to fulfil her potential and connect her love of the subject to young people. I enjoyed seeing how these two characters interacted. Both determined characters, they have a likeable side. Slow burning romance is always a winner at Christmas. Well it was for me!

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book.

This book has a superb prologue – set at Christmas, with Belle dashing her friend Luisa to the maternity unit in the nick of time, where her heart breaks at the sight of a man she once knew in a state of acute distress. And then the story moves on – five years on, and it’s the beginning of December.

Belle is beginning to feel the excitement of Christmas – even if it means spending time with her obnoxious father, for whom nothing she does is ever quite good enough. But during one of her painful visits, her path crosses that of Rory – he was the man at the hospital, a friend from the past, and he has his own reasons for looking forward rather less to the approach of the festive season. And as well as the deeper reasons for his sadness, he’s back in Bristol/Bath because of his mum’s cancer diagnosis – and his work-life isn’t going too wonderfully either, reputation management for Belle’s irredeemable father. And Belle’s own life isn’t going particularly well – she’s on her uppers, barely affording to keep her head above water – and there really doesn’t seem any real way of turning her love of Shakespeare (and her passion project of analysing everything he ever wrote) into a means to pay the bills. But, in Rory, she sees a friend who’s struggling – she can’t remove his pain, but sets out to show him the true magic of Christmas.

I’m going to admit that it took me a few chapters to fully love this book – I’d been expecting something more akin to the gentleness of the Cornish Village School, and instead I found a spiky and not entirely sympathetic heroine, a lifestyle that was rather outside my experience, and an edgy storyline set to a backing track of noisy sex (Belle’s flatmate). But I entirely loved the way the story developed, and the way the author chose to tell it – unfolding over the 31 days of December, the loosely alternating perspectives of Belle and Rory and the insights into their characters and histories, the supportive friendship that developed between them along with the slow growth of a romantic attachment that made my heart swell with joy (and, quite a few times, filled my eyes with tears).

The two main characters are quite wonderful, and the whole book has the perfect emotional touch – the way their mutual support (and it’s far more than that!) helps takes away so much of the sadness and fear they both feel, the way they grow stronger, the obstacles they overcome together, their separate small triumphs that build into something greater and more precious. And if I loved Belle and Rory, the supporting cast was equally tremendous – Rory’s mother Alison and her indefatigable sense of fun, Belle’s friend Luisa and her exhausting (and very real) five-year-old Marsha, even Belle’s complicated family.

The whole book is quite gloriously Christmassy, with all the wonderful experiences Belle finds to help Rory love the festive season – but don’t let that put you off for an instant if you’re thinking of picking it up in January. And while it’s all a bit of an emotional roller-coaster at times, there’s plenty of well-judged humour too – with a few set pieces that had me in tears of laughter rather than reaching for the tissues (oh, Alison!) – all beautifully done and quite perfectly balanced. This was a book I thoroughly enjoyed – and recommend really highly.

I read this book as part of a readalong over on Facebook - a group of us read the book during December - all reading a chapter a day. This was quite slow reading for me but it meant that I got to enjoy the story for longer and immerse myself in the love story developing between Belle and Rory. Such a wonderful gentle story - with not too much Christmassy stuff thrown in. Always love a happy ending. Will definitely be reading more by this author.

Every Day in December by Kitty Wilson
Source: NetGalley and Harper Collins UK
Rating: 2½/5 stars

The Bottom Line: Let me preface everything that comes after with the following: I really wanted to like this book far more than I did and I finished the whole thing! With that said, I struggled with this book and found it quite the challenge to get through. Belle frustrated me in so many ways: how can someone so smart and clearly talented also be so blasé about her life and her future? What’s more how can she reasonably continue to float through life just waiting for the perfect Shakespeare-related opportunity to drop into her life and make everything better?

Now, let’s talk about Rory. WOW! Rory was a singularly depressing character and I found myself losing patience with his “I can’t move on and betray my first love” shtick. There comes a point when the guilt-ridden sadness just becomes ridiculous, and you have to pull up your Under-Roos and get on with living. Belle’s over-the-top love of all things December and trying to lighten up Rory also wore thin really quick. It’s hard to lighten up and/or make happy a person who is determined to be sad and hang on their past with a strangle hold.

I fully believe that good characters can carry a weak plot and bad characters can ruin a good plot. Unfortunately, the latter happened for me with this book. I wanted so much more from and for each character and even as I approached the end of the book, I didn’t find what I was hoping for. Even the HEA felt a bit desperate and forced which has led me to this moment and the writing of this review. The description of this book held a lot of promise, but I never found that promise realized in the finished version.

This is such a sweet story. There isn't enough hype for this book because I found it to be one of my favorite Christmas reads! It has all the feel good charm and seasonal cheesiness you want from a holiday rom-com. and is a great example of the sunshine meets grumpy guy trope.

The dual POV works perfectly, I love each of the character's stories and they fit together perfectly. There was no miscommunication, which I loved, just two adults trying to work through their feelings in a realistic and respectful way, with the complications of grief and guilt.

I loved Belle's drive and hustle. She worked 3 jobs, she wasn't afraid to be quirky and weird, smoking weed in teenage pjs. I saw a lot of myself in her, and seeing her triumph at the end felt like I could succeed with my own projects.

There's a lot to love with this story, so I hope more and more people see it and pick it up next December.

This is your typical hallmark Christmas read, and it’s so sweet.

Read this book if you enjoy:

- hallmark movies
- slow burn romance
- heartwarming love story
- great characters
- holiday reads

Every Day in December is a charming story with likable characters and a relatable storyline. It is set in the course of one month (December), but somehow it seems to move at a slower pace than that. Endearing premise, great characters, just wish it were faster paced.

I received an Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Every Day in December is a slow burn, friends-t0-lovers holiday romance that is great for readers looking for a little more depth in their holiday reads. It's not a total heartbreaker, but it's not a total frothy, fun romp either - a Goldilocks book if you will.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

TW: breast cancer

Enjoyable read. Full of the ups and downs of romance along with wider relationships and their impacts which are captured wonderfully. Throw Shakespeare in the mid and this is genuinely a book to immerse yourself in. This has all the Christmas feels in abundance!

Thank you Netgalley

Each chapter leads readers into each day in December and into the main characters - Belle and Rory's lives. Belle has fallen on hard times, which leads her into a different path in life. This is only the surface of her life. Going deeper in, she has had rough upbringing. She has far, far got her life sorted.
Rory's life is also not going so well either and he has a lot going on, yet he seems destined to be with Belle, even if it is a slow-burner of a romance.

Belle shows that she has a passion for Shakespeare in inspires others as she talks about him to students and shows just how very relevant he still is, through the themes that he wrote about, which are still universal today.

There is also the equation of Belle's God-daughter whom she has a close relationship with  and this brings a lighter dynamic to the story.

The book is also poignant about December and how the closer you get to Christmas holidays, the harder it can feel in if something bad has happened in your life. There are ups and downs that the main characters have to overcome.

There is some Christmas cheer to be found amongst the poignancy of Every Day in December.

Despite her horrible family, and struggling bank account, Belle Wilde loves Christmas - the magic in the air, the potential snow plus time with her best friend and her adorable goddaughter. When Belle meets her old college friend Rory Walters, who hates this time of year due to a terrible loss he suffered in the past, she's determined to make him love the season again. As the two spend more time together, their feelings grow but can they be more than just old friends?

This was a sweet, lovely story about two old pals coming back together after a long time - and not only helping each other out in a myriad of ways but discovering that they actually might be rather perfect together after all. Belle and Rory already have a past from college, so as they begin to hang out again and develop stronger feelings, there's a base to build upon and I really loved how that worked for the story - they could both recognise the character growth in each person, so different from their college years yet at the same time not totally changed. I liked how easy all of their interactions were, and they were a couple that gelled really well with barriers between them that were really understandable.

Rory has some issues he needs to address - mainly the guilt and grief he still feels for his girlfriend Jessica, who died in a car accident years previously. I think Rory's guilt about moving on, and his love for Jessica was written well and it felt like a healthy exploration of grief. I also adored Rory's relationship with his mother (who was hilarious in her own right) - got to love a guy who loves his mam!

Belle's family in this are borderline emotionally abusive, and I think it's also good to have books that show the not so picture perfect family. Not everyone gets on with their family, and for some people Christmas is more of a struggle to endure than a joy - and that's okay and perfectly normal as well!

The grand romantic gesture at the end of this book was genuinely laugh out loud funny (I could imagine the club doing the Tigger hop in my head and I lost it) and a proper rom com moment, I had to love it.

Belle loses her job at the beginning of December and is finding that replacements are thin on the ground. She is happy to spend her time working on her Shakespeare website, designed to make the bard more accessible to school children, but still needs to be able to pay her rent. At her mother’s birthday lunch, she is reacquainted with Rory, an old friend from university, who is now a reputation management consultant trying to salvage her father’s tattered reputation. He is back in Bristol for a month to support his mother who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
Rory is not a fan of the Christmas season, having lost someone very close to him at that time of year five years previously. Belle, on the other hand, is a massive fan and sets out to change Rory’s mind and distract him by planning various activities with a Christmas theme.
I am not normally a fan of Christmas-themed fiction, but I’m glad I agreed to read Every Day in December as it is about so much more than just Christmas. Belle and Rory are both damaged characters, but very likeable. However, it is her friend Luisa’s daughter, almost-five-year-old Marsha, who steals the show.
There is a chapter devoted to each day in December, with a section from the point of view of both Belle and Rory, so the reader gets a rounded picture of what is going on in both their minds. They are both denying the growing attraction between them, for different though equally valid reasons, but the slow pace makes the romance all the more believable. I also thought the Shakespeare quotes at the start of each chapter were a nice touch. I had not read anything by Kitty Wilson before, but will look out for her books in future. Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

I loved this book!! It was such a wholesome romcom of a book that had me literally laughing out loud at parts. Would recommend!

After Belle Wilde loses her job and runs out of money, she heads to her parents for December. Rory Walters is not a fan of Christmas, and feels forced to tolerate it rather than enjoy it. With both home for the holidays, the two are able to reconnect over the course of the month.

While the synopsis of this book sounded promising, I found this novel to be incredibly slow. I struggled to get fully invested in the characters and their stories, and I had to really push myself to finish. The storyline did not grab my attention, and I found my mind wandering throughout the book. While this novel was not for me, I hope it’s a match for other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A relatable Christmas story following a dysfunctional family that we can all connect too! Great characters, cute romantic connection, and a deep dive into grief and overcoming loss,

This book had a bit of a slow start for me, I wasn't really invested in the characters or the plot. I think the description threw me and I was expecting something else, more rom-com-esque. But this felt more grounded if that makes sense. But around halfway through I found myself getting more interested. I just think I had to re-frame what I thought the book would be.

Overall I didn't love it but enjoyed it. It's a good read for the holidays.

Treat yourself to reading Every Day in December by Kitty Wilson.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher ~ Thank you ~ !! This is my honest and personal review.

DNF 20%.

The writing is subpar. The writing style was also quite odd which made it difficult to immerse in the story.
The characters were immature. It felt like I was reading about uni students.
Not enough Christmas vibes.