I didn't expect my heart to break when I finished this. After a couple of glorious days together, Josie and Max find comfort in one another but Max ghosts her and timing is never right for them. This was an emotional rollercoaster but in a good way.

You will fall in love with sweet Josie
You will wonder what brooding Max's deal is
You will learn new English words (American English stinks)
You will cry and feel like your heart is ripped out by the end (your welcome)

This book would make a great Christmas gift for anyone (just over 2 months to go people!)

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this eARC before Pub date!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the gifted copy.

This book is not so much a feel-good Christmas love story, as it is more of a story about finding love and taking chances. It begins and ends at Christmas, but it’s the journey in between that makes this a great book.

It follows Josie, who has had a hard time with Christmas ever since her parents were killed in a car accident Christmas Eve as a child. Now, she finds her long term boyfriend has cheated on her and her job has been made redundant. As she is out to post the annual letter she writes to her parents, she literally runs into Max…with her bike. Max will change Josie’s life forever.

This book was a lovely slice of life story about a chance encounter that changes the trajectory of two people's lives. I had the distinct misfortune of thinking I was reading a romance so the sudden turn of events between these two was shocking to say the least but after I managed my emotions and reflected, I have to say that I did love the story. It was beautifully written and told in such a way that I could picture the characters in my mind. I loved Josie's growth throughout the book but was kind of bummed that Max was a POV character considering how his story ended so abruptly. It felt somewhat misleading to give him a pov role in some ways although I did appreciate his voice at the end so I respect the author's choices.

It was ultimately hopeful and uplifting but in a non-linear kind of way. Please heed the CW though because there is death on the page as well as some very serious medical issues which can be jarring.

Josie thought she would be with Oliver for the rest of her life until he confessed sleeping with a co-worker at the Christmas party. As Josie is riding her bike to mail a letter, she runs into Max, literally. He is on his way to New York to spend Christmas with his family and his flights have been cancelled in London, due to weather. They are both alone and decide to spend the time Max has together. I loved the relationships in this story. Josie and Max both have great friends and family that support them. Josie is trying to get over a love, Max appears to also be struggling with a relationship. There are health issues with Max, and Josie is still working through the death of her parents on Christmas. Great story, issues that are dealt with realistically, and a love story that warms your heart.

Wow! I am not sure how to describe the ride that author Emily Stone takes you on in Always, in December.

Josie and Max meet in a accident lifetime moment. This story weaves a tale of a one-in-a-lifetime encounter and how it can change your life.

Josie lost her parents at a young age, was raised by her grandparents and is still trying to deal with grief and becoming an adult. She has a job she is iffy on and just recently broke up with her boyfriend. In a fury of grief and sadness around Christmas, Josie runs (literally) into a young man named Max. For the next few days, they spend as much time together as possible...then one day, he is gone. Over the next year, Josie and Max meet again in various cities and situations. Due to their whirlwind time spent together at Christmas, they both have grown to love each other, but for one reason or another, something is stopping them from being together.

The characters are so relatable and the story is hard to put down. I was truly rooting for Josie and Max and expected an epic love story. The ending was a bit of a shocker but looking back over the story, made perfect sense for why Max held back on being a part of Josie's life.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can't decide if i want to be sad for the rest of the month after reading this book or if I want to be positive and think that everything happens for a reason and people come into your life for a very specific purpose. This book took me on a emotional roller coast that I still can't recover from.

Although I’m not a frequent reader of this genre, I still thought I would enjoy reading Always, in December; however, I just couldn’t get into it. The characters were not likable. I rarely like a romantic book where a relationship starts with a (almost) one night stand.

I was torn about this book. I wanted to enjoy it, but was also frustrated with the characters. I felt like we could’ve gotten more of the dual perspective, to better explain what Max was thinking from the beginning, because I think the ending was where it turned for me. Max’s secret was totally out of left field, and while I normally like a twist, this one wasn’t satisfying at all!

Wait! Do NOT let the title fool you into thinking that this book is another feel-good Christmas story. Although it does begin and end at Christmas time, it is quite the opposite. Christmas is a difficult time for Josie due to the loss of her parents since their tragic death when she was a mere child who died on Christmas Eve. The story begins with the breakup of her relationship with her boyfriend who slept with another woman, who just happens to also work where both she and her boyfriend work. Josie’s flatmate has just left for a holiday as well so that Josie is now alone at Christmas time. To top it off, Josie is set to lose her job after the holidays. Too much to deal with, Josie sets off on her bike to mail a letter that she writes every year to her dead parents and caught in her sadness, runs into a man just exiting a taxi. Feeling sorry, she takes him to a nearby pub to make up for her mistake. Max was to fly to the states for Christmas with his family but due to weather is delayed. Together they share their stories and decide to spend time together. Max encourages Josie to be adventurous and with him around, Josie finds a bit of happiness again. But then on Christmas Day, she wakes to find Max gone, with only a note he left behind. Another loss for Josie.

Flash forward, somehow Max and Josie’s lives intertwine and they happen to meet at random events both in the states and in England and in Scotland. Max still continues to think about Josie as does Josie realize that she also loves Max. However, they are star-crossed lovers and it just seems as if Josie can’t catch a break. I did keep reading though as I kept hoping. Throughout the story, you keep hoping that finally Josie will be successful, and that Josie and Max will find happiness. The story ends full circle a year later, again at Christmas where tragedy strikes again. I found it profoundly sad.

The author notes at the end that her inspiration for this book was to reflect that you carry grief into adulthood. That may be true but when I read, I want to be entertained and this fell short in that category. Although well written and the characters well developed, Until the very end, I caution others before they think this is a holiday book, because it was a story that was so sad.

Many thanks to #penguinrandomhouse #alwaysinDecember #netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Stunning. Devastating. Fulfilling. This one will stay with me for a while. You’re probably going to need a box of tissues for the last 10% of this book. I don’t want to give anything away in this review, I’ll just say that I truly enjoyed reading about this year in Josie and Max’s lives, the story was incredibly well written and engaging, and I agree with the descriptions of it being a devastating love story. Very much still worth experiencing.

This book was phenomenal. This novel follows Josie as she’s recovering from a break up, and quite literally runs over a stranger, Max, in the street. We then follow them over the course of the next few days encompassing the Christmas Holiday. When Max leaves without a word we are able to follow their lives and ~fate~ run ins over the next year. I went into this expecting some sort of meet-cute rom com and left with all the ugly tears and feels, but was not disappointed. Instead of a cheesy romance, I was given a well developed novel that encompasses one woman’s grief and sorrow regarding lost loved ones and her personal development as a character as well as her developing relationship with Max all while mostly taking place over the Christmas holiday. This was again one of the best books I’ve read this year. If you love to read about a female main character and her overcoming grief as well as gaining confidence and growing tremendously as a person, and/or the movie “me before you” then this is your book!!

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. I am a sucker for a love story. There were points where I felt really frustrated and wanted to yell at the characters to just see what was right in front of them. But honestly this book is a rollercoaster of emotions and so so so good. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

2.5 - I was loving this book. Until the freaking end. It literally ruined it for me. I was so mad and I literally almost quit at 95%.

The holiday season isn’t the most joyful a times for people. It can bring sorrow and sadness. Josie lost her parents on Christmas Eve and it’s been a low point for her. Then she meets Max and spends just a few days with him, until he leaves her too. They keep bumping into each other over the next few months. The ending stunned me. I was so not expecting the revelation and events. I’m still reeling from it. The auntie kept a major part of the story under wraps until the very end.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: October 12, 2021

Came for a holiday romcom and left with all the feels. This wasn’t what I was expecting and I’m not sure I’d classify it as a romance. If you’re looking for something lighthearted with a HEA, this one might not be for you. I wanted to hate it by the end but I can’t hate something that made me feel that intensely sad.

Man, this book broke me! This is not your average romance. I thought this was going to be a cute holiday read, but it really proved me wrong. It has a lot of familiar tropes; Girl runs into (literally) guy, girl has emotional baggage, standard meet-cute, but the story is more about personal growth on the part of the female character. There is a lot of back and forth between the characters that makes it feel like it won’t work out, but the ending is a heartbreaking one that has nothing to do with timing. This was not a typical read for me, but it helped me to get out of my comfort zone.

This is a wonderful book about the common human experience of falling in love, and the age old adage “it’s better to have loved than to have never loved at all”. It is emotional with heart break and grief, but it’s a great reminder that not all love stories are the same, and even in heartbreak, a silver lining can be found.

My social media review can be found on Instagram @Mz.Cookz.bookz and has been posted on 9/30/2021. I will post again about this book on 10/12/21 on social media and amazon.

If you stop reading around the 90% mark, this is a charming, heartfelt, hopeful novel. To me, the ending was too bleak for a holiday romance. Overall, I enjoyed the book and cared about all the characters, especially Josie and Max.

This book wasn't what I was expecting it to be, and I'm not sure it even knew at times. It started out as a fun, lighthearted romance, with some deeper issues addressed. That's how I expected it to continue, but the middle went into some less-interesting storylines that included the main characters, and then the ending came out of nowhere. It felt a bit emotionally manipulative, rather than an organic culmination of the earlier chapters. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advance digital copy!

Every December, Josie mails a letter that will never get to its recipients. This December, on her way home from posting her letter, she rides into a man getting out of his taxi. After a bumpy start, Max and Josie spend the next few days together in London, both of them not a fan of the holidays for different reasons. They have a strong connection and then Max just... disappears.

But somehow, without having any way to contact each other, their paths continue to cross over the next year, all over the world. Max is keeping something from Josie, but also doesn't want to stay away from her. With Christmas coming back around, will the two of them find their way back to each other again?

This book was an emotional rollercoaster. My heart ached, I cried, I got angry, I was ecstatic and cried some more. Emily Stone made it easy to care for both Josie and Max and want to root for them to get their happy ending, even when you didn't agree with how they may have acted. Always, in December is about love lost, grief, and finding yourself. If you want a beautifully written book that makes you feel all the feelings, this is definitely for you.

#alwaysindecember #NetGalley