Book wasn't meant for me. Hopefully someone will enjoy it more. I will look into renting it in the future

Cozy Holiday read that wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

🎄 BOOK REVIEW 🎄

Review: DNF’ed at 31%. I was immediately put off by the use of the nickname “Mollywog” which I could only assume was a play on words of the term “gollywog” which…I’m not even going to go there. An attempt to find the author and contact the publisher via Instagram were both unsuccessful. Therefore I was not able to get clarification about the nickname. Life is too short, and we are far too close to Invasion Day, here in Australia for me to be giving any attention to books that sit uncomfortable with me for racist reasons, even if it is just a play on words. It’s 2022. Do better.

Tw: adoption

This book was easy to read and perfect for a hectic season read. It was entertaining for a second chance romance.

A very light hearted feel good story. I think the author did a good job of creating a compelling read for a cozy day at home.

Although it was a light read, there was a hint of superficiality that I wasn't a fan of - right from the first pages I was unimpressed with the class "man brain" of Travis. It wasn't something I couldn't totally get into and I spent much of the book bored and unimpressed with the tired binary "maleness".

I want to thank netgalley for allowing me
The opportunity to read and review this title, this book was a love and hate for me. After losing my dad two years ago to cancer, it definitely had some triggers but the amount of relatable content gave me a reason to keep reading. It was very well written and I found myself feeling like laney and I lived the same life. I haven’t always had a perfect relationship with my mom so reading a book with almost the same parental unit situations was nice for a change. When I chose to read this I did expect a romantic Christmas book, while there is some Romance it’s a little bit gloomy for a Christmas book. I would recommend this book to friends however. Just maybe not during Christmas. Christmas is only 3 weeks after my dads death anniversary so a book about my life isn’t exactly helping lol. Otherwise a great read.

This is a unique experience for me as an ARC reader. While I was extremely excited for this book, it didn’t take long for me to realize it wasn’t for me. I think Elizabeth Janette does an amazing job of quickly establishing the characters and their dynamics. You can feel the tension between Laney and Travis and their shared history just like you can quickly feel the antagonism between Laney and her mother. I really trust Janette’s ability to mold this story into a full journey throughout the book.
However, I lost a close family member to a long battle with cancer earlier this year, and I can’t bring myself to read a story where others have gone through a similar experience quite yet. So, for my own mental health, I decided to put this book away for now. I hope to come back to it in the future because it really does seem like a beautiful story.

Plot:
It’s been ten years since Delaney Silverman last stepped foot on the Silver Bells Christmas Tree farm her family owns and operates. When her father dies, she has no choice. Even if it means mending fences with her estranged mother. The last thing this reformed wild-child-turned-Manhattan-marketing-pro has in mind, though, is a second chance at first love. But after life brings her face to face with the sexy, ex-fiancé neighbor boy, she realizes he’s everything she never knew she needed.

Travis Harper knows two things to be true: 1. It’s time to adopt his foster daughter and build a custom home life for themselves, and 2. Laney Silverman is the last woman he’d ever trust with their hearts, even if she is everything he’s ever wanted. Especially since she has a bad habit of walking away from him.

Thoughts:
This book was so cute. Exes to lovers is one of my favorite tropes. This one is almost Enemies to lovers too. I read it in one sitting. It pulled me right in. I loved the two main characters and their families. Their story growing up together, ugh, so sweet. I found myself totally engrossed in their story.

There were a bit too many background people but I get the author was trying to paint a picture of the small town. I wanted a bit more to the ending. It was a bit rushed. I hope that means it's setting up for another book, maybe with another couple in the town. That would be great.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is pretty dark for a Christmas romance. The title has a rom com feel, but it’s not a rom com. The romantic leads strike me as petty and childish, and the heroine’s mother is toxic. I don’t want to read about toxic relationships in a Christmas romance (or ever, really). It’s not a bad book—it’s just not for me. DNF at 21%.

I was hoping for a cute holiday read, but this one fell short. And the writing seemed a bit juvenile. Not for me.

this book is the definition of spending a cozy day under a blanket with a warm cup of coffee, soft music and snow falling outside.

it was so heart warming and it gave me all the Christmas feels i wanted.

this book is about Laney, she just learned her dad died and she's coming home after being away for ten years to organize her father's funerals. Laney has a very complicated relationship with her mother and she basically fled her small town ten years ago, leaving her fiancé (and love of her life) behind her.
Now that she's back, she has to face the consequences of her actions and how the place she used to call home chanded in a decade, as she reconnects with her ex fiancé Travis (aka hot single dad who works in construction 👀🔥) .

I didn't expect to relate do much to Laney but i did and it increased my enjoyment of the story a lot. I know what it's like to leave home to run away from your feelings and complicate relation with your parents, i know what it's like to grieve for a loved one and losing what you used to call home and all the beautiful memories you have there. i know what it's like to fuck up a relationship with someone you have a connection with because of your own insecurities and trauma. i know what it's like to miss your childhood friends, to come back home and seeing things changed and feeling like a paet of yourself is locked in the past, unreachable, and at the same time the place is still familiar enough that it makes your heart feel more alive and like it belongs than anywhere else.

so yeah. this book hit me hard. but it was still warm and light as a Hallmark movie, with all the tropes and clichés that you can expect from a Christmas romance. The writing and the pacing were well done. I loved the relationship between Travis and Laney. it was realistic, beautiful and it had its spicy moments too hehe.
the ending wrapped everything nicely and you get the HEA that you came here for. i totally recommend it, especially in that time of the year 🎄

Thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Merry Ex-Mas was a smooth easy read. It was a calm second chance story. There were no real surprises to this romance. It held my attention but did not have a true connection for me to the characters. I was waiting for more from Laney and Travis but never got it.
Thank you NetGalley, Elizabeth Janette and Soul Mate Publishing, LLC for the copy of Merry Ex-Mas. This is my personal review.

Pick this one up if you want quick easy read. I didn’t fell in love with it, but it’s entertaining enough if you like second chance romances.

I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Delaney returns home to help with the christmas tree farm after her father dies, she has to mend fences with her mother, as they have been estranged. she meets her first love Travis Harper, who has a foster daughter. will they take a chance on love again? great story of second chances.

I don't know if I just wasn't in the mood, but this book was a whole lot of small-town drama. The main character was selfish and unlikeable. The romance felt more like insta-love than second chance at love. There wasn't enough steam and what little there was was awkward and uncomfortable. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Xpresso Book Tours for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. The character were likable, except for Laneys mother, who l did want to punch. At point I did find this book a little boring and wasn’t sure I wanted to keep going. But I did. I just wish there was an epilogue to know what the future held. 3.5 stars.

This was…fine. The story was fine. I felt like the ending was a little abrupt, and parts of it were kind of slow, but I wasn’t mad I read it. I just don’t know the at I’d recommend it over all of the other content out there.

This story is a sexy combination of the film Sweet Home Alabama and a cozy Hallmark movie.
Delaney "Laney" Silverman is returning to her hometown for the first time in over a decade to attend her Father's funeral. Her perfectly crafted life in Manhattan is a stark contrast to life and relationships she left behind. Between her Ex-Fiance, Travis, and her cruelly harsh mother, Ruth, her visit will for sure be the last time she comes back ( if she's lucky). But once Laney settles back in to the rhythm of her old life, she realizes that while time moves on and people grow up--some feelings don't change.

This book was a quick, fun read. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Laney and Travis. While Christmas romances involving death are very depressing to read, it served as a plot device to heal the relationship between Laney and her mother. I felt like the death was handled very unrealistically. Almost in a fairytale sort of way. There were way too many characters mentioned that had no role to play except busy the background. Maybe the author is hoping for a sequel? Who knows. Also, it ended quite abruptly. I wanted an epilogue so badly. But, overall, this was a cute, quick holiday read that made me smile in the end.

I found this book easy to read and thought it was a good lighthearted story to ease into the holidays. While I thought the author did a good job of giving her characters life in the text, I also found it somewhat difficult to stay fully invested in their journey. I was constantly waiting for the story to pull at my heart and make me not want to put the book down and ended up slightly disappointed. Overall, a good read, but not a story I’d read again.

Thank you to NetGalley and XPresso Book Tours for this e-book in exchange for my unbiased review.