DNF at 25%

I am once again asking for your support in writing a happy fluffy christmas book!!! jesus christ. This has been the least christmassy reading journey I have ever had in my life, with this lovely (not) thing to cap it off. At least no one died? the bar is low.

I don’t know what this trend in MF is where authors mix up “strong” FMCs with “heinous rude self-centered monster”, but here we are, yet again.

Duke: Duke is introduced as the saddest boi, most sympathetic character, just got emotionally betrayed and wounded and still believes in love and is generally adorable and doing his job.

Evie: Evi is introduced as a self sabotaging mean rude person who hates everything. She is an irredeemable asshole.

The romance: absolutely not. I will not accept this ever occurring. Duke deserves happiness. I want to launch Evie out a plane window, into an ocean volcano. SHe is awful. This isn’t even grumpy-sunshine territory, because grumpy characters have redeeming features.

She picks fights and is mean and rude and judgmental and then blames him for it. Calls him fake for liking her books? Why can’t he like her books. I am so mad about this. He tries to many times to connect and be nice and fan and she is irrational and cruel and here’s some quotes to illustrate it.

> ‘If it’s any consolation,’ Duke tells her, ‘I’m not exactly over the moon myself.’ ‘No need to be rude about it,’ says Evie. Duke startles. ‘How am I being rude? You just said the same thing!’ ‘You didn’t have to agree so readily,’ she says, pouting.

excuse me? permanent victim here.

> ‘You seem to think I’m, like, rudeness personified,’ Evie says. ‘Which is, in itself, really rude.’

have you tried not being a rude monstrosity of a person

she also throws a latte at him. not cute. violence is not ok.

I have been assured that she never improves and also never apologizes.

Overall, this was a travesty of un-christmassy proportions and i regret having to inflict it on my innocent eyes

DNF
I couldn’t get into the writing. I guess I prefer more first person, inner monologue instead of this third person perspective. The narrator was telling us all sorts of backstory instead of showing us. Also, my god was the main character Evie insufferable. She was incredibly rude and I couldn’t even make it to the fake dating because I just didn’t care about her at all.

A romance set on the set of a Christmas movie between the star and the author of the book that was adapted 

Though it started as a fake relationship because the paps got pics of them in an argument and they had to do some PR cleanup. Spending time together has helped them to learn more about eachother.

The scenery is great and the progress of the movie.

Duke and Evie had a enemies to lovers holiday romance but one thinks it's temporary where the other is catching feelings.

⭐⭐⭐💫
Thank you avonbooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

2 stars

This book had a cute premise, a cute cover, and tons of tropes I normally love but holy crap was the female main character, Evie, a relentless jerk. The male main character, Duke, is the one to make all the effort. And for what? For this absurd fake dating turned real dating turned real love nonsense with a horrible person? Evie is so mean to Duke from the very beginning and literally never apologizes for it (i went back and checked). Instead what she brings to this relationship is:
-thinking Duke is too stupid to have read her books and formed his own opinion and analysis of them
-assuming Duke is a fake liar
-jumping to the absolute worst possible conclusion for every scenario
-including once where she doesn't even let Duke speak to explain
-excuses her horrible behavior because of all her personal life issues (girl, we all got problems! Doesn't make us all jerks!)
-throws her latte at Duke
-yells at Duke
-snaps at Duke every time he tried to make a joke or be kind to her
-turns her life around to be less of a butthead by getting her own book quote tattooed on herself because we all know motivational quote tattoos solve all our problems
-thinks singing bad karaoke dedicated to Duke is in any way an apology or a love declaration
-runs away immediately after karaoke when she realizes Duke wasn't there
-by run away I mean all the way to the airport and her attempt to contact Duke is limited to leaving a note at the hotel that says (paraphrasing by me) "it's been real no hard feelings k bye"

And Duke! He constantly excuses her bad behavior as "getting him" and "calling him on his crap" and other such nonsense. Yet Duke is the one constantly making the big romantic moment declarations and trying and being vulnerable. And for what! A big mean jerk for a girlfriend? Gross.

So this Christmas book is a waste of good tropes on bad characters. But no one died so I gave it an extra star.

I’ve enjoyed this author’s other work so I was really excited for this one. It started very well for me, I was interested and it kept my attention. It was predictable in the warm cosy way but I liked that and enjoyed the story of Duke and Evie. I got to about 75% and started to lose attention and it felt a little longer than it should have but overall really enjoyed it.

I loved the cover and the setting of this book! I had high hopes for it because I, do I in fact, judge a book first based off its cover. This one was so cute.

Unfortunately the main character, Evie, was so unpleasant! It made reading this book a little difficult for me rather than something I enjoyed.

It just fell flat to my hopes for the book. Duke was the best thing of the book and I felt he was even too unrealistic at times.

I adored this. The setting, the fauxmance/ enemies to lovers, the longing glances- cute!
The characters had great chemistry and their individual storylines were current. I liked the male lead being in touch with his emotional side and being more vunerable for once.
Sadly- the constant popular culture/famous people references dropped the readability for me (I'm so sorry 😩). It felt a bit too excessive and at times, cringey- in Duke's stories, the character names and even the "ant-or-dec" mirror.
BUT that aside, I do love a festive read and this hit the mark on all I look for in that category. It is still a book I will definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

This wasn't my favourite Laura Jane Williams book but I still really enjoyed it!

Evie really annoyed me at the start of the book, I just found her really rude and judgmental but I grew to love her as she developed as a person throughout the story. Duke was likeable from the start!

While I liked Evie and Duke as a couple, I just found there was too many of the expected obstacles in a fake-dating romance.

I still find Laura's writing so addictive and flew through this book! Got me in a Christmassy mood too!

I loved the ambience. The hot cocoa, tinsels, christmas market. But I did not Connect with the Main characters, and the story felt flat. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

This novel was interesting, it was like another hate to love type of vibe.

Hurt people hurt people. This saying is true especially for the main character, Evie. She is a very grumpy character who only seems to think about herself. She writes novels for a living. You’d think she would be used to people wanting to see her with the novel success she has. But no, she a complete and utter ass who loves belittling successful people.
Duke Carlisle adores Evie’s novels however Evie is up her own behind as she ignores his compliments and puts him in a stereotypical role and judges him for this.

The best part of this novel was the descriptions of everything else in the scenery surrounding them. The main character was just a plain Negative Nancy.

It was okay overall.

Laura Jane Williams is an auto-buy author for me, so I was so excited to be approved for an ARC of her first Christmas book. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me as I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two MCs. The overall story was OK and it had some nice heartfelt moments, but I just didn't feel their connection. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the gifted digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Read this if you:

- Love books about fictional actors and writers 
- Like enemies to lovers
- Enjoy witnessing the characters grow throughout the novel and overcome their insecurities

My Thoughts:

I was excited about starting the season of cozy holiday books with this romance novel,  but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. In terms of holiday vibes, the plotline doesn't necessarily match the cover. Or at least, I was not impressed. The story could have happened any season and it wouldn't have made a difference, in my opinion.

The first half of the book was kind of dragging. I just couldn't connect with the characters and I didn't really care about picking up the book. Had it not been an ARC, I would have probably DNF-ed it.

The second half of the book was much better, though. The main characters are well developed with relatable background stories and I was eventually able to connect with them and understand their personalities and their behavior. I loved the fact that both Evie and Duke chose to overcome their insecurities and gave themselves a chance to fall in love.

The ending was cute. For some people it might be a little cheesy, but I wasn’t bothered. 

Overall a good storyline with great potential and well developed characters, but I would have loved it more if the first part had been more engaging and if there had been more jolly Christmas vibes.

This is a perfect holiday read if you want to get in the Christmas spirit. The whole book is based in and around German Christmas markets and I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. It is not a usual setting for a romance novel but it really made the whole book, the descriptions really made me as a reader feel like I was there with the characters on set.

I really enjoyed reading about Duke's character, he was a miss understood guy who was trying to find someone to love who will unconditionally love him back for who he is. I did find Evie hard to read about, I didn't really connect with her character. I think this is because I found her character too rude and quite repetitive. I did however enjoy that the two main characters had similar family issues going on and this was how they bonded and became friends whilst they were trying to fake date. I loved Madga as a character, everyone needs a best friend like Magda. I did find the ending a bit rushed and wished we got a bit more of what happened after the filming finished and how they found been in a relationship but overall this book was a nice romance read and I would recommend picking it up if you would like to get yourself in the Christmas spirit.

I enjoyed this book but I did not fall in love with it as much as I had hoped to. The German Christmas markets were perfect in setting the festive scene, but I didn’t feel too invested in the relationship between Evie and Duke.

Evie is not a character you are meant to like and some of her behaviours are pretty awful. However, I did find many of her comebacks to Duke to be really entertaining (although I did feel guilty laughing at Duke’s expense!). She is certainly a flawed protagonist and it takes the whole novel for the writer to show Evie overcome these negative traits. Yet, I think I wanted to see her character develop more, beyond what Williams shows the reader: more of her American life (I often forgot she was from the States); her spending habits, perhaps through flashbacks; further scenes featuring her famous, albeit absent, father. I think this would have made her character even more interesting.

As for Duke, as gorgeous as he may be described, I could not get over the ridiculous name. Yes, it is a stage name, but I hated seeing it every moment I encountered it in the book. Which, for a main character, was naturally quite a lot. I get that he is a successful actor and can do pretty much whatever he likes, but I wish Williams had christened him more favourably! Duke’s sparring with Evie added to the entertainment of the story and I liked the different direction that the film set took towards the second half of the novel. But, like Edie, I don’t think his character was too ground-breaking from other romance reads.

For me, the relationship between Duke and Evie was too obviously fake and too obviously destined for love. Resisting a relationship but spending time with someone you consider you dislike… it has been seen in many stories I have read before. Were it not for the Christmas markets, I would have felt a serious sense of deja vu. In my opinion, I don’t think Williams has presented readers with enough original material.

So, the descriptions of the German places and the quaint, traditional markets really inspired my imagination. I felt like I was walking alongside Evie and Duke in the freezing cold, appreciating the onslaught onto my senses. I think this was the best element of the story and I wonder if Williams has based such descriptions on personal experience. For me, I felt like I was on holiday with the warring couple and it made me yearn to see these places for real life in December.

I can honestly say that this has not been my most favourite of Christmas reads this year, even if the setting felt unique. I have also read several books by this author now and cannot admit to them capturing my imagination. In this case, I wish Williams had presented a more unique plot direction that would have capitalised on such a magical setting.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a gorgeous festive read! I really enjoyed this book. The atmospheric setting in Germany felt so wonderfully Christmassy, and I loved the glamorous, escapist Hollywood side of the story.

Evie and Duke were a real joy to read. I liked how sweet and soft Duke was in contrast with Evie’s quite brash and direct personality - it made for a nice change from the usual grumpy/sunshine in the genre. I also liked how they changed each other for the better. They both learned a lot from their relationship and it was lovely to watch it blossom.

This book had so much depth, which I really appreciated - Duke's difficult relationship with his mother and Evie's own personal struggles with money made the story feel grounded. It was very multi-faceted, and I really liked that.

Evie Bird is a romance writer, whose novel is being made into a Christmas movie, on location in Bavaria. Duke Carlisle is the dashing lead, 'a working-class northern boy' who's supposed to be down-to-earth. Evie's estranged father is Hollywood screenwriting royalty, and she spent enough time on set to know she hates everything about what goes on behind the scenes. So, when Evie is paid to act as an on-set consultant, she's unsurprisingly not excited. But, with mounting care home bills for her mother, she agrees, expecting to be able to finish her next book while she's there.

I loved the premise of this story, so I was excited to lose myself in a cozy Christmas romance. In the beginning, I empathised with Evie. She's obviously had a turbulent childhood and early adulthood, plus she's coming to terms with her mother's dementia. But my empathy quickly dissolved as soon as she met Duke. I don't think I've ever read a more mean-for-no-apparent-reason character. It's obvious that the author was trying for a grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers trope here (both of which I usually love), but Evie is just plain RUDE. There's no snark, no sass, and definitely no humour. As soon as she meets Duke she's downright unpleasant. Duke is a huge fan of her work and asked for her to be on-set (which was admittedly a little creepy) but he's actually just a big softie, desperate for love, and who genuinely loves her books. He doesn't do anything on their first meeting to warrant her attitude. At times I found his wounded puppy vibe a bit too much, but he was practically a saint compared to Evie. The fake-dating aspect was flimsily constructed, and I didn't feel any real spark between them, even when Evie started to lighten up a little. Unfortunately, as the story progressed I just became more and more frustrated. I so wanted to love this book, and, while I can see what the author was trying to achieve, I don't think it ever really worked.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥
Emotional Rating: 💓💔😡🙄😬🤷🏻‍♀️💓

(I will upload the same review to Amazon UK on publication day)

** There is a small plot error during the quiz. At the start, Jerry makes a point of telling the teams that there will be no music questions, but then there are two pages of music questions. Hopefully, this has been edited in the published copy.

A Hollywood-themed grump (she) and sunshine (he) fake dating romance. Such a stunning cover!

The descriptions and winter wonderland vibes of the towns they visited while on the filming tour I liked the most. Male lead Duke was very likable and easy to fall for. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Evie. It was hard to find something to like about her. I understand that it was supposed to be her bias, with her past and so, but still... even if you have a horrible experience with someone, you cannot project all those feelings onto a different person. It felt too aggressive and so unfair. By the end, I felt that Duke deserves someone better.

I was really disappointed with this book, the blurb sounded so good but the main character was not very well written and was rude for no reason at all, to be honest I didn't finish this one, sorry

I’m very torn about this book.
I enjoyed other books by the author in the past and that’s why I always go back and try reading new ones. Unfortunately I couldn’t like it as much as the others. Right from the beginning, I felt that something is very off . Not sure if it was the writing style or even the characters but I just couldn’t connect or even concentrate for more than one page at a time.
I liked the settings in here and it made me remember my childhood and all the fairytale snow and times back home in Europe. But the overall story just wasn’t right for me.
I’m still going to try her books in the future because I’m a long time reader and I know that not every book is for everyone.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

DNF
I was so drawn to this book because of the cover and then the synopsis drew me in enough that I went ahead and requested it. Unfortunately just a few pages in and I knew that this was probably going to be a DNF for me. The writing style was just not for me. I've never read a story told in third person that read like it was being told in first person by someone who talks about themselves in third person. Does that even make sense?

I tried to push through but, frankly, the characters left me uninterested in reading to find out how their story played out.

1 star is for the cover!