When two country singers are paired in a reality singing contest, sparks fly in many directions. The couple sing beautifully together and in order to generate publicity, their managers decide that they should have a fake romance to keep them in the news for the next year, when they have to return to the contest as the reigning winners. There are lots of misunderstandings and wrong turns and the relationship is hard to fake but they have to try. This is an entertaining and readable romance and I enjoyed rooting for the characters to find their happy ending.

I was intrigued by the cover of All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox. It just looked so cozy. And the blurb describing two country singers competing in a competition around Christmas? It sounded so cute! Plus there are plenty of classic tropes in this holiday romance: enemies to lovers, fake dating, and grumpy/sunshine.

But unfortunately, the first half of this book relies too much on lack of communication and the characters being jerks. It was difficult to like Sadie and Max early on and buy in to their romance. I wanted to quit at around 25%, but I stuck it out and ended up liking the second half of the book better. I got sucked in by the grandma plotline, and Sadie and Max slowly grew on me.

Thanks to Putnam Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I read this book in August and went into it with high hopes of being pulled back into the Holiday spirit and that didn't happen. The book spans 2 years during the months of December. Sadie and Max are on a musical competition show, similar to American Idol, and get roped into performing together and fake dating to help with the shows ratings. I love the tropes that were used (fake dating, enemies to loves and a bit of grumpy sunshine) but I didn't love the characters. I felt like I couldn't connect to them because I didn't know them. I felt like the storyline was a bit rushed at times and didn't make sense.
This book also dealt with some heavy topics, but I fell flat. There was grief and sexual harassment. Everytime there was an issue there was a miscommunication between Max and Sadie which was annoying. Max had these internal thoughts about liking her but would leave every chance there was. Sadie felt immature at times.
*Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review! *

4 stars. What a cute and cozy Christmas novel! This book made me so excited for the holiday season. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC!

This one wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and their story just did not hold my interest. I know this book will find it's audience, but I just didn't find much here to grab me.

This book was one big frustration of a constant lack of communication between the two characters.

I forced myself to finish it when I should have given up at 30% because nothing changed.

I love the idea of a reality singing competition ala American Idol but that took such a backseat and was only a minor part of the story. Even the fake relationship lacked depth and didn’t have any traction.

Plus there was just no basis to these characters actually liking each other let alone falling for each other given their lack of time together, their lack of communication and an entire year apart.

Stick with their holiday romance, The Swap, which was super cute and an enjoyable read. I, unfortunately, recommend skipping this one which I honestly forgot was a Christmas romance because other than a few holiday song titles and a gift exchange, there wasn't anything holiday about it.

I received an advanced reader copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own,

✨Book Review✨

All I Want For Christmas
Maggie Knox
Pub Date: October 4, 2022

🎶Synopsis:
When Sadie and Max are selected as contestants on the famed reality singing show Starmaker, each thinks they’ve finally gotten their big Nashville break. But then they’re paired up for duet week and stun the world with their romantic onstage chemistry. With fans going wild for #Saxie the network demands that they remain a duo on and offstage, or exit the competition. Faking a relationship until their final performance in the Starmaker holiday special shouldn't be too hard, except for one small problem—Sadie and Max can’t stand each other. 
 
But with their dreams just within reach, they agree to the ruse. Will their fake relationship be exposed before they can win? Or might their phony connection turn real by the Christmas finale?

💭Thoughts:
This book was great for the first third, then it just started dragging. I kept fighting the urge to just skip forward a bunch of pages to find out what happened. I didn’t enjoy the continued miscommunications between Sadie and Max. It happened over and over and over. I just kept thinking I get it, let’s move on. I started to really not like either character because of it.

I also felt like way to much was getting shoved into the last third of the book. So many different plot lines and characters. The characters were left underdeveloped. It definitely could have been spread out more to flow better.
—————
There were some things I did really enjoy though.

🎵 The inclusion of country music and Nashville. Which are two of my favorite things. The holiday atmosphere was lovely with all the talk of wreaths and twinkling lights.

🐕 Who doesn’t love a dog named Patsy Canine?! She was a fun addition to the book and made me smile every time she was referenced! I could envision her walking around in her cute knitted sweaters.

👵 Sadie’s Gran was a lovely character. I wish she was included more in the story. She had the best advice and clearly loved Sadie very much.

⭐️ The inclusion of articles from Hotstargossip.com made me laugh. I used to love to scroll People and UsWeekly for celeb updates in the mornings when I’d get up. Now I just scroll IG. 🤣

Overall, I had really high hopes for this book and it just didn’t pan out for me. I’m sure there are people who are going to love it. Just make sure you are a big fan of the fake dating and miscommunication troupes because they play a huge part in this story.

Thank you to @netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to read and review.

I loved this story of Max and Sadie. I liked both characters even though they both had their fair share of baggage. Of course like with any rom-com there was lots of misunderstandings and miscommunications. The setting started with the set of television competition show in Nashville and took the reader through Nashville and into the snowy mountains in Canada. I really enjoyed this book and the journey that Max and Sadie took to make it to each other.

Just like Maggie Knox's last book, I do enjoy a book that has a touch of celebrity/tv show magic involved. I love that they had such hot chemistry together right from the start and of course when you throw in the fake dating trope, we all know where things are going to go. I think that there are times where the miscommunications got to be frustrating for the reader, but what is a good book without some turmoil thrown in? Overall great story and a fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Fake dating between rivals set in a reality TV singing competition – and a Christmas story to boot!

Sadie Hunter and Max Brody are both picked as contestants for a Reality TV country music competition set in Nashville, TN. Throughout the competition they are paired up for a duet where the chemistry between them becomes obvious. From there chaos ensues as the two decide to team up, and start fake dating to capitalize on their perceived romance.

The plot can get a little convoluted at times – both characters have a lot going on in their lives and it kind of took away from the romance between Sadie and Max. The miscommunication between Sadie and Max was so frustrating! Though maybe it was intended for me to scream "JUST TALK TO EACHOTHER” at the book several times? IDK.

Overall – All I want for Christmas is a cute, Christmassy romance novel that is sure to be a solid December read.

Thank You, Net Galley for the ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

All I Want for Christmas will be released on October 4th and is for any American Idol and country music fans out there. Sadie and Max are in a singing competition and end up paired up, sweeping America off their feet. This spurs a fake relationship despite the truly contentious nature behind scenes. Can they fake long enough to win and will they have a change of heart?

Overall, the book was generally okay, but the personalities of Sadie, Max and some other ancillary characters weren’t my cup of tea. I love a good competition and music, so those were redeeming factors - you could feel off the pages when they hit that high point of a song together.

The other challenges for me were how closed off Sadie and Max are, their constant communication issues, and the constant assumptions they made about the other that were so inaccurate. It certainly made for tension in the book. It also made it frustrating to read. Overall, I think Sadie and Max had some serious work to do on themselves.

This is the second Maggie Knox book I’ve been meh on, so I think this (pseudonym) author just isn’t for me. You live and you learn!

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books for the opportunity to read this book. The review expresses my own personal opinions.

All I Want for Christmas was a very cute holiday romance novel. I did enjoy reading this, however there was constant back and forth love/hate which I could have done less of. I love the hate to love trope, but I felt it was repetitive and kind of drug on throughout the book. I loved the Nashville setting, being on a country music show, and the highs and lows of being in the industry. I felt connected to Sadie, but not Max. I needed more connection in order to really be invested in their relationship. Slow burn and then, BAM! the ending was all at once and went very fast. I was more intrigued by the additional characters than I was with Max. I know many people who would enjoy this novel and it really was a cute holiday romantic novel, I just needed more spark. Very thankful I was given the eARC to enjoy. I would recommend this to those who love a quick romantic read.

Do you love fake dating trope? What about enemies to lover? Sunshine/Grump trope? Do you love Christmas? How about country music?
If you said yes to the above, then you’ve found yourself your next Christmas read!

We meet Sadie and Max at a country singer’s contest where I was immediately drawn to their angsty, dramatic, and ever evolving relationship. What I love about fake dating tropes is that we usually get loads of miscommunication. In fact, that’s what usually draws me in. You can find me yelling at the book as the story unfolds because all of the MC’s problems usually can be solved by having a sit down and talking through everything. Does this happen? Of course not! Having main characters communicate wouldn’t be half as fun as seeing the drama unfold due to the miscommunication.

This isn’t a happy go lucky hallmark style Christmas read. This one is filled with angst and emotional trauma. And I was here for it! 4 phenomenal stars

I slightly wish there was a little more Christmas, but that wasn't why I gave a 3.5. I felt like the fake dating was very well written, but Sadie had so much going on with her that I felt like it was hard to focus on their relationship. They both were very childish, I could see this with 21/22 year old loves for sure. I just couldn't connect to either of them so that might have turned me off a little too, but for a holiday read, it is cute and very much a Hallmark setting. I wanted to be at the cabin and enjoying the break from real life as well.

Christmas romance stories tend to be on the lighter side, which is great! However, there's often times something missing. I'm not sure if the issue is the pressure to center the story around the holidays or if it's having a theme sprinkled throughout the story. Sometimes it's a lack of chemistry between the two main characters, such as in ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS by Maggie Knox.

Don't get me wrong - this is a fun romance that oddly enough balances the topic of grief well. I know, that sounds strange, but that part of the book works.

Max and Sadie are two people trying to make it in the cold, hard world of country music. Sadie is filled with dreams of stardom while Max is trying to make his own path away from his famous country-singer father.

The two compete on a talent competition show. And that part of the story was okay. But their main trope of miscommunication/misunderstandings made the romance bland.

Lots of misunderstandings or just not letting each other completely get out what needs to be said took away from their chemistry.

However, this is a nice precursor to Christmas to get you in the mood for cold weather and Christmas lights.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam Group for an e-copy of ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS to review.

I rate ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS three out of five stars.

I wanted so badly to love this book! 😭 I could not connect with these characters at all. And I felt like the story was allll over the place. The constant misunderstandings were exhausting. I feel like at the end of the book, I was asking myself what just happened. I think there was too much going on so every scenario happened/ended so quickly and moved on to something else. There was no.. closure? Or extended conversations? I’m not even sure what I’m trying to say because I feel so confused by this book. 😞

Thank you NetGalley, Maggie Knox and the Publishers for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Maggie Knox does it again with a super cozy christmas read. I can't wait to tell all my friends to read this book in the next holiday season. It has the fake dating/enemies to lovers trope, and the reality show vibes we are all here for.

All I Want for Christmas is an enemies-to-lovers rom com between country music contestants. While it’s a cute, easy read, the characters lacked depth and it’s storyline was predictable.

You'll long for the chill to melt between Sadie and Max long before it does in this cute Christmas fake dating romance.

Sadie's an aspiring singer with stars in her eyes, and Max Brody is the son of Nashville royalty trying to make his own career. Both are competing for the top spot on Starmaker, a reality TV singing show. Years ago, Max blew Sadie off at an event, so when she's paired with him in the competition, she's not happy. But their on-stage chemistry is off the charts, and the fans are eating it up. Their agents convince them to fake a show-biz romance. Suddenly, they're #saxie, and the world is in love with their love story.

Spanning from Nashville to the woods of Canada, this is the sort of story where snow falls at critical moments to add to the atmosphere. It's also the sort of book where all the problems could have been solved by the characters talking honestly with each other. From missed proposals to not telling the other about beloved family members dying to tabloid gossip, these two get their wires crossed pretty much every time they see each other. It's one step forward, then two steps back, until the very end. While the climax could have had a little more drama, this was still a sweet story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read about Sadie and Max who are both selected as contestants on a reality singing show. They end up being paired together for a duet week and everyone goes nuts for them! The network decides the have to fake a relationship on and off the stage or they are out of the competition. The only problem with this is they can't stand each other! This is a fun enemies to lovers story. They were both full of passion and the story was full of angst! I enjoyed this holiday rom-com, and I think you will too!