Thank you to the Maggie Knox duo, Putnam Books, and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
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All I Want for Christmas is branded as an enemies-to-lovers between two contestants who are trying to make it big in Nashville and are forced to fake date. As someone whose playlist screams y’allternative, who guzzles fake dating fics and cheesy Hallmark movies like water, and whose trope she would kill for is enemies-to-lovers, I wanted to love this book. I wanted to sing it’s praises. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me.
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I struggled to connect with Sadie and Max or anything they were going through. I’m not talking I struggled to identify with them. I’m talking they seemed like little robot people going through the rom-com motions and there was nothing for me to clamp onto. I desperately wanted to! But there was just zero spark for me. Or for them.
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I thought we’d spend time with them as they transitioned into a musical duo and were forced together. I thought we’d see Sadie and Max get to know each other and unwillingly fall head-over-boots for each other. That’s the best part about any enemies-to-lovers or fake dating storyline for me! Unfortunately, we don’t get that here. We miss out on all that potential competition drama and fake dating awkwardness due to time jumps. One minute they’re struggling to look at each other, next minute they’re professing their love.
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Another thing I simply couldn’t stand here was all the miscommunication. This book was a miscommunication extravaganza and not in a fun way. Sadie and Max have zero communication. They flip-flop more than a fish out of water and have zero faith in one another as people. It was so frustrating to read. I guarantee if they sat down for five minutes and actually talked to each other all of their problems would be solved.
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All I Want for Christmas simply wasn’t the yee for my haw this Christmas in July. I’m sure it’ll be someone else’s. Maybe I’ll give the other Maggie Knox book a stab in the future. For now I’m hanging up my boots and calling it a day.

I LOVED this book. While it wasn't anything earth-shatteringly new, it WAS a greatly enjoyable dynamic christmas book. It's not completely cheesy hallmark christmas movie, but it's heart-warming and perfect for around the holidays.

The book takes place over the course of two christmases, and I really loved the nashville/celebrity aspect, and I loved the complexity of the characters.

Realistically, I gave this a 4.5, but thought it deserved to be bumped up to 5 stars. It's wonderfully cute and complex, not just a basic love story, and I genuinely enjoyed my time reading it. The ONLY thing I didn't love about this book is sometimes the character's behavior didn't make sense to me, it was only 1-2 times, but still something I noticed.

Sadie and Max are contestants on " Star Maker " . They were told to fake a relationship for their fans even though they don't like each other.. They fall in love despite complications and misunderstandings. Will they have their " happily ever after " ?

Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me.

I liked the music woven throughout. The settings were lovely and lots of fun Christmassy touches woven in.

But unfortunately there was endless miscommunication throughout and I couldn’t enjoy it.

Thanks all the same to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this advance copy.

First of all, I really enjoyed The Holiday Swap (book #1 by Maggie Knox). With that being said, this book was not what I was looking for. I hate hate hate the miscommunication trope and I feel like Max and Sadie were soooo dramatic for no reason. I also got zero christmas vibes from this one and that was disappointing. About 50% in, I just started skimming through a lot of the inner dialogue. I am sad I didn't like this one.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy for a review with my honest thoughts.

I stopped reading this book at 50%.

I was not drawn to the characters and found the miscommunication trope throughout really disappointing. I didn't believe in the relationship between the two main characters and had a hard time with the time skip and them not talking to each other for almost a year while also fake dating? I wasn't interested in how the story played out and was disappointed by the lack of development almost halfway through the book.

I was super excited to get an eARC copy of this book from NetGalley! I absolutely love Christmas and a “Christmas in July” book made me so happy.

This book follows two aspiring country musicians as they are on a reality music show and then forced to be a “duo” and fake a romance that ends up with true feelings. It’s somewhat of an enemies to lovers story. I loved some of the settings in this book, especially the cabin in Canada. I enjoy all things holiday and this books spans over three Christmases. I did not really believe the romance between the main characters. The feelings between them seemed to have came out of nowhere and both of them have a lot of personal issues that need resolved and it felt like it never did. Without giving too much away, it was pretty predictable in a few scenarios.

Overall, it was a decent book. I probably would not turn away any Christmas book and this would be a cute book to read while you’re cozied up and it’s snowing outside. As far books from this author goes, I did enjoy The Holiday Swap quite a bit more.

I would be interested if the duo wrote a third!

2 things I love: Christmas and fake dating. Unfortunately this book was a bit of a miss for me. I really don’t like when characters cannot communicate and Max and Sadie’s issue was bad. The story/setting was cute and I am sure that will resonate with some readers. Unfortunately this just was not for me. 2.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

A very cute Christmas fake dating love story! I do wish that there were more Christmas events mentioned in the book for it being a holiday storyline. Love the premise and it being in Nashville! The characters can be frustrating with their lack of communication, but that's the trope! Overall a cute read,

Thank you NetGalley and Maggie Knox!

If you enjoyed The Holiday Swap also by Maggie Knox, then you will also love All I Want For Christmas. This book was so cute and lovely. I even broke out some Christmas decor - in July - for this pic!

Sadie and Max can’t stand to be in each other presence unless they’re on stage together. When they are onstage they come together and form a wonderful beautifully lyrical union. They’re both contestants on a reality country singing show set in Nashville. When they’re approached with the idea of pretending to be dating in order to win, will they agree? Yes! But, will they be able to stand each other long enough when they aren’t singing to make it through their contractual obligations?

I wish it weren’t 100 degrees out while I read this so I could light a fire and sit by the fire with some hot coca. Alas, a nice cold ice tea and air conditioning will have to do! I actually think I will save this one so I can read it again this winter, when I can get all cozy. This truly heartwarming story is one you should definitely pick up. I gave it a strong 4/5 stars and a special thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC.

Maggie Knox’s best novel to date! Getting to ready this for Christmas in July was a total treat! This Christmas novel immediately brings you into the world of Sadie and Max two contestants on Starmaker with completely different backgrounds. Max the son of legendary artist and is set to win and just bring in ratings. While Sadie who comes from a normal life with a voice like a legend has set this as her last chance to break into stardom. Together they will become known as #saxie and you will follow their fake or real love story as they face real life tragedies, heart breaks and fame. While their chemistry and artistry is unmatched only time will tell what’s real and what’s fake. All you want for Christmas is this brilliantly written rom com!

I adored The Holiday Swap from this author duo and couldn’t wait to read this one and it did not disappoint.

A heartwarming enemies to lovers, fake relationship, and grumpy sunshine Christmas book that’ll have you swooning and smiling.

There was a lot of angst in this book and often times to characters kept going back and forth with their feelings but all in all I liked it!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC.

*ARC REVIEW*

I found the first half of All I Want For Christmas to be really monotone. For a book that is based on a friends to lovers trope, I found very little hate between the two main characters. They gave each other some side eye, but besides that there were no fireworks.

The story was flat and I never routed for the characters, which is sad... because they were literally on a singing competition show. I could not relate to the behind the scenes producing of the musicians life, and the love story did not make me swoon.

The story started to pick up a bit with about 20% of the book left to go. The ending was very sweet, but I wish the whole book had more oomph.

Two contestants on a reality show enter into a fake realtionship to win. I loved the Nashville setting and country music focus. I didn’t love that Max and Sadie never communicated and had zero trust. It is really hard to root for a couple when they assume the worst about each other every few pages and never really talk about any of it.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Max is well known as the son to Holden a country superstar. Sadie is a singer trying to make a name for herself is Nashville. Both are participating in a singing sow. After the first competition Sadie is set to choose someone to partner with and gets told to choose max to help boost ratings. After the first duet they are asked to become a couple and then to become engaged for a year until the shows next season. What they don’t anticipate is the actual real feelings they start to feel toward one another. Something devastating happens to Sadie and her and Max have a falling out. After not speaking for a year they reconnect but can’t seem to stay of good terms because of their own battles. But after a uncomfortable situation that Sadie is put in puts thoughts in Max head that make him question everything. Truly a beautiful love story of young adults figuring out life and best of all around Christmas time. If anyone knows me I’m a sucker for anything involving Christmas so reading #AllIWantForChristmas which was allowed to me thanks to #NetGalley was an absolute no brainer to me. This book releases October 4th, 2022. And let me tell you…. You don’t want to miss this one 📚

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the e-arc.
Cute premise that just didn't work for me. Immature, non-communicative main characters with little chemistry. They mostly behaved like toddlers who didn't get their way, storming off instead of having a conversation. And the time jump really didn't work - what was the purpose? The whole story was rather disjointed. Kept waiting for it to get better.

I really, really wanted to love this one but, alas, I did not. I liked it but there was nothing that really grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading it. It’s not bad, it’s just not my favorite.

First, I was really hoping for a Christmas story. There really isn’t a whole lot of Christmas involved other than the fact it takes place over a few Christmas seasons. I did like that there’s mention of Christmas traditions, shopping, and Christmas songs but ultimately wanted more.

Second, can we stop with the miscommunication in romance novels? We all know it’s not my favorite trope but I can get over it if it’s a very minor part of the plot. When it’s the whole premise of our two MC’s relationship, though, that I cannot do. I couldn’t really connect with either MC. They both seemed very immature and selfish with hardly any growth between them. You could tell they had the best chemistry and I was rooting for them the whole time but I really wanted to see more growth from them. They weren’t the best at communicating and they definitely made a lot of assumptions about each other which caused a lot of stress for me😂

Overall, I liked the idea of the story. I thought it was fun and I loved getting to know both Sadie’s and Max’s backgrounds and see their relationships with their families. It really helps you to get to know the reason they are the way they are.

2.75 out of 5. i wanted to like this so much. I just didn't . This is tending to the Lifetime movie and out of the Hallmark movie category altogether (if you know your Xmas movies you know what I mean). The premise was so good (even though there are plenty of Christmas movies with the exact one), the title is perfect I wanted to really like it but there was just a lot wrong with this. I was hate reading a little bit. First of all the characters are insufferable there is absolutely no communication and all their fights are so dumb, its one of my biggest book pet peeves. The characters were just not that engaging to me. Also I wanted more backstory on both, and there was too little to late. There was also a little of a disconnect between the two narrations and that lost me somewhat. Also Side note, the whole #saxie name makes no sense, who thought of that. Based on common occurrences it should be #maxie or #Sadix or #sadax, but that one tiny quirk in a book that I just could not get into. A cute but not fulfilling romance.

How much christmas: There is a bit of Christmas, but it is pretty Christmas light in general. a 3.5 out of 5 in terms of Christmas.

If you like romances featuring musicians, reality shows, warm and cozy Christmas holiday romances then this book is going to be right up your alley. Knox delivers a swoony and steamy fake-dating romance with complex characters learning to deal with their own issues before they can fully be with each other. And can I say that Max’s dog, Patsy Canine (best spin on a dog name ever), steals every scene she’s in. So get your cuddliest blanket and hot cocoa ready, this book is going to make your holiday dreams come true.

What a bummer! I enjoyed last year’s The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox (did you know this is a pseudonym for a writing duo?!) but this one didn’t do it for me. The characters are very one dimensional, miscommunication is rampant, and it’s over the top cheesy.
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The setting was swoony and kept me more engaged than I would have been. We’re talking Nashville at Christmas and a snowy cottage in Banff, Canada. ❄️☃️🛷 Dreamyyyy! ♥️🎄♥️ I also did enjoy the country music competition aspect. 🪕🎤
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I am so appreciative for the chance to read this early! Thank you So much to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!