DNF @50%

THE MINUTE SADIE ARRIVED AT THE CABIN TO FIND MAX AND EVERYTHING WAS GOOD BETWEEN THEM AGAIN, I JUST LOST COMPLETE INTEREST TO KEEP READING. I KNEW THAT SOMETHING BAD WOULD HAPPEN AGAIN THAT WOULD JUST TEAR THEM APART AND THEN THEY WOULD HAVE TO RECONCILE AGAIN. SINCE THIS HAD ALREADY HAPPENED QUITE A FEW TIMES ALREADY, I WAS JUST NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THAT ANYMORE. I ALSO KIND OF DISLIKED ALL OF THE CHARACTERS AND HATED THE MANAGER, ESPECIALLY. OVERALL, THIS WAS NOT MY CUP OF TEA.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLY AND THE PUBLISHER FOR THIS ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for sending me a copy of this eARC! Unfortunately, I am very behind in reviewing it, but it’s still the “holiday” season so it fits.

Last year, I was introduced to Maggie Knox through Book of the Month and selected The Holiday Swap as my choice. I really loved the lighthearted romance that the story provided and was so excited to be given this book in advance.

As a disclaimer, I am not a fan of Hallmark movies. Unfortunately, this book fell short for me because it felt like I was reading a Hallmark movie. The story line jumped all over the place, the characters seemed underdeveloped, and overall, I just didn’t love it. Believe me, I wanted to. The setting was one of my favorite places ever, Nashville, and incorporating the idea of two country singers falling in love and trying to make their dreams come true really had me hooked, but again, the execution of it fell short. I think the only reason that I finished this book was because the setting was Nashville at Christmas time, involved country music, and the final place in the novel was the Grand Ole Opry, one of the coolest places I have ever been.

I would strongly encourage anyone who loves Hallmark movies to give this one a try because I think you will enjoy it. As for me, my first completed read of 2023 is getting ⭐️⭐️ out of 5 stars.

Thanks for the opportunity to give an honest opinion. I don’t find myself usually in to country music but this book made me want to turn on some Kenny Chesney. The characters were adorable and I miss them already. Prefect winter rom com!

I thought that this second chance romance with the reality show mixed in was cute. I enjoyed the element of Max and Sadie competing against each other in the singing competition. "Saxie" were so cute together and I could really imagine the scenes of them singing together. I did not enjoy how terrible they were at communication and it ruined the sweet moments for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I feel like this book was trying to do too much but also most of it felt super dragged out? Like part of me wishes it would’ve just been during the show when they were faking their relationship and not the year after or the opposite? Also there was so much miscommunication that it got exhausting and I was just over them before I even got half way through the book. I would’ve given it 2.5 stars but I did really like the end so I bumped it up to 3 stars. I’m honestly just glad I finally finished it!

This was such a charming winter romance! It has Christmas in the title, but it has perfect winter feels! I love this charming story that had a unique story line. It is told from two perspectives and this keeps the story fresh and moving. I’d definitely recommend this fun rom com.

All I Want For Christmas is a cute holiday romcom. It’s very much like a Hallmark Christmas movie and is pretty light and fluffy. Ultimately, it felt a bit flat for me. While I liked the characters individually, I felt their relationship was rushed. They went from coexisting to being deeply in love. Additionally, I felt there was a lot of extra fluff that wasn’t necessary. It was a bit too long for me.

I thought it was ok. Seemed like the plot was alllll over the place and it felt rushed. Lots of miscommunications — one would be resolved only for another to immediately follow. I loved the original music competition part — wish there was more of that but that was only like a third of the book! Will make you want to Christmas karaoke. Could this just be a movie instead?

Sadie and Max are both competing on a tv singing competition. They got paired up for a team challenge and their chemistry was so impressive that the powers that he decided to pretty much force them to compete as a duo. The audience is wild for Saxie and their odds of winning together are practically a guarantee.

The competition means different things to each of them.
Max has a father who is a legendary country singer and Max wants to earn his career without an strings pulled by his father. He wants to prove that he’s not the kind of guy his dad is.
Sadie is taking her last stab at accomplishing her dream. She moved to Nashville and put all her hopes on this competition. If it doesn’t work this time, she’ll probably go back home.

They each have a lot to lose and they agree to sing as a duo. They also agree to fake date. Pretending they are a couple will definitely bring in votes.

It’s hard at first but it becomes much easier when real feelings develop between them. But lines start to blur between what’s real and what fake. And because of this already fragile situation, Sadie and Max get into some huge fights very quickly.

They are contractually obligated to sing a Christmas song together a year from now. Neither one of them can predict where they’ll be a year from now. Will they be a fake couple? Will they be in love? Will they hate each other? Any of these options seem possible.

And as Sadie’s career success finally hits its stride, she faces a devastating loss in her personal life.

I liked Sadie and Max. I’ll admit to getting very frustrated with Max a couple of times in this book but I won’t elaborate so I can avoid spoilers. This book was sad at times due to Sadie’s loss and very happy at others. It really covered all the emotions.

I got to read an early ebook edition from NetGalley. Thank you!

I cannot even describe my love for this book! Maggie Knox hit it out of the park again. I am 100% team Saxie! Sadie and Max are competing on a singing show similar to the voice and are paired up following a very successful duet. The only problem is they do not like each other. This book is split into two parts which comprise of the competition and then the year after. I think this did have some traction struggles in the first half but it really picked up speed 25% in. I think the issue was that there was so much world to build that it sometimes impacted the pace and flow. The second half being the more important so the singing competition did at times seem rushed and too long- overall a pacing issue.

I just thought it was so cute though with some spice thrown in- nothing too excessive.

I really loved these characters and would love to see them again in the future.

Tropes- enemies to lovers, snowed in,

I loved having the opportunity to check this one out and look forward to Maggie Knox’s next release!

Sadie and Max both want to win Starmaker, the country music singing competition, and their chemistry is out of this world. What happens when their feelings become real? I was all over the place with this book. I really loved the characters for most of the book, but overall the book lacked focus. I was confused as to where it was supposed to go. I thought it was going to be about a singing competition, but in reality that's finished in the first quarter of the book. The rest of the book takes place a year later, where misunderstandings run rampant. I get irritated when issues that could be solved with a conversation get dragged out. Overall, this was a miss for me, but I'll give the authors another chance.

Maggie Knox’s first book, ‘The Holiday Swap,’ which came out last year, was one of my favorite Christmas romances ever. So I was incredibly excited to read their sophomore one. Unfortunately though, I think it fell flat.

I was in love with the premise—two musicians on a Voice-like show, fake dating and having to write Christmas songs together… it sounded perfect. But after an incredibly quick introduction to the characters and their predicament, the story jumped forward several weeks and completely skipped all of their relationship development. As a result, their relationship for the rest of the book made absolutely no sense. I didn’t understand why they liked each other or why they were battling their attraction, because I never saw it grow. One moment it wasn’t there, the next it was. If there had been another 50 pages at the beginning to establish a connection, I do believe I would’ve love this one.

Thank you so much Viking for this finished copy! Even though I didn’t like it as much as the first, I will forever continue to read their Christmas books 🥰.

This one was one I couldn't wait to read. As I'm a sucker for a Christmas Rom Com. I have to say this one lived up to my hype. This one had Christmas, Country music and reality shows. Basically the hero is a basically country music royalty he's the son of a famous country singer, but he was to make it on his own terms. The heroine just wants to break into the music scene. When the two go viral they end being forced into fake dating. What could go wrong? I warmed up to the hero faster than I did with the heroine, because the reader quickly learns that there is more to him than meets the eye. And it helps that this rom com is from both the hero and heroine's point of view.

I wish I could say this book was as great as I wanted it to be, but the nonstop miscommunication had my blood boiling. This was NOT your run of the mill miscommunication trope that happens once, maybe twice. Nope. No Siree Bob! It felt like every other chapter one of the characters was storming off with their mouths shut and their assumptions turned up to the max.

I wanted to stop reading a few times, but as much as I hated how often they acted ridiculous, I still couldn’t help but want to see how it all played out and if they would finally get their crap together.

So this is a weird one for me. I feel like I should have hated it, but I didn’t. I finished the whole thing and even enjoyed certain aspects. It was weird and I’m torn on how to feel.

Yay me for finishing another Christmas book though! 🥳😆

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for the arc in exchange for my honest, and confused, review

I really enjoyed the Holiday Swap last year by Maggie Knox. So I immediately wanted to read All I Want for Christmas without even reading anything about it. It also has the cutest cover!

Sadie and Max are both contestants on Starmaker, a Nashville singing competition. They team up for a duet that goes viral and the producers want them to finish the competition as partners. At first their chemistry is awful, but as they get to know each other, they get closer. Until Max can’t take it and bolts away from Nashville. Can they pull it together for the show?

This book wasn’t as good as the Holiday Swap. It wasn’t particularly Christmassy and I never really felt the connection with Max and Sadie. They were both immature and incapable of having adult conversations. Max fleeing the situation every time things got hard and that got old quickly. I did like Sadie’s relationship with her Gran who encouraged her to pursue her dreams. Overall this was just okay for me.

Thank you so much to @putnambooks for my gifted copy.

All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox is a fun holiday read. This book features the Nashville music scene and two up and coming singers. I love the way their fake relationship blossoms into something more. Readers of holiday romance will love this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I was seeking out Christmas books as they are very popular in our library for the month of December, but unfortunately this one didn't blow me away. I'm personally not a romance/holiday reader, but I don't think this would be a winner with our readership.

1.5/5 ⭐️

I was so excited for this book. I was ready to relive American Idol S1 with Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson, but I could not disrespect them like that by comparing them to Sadie and Max.

Sadie and Max are the fictional embodiment of toxic. It was just back and forth between them having a moment then either A) Max seeing something, overreacting, then running away or B) Sadie having baggage, pushing people away, then being sad that she’s alone.

Usually with books that have toxic main characters, I can overlook their toxicity as a couple if their characters individually have redeeming traits. I could not do that because Sadie and Max weren’t developed outside of their relationship. It was difficult to like them when all they did was chase or run away from each other.

Two quotes that I wish I could unread:
“You really aren’t a stiletto gal, are you?”
“Baby you’re hot chocolate running through my veins”

That being said, I really liked the author’s writing style. I usually don’t read stories in third person, but the writing was very easy to read. Nothing was overly descriptive and I wasn’t bored reading it.

I did like the storylines with Gran and Lynn. They supported Sadie completely in following her dreams, even though their way of showing it was a bit unorthodox. My fav character from the book was Patsy the dog.

This will be a book I will add to my list of couples that don’t stay together past the epilogue.

This arc was provided to me by NetGalley and Putnam Books in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. I loved the premise and the insights into the good (and ugly) side of the music business, especially in a competitive town like Nashville.

A few things that stuck out: The side characters were a little confusing to keep up with. It felt like Max’s dad didn’t have an arc - he started out one way and towards the late middle, his character suddenly seemed like a different person. I also felt like there was a lot of melodrama around the thing Sadie didn’t tell Max.

Overall though a fun festive read - a good balance of romance and Christmas without too much of one over the other. (Also a PG romance.)

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the authors for the ARC!

I had wanted to read The Holiday Swap last year, and never got around to it. Needless to say, I read All I Want for Christmas in one sitting, and loved it so much that I went and got Swap! This was so seriously fun, funny, and perfect for the reality TV world we live in, I couldn't have imagined anything better. I enjoyed every moment of this festive novel, and I really hope to seem more from this duo!