I'm a sucker for romance and I'm a sucker for Christmas so I thought this book would be a slam dunk. unfortunately, it didn't do much for me and the story was lacking.

I liked it. It was a sweet love/hate story. I’m glad I read it but it definitely took me a while to get into. I don’t know some of the characters just felt off. I think there were too many moving parts to focus on.

I really liked the narrator. They did a great job with all the characters. Well the youngest ivy was a little off but that’s just my opinion.

This was a DNF. I tried… I really did. But I just did not like it at all. From the awful voice to the annoying characters. I wanted to like it but, but no.

I love the title and cover of this book, but once I got to the inside I didn't fall in love with it. I wanted to so badly. I thought it was cute though and an easy afternoon read. I liked the characters all right, but I didn't feel like they were well-developed. I really liked Ivy and Nick's but Nick also annoyed the hell out of me. I like a MAN, not an immature grown "boy-adult", if you get my drift.

I also liked how the book was family oriented and how much Ivy loved her family, so that was a plus for me. I also thought that the narrator was really good and added to my enjoyment of reading this book. If it hadn't been for the narrator of the book, I might've leaned towards a 2-star

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a second chance romance that feels like a Hallmark movie. I think there were a few loose ends that could’ve been done better but overall had fun. I could easily listen to it again.

I really liked this one. very different with the oxymoron. I read this while I was on vacation so it ws very fitting. I loved the Mcs.

This was my first Juliet and Keith Giglio's book. Ivy and Nick's second chance to love is sweet, funny, lighthearted, and heartwarming. This is the perfect Hallmark Romance. Ivy, a screenwriter, is beautiful, and determined. Nick, her ex-boyfriend, and high school sweetheart, is handsome., and enigmatic. They are perfect together. Their story is filled with secrets, and twists and turns. Some scenes are hilarious. The supporting characters are interesting. Elizabeth Cottle did an great job with the narration. This is a sweet Holiday Romantic Comedy, and second chance romance. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, a Dreamscape Media Audio production, for an honest review.

I’m officially DN effing this book at 48%. I just can’t take it anymore. Our main gal Ivy is jealous, semi-conniving, selfish, and a few other adjectives I can’t think of. She’s a screenwriter who wanted to stay in LA. She had been dating Nick since they were in eighth grade. They went from best friends to boyfriends to lovers to broken up. She was planning on asking Nick to stay in California with her while she became a script writer but Nick had a family in a winery back where they both grew up in New York. So eventually after college they split. Ivy didn’t take it well, and wrote her first screen play when Mary met Joseph about the relationship. However, she killed off Joseph in her script. The real Nick didn’t die. He’s back at his winery. Now it’s five years later and Ivy, who is dating Drew the producer, is finally getting her film made. It’s being made in her hometown. This sets out to be a fun summer but Christmasy romcom. They’re making a Christmas kind of movie in July but it just doesn’t work for me. Ivy really really annoys me. She’s dating Drew but tries to make Nick jealous by kissing Drew and just know thank you. She’s constantly comparing her current boyfriend Drew to Nick. It’s just it’s annoying. Nick’s character I don’t mind so much. Does he start dating the movie start playing ivy? I don’t know if you’d say dating but at least hanging out and the movie star is a little forward. There are times when things are supposed to seem steamy, and they come off more raunchy. In general I did not like this. I am not enjoying it. I’ve given it 50% and I just don’t want to listen to another 5 1/2 hours. That’s the other thing this story is long. Every character has to have a backstory with a love interest and get their own mini story within the story. I would’ve rather those all been short Novelas and this had been shortened up. It’s been over five hours And I love the village in the town and all the side characters but we don’t need so much about them. This book is too long the main characters atrocious and I’m not enjoying it so I’m not finishing it.

Unfortunately this book wasn't my favorite. I guess I just struggled with the writing, and the pacing. The story follows a screen writer who returns home to film a movie closely based on her romance with childhood love interest. I had the audiobook copy, and maybe it was the narrator choice that I had a hard time connecting with, but in the end I just don't think I was the right fit.

*many thanks to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

The Summer of Christmas by Juliet Giglio & Keith Giglio

DNF @ 5%

I really, REALLY don’t like the writing, so I went and read reviews to see if anyone would change my mind. It seems it does not get better, so I’m cutting my losses. The writing is choppy and feels like a summary more than a book. Lots of telling, not showing. Really, it read like a screenplay as if the authors assume we will be seeing everything with our eyes so they don’t have to describe anything to us so we can see it with our minds. The dialogue is odd and doesn’t flow nicely, and the characters are very immature. The only redeeming quality for me is Christmas, but there is no shortage of wonderful Christmas books out there so that’s not enough to keep me reading.

This book was a struggle. It follows a screen writer who returns home to film a movie that is closely based on her romance with her childhood sweetheart and ex. And, you guessed it, he lives in her hometown. So the two of them are watching their love story being filmed with actors cast as them...and can see how magical their beginning was. That sounds adorable, but the writing does its best to make this sound clinical and disjointed. It truly didn't feel like we were there, along for the ride....it felt like it was being told to us as an elevator pitch, but the elevator pitch lasted WAY TOO LONG. As a concept, I liked this story, but the execution of it was rough, stilted and had no flow to it.

This one started off fairly cheesy for me. I was instantly concerned it wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. Luckily, it got less cheesy as it went along and ended up being a rather cute, fun story. I enjoyed the small town vibe and characters which kept me entertained.

While I did listen to this one in July/August, I never did get my review up and now that it is time for holiday reads, I guess I’ll share!

The writing in The Summer of Christmas is very segmented. It changed points of view often and character points of view left and right. Once I got used to it, that didn’t bother me. I don’t know if it would’ve been better had I read a physical copy compared to the audiobook, though.

The story is about Ivy and Nick, who were destined to be together after being cast in their church’s Christmas play. As expected, they break up so Ivy can chase her dreams. When her dreams are realized, they bring her right back home and into the realm of Nick again.

I liked the storyline but the whole of the book was mediocre. The sex language was uncomfortable at times but definitely not a steamy read or anything. Just weird and awkward. I do feel like with a good screenplay adaptation, the story could easily be a holiday Hallmark movie, though!

Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, Juliet Giglio, and Keith Giglio for this gifted review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

I loved this one. Christmas in July, Christmas Carol vibes and second chance romance what more could you want. I thought the story was so sweet. Ivy works through a broken heart by writing a screenplay that is an epic romance but ends in sadness. Nick works through it by creating an amazing wine called Poison Ivy. Neither thought the other would ever find out....until they do. Now that they are faced with the past, they have to ask themselves if they still have feeling for each other. I enjoyed the narrator. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Summer of Christmas is a nice twist on the normal Hallmark-like holiday romcoms. The first 75% of the book was at least a 4.5 star read for me, the characters were relatable, even the Hollywood actors. It was a feel good, light romcom. I’ve seen other reviews with trigger warnings, not sure if we were reading the same book because this was an easy lighthearted read, the only topic I would have considered a TW is dearth of a loved one but it was in the past, and did not take place during the current timeline. The last 25% of the book did feel a little unrealistic, Scrooge was involved and conflicts just seemed automatically resolved and all was just dandy again and it felt very quickly wrapped up. I would have given the end of the boom 3 stars because of it. This was still a enjoyable lighthearted easy read that I would recommend! I loved the audiobook as well!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Gosh I thought this would be so good. I don't know what it was though--it just...i didn't connect with it ever. Not once. Our main character is in her 30's, but she sounded like she was in her teens. The writing was overly simple. The sex scenes were awkward.

Okay, so I wanted to love this book, I really really did. But, it felt juvenile to me. There were so many things I really did love about Ivy, our MC, but there were also so many times that I sat here shaking my head at the choices she makes. I was expecting a sweet Christmas themed rom-com, featuring an MC close to my own age, and I felt like I was reading a book about a high school student. I loved that Ivy was a screen writer, I can't say I've ever read a book featuring an MC that had that job title. It was fun to sort of see what the behind the scenes at a Hollywood promotion may be, but in the end, it wasn't enough for me to enjoy the story.

I will say, I listened to the audiobook along with reading the ebook and I really did enjoy the narrator - that was the saving grace for me. 2.5 stars rounded up - the extra half star and the rounding up instead of down are thanks to the narrator.

I had to stop reading this book before they could even shoot the movie - I was overwhelmed with cringe and hated the fatphobic and harmful dialog about the ever present need to diet. I get that we’re dealing with Hollywood here, but each of these instances could have been cut without changing the subject matter around it.

I couldn’t root for any of the characters I was presented with, and I expected better. My bad for thinking this cover housed a book I’d love.

I really wanted to like this book. I feel it reads like a Hallmark movie with bad acting. I just couldn't get into it especially with Ivy not being over her ex after five years. C'mon really? Five years? It felt like there was too much going on at one time and I struggled to know what I needed to focus on or care about.

I love the cover of the book unfortunately the story doesn't live up to the cover. This story felt more like a 101 screenplay class. There was to much behind the scenes and not enough in the sheets.