This is a lovely festive read. I enjoyed the environmental aspects with bird watching and photography although I’d have liked a little more from the setting. The main characters had a great backstory, with the dual timeline at the beginning adding wonderfully to the overall story. Side characters were lovely and mostly additions.

My main criticism is somehow this story felt inconsistent with pacing, as it felt slow paced but some parts felt very rushed also. I also did not appreciate the storyline with their parents, it felt awkward to me and didn’t add to the story.

Second to last holiday read of the year and geez what a doozy. This was a bizarre read to me. It at least kept me interested with the wild swibgs the characters made back and forth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing an eARC for a honest review.

In all honesty not the best book by Charlotte Green and certainly not one I would recommend to someone who doesn't know her books yet since she's written quite a few really good ones.
Now, I love getting into the holiday spirit with Christmas romances and while the action is taking place around Christmas it's not really what I hoped it would be. For me it should be sugar sweet, over the top, seasonal fun to lose yourself in. The author tries to steer away from that I think, which wouldn't be so bad if the book was better than it is. Yet it was all a bit repetitive and sorry, but Quinn is not a likeable character nor is she redeeming herself at the end. The big break up was because of her acting like a spoiled brat no older than 4 and came across as superforced drama.

Sorry, I feel like Scrooge but I still can't recommend this one...there's loads of better romances out there to enjoy yourself.

***Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books for giving me the chance to read and review this book ***

I’m ‘on the fence’ with this story. I liked the premise of the book, but things were a little repetitive for me. It’s a story of second chances or in Quinn's case third chances. I think I was just hoping for more, I’ve read a fair few of Charlotte Greene's books, and loved them.. but for me, Picture-perfect Christmas, I couldn’t seem to connect to.

All in all… personally, this will either be a hit or miss with most people.

I've given Picture-perfect Christmas a 2.4 out of 5.

This is a second-chance romance and it is a cute Christmas romance. I do have to say that Quinn overreacts twice and I do not really like her reactions. It is a light read.

What happens when two young women try to get through highschool, then hopefully going onto university. Even though they were in some classes together neither knew what the other girls' hopes were for the future. Both wanted to make their future all about becoming photographers taking photos around not only their part of the world but also being able to travel the world taking pictures.
Years ago Quinn Zelinski and Nicole Steele wanted the same thing, graduate from highschool and then if possible win a scholarship to university to study photography. While both share secret crushes on the other, only one will win the scholarship. It wasn’t Quinn. Did I mention both had crushes on the other.
Now twenty years later, both make their living taking pictures; it's only Nicole who has had her career take her around the world. Now the small city of Glenwood wants to have a brochure showing off what Glenwood has to offer tourism. It’s not until they meet do they realize the city wants both photographers to work on their project.
They didn’t part on the best of terms so how would they make this project work for both of them. Only time and Ms Greene’s excellent writing will show us the way. Great characters, (even though Quinn acted a little childish at times), good plot and a very nice read.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

DNF at 57%

Nicole Steele had just returned to her hometown Glenwood Springs, Colorado, hired to take photographs for a tourism campaign. Instead of her usual week-long visit, she gets to spend the entire holiday season in town. But the problem is being with Quinn Zelinski again, after nearly 20 years. Quinn and Nicole have a tumultuous history: high school rivalry, teenage longing, and one memorable kiss. Then Nicole left for college, Quinn stayed, and except for a few fleeting glimpses, they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since. Nicole and Quinn can’t avoid each other forever, and the magic of the Christmas season might rekindle the romance between them if they don’t let old hurts and rivalry ruin a picture-perfect reunion.

This is a cute Christmas romance, full of longing and second chances. I love the cozy vibes in this, the amazing friendship between Quinn and her friends, cool photography stuff that's fun to visualise. But unfortunately, this book isn't for me. I found the pacing too slow, and while I do love me some queer christmas stuff, Quinn and Nicole fell flat for me. There were a lot of filler scenes and it quickly got boring for me.

The final nail in the coffin for me is whatever's going on with both their parents. I think this is properly addressed/later on in the story but I literally couldn't bring myself to read it anymore, I'm really sorry :(( I tried skimming the parts where they talked about it and I was in the clear for a while, but Nicole and Quinn both brought it up again and encouraged it (I mean, good for their parents ig, but not for them) and I had to put this book down.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC!

Absolutely perfect for the Holliday season. An east quick read to curl up with and take a break from the busy.

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books/NetGalley for a copy of Picture-Perfect Christmas in exchange for an honest review.
Hate to be a grinch, but ...

Charlotte Greene's Picture-Perfect Christmas isn't it. There are a couple ways to handle a holiday book, one of them being going all out sugar, no spice. The other is adding realism into the mix. Greene attempts the latter here, but the wrenches she creates feel manufactured for the sake of the oh-so-overdone third-act break-up rather than being inspired by the characters. 

Then, the need to resolve everything and wrap it up in a pretty bow undermines the magnitude of the event Greene has created to break her characters up. This clumsiness results in a book with awkward, too-slow pacing that is unbelievable, even for a holiday romance. 

Not-quite-saving graces

This book is filled to the brim with The Gays™. Aside from Nicole's and Quinn's parents, every central character is queer, so that's great. Plus, if any Wynonna Earp or old-west fans end up reading Picture-Perfect Christmas, they'll get a kick out of the Doc Holliday shout-out. 

Also, there's a lovely moment where Nicole's mom advises her daughter not to hold back how into Quinn she is, to not "play it cool." I really liked that. So often, we're afraid to wear our hearts on our sleeves. But we probably should go for it a little more. 

Should you read it?

If I've not yet made it clear, I'd recommend passing on Picture-Perfect Christmas. It pains me to give a flat-out negative review of a queer book, but this was just boring. 

Picture-Perfect Christmas is out on December 13, 2022.

Picture Perfect Christmas by Charlotte Greene is a really satisfying reunion romance that takes place around the time of year known for reunions and getting together with family and friends. I’ve been having great fun reading new Christmas romances, and this is a good addition to the list.

Photographer Nicole Steele is coming home to visit her mother for the holidays in her hometown of Glenwood, Colorado. She has also taken a job taking photographs for the town’s tourism campaign while she is there. It means she can spend more time with her mother. There is just one problem. She will be working with Quinn Zelinsky, the woman who broke her heart when she was in high school.

While this is definitely a character driven novel, the setting does play a major role in the story because of the photography aspect, and because it is just such a beautiful place, especially this time of year. It is well described by the author and makes the tale more realistic. The characters are well developed, both main and secondary. We get to see the story through the eyes of both Quinn and Nicole, and thankfully, the narrative makes it clear when the reader switches from one to the other. I bonded with Nicole quickly, but I must admit I had some problems with the way Quinn treated Nicole in the story.

The author does give us some clues to why Quinn acts this way (it involves something in her childhood), but her actions kept me from connecting with her until later in the story.

I had fun reading this Christmas love story, and wholeheartedly recommend it to readers who love reunion romances.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

I'm a little embarrassed that this is one of the first novels I've read by this author after seeing a list of the previous work. I did enjoy this novel and would recommend.
I liked the characters and the whole story was a little nostalgic for me with the music mentioned, grunge attire and the the transition to zip drives.
Love story was sweet in the end.

Really good story. The relationship between Nicole and Quinn was equal parts sweet and complicated. These two were kind of high school sweethearts, but not for long, and it took them nearly 20 years to reconnect. I really liked Nicole, but Quinn was a challenge to like because of her immaturity. You would think that after 20 years she would have gotten over the jealousy of Nicole being a better photographer, but this is where the story between these two begins. I liked all the supporting characters and the dogs were kind of over the top as well. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family and I look forward to what's next from this author.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Considering I lived in Colorado for 5 years and visited Aspen every summer, I am quite familiar with the setting, Glenwood Springs. Whether or not you have ever been there does not matter. There is so much imagery, you will be able to visualize what it looks and smells like.
The main characters, Nichole and Quinn, used to be rivals in high school and had even kissed. When Nichole went away to college on a scholarship that Quinn desperately wanted, they stopped speaking.
Fast forward 20 years, Nichole comes back to Glenwood Springs to visit her mom and take a photography job for the tourism department. Nichole doesn't realize she is not the only photographer. Quinn is also doing that. When the two women see each other after all that time, it does not go well. As they spend more time, they are able to figure out what went wrong. Are they able to make sure all the wrongs of the past do not resurface?
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The green monster has a major role in this read. Nicole Steele, talented award winning photographer. Returns to Glenwood Springs to spend more time with her mother Annette and participate in a marketing campaign to increase tourism for the town. Quinn Zelinski is a talented nature photographer, also part of the marketing campaign. She never left town and holds bitterness toward Nicole.

Nicole and Quinn had a mutual crush in high school which was never fully realized and one of the reasons is Nicole's jealousy. The supporting characters are a fantastic addition to the read. Especially Nicole's mother Annette and Quinn's father, Jack. I do enjoy reads with supportive parents. It is a light holiday read which makes you cringe at time and smile at others.

This was a quick-read Christmas romance.

In this story we see Nicole and Quinn reconnecting after years of graduating high school. They are now both photographers but with very different paths to get where they are. And Quinn seems to STILL resent Nicole for something completely out of Nicole's control. It was cute having them on all those beautiful locations, working together, getting to know each other again. I also liked the group of friends! It was enjoyable reading it

This was an all right read for me. Nothing in particular stood out or helped me fully engage with the story. I had issues with the pacing and found some aspects of the main characters’ relationship lackluster. Second chance romances are definitely a favorite trope for me but this wasn’t didn’t deliver the well balanced angst I look for in a second chance romance book.

This was a good Festive story of two women getting a second chance at love, after pining for each other throughout highschool. They are now 36, both photographers and have an attraction but also a slight rivalry to attend to over the course of their re-meeting.

They have to work together for their home-towns tourism campaign, photographing all the magical moments of Christmas and beyond. Bringing them closer, and old feelings and new ones developing.

It's a predictable story, which there's nothing wrong with at all. I did find myself a bit annoyed at a few antagonistic choices, that grated - but that is to be expected in any lesfic, there has to be some drama.

But all's well that ends well, and this Christmas story gives you everything you want from a small town, second chance romance.

I love Glenwood Springs as the setting because it is a place I have visited and can easily imagine. Nicole is an accomplished professional photographer. She accepts a job at a reduced rate to take photos to promote her home town because it allows her spend several weeks with her mother over the holidays. She doesn’t realize they city split the contract between her and local photographer Quinn. Nicole had a lifelong crush on Quinn that never went anywhere after an awkward evening in during their senior year.

It’s now 18 years later and both women alway felt the other was the one that got away. It is sort of a second chance romance although they were never really together. Quinn stayed local and runs her dad’s novelty photo studio and has earned some recognition for her nature photography. This is all a pretty decent set up having them work together to get the shots for the city. Nicole is very likable as is her supportive mom. The blow-up from the past wasn’t her fault but she was shaken by it. Quinn is harder to like. Insecurity and jealousy is a big obstacle to overcome. I found the original blowup presumptuous on her part for setting it up and then putting the blame on Nicole. And to have history repeat itself as the conflict made me wonder if she’d grown up and owned her own actions.

There is fun filler activities with friends including visiting Doc Holiday’s grave, swimming in the springs and skiing in Aspen. I enjoyed the friend group. But overall I would have traded skating or bird watching for some real conversations that show why these two want each other. The epilogue is nice but throws in extra friends that aren’t part of the story. And I want to know if Quinn got her new job on her own or with help from Nicole.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC in exchange for a review.

I love holiday romances and second chance romances, but this one wasn’t for me. The premise was promising and it wasn’t a bad story but there were some things about the execution that just weren’t quite right for me.

Nicole and Quinn are both photographers who grew up in Glenwood Springs and they have a history. When they both get hired to take photos for the town’s holiday tourism campaign they’re forced to confront their past.

A whole holiday season spent together sounds promising and there are lots of holiday activities that the two participate in. However, I felt like the activities were filler to show that time was passing and they were spending time together rather than directly moving the plot along. The word that keeps sticking in my mind to describe this one is ‘slow’. And not like a slow burn with lots of tension. I also found the format and timing of the flashbacks to be jarring which further impacted the pace of the story.

While the pacing issues were a minor frustration for me, I was really disappointed by the ending. It’s a romance so it should come as no surprise that one of the characters messes up and needs a grand gesture. The description of the grand gesture was vague and told from the perspective of the character making it (Quinn). As a result, I found it completely unbelievable that the apology would be accepted so easily. I would have really loved to understand what was going through Nicole’s mind during it rather than just seeing Quinn’s nerves.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

A quick holiday read, it tells the tale of Nicole and Quinn, two people with high school history having to work together 18 years later.

I really wanted to love this book. I loved the idea of two photographers working together (especially being a photographer myself). The on-shoot scenes were my favourite and well written.

However, I did find the conflict in the end to be a bit tiresome. I just couldn't get into the chemistry between Nicole and Quinn, and wasn't sure I believed in them as a couple with Quinn's actions. The storyline with the parents was a little weird for me too, with the amount of focus dedicated to their relationship. Although in the end I think I was rooting more for the level headed parents than Nicole and Quinn!

It was still an okay read, nice and quick for a weekend on the couch.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.