A sweet and fluffy Christmas romance à la Hallmark channel movie.

Farmer drew inspiration from classic Christmas tales like It's a Wonderful Life (surprise!) where Clarence was swapped for a (magical) Drag Queen from the House of Angel. Clara Angel is looking to earn her stage wings by encouraging Bailey to regain her Christmas spirit (and to go for the girl).

I was getting such cozy vibes from the way the settings were described. Perfect white snow, small town chock-full of Christmas spirit, hot chocolate, outdoor festivals... made me feel at peace.

The only drawback was that Bailey felt kind of flat as a main character... she was a generic disenchanted Hallmark movie protagonist that just complains a bunch. Good thing Maria made up for Bailey's lack of personality!

Overall, this is a low-stakes, cozy Christmas read. I hope you enjoy it!

So fun! All the hallmark vibes with a modern twist. I enjoyed watching the character development and couldn’t wait to see how they reached there happily ever after. This will be a wonderful winter time read!!

2.5*s

Such a cute concept! If you're looking for a cozy, relatively quick holiday read, this could be a good fit. The romance was sweet, and Clara's storyline was cute. I had fun listening to the first two thirds of the book but got a little tired of it by the last third.

My biggest problem with the book: I wasn't in love with the writing. Every time someone ate something while talking (you would think that wouldn't need to happen very often, right?) the dialogue tag was "she garbled". I was taken out of the story by garbling and "thinky face". (Maybe that won't bug you! It got to me.)

Also- why did the whole town have to be Bailey's responsibility? I assumed the book would be about her finding balance, but apparently she doesn't need that. She just needed Christmas Spirit!! Nah, girl. Take your vacation! If the whole town can't run this festival without you, that's on them.

I know this has been fairly negative, but it is a cute, sweet holiday read. If you want a Hallmark movie of a book- one that will warm your heart and not make you think too hard- this could be a great read.

I enjoyed narrators Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Pete Cross.

So grateful to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for early access to the audiobook.

So I need to start this by saying i've never actually watched it's a wonderful life before (*gasp* ik)
but I know enough about the story/have watched enough spin off episodes to know what its about lol.

I really liked this book!! its such a cozy christmas read! Making the angels drag queens was just such an amazing and fun touch i LOVED them!

the romance was so cute, overall a really fast paced sapphic holiday read!

thank you Netgalley, Kelly Farmer & Dreamscape Media for an arc of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

This was a super fun Sapphic "It's a wonderful life" Christmas romance retelling. With wish-granting drag queens, small town charm, holiday festival disasters and a beautiful second chance, childhood friends to lovers romance.

Heartwarming and perfect for fans of authors like Courtney Kae and Alison Cochrun, you don't want to miss this great 'holigay' romance. This was also good on audio with dual narration by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Pete Cross. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital and audio review copies!!

Farmer's clever twist on Capra's 1946 holiday staple, It's a Wonderful Life, celebrates the magic of the season with love and humor. The audiobook's narration is expert, and the writing is flawless. Lanford Falls (ala Capra's Bedford Falls) provides a heartwarming setting complete with a Christmas pageant and drag-queen angels-It's a Fabulous Life is the full package.

Special thanks to @netgalley for a preview of the audiobook.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

4.5/5

It’s A Wonderful Life + Sapphic Romance + Drag Queens = so much fun!! Bonus points for the most adorable dogs!

This was my first holiday book of the year, and the bar has been set extremely high! This book was so stinkin’ cute! Like most romantic holiday books, it’s entirely predictable, but I was still tearing up at the end!!!! I love both romantic interests and was wholeheartedly rooting for them the entire time.

I’m not a big fan of the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, but this was such a fun retelling. The drag queen aspect added so much joy. I would’ve loved more chapters from their perspective.

Overall, this is a great start to the holiday season! 🩷

I really enjoyed this book! It was unique and feel good all around! I do think the love was a bit quick given the history but it’s still a fun holiday read!

I haven't seen It's a Wonderful Life so I can't compare the two but this felt like an average Christmas romance story.

With second chance romance, drag queen Angels and a holiday festival in town, it definitely brings the holiday spirit even reading it in October. Bailey's character is the older sibling who desperately wants to leave her hometown behind after staying home to take over the family business and make sure her younger sister was able to achieve her dreams after their father passed. Her desire to leave her hometown and responsibilities behind is understandable since she never had the opportunity to go off and chase her dreams like her sister did. After learning her backstory and reading about the obstacles that come up the second she intends to take a much needed vacation, I felt bad for her but also frustrated that she was a people-pleaser. I was hopeful that with her reconnecting with Maria, a woman she had a connection with in high school, she would at least be able to find joy in staying for the holiday festival. I won't give spoilers so I'll just say that while spending time together, Bailey seems to slowly be finding her happiness again and may even be falling in love, but Maria intends to stay in town which isn't something that appeals to Bailey for obvious reasons. I liked the side characters and the history between the love interests, plus I am always a fan of switching POV. I do however wish there was more to the ending. This is a pretty wholesome romance book, so if you're looking for spice you won't find much here. I listened to the audio which was good but I think I may have preferred to actually read this one. All in all, if you are looking for a cute sapphic romance read this is a good pick!

Thank you NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this one.
I wanted to - but it was missing something.
The drag queens felt ridiculously out of place (I know they're meant to, they're drag queens in a small town), but they added nothing to the story for me.
And poor Bailey needs to get out of that town and have a decent break/holiday/move. She deserves it.

Trigger Warnings: medical content, alcohol, past death of a parent, cursing, car accident

Representation: Drag, Sapphic, Gay

It’s a Fabulous Life is a sapphic spin on the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. After years of putting aside her dreams of travel and adventure, Bailey George is ready to leave Lanford Falls and her responsibilities behind on a long-awaited vacation to New York City. When the volunteer who took over her leadership position for the town's Winter Wonderfest has a medical emergency, Bailey finds herself stuck in Lanford Falls, getting roped into reassuming her old role, not wanting to let the town or her friends and family down.

Staying home seems slightly less terrible when Bailey runs into her high school crush, Maria Hatcher. A kiss they shared years ago in the town's mistletoe grove was a life-defining moment for them both. Maria quickly offers to pitch in and help with Winter Wonderfest. Her sunny disposition and holiday cheer perk up Bailey's grinchy feelings about everything.

When one disaster after another snowballs on the day of the festival, Bailey’s frustration boils over and she ends up on the town's old wooden bridge. It’s there she meets fabulous drag queen Clara Angel. Bailey declares that she wishes she hadn’t been born in this Christmas-obsessed, suffocating small town and with a little of the magic Clara possesses, she shows Bailey how wrong she is about Lanford Falls and her place in it. The new perspective with a little hope and some true holiday spirit, Bailey learns there is a way to attain all her dreams.

I am a Christmas obsessed elf from Black Friday to little Christmas! It’s a Wonderful Life is one of my all time favorite movies. That being said, I have always had one piece of criticism. The story telling prior to Clarence’s interference is so detailed but then after the bridge, the movie wraps up way too quickly. Unfortunately this story fell into that same trap. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved this book! I just wish there was more to it in the alternate universe!

This is such an adorable twist on a timeless classic! The storytelling and world building makes you feel like you’re walking through Lanford Falls on a snowy winter day. I loved the characters and all of the twists on parts of the original story. I loved when Bailey was looking for Lulu’s treats! The drag queens are so fun and a small town that is so friendly of our community sounds like a dream!

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a retelling of It's a Wonderful Life, and I was so impressed by the writing and the conviction to stay with the original story, but with lots of very clever twists.

First of which, it's a saphhic retelling and second, the angel in this story is a drag queen, with magic, trying to get her stage wings.

It's seriously cute. But like the original, it's not so much a romance, though there IS a romance in the story, it's really about how this one woman has fallen out of love with her town at the height of the holidays, and she wishes she could be anywhere but there. And when things go completely wrong with the festival she's running, she wishes she had never been born there.

She has to find her way back to the town and the people and the woman that she loves.

My only critique was that I went into this book thinking I was reading a romance, and like I said it has a romance in the story, but I wished their relationship had been a little more central to the story, and there is absolutely no spice here. And the spice lover in me wished for a bit more lustiness.

The narration of this book was PERFECT. I absolutely loved both narrators (we get one for Bailey and one for Clara the angel). Highly recommend giving it a listen.

3.5 Stars, rounding up because the narration was so good.

this is what happens if eldest daughter syndrome were turned into a book 🫠 it’s disappointing to see that even while queer small town romances by and large are subverting the genre and letting their characters achieve their dreams, there are still books conforming to the small town romance standard of forcing women to give up their big city dreams for love.

I wouldn’t be so harsh, except the main character got a full ride to stanford for ARCHAEOLOGY that she turned down to run the family business, and then 17 years later she turns down an interview for a company in new york that would give her all the flexibility to travel she wants. The enthusiasm Bailey shows for this is diametrically opposed to the ending she gets! She resigns herself to a lifetime of people pleasing when she could have just learned boundaries and accepted that the future of an entire town shouldn’t rest solely on her shoulders. She’d already given a prime example of how to stand up to Felicity again and again; she could totally have left the town for a few years, done the new york job while being long distance with Maria, argued for a remote role at the job after two years, then come back and married the girl of her dreams. LET BAILEY LIVE HER DREAM. God i’m heated :/

This was a beautiful second chance romance otherwise. The drag queens were a nice choice. I just had some…ideological differences with this ending.

rep: sapphic love story, two queer women, queer men, drag queens

spice: none

I love It’s a Wonderful Life and I love sapphic romances. So this book being a sapphic retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life meant it was right up my alley. It was so much fun to see how Kelly Farmer took the events of the original movie and reshaped them to fit a story between two queer women set in the modern day. I feel like this is the type of retelling that you can enjoy even if you’ve never seen the source material, but if you’re super familiar with the movie then it makes it fun to pick out all the references. Bailey George, Maria Hatcher, Clara Angel, a job at the library, sprinklers going off at the prom, I’ll pull the sun down for you, 320 Sycamore, and so on.

This book was full of so much lovely Christmas atmosphere, it really put me in the holiday spirit even though I was reading it in early October. The story of Bailey wanting to escape her hometown and do things for herself instead of having to step up and run the family business and keep the Winter Wonderfest alive made so much sense. It’s frustrating to see her not be able to go after what she wants. When Maria Hatcher returns to town and some old sparks ignite, could Bailey truly be happy staying in Lanford Falls when she’s wanted to leave for so long? I really enjoyed the romance and partnership that blossomed between Bailey and Maria. Bailey’s own personal journey of learning what’s most important to her and also setting boundaries was wonderful to see.

Normally I’m someone who always wants to see explicit sex scenes in the adult romances I read. If there aren’t any or they’re just fade to black, I can feel a bit let down. However, the lack of sex scenes in this book didn’t bother me at all. Maybe since it’s a retelling of a movie that doesn’t feature any explicit content, but I just felt like it worked in this particular case.

I definitely recommend this, it’s such a fun sapphic Christmas romance. And there’s the added layer of it being a great retelling of a Christmas classic.

Small trope spoilers below fyi!

This was such a cute, fluffy Christmas read! It’s a sapphic retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life (which, I’ll admit, I’ve never seen) with magical drag queen angels! It was a classic Hallmark tale throughout. The narrator did a great job - she was perfect for this book. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was using the “I’m not good enough for you” trope during the third act conflict…. I’m never a fan of that trope because it feels self-seeking and takes the choice away from the other person. I also didn’t love the “moral” that the MC should be breaking her back and allowing others to cross her boundaries for the sake of “saving” the town (though this is lightly addressed towards the end of the book). Otherwise, I thought it was pretty light and fluffy and a fun holiday read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ALC, which in no way impacted my review.

5 ⭐ (audio) Both narrators did a fantastic job with this story. I listen to tons of audiobooks, and it takes a lot to impress me. This is definitely worth listening to!

4.5 ⭐ (story) Super cute well written retelling of It's a Wonderful Life. I absolutely adored the characters, the drag queen angels, and the chemistry between the Bailey and Maria. I think this is going to be one of my go-to books around the holidays for all the feels!

Bailey George is burned out from her quiet life in Lanford Falls in upstate New York. She's tired of doing things for everyone else and not for herself. Sometimes people with big hearts lose perspective when they do too much. Now enter Maria Hatcher. She's the always-optimistic little sister of Bailey's best childhood friend. She just got her dream job and is finally able to move back to the hometown she loves. Bonus that the her brother's bestie, who she shared a hot kiss with senior year under the mistletoe, still lives in town, and is still single!

This is an absolutely adorable retelling of the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life." With fun drag queen angels, dorky but lovable dogs, heroines who are wonderful, warm & fuzzy humans who have lots of chemistry on the page. No steamy scenes (if you're looking / wondering), but this book isn't about that. Just like the movie, this is a feel-good story. Wonderfully written!

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audio copy!

It’s A Fabulous Life has the plot and feel of a hallmark movie and is an homage to the Christmas classic “It’s A Wonderful Life.”The characters’ names are even direct references to the movie: our main character is Bailey George, our magical drag queen is Clara Angel, and the small town villain is Felicity Potter.

Bailey feels stuck in her small town, ever since she gave up her dreams to take over her late father’s business. She’s finally planned an overdue vacation for herself and passed over organizing the town’s holiday fest to someone else— but when the new volunteer lands in the hospital, Bailey’s vacation plans are dashed once again. Luckily, her high school crush Maria is in town and is hoping to reconnect with her by helping out.

Meanwhile, drag queen Clara Angel is in town with her drag mother and sister to help someone find the Christmas spirit. In this world, some drag queens are blessed with extra magic that they use to help people. Clara is dying to prove herself so that she can finally wear her wings this year.

This book isn’t lacking on cheesy lines: Clara Angel has to “prove her Christmas spirit shines brighter than the moon” in order to wear her wings at the final show.

While I found the story mostly enjoyable, it wasn’t the most captivating. In traditional Hallmark style, the entire plot of the book is putting on a small town event over the course of a few days. The connection between the characters is cute, if a little surface level (and don’t expect anything beyond a couple make out sessions). My biggest gripe with the plot was that what should have been a story about Bailey learning to put up boundaries and say no instead of doing everything for everyone, turned into her essentially getting guilted into “realizing” she loved her life. This resolution of Bailey’s journey made it hard for me to fully enjoy the book.

The narrator’s style matched the vibes of the book, and I thought that she did a good job capturing Bailey’s point of view and the Hallmark feel.

This was a really well done rewrite of the Christmas classic. It stayed true to the original story while being fresh. I honestly thought the first half + of the story dragged a little, I think changing the pacing to reflect the more modern storyline and reader would have worked well, but the amazing drag queens as angels made up for it.

There were so many good elements to this book...I really wanted it to all come together. Unfortunately for me it didn't quite get there. Sapphic Christmas story - yes, drag queens- YES, magical drag queens pulling an It's a Wonderful Life moment - Yaaaas! But I just wanted a bit more. Like more of the drag queens please they were hilarious. As it is they just kinda hover around and then pull the stunt and I almost felt like they weren't even needed if they were going to be so minor. Also, I really felt bad for Bailey, she just wanted a break from her needy town and instead she got guilted into running everything again. The romance was cute, it had a nice build. But the whole book's pace came to a halt with the 'wish I was never born' stunt. Also, that whole sequence took way too long and Bailey was just not getting it and she started to annoy me. Overall, I would still recommend the book because of the holiday vibes. Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Pete Cross were both great narrators with lots of great character voices. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kelly Farmer is such a queen and she just keeps writing fabulous queer love stories. This story is a beautiful retelling of It's a Wonderful Life. Bailey thinks her life is not going anywhere and wants to get out of her hometown. She wants bigger things and have a bigger life. She just doesn't know how important she really is to her little hometown. With the help of the fabulous Clara and the potential love of the old high school crush, will Bailey realize how much she truly means to everyone?

Thanks Netgalley for an advanced audiobook.