I wanted to love Elle McNicoll's SOME LIKE IT COLD. So much. However, the writing feels so stilted and the story development is choppy and uneven, like there are emotional and story beats missing.

I really enjoyed this, the writing was great and the character’s felt real. I liked the Gilmore Girls, small town vibe. Solid winter read

I DNF'd at 25%

I appreciated the autism rep and sharing the perspective of masking and people pleasing, and how that can lead to a bit of an identity crisis and not really knowing who you are/what you like. I thought the bucket list before leaving town sounded like it had potential to be a cute story line. What lead to my dnf was the confusion and mixed signals when it came to describing Jasper and how the town views her. There was so much emphasis placed on her being popular and considered to be like a local celebrity, but then there's a dancing scene where she's suddenly being perceived as weird and annoying? It seemed like that was being pushed after the discussion on neurodivergence and that just didn't make sense to me. I also didn't fully understand why Arthur and Jasper had so much animosity toward each other. I wish that back story had been more developed besides, "well, he called me Princess once." It's hard for me to accept enemies-to-lovers without a good backstory.

This was a cute and cozy ya romcom that fills you with warmth even if it takes place in winter. I really liked this story and the hate to love yet not really romance between Jasper and Arthur. In a small town that these two have grown up in, they don’t realize who they are to each other until Jasper coms back after over a year away at college. I loved Jasper and seeing her take off the mask she wears in this town and around her family. She captures what it feels like to love a place but not love who it makes you be. And some of that is due to her spending time with Arthur, the one person she can be herself around. The one person who sees beneath the mask and doesn’t judge her or expect anything more.

This was a fun ride!

Enemies to lovers, small town feel, a bit of a Gilmore Girls vibe to be honest!

This started strong, and I'll definitely be recommending it to my students!

This was a cute story and had a fun premise, however, this just didn’t work for me. I didn’t really connect to the story or the characters, and everyone is just so mean in this book lol. They live in a small town so I was expecting all the cozy and friendly vibes but that was just not the case. However, I did enjoy the romance, enemies-to-lovers plot with Jasper and Arthur, and I liked that we got both of their POVs.

I thought this would have more of a Christmas theme so I was excited about that but I didn’t get those vibes when I read this.

Quick & easy read that feels like a hallmark movie (but with a badass Neurodivergent leading lady). In terms of ND representation- this book is a 10/10! The author does a great job of depicting masking and sensory overload. Through Jasper’s experiences, she perfectly displays how these things can cause neurodivergent individuals to experience feelings of isolation due to others being unable to see/unaware of their struggles.

I saw that the book description said for fans of Gilmore Girls and immediately wanted to read. However, Lake Pristine is like Stars Hollow if all the townspeople were terrible and mean instead of fun & quirky. They’re all the worst, however nobody is worse than Jasper’s sister. She is possibly my least favorite character of all time & I did not blame Jasper for wanting to leave the town for good. Ugh, they were honestly all just horrible until the end when they magically became nice (it’s a Christmas miracle lol). The characters also felt very underdeveloped for the first quarter of the book, almost like 2D versions of themselves, but after that they became more fleshed out.

I did love Jasper and Arthur (they were honestly two of the only characters I didn’t think were the horrible people). Arthur’s little sister also has my whole heart 🥹 and as someone who grew up dancing/participating in my local nutcracker ballet every year, this made me so nostalgic 🥲 Thank you to NetGalley & Wednesday Books for this ARC!

Elle McNicoll's Some Like It Cold is a heartwarming and empowering story that blends elements of magic, self-discovery, and friendship. Overall, Some Like It Cold is a beautifully crafted tale that leaves readers feeling inspired and enchanted. A must-read for those who love heartfelt stories with a touch of magic!

A lovely YA festive romance with a wonderful autistic rep main character. I despised Jasper's sister Christine and how she treated the entire town and even her own family. I still feel like her fiancé should have left her and she should have been pushed into Lake Pristine. This was a fast read and I loved the small town setting. But I was also confused at which country this story took place. I know the author is Scottish and some of the character use stereotypical British terms like "mum" but I don't think it was explicitly said where this takes place. They just referred to where Jasper went to college as "the city". I think it would have added some good context to the story if the setting had been a little clearer.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll was a good book to add to my holiday reading list. I enjoyed the small town setting and appreciated the representation of neurodiversity. I wanted a bit more character development, but it was a solid read.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

This was a cute holiday read with some really great representation of neurodivergent characters. I was expecting more romance and less women’s fiction (for a lack of a better way to describe it). I think it was good and I feel like a lot of people will love this one. It has some good Gilmore Girls/Stars Hollow vibes, but I did find my mind straying throughout the story.

Some Like it Cold by Elle McNicoll
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Jasper came back home to Lake Pristine for one reason: to say goodbye. She didn’t mean to accidentally ruin her sister’s engagement. She didn’t mean to get wrapped up in a film project that Arthur is working on. She just wants to move on with HER plans for her life, and no one elses.
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What I liked:
-Jasper is neurodivergent and I found reading from her perspective to be really interesting and also very emotional.
-I loved how much Jasper loved her town and how much the people in town loved her back.
-I enjoyed Jasper and Arthur together and how they slowly built things between them.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I enjoyed listening to this audiobook a lot! I’m not sure Jasper’s family needed to be written so extreme, and I think that was the only thing keeping me from giving this five stars. I was surprised with how emotional this book was, but I adored Jasper.

The writing was good and I will definitely check out more by the author. However, the characters were insufferable and I had a hard time engaging in the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy of this title.

I was delighted that this book came in time for me to use it for a pink book prompt in my reading challenge. I was even more delighted to read a book with an autistic heroine. As a former special ed teacher who currently works with a couple of autistic boys, I will say that we need more positive representation of young autistic people in popular culture, especially young women.. It was fascinating that Jasper was, to some extent, the family's golden child, though she did have the challenge of dealing with her parents' expectations for her. It was also interesting to see what became of her high school rival and their relationship. Possibly my favorite part was watching how she handled her Bridezilla sister--and learning how her sister saw her.

Kudos to the author for presenting a view of autism that not everyone gets to see.

This was a really cute/sweet book.
I really liked the main character. She really found her voice and was determined to live her life on her terms.
I typically like small town stories, but some of the people in this town were just awful.
Just because Jasper was different, they were nasty.
I found myself getting so angry on her behalf.
I'm glad that Jasper was able to stand up for herself.

Jasper is returning home for the holidays, but she intends to say goodbye to her hometown and not come back. Arthur, her nemesis from high school, has plans to put their small town on the map through his films. An unexpected romance emerges between the two.

I thought the plot was overall fine here - enemies to lovers plus small town romance. I do think the chemistry was not as clear since Jasper and Arthur had previously hated each other since childhood? My bigger problem was just how mean everyone was! For a small town setting, this felt wild.

Some Like It Cold is a charming small-town romance. Although it's a romance, it does touch on some complicated themes like family dynamics and neurodiversity. Lake Pristine is the epitome of small-town and will absolutely capture your heart - even if there are some pretty terrible people there. McNicoll really made me feel like I was there, and I could so easily picture it. It definitely had some Hallmark vibes with a side of Grinch.

Jasper is a delightful character. She's sweet and funny and easy to root for. I also loved that she was autistic. Although it's becoming more common to see neurodiverse characters included, it's so great to see the representation! As someone who has ADHD, it's always nice to be able to connect with a character in that way. McNicoll showcased the complications that neurodivergence can have on relationships (family, friends, significant others, etc.)

Love interest, Arthur, is also fun. There is a bit of a Grumpy/Sunshine trope to this one, but of course, Arthur has a gooey center who is incredibly protective of Jasper in the best way. I couldn't really understand their childhood "rivalry", but I was able to overlook it. Jasper's sister, on the other hand, is probably the worst character ever written to an over-the-top point. She's truly the worst human ever with zero redeeming qualities.

The writing style wasn't really my jam. It looks like McNicoll has primarily wrote middle grade books and I think that may be why it felt like the writing skewed a little immature.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but not as much as I had hoped.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

I wanted to like this but the writing style was hard for me to get into and I didn't enjoy the "perfect" people of the town. DNF @ 20%

Thanks to Netgalley for my complimentary e-arc. All opinions here are my own.

This mentioned that it was for fans of Gilmore Girls, but besides it being set in a small town there is nothing about this that reminded me of the Gilmore Girls. It’s a YA romance that’s sweet and enjoyable, but honestly I was never really invested in the story.