I don’t celebrate Christmas nor am I gay, and I LOVED this book. It was a fun (and steamy!) read.

The Belvederes family structure is much like my own and I thoroughly enjoyed the family dynamics. They were hilarious and touching, much like my own family. I would have enjoyed each character’s story on it’s own (in a “Love Actually” kind of way), but putting the children all together in the same space made for some beautiful moments and introspection (for the characters and for myself). Often when I read a romance, I find myself wanting to skip everything but the romantic couples together; while reading this book, I never felt like I wanted to be anywhere other than where I was currently reading.

The book managed to be beautifully written and poetic while still cracking me up. Each of the siblings’ storylines was satisfying, and ended exactly as it needed to. I’m dying for the show mentioned in the book to become reality. And did I mention this book is steamy? I will absolutely read again!

It’s very difficult to find a good queer romance book! But imagine finding an absolute perfect holiday queer romance ?? I mean can’t get better than that!!

Queer joy, perfectly executed. This Christmas romance takes place in the Catskills, following siblings Liz, Birdie, and Rafi as they navigate love, family, mental health, and self-realizations. I absolutely *adored* this story. Seeing all the siblings discover themselves while also falling in love was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Clark has a way of making every character- the siblings, the love interests, the memorable mother- feel like they’re a new friend that you met while on a winter vacation. They will stay with me for a long time.

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

Sweet and chaotic. Most Wonderful follows three siblings—Liz, Birdie, and Rafi—leading up to Christmas. The novel spends equal time with all three siblings and all of them have their own rom-com storylines. There was constantly a lot going on, but I thought Clark did well to go through everyone’s stories through their own eyes and their families. I struggled with the narrative voices at times—Birdie’s sections were a lot to get through and a lot of the dialogue felt too corny and extra (“Lady of the labia”, “Sexy Head”, “You haven’t taken V.G. to pound town? Thrown your hot dog down her hallway?”, etc)—and Rafi’s complete inability to read romantic situations properly gave me incredible amounts of secondhand embarrassment. I enjoyed Liz’s parts the most, but felt like her happy ending was the least satisfying. Since there were so many characters and plot lines to juggle, it felt like the resolutions were rushed and stressed. Clark works through many issues at once—racism, homophobia, self-identity, chronic illness, familial pressure, and so on—that a lot of the discussions felt simplified and reduced to therapy speak. The solutions weren’t easy, but the progress didn’t necessarily feel earned. I don’t mind leaning into the fantasy of romance and I enjoy the inclusion of “heavier” topics, but it falls flat when the dialogue sounds like someone reading from a textbook definition instead of speaking like a human. Overall, Most Wonderful is a very queer and fun Christmas-themed romance book, and I think lots of people will enjoy reading it.

This was very cute. It’s a cozy feel-good, heartwarming, refreshing, and engaging story which has got one of the most swoon worthy romance. I loved and enjoyed reading it.

This was a delightful and wonderful novel. There was a LOT packed into this single novel and it was all woven together very well. It was heartwarming and sexy, happy, sad, and everything else in between. This was a great Christmas novel but would also be enjoyable at any time of year. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

This novel gave us three love stories in one novel, plus some extra plotlines and stories on the side. This was delightful! None of them were as well-developed as they could have been if the novel focused on only one plotline, however they were all satisfying to experience and well done given how many pages they each received. It was like reading a three-novella series, except they all took place concurrently. The more I think about this the more that I like it; the characters from each story also served as side characters in the other stories, and all of the plotlines benefitted from it. The stories were sweet, they were spicy, and satisfying.

Alongside the love stories were also plotlines about family dynamics and expectations, personal exploration, careers and life choices, mental illness, the dangers of social media and pressures of being a public figure, and addiction and substance abuse. This was a very full novel, but it never felt rushed or crowded. I appreciated how it touched on deeper and more serious topics alongside the fun elements and cute romance. As the novel had three relationships and 6-8 main characters, they were able to touch on a lot of topics in a manner that felt organic and natural.

My only complaint is that there wasn’t more to this novel. It could have been quite a bit longer, and I would have loved it, but it didn’t need to be. I am personally a fan of longer novels (when they are good!) and this one had the substance to support that. It wasn’t needed though and this isn’t as much of a complaint as a backdoor-compliment.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fun holiday read! This novel put me into the christmas mood. Three adult siblings, all different personal lives all brought together at christmas. Sit back with a cup of hot chocolate and a cozy blanket, and enjoy a cute, fun, christmas read!

Most Wonderful shows the three Belvedere siblings, Liz, Birdie, and Rafi, on a countdown to Christmas and the days leading up to New Years. Most Wonderful quickly put me into the holiday spirit through the author’s evocative descriptions of characters and settings. Overall, Most Wonderful made me want to curl up with a cozy blanket and some hot chocolate and be fully emerged into the lives of the Belvederes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy of Most Wonderful in exchange for my honest review.