Callie usually loves Christmas but after a bad break-up she is not feeling the Christmas spirit this year.

Her sister Anita decides to create a Christmas advent calendar, similar to what they did growing up, in hopes it will change Callie’s spirits.

Will the advent calendar (with the help from a handsome stranger) help boost Callie’s spirit in time for Christmas?

This was another cute, holiday romance. All of the activities will definitely help get you in the Christmas spirit. Plus a little romance and it is a perfect holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Penguin Group Putnam for my advanced copy.

This book is about Callie, who is deep down a Christmas enthusiast, but is determined to make this holiday season go away quick. After a tough year, she’s all about avoiding the celebrations since the breakup of her 10 year long relationship. Her sister, Anita, trying to put her in the mood for Christmas again, decides to make her an Advent Calendar with a lot of treats and tasks so she can get into her holiday spirit and maybe making her change her perspective on things since she's been so down. Callie meets Marco in one of those tasks, and they bond over puns and jokes and their interaction was sweet and silly. Their meet-cute had me grinning from ear to ear—seriously, it’s like a scene straight out of a Christmas Hallmark movie (which to me, is a high praise and a Christmas must)!

The chemistry between Callie and Marco is very sweet. I love their commitment to honesty and them finding in each other the pleasure of being/feeling yourself again. Watching them navigate their past, trust issues and fears amidst all the holiday activities was very heartwarming. The Christmas vibes are very present in this book and Cassidy paints such a cozy picture with descriptions of activities, festive decorations, and all the delicious holiday treats, including some Swiss desserts I am now so compelled into finding. It all adds to find a perfect layer of charm, making it feel like a holiday wonderland where anything can happen.

In a nutshell, The Christmas Countdown is a delightful mix of laughter, romance, and holiday spirit that left me with a huge smile on my face. If you’re looking for a cute and cozy read to get you in the festive mood, this book is an absolute treat!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my review!

The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy was my first Christmas novel of the season (which is currently towards the end of October) 2024, and it did not disappoint. We meet Callie, who recently got dumped by her boyfriend, Oliver. Callie moves in with her sister, Anita, post-breakup and dives into a sour mood just in time for the holidays. Anita coyly initiates a personalized Advent Calendar for Callie in hopes it will bring her into the holiday spirit. Along the advent calendar journey, Callie not only meets Marco, a delicious-looking baker, but also seems to meet herself for the first time.

For anyone who has been a long-term relationship, especially one that starts as an adolescent, knows that you can often lose (or never even develop) part of yourself. In Callie's case, she didn't know who she was without Oliver, and vice versa. When she brings Marco along on these Christmas challenges she realizes that she had deprived herself of so many opportunities. I loved watching Callie come alive in tandem with falling in love with Marco. The only part of the story that I didn't necessarily love was the third act "break-up" (really more like a riff) due to Callie uncovering damaging evidence against Marco's business partner/friend, Vince. It felt a bit forced, but albeit necessary for the plot line to have some interest.

Similar to The Christmas Wager, I could easily see The Christmas Countdown being made into the perfect Hallmark Christmas movie. It was the perfect Christmas story to get me in the mood for the season!

I started reading The Christmas Countdown and had such high hopes it would get me deeper into the holiday season feelings.
Callie was trying to get into the holiday season after an unpleasant breakup. Her sister Anita thought she had the perfect thing to do just that for Callie. She made an Advent calendar full of challenges for Callie to do.
As Callie is doing the challenges she meets Marco, and he is willing to help her do them. Yup you guessed it they started having chemistry between them. It was a book that could absolutely become a Hallmark movie.
I enjoyed the book, and I know others will too.
Thank you NetGalley, Holly Cassidy and Penguin Group for the book. This is my personal review.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Publishing for the arc of The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy.

When Callie moves to Fallbrook with Simon, her long-term boyfriend of 10 years and childhood sweetheart, she expects a life unlike no other. Starting over at a new job with Simon and setting roots. However, Simon has different plans and falls in love with someone else leaving Cassidy to start over on her own.Cassidy ends up moving in with her sister, Anita, and falling into a post breakup slump. Deciding she’s not going back home for Christmas because she and Simon’s family are so close and he will be there with his new girlfriend/fiancé her sister is determined to get back into the holiday season and spending time together as a family.

Anita organizes an adult advent calendar that will help Callie get back into her old ways. Through a series of tasks and treats Anita hopes that her sister will reset to the person that she used to be. Throughout the tasks, Callie meets Marco, who was also post break up.together, they inadvertently end up completing the calendar and through the month of December. Callie realizes this was exactly what she needed.

This novel is a cute Christmas story. It encompasses everything a reader is looking for with romance, holiday fun, family, and even a little low-key spice. This is a great Christmas read and definitely a page turner to the very end.

Pub Date: October 22, 2024
🌟🌟🌟🌟

I absolutely adored this book from start to finish! So much of what occurs in this story is so relatable. You have meddling family members, small town roots, chance meeting, work environment that involves your ex and the list goes on. This was my first read by this author, but it definitely won’t be my last.

This one was great!!! I’m definitely in the mood for the Christmas season.
Callie is still struggling from her break up as Christmas is approaching. Her ex has moved on and she’d rather just hide. Her sister, Anita, creates an advent calendar for Callie to help her get in the Christmas spirit. This is where the fun begins.
This book was a sweet romance with great character growth and a fun story line. It was well written with lots of heart. Huge thanks to Penguin Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Putnam for this ebook ARC.

This is one of the best books I've read this year. I fully enjoyed it, even with it being October and it being a little early for Christmas books in my opinion. While this book is set around Christmas, it wasn't really Christmasy. Yes, it covers some Christmas tasks like getting a tree and whatnot. But other tasks that Callie has been given for just normal winter activities like sledding and taking a plunge in a freezing cold body of water.

The chemistry between our two main characters, Callie and Marco, is amazing. They are written to be very relatable and realistic. While there is a third act breakup I'm glad it doesn't last long (because it would have driven me insane after how long it took for them to get together in the first place). It's real relationship goals with Callie and Marco and I'm glad Oliver has been fully kicked to the curb.

This was such a great book! I loved it so much, especially the romance! I couldn’t put it down! So glad I read this!

I loved everything about this book. The sister shenanigans and all things Christmas was perfect. The romance was swoony, and FMC's self discovery was great. I will read anything Holly Cassidy writes!

After more than half a year, Callie is still devastated by the breakup with her childhood sweetheart. With the best of intentions, her meddling sister Anita reintroduces a family tradition of an advent calendar comprised of 24 wrapped presents. On odd days, the boxes contain treats and, on the even days, tasks that correspond to the treats. Anita’s hope is that this will encourage Callie to embrace spontaneity and write a new chapter that includes opening herself up to meeting new people. When Anita is sent out of town on a business trip for 3 weeks, she suggests that Callie ask Marco, the handsome pastry chef she had an adorable meet-cute with at the Christmas tree lot, to be her wingman in her place. As the days to Christmas count down and she and Marco spend time together swapping puns and dad jokes, attending community events in their picturesque upstate New York town, and discovering how much they have in common, Callie begins to realize that the greatest gift her sister has given her can’t be found under a tree.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet Christmas romance. Although there’s no spice (fade to black and kissing only), the chemistry between cautious and steady Callie and charming and kind Marco is palpable. There’s some workplace drama, a number of really funny escapades, lots of descriptions of mouth-watering foods, and very little angst. Even though both leads are still in their 20s, there’s a level of maturity that I really appreciate. This is a delightful addition to anyone’s Christmas romance collection.

Thank you Putnam for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Oh my heart. The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy is the quintessential holiday read. It is full of holiday shenanigans and oozes Christmas vibes.

Read if you love:
• cheesy puns and nicknames
• ornery cats
• swoony bakers
• closed door romances
• meddling family members
• small towns
• independent bookstores

Callie can't seem to shake her ex dumping her, so her sister, Anita, sets up an advent calendar challenge for her full of treats and activities. Although Callie doesn't want to participate, she finds herself coming out of her shell and actually enjoying life again. Her ex sees she is happy and immediately begins regretting breaking up with her and moving on so fast. Callie finally gets the nerve to stand up for herself with her boss and others thanks to her sister's constant encouragement. Callie meets Marco at the tree lot and later at the baking event. He seems to be everything she is-loves puns, loves Switzerland etc, I really enjoyed the story between Callie and Marco and the friendship between Callie and Hazel. Every girl needs a BFF behind them! Cute Christmas story!

Beware… puns ahead… 😆⁣
⁣
I am so happy to share this adoraBELL new grinchy and sweet, charming and punny holiday read that released this week! I am sMITTEN. 😍⁣
⁣
Callie is saying SNOW THANKS to all the festivities this year since being dumped, but OH DEER her sister Anita is up to SNOW GOOD and has other plans. She makes a HOLLYDAY advent calendar of fun tasks and sweet treats to get her into the spirit. But SLEIGH it ain’t SNOW - Anita is called away for work - so Callie must do the challenges alone… until spoonful of sugar Marco steps in and has Callie PINE-ing.⁣
⁣
I can totally relate to Callie’s TREE-mendous grinchiness as I feel this every year. By time the holiday spirit arrives for me and I start feeling SANTA-mental it’s usually time to ring in the new year so I am BRANCHING out and staring the holiday reads early this year to soak up the holiday feels and get rid of my resting GRINCH face. THIS is the most adorable read and I just adored every minute of it, FIR sure!⁣
⁣
If your looking for something to get you out of grinch mode, a big lover of all the puns, or just love Christmas... this book totally SLEIGHS!

Such a cute Christmas romance! It had all the holiday vibes and is a nice, clean read for those of us who don’t like spice.

Thank you for an ARC copy of this book! It was such a sweet read.

The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy is guaranteed to get you into the holiday spirit with 24 days of holiday treats and tasks, a bit of hi-jinks, and romance.

Callie Meyer has had a tough year. She's been a funk ever since her boyfriend of a decade unceremoniously dumped her. The worst part, she still has to work with him. Wait, that's not the worst part. They're mothers are best friends and they grew up living next door to each other and now Callie doesn't want to go home for the holidays for fear of seeing him with his new girlfriend. Yeah, that's definitely the worst part.

Callie's sister won't let Callie sit out the holidays and challenges her to complete an advent calendar full of challenges to "reignite her belief in herself, the holidays, and love."

This was a really fun holiday romance with really well-done pacing, romantic timing, and character growth. It's a joy to see Callie blossom in the light of being seen and loved for who she is by her friends, family, and the green flag of a man that destiny throws her way. The holiday tasks and treats are so nostalgic and they made me think of my own fond holiday memories.

Thank you to Holly Cassidy, Penguin Putnam, and Netgalley for choosing me to receive the eARC of The Christmas Countdown in exchange for my honest opinion. I honestly really enjoyed it and can't wait to share it with my holiday romance-loving friends. Four Stars.

Let me brutally honest. When it comes to Christmas rom-coms I’m an easy mark. I generally won’t if they are formulaic, full of cliches, or have storylines that I’ve seen a million times before. Heck, more than 50% of the movies saved on my DVR are Hallmark Christmas movies. They are my well known guilty pleasure. This is all my rambling way to say that I was predisposed to like Holly Cassidy’s newest book, The Christmas Countdown. But even saying that, I was still surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. Now the idea of an advent calendar isn’t new to me, though the ones I am familiar with merely feature a mediocre piece of chocolate each day. I loved the idea of mixing in days of challenges (service) with rewards. So much so that I’m thinking of doing something similar with my family this year.

So now that I’ve rambled even more than usual, what’s The Christmas Countdown about? If it were up to Callie she’d skip Christmas completely. In fact that is what she is planning to down. Rather than head home with her sister this year and celebrate Christmas with her family, she’s decided she’d rather stay where she is and bury herself in her work. Why? Well it could have something to do with her boyfriend dumping her not long ago, taking up with a new woman and getting engaged. Why would that keep her from going home? Her ex-boyfriend (who she’d been with forever) just happens to be the son of her mother’s best friend and their families have always celebrated the holiday together. Callie wants to give a big bah humbug to Christmas (and love), but her sister isn’t about to let that happen and sets up an Advent challenge calendar with the aim of getting Callie to get back into the spirit of the season…and maybe just find love again. I loved Callie and Marco. Their pun filled flirting was corny, but in an absolutely adorable way. At the time of my writing this review it’s still only August, but this story already has me feeling the Christmas spirit. I’d like to thank Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Christmas Countdown.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3NS26XA87W8XW/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This is super cute! Who wouldn’t love a heart on the mend mixed family adventure!
The going home to a small town and evade the ex while meeting someone new is always fun! This book is perfect for lifting the holiday spirits when things don’t go your way in life!

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was sweet, fun, steamy, heart-warming and kept me reading. I enjoyed this book and will look for more books by this author.

This book is heavy on the Christmas spirit, which I appreciate from a Christmas themed romance. The premise is cute and the advent challenges were cute and helped move the story. The romance felt a bit off, perhaps because I feel like we don’t really get to know the MMC all that well. There’s some personal growth, a sprinkle of plot, and family drama to round it all out. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.