This book was actually painful for me to read. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but the back half was seriously so insane. The characters had no chemistry. I didn’t really want them to be together. The plot made no sense to me the whole drama with her being a star and hating the movie all of it just made no sense and really felt overall like a giant mess.

I finally finished my first book post-baby! This ended up being one of my favorite Christmas romances I’ve read. Cheesy without being TOO cheesy, romantic without being TOO romantic, and funny without trying TOO hard to be funny. I really liked Charlotte and Graham and their slow burn romance, and I think Waters did a great job adding a hint of spice without being too gratuitous. A solid holiday-themed book, and I especially loved that it was set in London because I absolutely fell in love with London during Christmastime when I was there last year. 🎄🎅🏼✨

I loved this anti-Christmas Christmas romance. It was amusing, swoony, and fun.

Charlotte Lane is not a fan of Christmas. She is a former child star of a beloved Christmas film and would love nothing more than to escape that notoriety. Graham is the owner of a historic British estate, that happened to be the place that a scene from Charlotte's movie was filmed at. He is struggling to keep the aging mansion afloat. They team up to make the most of the Christmas season, but end up falling in love along the way. But when drama comes up, can they work it out?

This was so cute. It had such iconic Christmassy scenes. Carolers? Christmas markets? Tree lighting? All here. I loved Charlotte's dismay of the cheer of the season. I liked she maintained that core skepticism while learning to appreciate the season. Graham was sweet and totally British. I loved the romance tropes that were featured. I also enjoyed the siblings and their antics, although the baby screaming got a little repetitive. One thing I think this book could have used was an epilogue. These two were signing up for a long distance relationship across the pond. That's a lot. Give me more wrap up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Atria for the copy of this book!

CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND was a super cute and quick holiday romance. I loved the inclusion of a holiday movie within the storyline and how it connected our characters and drove the plot. Really unique idea and well done!

This one was charming! I'll admit I was skeptical at first. For some reason Christmas romances just haven't hit me in the feels as much as they used to but this one grew on me. And had me trying to figure out a way I can plan a trip to London at Christmas time.

Charlotte starred in a Christmas movie as a child but really wants nothing to do with it as an adult. Graham owns the home used in the filming of the movie and the two have their own meet cute. Romance ensues around a charming cast of characters in the picturesque London and surround English countryside.

I enjoyed this story and they even poked a little bit of fun at the cheesiness of the holiday season.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is delightful and such a fun Christmas time story! I was surprised given the other books by Martha I’ve read but this was a delight. I liked the characters and the plot was interesting and the seasonal Christmas adventure in England is perfect for my Christmas vibes!

Love, Actually, though at times problematic, is one of my favorite Christmas movies, so the fact that this is based around a reboot of a fake movie called Christmas, Truly is amazing.

I thought this book was well rounded with lots of characters surrounding the two MCs.

The main character was a little annoying. I get you didn’t love your childhood stardom, but you gotta move past it! It also took me too long to feel the connection between the MCs. I wanted more pining and tension cause once it happened it was great!

This was a very festive and heartfelt read! Interesting characters who can COMMUNICATE. They don't try to hide their feelings and the relationship developed naturally. The only big miss for me was that the FMC's dislike of Christmas wasn't really explained other than her parents suck. Cute concept and enjoyable execution. I recommend this holiday romance.

I was drawn to this book because of the premise of a former child actor who starred in a famous Christmas movie hates Christmas. I thought it would be funny and plucky and adorable. It was sweet and slow and a little boring. Not a whole lot happened. The romance was a very slow burn with not that many feels. It was average, not a lot there to get excited about. It was fine if you are just looking for a Christmasy book set in London.

Charlotte Lane hates Christmas.

This is due, in no small part, to her role in a modern classic Christmas film twenty years ago when she was a child. It was her one and only acting role, and yet her fame from that movie tends to overshadow her work as an independent commercial artist. When Charlotte refuses to participate in a modern reboot of the film, the backlash from rabid fans sends her fleeing from her apartment in NYC to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas with her sister Ava and Ava's in-laws.

But what Charlotte doesn't know is that she is heading into her very own holiday romance, complete with a meet-cute, plenty of holiday backdrops, and a gaggle of Christmas carolers. Christmas is All Around does an excellent job of being the holiday romance book for people who want warm holiday feels without the toothache of the overly saccharine fare some channels are known for -- and that some people treasure.

I appreciated that no elements of this book ever felt too extreme. Charlotte is a pragmatic Christmas-hating grouch, but she isn't completely unreasonable. Her romantic interest, Graham, is confident without being cocky or smug. The characters display a bit more maturity than what I feel like I usually see in most romantic comedies. (There is a fight due to miscommunication, but it feels realistic and is resolved in ways that adults would deal with something.)

So, if you are like me and you want to read a holiday romance but you are not huge on either the holidays or romances -- this book is really what you are looking for! It has charm in spades and a demon baby with whom I can fully relate.

This book is fun, but not super christmassy, other than the time of year and some of the settings. I really enjoyed the romance, but overall I was just kind of bored. This is good for those wanting to dip their toes into the world of holiday books.

This was so adorable!! Charlotte, a child actor of a popular Christmas movie hates her early fame as she pursues a career in art prints. When the internet learns that she refused to appear in the sequel some 15 years later, the internet attacks her. Escaping NY to visit her sister Ava in London, England for a 6 week holiday at Christmas time, she accidentally stumbles into the home where her counterpart of the movie was filmed. She meets the man who’s family owns the house and over the course of her stay in England, the two dabble in flirtatious trips around England after he hires her to paint portraits of other popular London homes to stock in their gift shop.

This was full of witty banter, hilarious side characters, and beautiful intimate moments between our two main characters as they relived popular Christmas movie locations. I loved that Graham was a son forced to take care of his family home after his dad’s passing. Despite his initial resentment of the task and his British stiff upper lip attitude, he had so much decency and honor and just really loved his family so much. Charlotte conversely realizes that her family and friends aren’t truly concerned about her and she begins to spiral over her life as a whole. Is she making the right choices?

Graham and Charlotte find comfort in each other and slowly over the course of her stay begin a courtship of sorts. I’ll say that in one scene Charlotte needs to go shopping for a dress for her neice and Graham took over and it was HOT! I love a confident man! These two compliment each other and held space for one another to express their issues and explain their lives without judgement. They both lifted the other up constantly.

This was classic Martha Waters with the banter and one liners! As a fan of her regency pieces I was so excited for a christmastime modern romance! This had everything I loved!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I absolutely love Waters’ regency novels but Christmas Is All Around was fun, witty, and heart warming! It’s a great Christmas romance and a definite treat.

I like to read a Christmas book or two this time of year, and this one fit the bill. I thought it would be a quick read since it was pretty short, but I did have times when I felt it was slow. Overall a pleasant read though.

Christmas is All Around by Martha Waters is a cute holiday rom com set in a London Christmas. Charlotte heads to England to spend the holidays with her sister and family, despite hating Christmas. She has never gotten over being recognized for being a child star from a popular holiday movie and so she avoids Christmas at all costs. Despite this, she heads to the site of the holiday movie for an event and of course meets a handsome stranger, that while she doesn’t know it at the time, has a lot to do with this part of her past. As they fall in love, will Charlotte be able to get past his connection to Christmas, Truly?

Cute story and characters. Predictable—but in a good, Christmas story way.

A cozy holiday modern romance for your TBR this season.

There's not much "com," in this supposed rom-com, and a too much rehashing of Charlotte's former child star issues make this a three instead of a five for me. Still, it kept my attention. I read it in a day.

Graham was a good, kind leading man with GLASSES. Which is good enough for one star on its own! The one sex scene was on the short-side and only about a 5 on the spicy scale. If you're a fan of Waters' historical rom coms, be advised that this is quite different.

Waited until Christmas time to read this one. Definitely hallmark vibes. Spice 2/5. At first it was hard to feel the chemistry between the two main characters but it got there towards the end.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster/Atria for the opportunity to review this title. I am a Martha Waters fan, having read her Regency Vows series, so I was incredibly excited when I was asked to read this merry romance. Martha writes her characters with this sarcastic sense of humor I find so charming! I must admit, it was a slow start and the ending fell a little short for me, but if you're a sucker for all things Hallmark Christmas movie, this fits the vibe, with some spice mixed in!

Charlotte Lane can't seem to escape the Christmas movie she acted in as a child--it's followed her her entire life, and now that's she's turned down acting in a sequel, total strangers are accosting her. When she flees to her sister's house in London, she thinks she'll finally get a break from it--until they attend an event at the house where her character's counterpart's scenes were filmed. And even worse, the house belongs to a gorgeous, sweet man she finds herself drawn to.

I absolutely adored Christmas Is All Around. I loved Charlotte, Graham, and the whole cast of characters. I also rally loved that (spoilers incoming) Charlotte stuck to her resolve not to do the sequel. A part of me worried that that would factor into the resolution, and I loved that it didn't--but that she found her own way to make peace with things, which felt very true to her. I'd read Martha Waters's historical books and I loved getting to read a contemporary by her, too!

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own. This blog post includes affiliate links.

After reading a couple of Martha Waters’ historical romances, I was curious to see what her contemporary Christmas Is All Around would be like.

The verdict: despite the FMC, who sometimes seems oblivious, this book ends up being heartwarming.

There’s so much discourse about unlikable heroines but the truth is that Charlotte is kind of annoying at times. I thought she was unfair toward her sister & surprisingly high-maintenance herself, given her vocal distaste for the movie she was in as a child & her dislike of Christmas.

But…I also like how Graham likes her crabbiness. There’s something nice about someone falling in love with a grumpy, not always very self-aware lead, & the way that the characters overall engage with each other is cute.

This isn’t a book that will be perennial holiday fave for me, but it was enjoyable & sweet & real, if you know a holiday grump or are one yourself ;).