I want to thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. I really really enjoyed this book. I thought it was really cute and I would highly recommend!

Synopsis: Charlotte starred in a hit Christmas movie as a child and never acted again. When she refuses to star in a reboot of the movie, her fans are angry, leading her to flee to her sister's home in London where she still can't escape her past.
Thoughts: I thought this was very cute! The Christmas aesthetics are perfect - London and the English countryside, a chaotic family, and Christmas movies.
The movie Charlotte starred in as a child has strong Love, Actually vibes, which I thought was fun. The romance is sweet and has great chemistry. Just an all around feel good holiday romance that I really enjoyed!
Read this if you like:
Christmas movies
London and English countryside setting family drama forced proximity rom coms

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I had read the books of Waters before and enjoyed their Regency feel as well as the wit. While this is a modern-day set novel, it still retained the wit of her previous work. It was a very sweet treat to enjoy during the holiday season which did hit the romance novel tropes and also improved on them. 3.75 stars.

Christmas Is All Around is a romance about a child actor known for the Christmas movie she starred in and an incident that incites her to run away to London to stay with her sister. While in London, they visit an estate that happens to be one of the filming locations for the film that changed her life. There, she meets one of the estate's owners. She slowly starts to fall for him, but will her history affect them if they end up together?

Martha Waters delivers a holiday rom-com brimming with charm and wit in Christmas Is All Around. It's the perfect cozy read to spark your holiday spirit-even if you're a Christmas skeptic like Charlotte.
Charlotte, a former child star famous for her role in a beloved holiday movie, wishes she could escape the season altogether. Fleeing New York for London, she joins her sister's festive frenzy of baby's first Christmas, only to stumble into even more yuletide chaos at Eden Priory, a picturesque English manor and filming location from her movie.
There, Charlotte meets Graham-thoughtful, warm, and surprisingly charming, even without his felt reindeer costume. When his family commissions her to illustrate iconic holiday movie scenes, Graham becomes her guide through a snow-dusted London and its whimsical filming locations. Along the way, Charlotte finds herself reluctantly swept into the season's magic and closer to a man who might just make her believe in more than mistletoe.
Waters weaves humor and heart into a story as cozy as a crackling fire. With swoon-worthy moments, laugh-out-loud banter, and a richly atmospheric setting, Christmas Is All Around sparkles like the first snowfall.
This is more than a love story-it's a celebration of unexpected joy, holiday traditions, and second chances.

This story is a festive, heartwarming romance that captures the magic of the holiday season with a generous dose of charm and humor.

Set in a picturesque town filled with holiday decorations, the story follows two main characters—an unexpected couple who, much like many holiday rom-coms, find themselves thrown together in a series of amusing and sweet circumstances. While the plot may feel familiar to readers of seasonal romance, the book's warmth and charm help elevate it into something fun and enjoyable.

The romance between the protagonists is sweet and easy-going, with a slow-burn quality that many readers will enjoy. There’s plenty of witty banter and chemistry between the characters, though the romantic tension didn’t always have the emotional depth or complexity of a more dramatic love story. Nevertheless, the light nature of the romance matches the tone of the holiday setting and keeps the read breezy and feel-good.

Overall, *Christmas Is All Around* is a sweet and festive holiday romance that hits all the right notes for readers seeking a cozy, feel-good escape. It’s the perfect book to curl up with by the fireplace or bring along on a winter getaway. While it may not be groundbreaking in its storytelling, it provides an enjoyable and comforting read that captures the magic of Christmas with all the warmth and joy one could hope for in a holiday romance.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC!

CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND🎄✨

Charlotte starred in a Christmas movie as a child and when they want to do a reboot, she is nearing 30 and completely over it (and over Christmas in general.) She travels to London at Christmas time to spend 6 weeks with her sister and meets Graham, whose family owns the English manor that part of the movie she starred in was filmed.

This was a short and cute Christmas romance! I enjoyed the story and loved that it was set in London, it made me want to travel there during the holidays - so cozy!🥰

Overall an enjoyable read with an interesting premise but I felt as though the pacing was a little slow for my taste. I liked it, but it wasn’t my fav holiday read I picked up this season.

I also learned that Brits call the time between Christmas and New Years “Betwixtmas” which is the cutest phrase ever and will def become part of my vocab moving forward.

Christmas is All Around by Martha Waters is a charming holiday rom-com that follows a former child star as she rediscovers the magic of the season. With witty banter and heartwarming characters, this delightful read is perfect for cozying up with during the holidays.

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

This was fine but Waters is a HistRom star. I wish the business would respect her for it and have her back under contract for that instead.

Charlotte Lane can't seem to escape her past as a child actor in an iconic Christmas film. Not only does Charlotte not act anymore, she hates Christmas and now she is being blamed for the cancellation of a second Christmas movie. She can't wait to get out of NY for the holidays and spend time with her sister in London. Unfortunately, she finds herself living out her Christmas RomCom nightmares when she accidentally visits a house that was used in the film she starred in as a child. Its not all bad though, the owner of the house very attractive, bespectacled man. When he hires Charlotte to create a collection of illustrations of Iconic movie sites, Charlotte jumps at the chance to miss out on some of the Christmas outings her family has planned for her. As they visit adorable towns, villages, and hamlets, Charlotte and Graham find that they might have more holiday spirit than they first thought.

A light-hearted but emotional romance, with Waters signature wit and humor. I enjoyed Charlotte and Graham's quick banter and the growth both characters seemed to gain over the course of the book. An all around cozy, fun Holiday romance.

What is your favorite Christmas movie? I have so many favorites! My overall favorite Christmas movie and just one of my favorite movies of all time is It’s a Wonderful Life.

As a nine-year-old, Charlotte starred in what would become a classic Christmas movie. As an adult, she has tried to distance herself from it and become an artist on her own merit. On a visit with her sister in England, she ends up at Eden Priory and recognizes it as a setting from the movie she starred in as a kid. She runs into a man changing into a reindeer costume, Graham, and they strike up a friendship based on a mutual dislike of Christmas. Graham and his family commission Charlotte to create iconic Christmas scenes into illustrations to display to help keep the historic home running. Will Graham and Charlotte have their own Christmas romance?

My thoughts on this novel:
• I loved the look into Christmas romance movies and their tropes. They experienced so many of the tropes including being stuck in an inn with only one room left.

• I enjoyed that slowly through the book, despite hating Christmas romance, Charlotte and Graham soon find themselves living in a Hallmark movie.

• I loved the trips the two main characters take to Christmas locations around England.

• Charlotte and Graham have great chemistry.

• I would love to see this as a movie!

• I have enjoyed this author’s Regency romance, and I thought this contemporary romance was just as fun.

• I also always like love stories that include saving an old historic home.

Overall, Christmas is all Around by Martha Waters was a fun contemporary Christmas romance. I highly recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc of Christmas All Around. This was a cute holiday rom com. I really enjoyed it. I needed more holiday reads to add to my tbr and this was perfect. I rated this a 5 stars and I would recommend reading it.

This British holiday romance has a dry wit, and some truly quotable lines. I thought it was going to be a second chance romance but instead it was a meet cute take on a Hallmark story.

This book is just what you would expect. It is sweet, simple, and full of Christmas vibes. I really enjoyed our main character and love interest. The only thing that could have made this one better would be dual pov

This is a book I frankly picked because I love Christmas and loved the cover. I ended up loving the characters and their banter around Charlotte and Graham. I’ll plan to reread this one for fun next Christmas!

This is one of my favorite Christmas books out this year. I liked the characters, (the baby and her sister are funny!) and the London and English country manor settings make it feel extra Christmassy.

Charlotte Lane is an artist in NYC. When she was younger, she was in a now-classic Christmas movie that people want to remake, but she’s not interested and she’s getting criticized online. She goes to England to vacation with her sister’s family and draw locations from holiday movies.

When she gets Eden Priory, where “her” movie was filmed, she meets Graham, current owner of the house that’s been in his family for generations. Graham is trying desperately to keep the house going, but money is tight.

As Charlotte and Graham spend time together, they develop serious feelings. Will Charlotte use her celebrity to help Graham? Can they ma a long distance relationship work?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is the Christmas book for the casual to indifferent Christmas enjoyer who just wants to try something festive. The main character, Charlotte, had a small role in a beloved Christmas movie as a child and has been running into some issues when it comes out that she has passed on a sequel for it. Since being in this movie, she is a certified Christmas grinch. Unfortunately for her, her sister Amy has roped her into a lot of Christmas activities on Charlotte's visit to England. They accidentally end up at the house where a key scene from the movie that Charlotte was in as a child was filmed and as she is hiding, she runs into Graham, one of the owners of the house. The story goes from there. It isn't overly Christmassy, which is perfectly fine with me as I'm not a huge Christmas person. I thought the romance was cute, though I felt like at moments the two got a little serious in their conversations in a way that seemed kind of forced to me. That could just be because we were kind of in a time crunch with the vacation and there is a little bit of a countdown in the story. Overall, though I thought this was an enjoyable, cute little holiday romance.
3.5 Stars rounded to 4.

I was such a big fan of Martha Water’s Regency Vows series, so I was very curious to see how her writing translated from Regency-era romance to contemporary romance, especially a holiday romance. I have to say she delivered for the most part. The premise of this book is so unique and unlike anything I have ever read: a disgruntled child star who hates Christmas. I also found the love interest of Graham to be very unique and interesting. Not only was he a cute man with glasses, but he was fighting to preserve the home that his family-owned. This storyline was one of my favorites in the book. I love how much Graham's dedication to the house was a representation of his feelings towards his late father. This was expertly done!

I am always very weary of female main characters who are artists as they always seem to be very corny and lack any type of connection to being an artist, the only purpose is to serve as a foil to a corporate girl boss persona. But I found that I really enjoyed that Charlotte was an artist, and that is actually what brought our two main characters together, which served as the reason that they had to continually spend time together. The whole thing felt very much like a holiday movie, and I enjoyed this book as a fun holiday romance. That is until the third act breakup, which I found to be annoying and silly. I am always a proponent of a third-act breakup and a bit of miscommunication as we are reading to see our characters work through conflict and be able to choose each other after it and become stronger on the other side. But, in this case, I felt as if the third-act break was so silly, only served to create a break in the relationship, and didn’t really help our characters. I think there were much better ways for Charlotte to resolve her feelings around the film and also for Graham and her to create a strong foundation for their relationship.

Despite my gripes with the ending, this was a fun and self-aware holiday book that I would recommend!

A little steam with an adorable story!

This was so cute! The main characters were easy to like, even though we only get one POV, and I loved the tour and all the little Christmas spots they visited. The markets, the stores - this story is amazing about getting someone into the holiday spirit! I also love that one main character is tied to a holiday movie. It's a cute read - a perfect Christmas read!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Christmas is All Around was a delightful holiday read. It was fun to see Charlotte and Graham’s relationship build, along with a cast of interesting side characters and British Christmas time antics. The frame of child star Charlotte who hates Christmas making peace with Christmas movies and her feelings about her early stardom while helping Graham move forward to save his beloved family home. The story was very charming!