Thank you so much to Atria Books for my copy of Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters in exchange for an honest review. It published October 22, 2024.
I had really high hopes for this book, the blurb made it sound so good! Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand the main character. I felt like she was very annoying, rude, and ungrateful. I get that she didn’t love the movie, but goodness gracious, stop telling us you don’t like it!
I also hated how much she hated her niece, how many times did she have to refer to her niece as a demon spawn or some other awful name? She’s a terrible aunt. (I take being an auntie very seriously!)
Overall, I found the premise of this book to fall flat, and I so hoped all the Christmas movies and art would redeem it for me. But I couldn’t wait for it to end.

3.5 ⭐️

First off, I hope the title was intentional because anytime I see it, I start singing the song from Love Actually.

This was a cutesy, Christmas romcom. Definitely gives Hallmark vibes. If this is your vibe, you'd definitely like this book. Not my favorite holiday book I've read but definitely worth the read.

Very quick and cute Christmas romance from Martha Waters! We follow former child start Charlotte who was in a cult classic christmas movie and Graham who lives where the movie was filmed and is trying to find ways to save his ancestral home. The two hit it off and have quite the adventures scouting out other Christmas locations for an art series. But the more time they spend together the more real the feelings they have for each other get. Will they survive Christmas and make it to New Year's? A cute and well done read from Martha Waters, I look forward to what she does next!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

This Christmas read was a pleasant surprise. I loved reading this story and was immediately drawn in by the prose. Would read again and again!

4/5 stars

Thank you Atria Books for the advanced reading copy!

I really enjoyed this book while reading it, and had a hard time putting it down! This just connected to me perfectly in the moment I picked it up, and was a lot of fun to read in early December while getting ready for the holidays myself. The FMC was annoying to me at times. Her obsession with being a child star didn't totally connect with me and came off whiney. This didn't overtake the rest of the story, though! The romance was really sweet and while it did teeter into insta-love for me, it was still cute and believable. A Christmas book needs great supporting characters in my opinion, and this one nailed it. Plus, the fun holiday references and activities made this story feel all around magical. Great holiday read!

Would read a grocery list by Martha! This was such a cozy read with little bits and pieces of BRIDGET JONES, LOVE, ACTUALLY, and THE HOLIDAY sewn in. There's just something about London at Christmastime!

The female MC was absolutely miserable. It was really hard to connect with her. Frankly I was bored.

This was a pretty good Christmas romance! I loved the author’s Regency series and this wasn’t as good as those, but it was a light, fun read for the holidays.

REVIEW: Christmas is All Around 3.5

Charlotte is a former child actor in a hit Christmas movie. She hated acting and decided she didn’t like Christmas anymore either. Graham owns the house where the film is set in London. When Charlotte visits her sister’s family in London, they accidentally go to the house. While Charlotte tries to hide, she runs into Graham, who is undressing as a reindeer.

Christmas is All Around has many of the typical holiday rom-com elements. It takes place the month around Christmas and features many different Christmas movie titles. The magic, cozy feeling of Christmas plus the London setting put me in the holiday feeling. Graham and Charlotte give off sunshine and grumpy, respectively, and opposites attract. I love the banter and chemistry between the main characters that add humor, romance, and a bit of heat to the story. There were so many cute romantic gestures; I adored Graham as a character.

A few things just didn’t hit the mark for me. Much of the book felt stretched out and long, and it seemed like nothing was happening. I tried not to skip ahead in some areas because it was just slow. The conflict of the miscommunication trope was very arbitrary and seemed to wrap up quickly. It just didn’t make a good conflict. I was also a little disappointed that the ending didn’t feel complete. I still have some lingering questions.

Overall, Christmas is All Around had funny, cute, festive, and romantic moments. I enjoyed parts of the story, but it needs some tweaking.

Thank you, Netgalley and Atria Books, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

3.5/5 stars

This was a cute and charming Christmas romance with a woman who hates Christmas and a charming English man - the perfect recipe for a Hallmark movie (which it actually is emulating). Was it corny at times? Absolutely, but it was charming and it got me in the holiday spirit.

The FMC hates Christmas due to being in a holiday movie as a kid and her identity being connected to that film instead of her art career. It was very much a main point with her character, which could get a little annoying at times, but wasn't enough to turn me off altogether. I loved her and the MMCs relationship and how it blossomed over their time together. The book had just a dash of spice in this one which was a nice little cherry on top. I wish there was a little more development with their relationship, but honestly, it very much fits the fast-paced fell-in-love-on-Christmas that so many Hallmark-type movies create.

I didn't love the ending being so on the nose, and would have liked a little less conflict for the sake of conflict, but again, it fits the holiday movie tropes so it made sense. I wish there was an epilogue to see where they ended up, but overall a cute holiday book if you're looking for one this year!

Overall, if you go in with the expectation of holiday romance movie in a book, you'll be entertained. A sweet and sassy with a little bit of spice holiday romcom set in England over Christmas - you really can't go wrong!

Thank you Atria for a copy of this book!

A delightful grump/grump Christmas that put me in mind of one of my movie faves the Holiday. An easy, CUTE Christmas read to get you in the spirit, no matter the time of year!

Thank you Atria and Netgalley for the ARC!

A sweet, lighthearted holiday rom-com. FMC hates Christmas, meets MMC and finds herself spending more and more time with him. Not my usual read but nice for this time of year :)

“Christmas is All Around” is out now!

As a child, Charlotte’s only acting job was a role in a popular Christmas movie. Now there are rumors of a reboot, but Charlotte wants nothing to do with it and leaves to spend the holidays with her sister in London. While there she ends up at one of the filming locations for the movie and meets Garahm, the son of the home’s owners. She agrees to partner with him to bring in more money for the house by commissioning illustrations from iconic London holiday movie locations to sell in his home. Graham agrees to accompany her to the various locations and as they spend time together Charlotte can’t help feeling the magic of Christmas.
As someone who loves to rewatch iconic holiday movies (why do all of the best ones take place in London?) I loved this premise! This book was so much fun to read! Between the picturesque setting, the witty banter, and the entertaining cast of side characters, this is a holiday book that I can see myself rereading!
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A perfect Christmas romance, and exactly what I predicted a Martha Waters contemporary would be: just as smart and funny and slightly acerbic as her historicals. Absolutely loved it.

This book has a great message at the end! I thought the idea of this story and overall plot was really interesting (those roles are iconic!) but the negativity was a little much for me and dragged the story down for me in the first chunk.

Charlotte just wants to escape to her sister's in London for the holidays. She was a bit of a social media target for refusing to be part of a sequel/reboot of the beloved holiday movie she was in as a child. She is now a successful illustrator running her own business - and running far far away from show business which is basically the family business.

There is so much Christmas in this book and I loved it. Charlotte's sister and in-laws are planning on doing all the traditional things for baby Alice's first Christmas. Charlotte is reluctantly going along but she'll complain the whole time. Then one outing to a country manor turns out to be the UK setting of the Charlotte's movie. The family at Eden Priory commissions Charlotte to paint the manor as well as other famous film locations. The hunky Graham is enlisted to be her tour guide. There's some good banter, lots of festivities, and some minor family dramas to be resolved.

I found myself wanting to see Charlotte's illustrations of these fictional houses in fictional holiday movies. I would really love a sequel set five or six years in the future when Alice is old enough to enjoy spending time with her Auntie Charlotte. Graham can come too but really I want more Alice.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this. #ChristmasIsAllAround #NetGalley

I really liked this book! I don't usually love Christmas romance books, but I was very pleasantly surprised with this. I absolutely love Martha Water's Regency Vows series, so I was very excited to get into her contemporary romance debut; it did not disappoint! I thought the premise for this story sounded really fun and interesting, and it was very well executed! As always, I loved the writing style and flew through this in two sittings. I adored the setting of this story, and I really loved Graham and Charlotte together as well! I loved their banter and watching their relationship develop! I also really liked the side characters! Overall, I would 100% recommend that you add this to your winter/holiday TBR, and as always, I can't wait to read whatever Martha Waters puts out next! :)

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. I was not able to get into the celebrity aspect so I did not finish.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review! This felt like it could be the next Lindsay Lohan holiday movie. It’s about a former child actress who hates the holidays spending Christmas in London with family and of course she meets a handsome man. Instead of grumpy/sunshine, it was grumpy/grumpy. They both were Debbie downers and I couldn’t really make myself care about the story. They had some funny banter. Overall it was sweet & cheesy just like you’d expect.. just not my cup of tea.

Really enjoyed this book. I loved the focus on Christmas movies. Such a fun storyline. Love UK at Christmastime.