This has been the best book I've read in quite a while
It is very engaging and interesting.
Jill a wanna be screenwriter sabotage her relationship with Grant, the hunky chef. Jill is full of drama and self destructive.
This is a Hallmark movie inside a real life story.
Very well written, easy to like the characters as they develop and an easy read.

A Heartwarming and Enchanting Holiday Read

Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer is a charming and cozy holiday novel that perfectly captures the spirit of the season. Ideal for reading by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa, this story blends humor, emotion, and a touch of magical realism to deliver a heartfelt and entertaining experience.

The novel follows Jill, a woman who leaves her small hometown in Illinois to pursue her dream of becoming a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Still carrying the heartbreak of a Christmas Eve breakup three years prior, Jill returns home for the holidays—only to find herself waking up in the middle of a magical, heartwarming Christmas story. What unfolds is a delightful narrative full of love, joy, reflection, and hope.

Palmer’s writing is accessible and engaging, with a character-driven plot that gradually builds momentum. While the story begins at a slower pace, it soon finds its rhythm, drawing readers into its festive world. The novel offers a well-executed storyline complete with romance, gentle twists, and a satisfying, feel-good ending. It includes light romantic elements, a sprinkle of “spice,” and remains a clean, uplifting read throughout.

This book will particularly appeal to fans of Hallmark Christmas movies, thanks to its warmth, lovable characters, and nostalgic charm. I appreciated the novel’s thoughtful structure, emotional depth, and overall joyful tone. Palmer is an author I’ll definitely be reading more from in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, author Iva-Marie Palmer, and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read this digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. Christmas People is scheduled for publication on September 30, 2025.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy. Opinions are my own.

You are either a Christmas person or you are not. That's the way Jill Jacobs sees things. She puts herself in the category of not a Christmas person after her heart was broken on Christmas Eve several years ago.Since then she moved to LA and is a struggling screenwriter. But to please her parents she goes back home for Christmas and comes face-to-face with her ex and what led to their breakup. Throw in some Christmas magic and alternate reality and Jill finds a way to become part of the Christmas People living in her hometown.

This book is sweet and swoony and perfect to read anytime of the year. It's will make you feel warm and cozy . It's the perfect Hallmark Channel movie in a book. Don't miss this one!

Such a cute, fun, feel good holiday story. The characters and plot will have you giggle and sigh all in the same chapter. If you love a little second chance, holiday romance this is the book for you.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this one! I am such a big fan of alternate universe/sliding doors/second chance stories, and one centered around Christmas is an automatic YES from me. The characters were perfectly drawn out, both being Christmas rom-com cliches and specific at the same time. I also love the irreverence, so it's not a squeaky clean book, but a fun romp in a Hallmark-style Christmas town. A great one for the holidays!

This is a cute, cozy, Christmas story with a twist. Jill, a screenwriter want-to-be who is stuck in crummy jobs to pay the rent is looking for that one story that will help her make it big. When she decides to go home for Christmas, she finds herself in a spot. She is not in a Christmas mood, her mother is preparing for a big holiday, and her ex-boyfriend is also home for the holidays.
When she falls asleep in Santa's sleigh in the park, she wakes up in her town, but it has changed into a cozy, Christmas town. Suddenly, her life is turned upside, and she is going to have to endure it until she finds a way to get back home. Can she become a Christmas person? How will she ever get her life back? And does she really want it back?

Thank you to Negalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Set in Powell Park, Illinois, for the holidays, Jill travels home for the first time in three years. She has been hoping to avoid her ex Grant, especially with her screenwriting career in the dumpster. When she has a drunken encounter with him and falls asleep in a sleigh, she wakes up in Sweetville, a Hallmark movie Christmas town based on her own hometown. Everything is perfect, including her family as well as the town shops. She finds out she just has to get a happily ever after to return home. Her high school crush seems the perfect candidate, until she runs into Grant again. As she tries to figure out how to get home while also competing in a Christmas cookie competition, she also has to reckon with why her relationship with Grant ended and if she has the courage to "open her heart" to love.

This is a spicy, screwball, slightly irreverent Christmas love story. Loved the idea of her having to write her own story. I found it a little too much in Jill's head, but that said, the ending of this book made it shine for me.

I think this would be great for fans of In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren (alternative timeline) or Faking Christmas by Kerry Winfrey (screwball comedy), both set during the holidays.

This holiday romance features:
🎄 Second Chance
🎄 Alternative Timeline
🎄 Christmas expectations vs reality
🎄 Hallmark movie like premise
🎄 Delicious cookies

Open Door / Spicy (one explicit chapter)

3.75 / 5 stars

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC!

Jill is so insufferable even all the hallmark (heartfelt!!) magic can’t make her be logical or stop stupidity miscommunications. The setting is the perfect traditional Christmas book, I mean this is a Hallmark storyline if there ever was one, shes literally inside a Hallmark movie, but I could not care to root for Jill. I was rooting for Grant and even loved her baker crush, but didnt want any of them to end up with Jill. That does not bode well for the story

This was really cute! Jill is struggling to make a career from screenwriting and goes home for Christmas. While there she encounters her ex and during a drunken night out, she winds up in a Hallmark-esque reality. To get out of it, she decides to go after her widowed childhood crush and trying to avoid the aforementioned ex. Jill was easy to relate to, and I enjoyed it.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer is like a Hallmark movie that went to college, got a master’s degree in character development, and came back with better jokes.

From the first page, I was hooked like a candy cane on a pine branch. Palmer manages to pack heart, humor, and holiday chaos into one delightful story that had me alternating between laughing out loud and Googling how early is too early to put up Christmas decorations (spoiler: July is fine).

The characters are quirky, charming, and so relatable that I briefly considered sending them all a Christmas card. The dialogue crackles with wit, the plot is as cozy as a cup of cocoa, and the emotional moments sneak up on you like a sentimental ninja in an ugly sweater.

This book is for anyone who loves Christmas, good storytelling, and characters that feel like old friends you didn’t know you were missing. Also, if you’ve ever survived a holiday family gathering without committing a crime, you’ll find solidarity here.

Bottom line: Christmas People is a festive gem. I laughed, I teared up, and now I want to throw a themed party in its honor. Five stars and a partridge in a pear tree!

If you like to feel romantic and cozy when you read a Christmas book, then this book is for you. I loved the Christmas in July feel so it goes without saying that I liked this book. I also was drawn to the characters, and the Groundhog Day setup. Christmas People was fun to I found myself smiling a lot as I read through it. The story has a good pace to it which I liked as well. I will definitely seek out more books by this author. I love the writing style and the first person point of view. Thank you for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

This book was good. I really enjoyed it and I think that it’s going to be very popular when the holiday season comes around. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this!

Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer is a heartwarming holiday romance with a magical twist. Jill Jacobs, still nursing a Christmas Eve heartbreak, finds herself back in her hometown, only to wake up inside a charming Heartfelt Holiday Movie. To escape the scripted world, she must complete the movie’s plot, surrounded by her family and the familiar locals. As she fumbles through cookie competitions and snowy traditions, Jill unpacks her past and undergoes some self-discovery. With cozy vibes, magical realism, and a satisfying sense of coming full circle, this story sparkles with humor, warmth, and a touch of holiday magic.

Thank you, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Griffin, for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This was such a fun and festive read! I'm usually a little picky with holiday romances, but "Christmas People" totally leaned into the cheesy, magical Christmas movie vibes, and made it work. Jill is a great main character: grumpy, cynical, and absolutely not a Christmas Person, which made her accidental trip into a literal Hallmark-style movie even more entertaining. The small-town setting, the flannel-wearing ex, the Christmas bake-off... it’s all delightfullyin the best way. I loved the meta feel of the story, Jill knows she’s in a movie and has to play along to get out, but there’s also real emotion underneath the snow and peppermint. The romance was sweet, if a little predictable (in a cozy way), and the whole story had a charming, self-aware tone that kept it from feeling too cliché. If you like holiday rom-coms with a magical twist and a sarcastic lead who slowly melts into the spirit of the season, this is the perfect December read.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publishing house for the chanced to read this book in advance.

Another Christmas in July book crossed off the list. This one is for all the Hallmark movie hating, grumpy FMC loving, small town magical realism and love triangle, second chance romance fans. Jill is a struggling LA screenwriter whose last chance at getting her foot in the door is writing a Holiday movie romcom. When she goes home for the holidays she finds herself trapped in a weird Hallmark movie vibe alternate reality where she has to compete in a baking competition with her widowed, single dad high school crush and her ex. Full of great snark and banter, this was a fade to black, low steam, big-hearted, hilarious holiday romance and I really enjoyed it on audio narrated by Patti Murin. Recommended for fans of authors like Courtney Walsh. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for and audio and digital copy of this latest by a new to me author!

This is a cuteish romance with a little bit of spice. While somewhat reluctantly back to her home town for the Christmas holiday, something happens and Jill (the Heroine) wakes up in a alternate universe. Her somewhat drab town has turned into a Hallmark inspired small town, filled with all the lights and decorations, baked goods and flannel. Now she has to find a way back to her world/life before she becomes permanently stuck in the too sweet for her world. While's she's stuck in the place Pollyanna would fit in, she may as well take advantage. This means getting close to the boy (now man) she's had a crush on since her school days, all the while trying to avoid the ex. Will she get the man she's been crushing on finally, or will her ex get his second chance. The supernatural element is written in a way that it could be passed off as all have been a dream. (Though that is not the case.) It's a fun and interesting story. In addition to the romance aspect, there is also the Heroine trying to figure out her life, and her future (as things aren't going as she had imagined.) And also some family bonding. I liked the characters, but there were a few times here and there that I didn't necessarily care for her woe is me attitude. (Which was primarily in her inner dialog and not in conversations with others.) I also didn't much care for the little love triangle thing she had going. Wanting to be (or thinking she needed to be) with one man, while her brain (and quite frankly, her heart) was with another. I understand it was part of the plot, but it made it seem like she didn't even give one a chance, while at the same time, giving the man she didn't want all her attention. She should have many gotten the closer (if that's what she wanted) before even trying to start something with the other. It made it seem a little disrespectful. And again, I know that her choices and decisions are part of the plot (and her finding her way back to reality) and I am not anti-love triangles in books, but it seemed like she already knew, in her heart, who she wanted, but was willing to use the other because that's what she thought she needed to do. I don't know... it just didn't seem right. Anywho, despite that bit, I really did enjoy the story. It was easy to read. There's not a lot of sexual content, but there is some. It's not an LOL read, but there is some humor. Some good ole family bonding. Some cute kid interactions. And plenty of holiday spirit.

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

Jill is a bit of a self destructive writer trying to make it writing screenplays. It’s a struggle that she is trying to hide from her family and friends at home in her small town. She returns home during the Christmas holidays and is magically sucked in a “Heartfelt” alternative reality. This was an almost sweet Christmas romance, with just a bit of edge. I liked the descriptions that recalled binge watching holiday romances on tv, with chimes and a voice saying, “ open your heart”. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book, and enjoy a bit of Christmas in July.

Imagine going home for the holidays for the first time in years, but waking up inside a Hallmark movie....

FMC Jill does just that. Returning to her hometown where her ex and high school crush live is not something Jill looks forward too! However she runs into her ex which throws her into an alternate Christmas reality! Why does he keep popping up? What does this mean? She is forced to consider her insecurities and future plans!

A fun and warm story with Christmas town feels with a holiday bake-off and a possible one-that-got-away romance!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the opportunity to read a free copy of Christmas People!

Jill is a struggling screenwriter in LA who reluctantly returns home for Christmas after getting fired from her job. She hasn’t been back in three years—not since she and her ex, Grant, split on Christmas Eve. One too many spiked ciders later, Jill falls asleep in a park sleigh decoration and wakes up in an alternate reality straight out of a Hallmark movie, complete with snow-dusted streets and a town that feels like a warm hug.

Here, she reconnects with Corey, her high school crush, and things start to feel almost perfect—until Grant keeps mysteriously popping up, stirring up old feelings. As Jill navigates this whimsical version of her hometown, she’s forced to confront the truth about her past, her insecurities, and what she really wants for her future.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this free advanced copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily

This is a unique take on a Christmas love story that will have you feeling this girl needs to get herself together but then laughing at the situations she gets herself into. A fun story.