Merry Christmas! I hope you are all enjoying the day with your loved ones, or spending it however brings you a speck of joy.
If you're looking for a cozy, romantic and fun book to jump into it to keep the Christmas spirit alive, I have the perfect book for you...Christmas is All Around by Martha Waters. It was released earlier this fall and I had an ARC of it, that I, of course, just finished a few weeks ago.
I've loved all the Christmas books I read this year but this one was particularly fun to dive into it.
Publisher's Summary
But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she’s accidently left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London from Graham, the son of the owners. Their family business—and the funds to keep their historic house running—relies on holiday cheer, and Graham knows a visit from a holiday star would bring in more visitors.
Now an illustrator, Charlotte accepts a commission illustrating iconic holiday movie scenes in London and its environs. Graham offers to help escort her, as long as she’ll commit to an art workshop at Eden Priory. But as Charlotte’s chaotic family holiday goes awry, she begins spending more time scouting locations with Graham. She may not love a Christmas romance…but what if she has one of her own?
My Thoughts
The dynamic between all the characters in this book was so fun! It would make an excellent movie because of the fast paced dialogue and all the outrageous personalities; also I love any movie about a movie but I digress.
Charlotte, our protagonist hates Christmas because she was in a Christmas movie when she was younger and personally, I think she's a tad bit dramatic. I'm also really happy that at multiple points throughout the book people told her she was being too dramatic because it was starting to get tired towards the end.
When she meets Graham, the owner of the house where said Christmas movie was filmed, and kind of falls in love with him, she is faced with a dilemma. How does she help the man she's befriended while keeping her promises to herself that she would never interact with her past life?
The book takes place in the UK and you really get a feel for the wintery, chaotic vibes that Christmas brings to every family, no matter where you are. Charlotte was very multi-dimensional, as was Graham. You got to know them really well and understood both of their plights & why they were the way they were. The side characters pretty much stayed in the wings, though they added to the plot very nicely.
The entire book was really centered around Charlotte trying to figure out how to deal with her hatred of Christmas and her past acting career, while also wanting to help out these people she's grown fond of & also struggling with her tough relationship with her parents, and her budding artistic career. It was a lot for one gal to handle but she made it through and the ending was well worth it!
The writing in Christmas is All Around was great -- it jumped off the page and like I said, it could be a movie it was so lively!
I loved the second half of the book more than the first just because it moved a little faster, and I was very grateful that the third act miscommunication trope was kept to a minimum. It was still there, but I feel like it got cleared up pretty fast.
There were great themes of family, career, passion and of course, love woven throughout the book and the Christmas spirit was off the charts. It was definitely five stars from me!
xoxo
B
Add your comment