Once Elle and Holly figure out that their Mothers know each other, plans are made for Elle to come to Little Marsh and for Holly to come to America for Christmas. Elle’s time in Little Marsh mainly consists of trying to ignore internet trolls while finding the most epic Christmas-themed photo ops (in an attempt to win the drama-filled social media challenge) with the help of Holly’s cute yet quirky friend named Fred. Meanwhile in America, Holly gets all the holiday feels while hanging out with Elle’s Scrooge-like and secretive twin brother, Nick. Blame it on the Mistletoe is a unique and “Christmasy” take on the classic switching places trope. It is ideally suited for teens and young adults who enjoyed Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Cohn and Levithan, The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox, Let It Snow by Johnson, Green, and Myracle, as well as So, This Is Christmas by Tracy Andreen. I would also recommend Blame it on the Mistletoe to fans of Jenny Han as well as fans of Christmas movies like The Holiday and The Princess Switch. I highly recommend reading this book during the winter months because it is full of festive adventures and holiday traditions. Blame it on the Mistletoe deals with themes such as change versus tradition, desire to escape, family, growing up, love and heartbreak, and technology. As a result of temporarily switching lives, Elle and Holly develop a stronger sense of self and learn to embrace the true spirit of Christmas. I loved all the holiday-themed and fun-filled adventures that Elle and Holly went on during their swap; my favourites were Elle’s #OneElleOfAChristmasDayInLondon shenanigans, including a visit to King’s Cross Station (a.k.a. the station where Platform 9 ¾ from Harry Potter is located!), and Holly’s trip to Manhattan with Nick. Similarly, I loved Holly’s extremely festive personality; she breaks out the Christmas decorations and attire super early, she writes herself a Christmas card every year, and she has “golden rules” for Christmas (never say no to a holiday drink and never wimp out of the high notes in Mariah Carrey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You). Also, I enjoyed the Christmas Day playlist included at the end of the book – I will definitely be listening to this in December! Lastly, without giving anything away, I thought the ending of Blame it on the Mistletoe was perfect. Some cons for me were that the book was slow to start and rather long; furthermore, it was frustrating to have to wait approximately 100 pages until Elle and Holly swap places and the holiday-filled fun ensues. I also didn’t like how the book was constantly switching between Elle and Holly’s perspectives because it was hard to keep track of and the storylines didn’t crossover with each other that much. Overall, Blame it on the Mistletoe was a cute, fun, and festive Christmas read that I highly recommend adding to your December TBR list. I gave this book a rating of 8 out of 10 stars. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://bit.ly/3F3B3wc
Will you be picking up a copy of Blame It On The Mistletoe when it comes out on November 2nd?
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“Magic happens at Christmas”
Meanwhile, Charlie must deal with a chain bakery moving into town, providing unwanted competition for the family bakery, and finish baking all of Cass’s finicky Starlight Loafs before the town’s holiday festival. Additionally, both twins get distracted by new love interests whilst pretending to be each other. The Holiday Swap is a feel-good holiday rom com filled with delicious recipes, drama, adventure, and true love. This book is a unique and contemporary take on the classic twins switching places trope that is ideally suited for adults; especially those who love movies like The Princess Switch, The Parent Trap, and It Takes Two as well as books like The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, It Won’t be Christmas Without You by Beth Reekles, and All I Want for Christmas by Beth Garrod. I highly recommend reading this book in the winter when it is seasonally appropriate (as opposed to the summertime when I read it). The Holiday Swap deals with themes such as love and heartbreak, change versus tradition, identity, escapism, female roles, appearance versus reality, quest for power, overcoming fears, technology, and man against nature. After physically and emotionally walking in each others’ shoes, Charlie and Cass learn that you must be true to yourself, you need to deal with your own problems, and you should go after what you want (and what’s important) in life - no waiting or settling. I want to share a comical piece of advice that one of the side characters gives to Charlie because I really liked it: “Time heals all things. If time fails, try cake.”
Lastly, I found it odd and unrealistic that none of their close friends realized that the twins switched places (you would think that at least Cass’s ex-boyfriend, whom she has know for 10 years, would have noticed that he was talking to Charlie and not Cass). On the plus side, I found that The Holiday Swap was very engaging; I wanted to keep reading to find out if/ when the twins got caught in their lie! I also really appreciated how Cass stood up for her twin by questioning management on the inequality between Charlie’s image and her male co-host’s image on the show; while Charlie was unfairly given “sweet” dresses and heels to wear on the show, her co-host Austin got to look like a serious and confident chef while wearing his chef’s whites. I loved how The Holiday Swap included two holiday romance stories; Charlie and a handsome firefighter who frequents the family bakery as well as Cass and the gorgeous physician’s assistant who treated Charlie’s concussion. Again, I was very invested and wanted to keep reading to see what happens when the gentlemen inevitably find out that Charlie and Cass aren’t who they say they are. Lastly, I loved all of the Christmas elements included in this book such as snowy hikes, Christmas baking, festive television specials, holiday tunes, unexpected presents, mistletoe kisses, and family traditions. Overall, this book was a cute, fun, and heart-warming read that I would highly recommend adding to your holiday TBR list! I gave this book a rating of 9 out of 10. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://thenerddaily.com/review-the-holiday-swap-by-maggie-knox/
Will you be picking up a copy of The Holiday Swap when it comes out on October 5th?
On top of that, a cute yet high-class boy from Finley’s boarding school (Arthur) has unexpectedly shown up in Christmas Oklahoma for the holidays; changes that Finley made to the town’s website led Finley’s classmates to believe that Christmases in Christmas Oklahoma are a lot more epic than they really are. Now, to save face, Finley is forced to show Arthur and his Aunt Esha the best Christmas ever. So, This Is Christmas is a cute Christmas-themed romantic comedy best suited for teens and young adults. Since this book takes place over Finley’s Christmas holidays, I highly recommend reading this book in the winter. So, This Is Christmas would be a great read for lovers of Let It Snow by Green/ Johnson/ Myracle, What Light by Jay Asher, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Cohn and Levithan, and All I Want for Christmas by Wendy Loggia. This book deals with themes such as love and heartbreak, family, change versus tradition, convention versus rebellion, expectation versus reality, growing up, fear of failure, identity, sexuality, loneliness, and vulnerability. The moral of the story is that like conker (Arthur’s game in which each person has a chestnut tied to the end of a string and the players take turns trying to break each others’ chestnuts), even when things get tough, you need to keep on working hard, or keep on “swinging”, in order to achieve your goals; “But with me, I need to keep swinging, too. Until I get what I want.” Overall, I thought that So, This Is Christmas was a fun Christmas story full of family, love, holiday magic, and heartwarming moments. I absolutely loved the Christmas-themed setting; especially the fact that all the places in Christmas Oklahoma had Christmas-themed names (e.g., Gingerbread Café, Claus Kitchen, Santa’s Sleigh Repair, etc.). Similarly, I enjoyed reading about all the festive holiday adventures that Finley and Arthur go on, such as a hilarious reindeer sleigh ride, a disastrous cookie baking experience, and a surprisingly good Christmas parade. Without giving anything away, I also enjoyed that there were some unexpected twists throughout the book, and I loved how this novel featured more than one romance story. Lastly, I liked that Tracy Andreen chose unique names for her characters (e.g., Finley, Arthur, Esha, Bronwyn, Ayisha, Thea, etc.) because it made it easier for me to differentiate one character from another. Some cons include that there was a lot of instances of unplanned teen pregnancies, which I thought was unnecessary. I also found that some parts of this book dragged on and could have been a little more concise. Furthermore, since I read So, This Is Christmas in the summer, I found that this book was hard to get into; it would have been more seasonally-appropriate to read this book in the winter. Overall, I thought that this book was very cute and heartwarming – it would make a perfect gift for any teens and young adults on your Christmas list! I gave this book a rating of 8 out of 10. This review was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://thenerddaily.com/review-so-this-is-christmas-by-tracy-andreen/
Will you be picking up a copy of So, This Is Christmas when it comes out on October 5th? Noel: “Glad to be back home?” Nick: “Absolutely. In fact, I may make a special playlist about what home means to me.”
But Noel, who is no stranger to loss, has a hard time committing; is it worth risking her relationships with Nick and his family, some of the only people that Noel is close with, for a chance at something more? Things get even more complicated when Nick and Noel’s exes try to rekindle their relationships and some of Nick and Noel’s friends reveal a few unexpected holiday surprises. Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist is a sexy slow burn “friends to lovers” holiday romance novel that uses the fake dating trope. I highly recommend this book to lovers of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, and Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur. This book deals with themes such as death and loss, love and heartbreak, character, overcoming fear, family, female roles, loneliness, reunion, war, vulnerability, as well as inner and outer strength. The moral of the story, as Noel comes to realize, is that you shouldn’t let your fears of loss and heartbreak keep you away from romance and love; she, “realized that by pushing her parents and past away, she hadn’t been able to move forward with her life. It left her stunted and closed to all of the possibilities life had for her, including love.” First off, Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist exceeded my expectations! I loved how there were a lot of chart toppers and Christmas songs referenced throughout this book. Nick has the perfect playlist for every type of occasion and there is even a playlist included at the end of the book – I will definitely be listening to this non-stop in December! I liked how even though this book was “Christmasy” (e.g., Nick’s family’s Christmas tree farm, the Mistletoe Christmas Concert, as well as a lot of the main characters’ names), it wasn’t overdone; in my opinion, although ideally suited for the Christmas season, Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist could be read at any time of the year. Lastly, I’d like to share one of my favourite quotes from the book that I think perfectly describes Nick and Noel’s unique relationship: “Unicorns are overrated. You’re a Hippogriff.”
Since this is the first book in Codi Hall’s Mistletoe Romance book series, I am really hoping that there will be another story featuring these wonderful characters; I am especially interested in finding out if anything happens between Nick’s sister Holly and her “Grinch” of a neighbour because there seemed to be some flirting going on. Overall, Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist was a fun, engaging, and romantic read that is perfect for Christmastime! I gave this book a rating of 9 out of 10. This review was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click here to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://thenerddaily.com/review-nick-and-noels-christmas-playlist-by-codi-hall/
Will you be picking up a copy of Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist when it comes out on October 5th? |
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