Reviews

A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone, Julie Murphy

tearbear20's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

fortheloveofbooks_nj's review against another edition

3.0

✨ARC REVIEW✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

🌲roommates to lovers
🌲forced proximity
🌲grumpy x sunshine
🌲queer rep
🌲parent/spouse loss

I like the Christmas Notch series and I am sad to see it end. While this could be read as a standalone I would highly suggest reading the previous books to make sure you are familiar with all the other characters that are referenced often in the book. Julie and Sierra did a great job balancing humor, spice and grief so the story wasn’t overwhelming sad given both main characters have lost someone very close to them. I did find it to be a tad too long and at times boring. The series as a whole is great but I wish given this was the end that it gave me just a little more.

thatqueengabby's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted

3.75

a few too many sex scenes for me and also isaac kinda pissed me off when he was still brooding towards the end. like dude have you ever considered talking to a grief counselor. the last two chapters with the full crew and the happily ever after were really fun and honestly redeemed the book a bit though

karleenuttelman's review

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I LOVE Christmas Notch, the inclusivity of characters, and diversity the sex scenes/relationships. Overall recommend! 

atinybitbookish's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

kristenbarfoot's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

wellactjoally's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A mystery from 75 years ago. Forced creative proximity. A cat who runs the (giant) house. Mending rifts. Weddings. Threesomes. Lots of oral. Porn stars galore. Final boy band member. Scrambled eggs. 

Cancer. Car accident. Death of loved ones. 

brkreads456's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 

A snowy Christmas setting? A forced proximity trope? Familiar and well loved characters? That’s the recipe for A Jingle Bell Mingle, and I absolutely adored it! The third installment in the Christmas Notch series focuses on Sunny Palmer and recluse INK member, Isaac Kelly. Sunny and Isaac end up as roommates in Isaac’s Vermont mansion after Sunny’s hotel mishap in Christmas Notch. While they are staying together, sparks fly while inspiration strikes in their respective careers. 

 

I thought this book was an absolutely adorable, albeit a pretty spicy, romance. It was such a fun and light holiday read. As mentioned earlier it is the third book that is set in Christmas Notch, Vermont. I particularly enjoyed the setup of this series as a whole. I really like a series that focuses on different individuals in the same universe. Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone did a particularly good job giving different characters their own books while furthering the development of the characters and series as a whole. While characters would come to the front and fade to the background, I still felt as though I was getting parts of the others’ stories as they moved throughout the series. I also think it made sense that INK’s recluse, Isaac, was the third in the series to get his second happy ending (No spoilers! Read the books to find out what I mean here). 

 

I particularly enjoyed the fact that this book focused on Isaac and Sunny. These two characters are a really interesting matchup with their differing personalities, but they absolutely worked and the characters had so much chemistry together. Chemistry, that I’ll add, didn’t feel forced or fabricated. The relationship that was built between the two throughout the book just made sense. I also thought that the authors’ choice to make the characters connect more deeply through their respective work was a particularly unique choice, but that gave them an extra element of connection that might not have been built in a different setting. I additionally liked the forced proximity in this book. This can sometimes be a little clumsy or overdone with some romances, but the fact that these characters genuinely liked each other made the trope work a lot better for me. 

 

The pacing of the story was really good as well. This was not a short book, but it didn’t feel like a long book. The story never really slowed down, nor did it feel like it was being rushed. There were enough different elements of Isaac and Sunny’s story as well as the stories of the secondary characters to make the length and pacing feel completely appropriate. 

 

It almost goes without saying here that the setting is absolutely precious. I love, love, love Christmas Notch, Vermont. The series starts out with what’s essentially a riff on the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, and it really leans into the Christmas setting. The fact that the authors chose to focus each book in the series in the town made Christmas Notch that much more special, in my opinion. I really couldn’t imagine these books working as well with any other primary setting. 

 

Overall, I loved A Jingle Bell Mingle, as well as the whole Christmas Notch series. I would, and do, recommend these for romance lovers that don’t mind a lot of spice in their books. This book was a fun and light holiday read that I will recommend to others and will likely reread myself during a future holiday season. I want to thank Avon and Harper Voyager for providing a copy of A Jingle Bell Mingle to me via NetGalley for review. Any opinions offered in this review are mine alone. 

 

joyeux's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5

melodyhope22's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0