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librarianeno's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
jourdanicus's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
5/5 on the 🌶️ scale 🫣
Main complaint: theineffective condom use from a male main character who was supposedly very sexually experienced ? Like hello? Also, don't they know that ejaculation onto the vulva technically CAN cause pregnancy too? That seemed a bit uneducated. And the whole pregnancy as plot twist came a little later in the plot than I'd have liked, making the plot drag a little in the middle third.
But this book hit enough favorite points for me to stay invested: characters who are kind to one another, light humor, slightly unconventional romance, and casual queer inclusivity. I would definitely recommend to anyone who read and liked A Merry Little Meet Cute. Would not recommend to anyone who is aggressivelychildfree or does not find having a baby to be romantic at all.
Main complaint: the
But this book hit enough favorite points for me to stay invested: characters who are kind to one another, light humor, slightly unconventional romance, and casual queer inclusivity. I would definitely recommend to anyone who read and liked A Merry Little Meet Cute. Would not recommend to anyone who is aggressively
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Pregnancy
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Blood, and Medical content
Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
passionatereader78's review against another edition
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
4.5
This was on fire!!!! A fun winter read! I loved all the characters! Kallum and Winnie are making a movie together for the Hope Channel. Winnie has recently divorced her husband and Kallum's intimate activities have become an embarrassment to his family. They both hope this movie is a fresh start. When they meet and are instantly attracted to each other things heat up quickly. They both discover new things about themselves and find forgiveness for old pains while they explore this new relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Toxic relationship
samsbookishbrews's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
bzliz's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
I originally DNF’d this on page 100 but my coworkers love my retelling of bad books and wanted me to pick this back up. The thing that I’m most mad about is that it could have been a perfectly fine romance but the authors couldn’t stop themselves from throwing more tropes into the book blender when they really needed to spend some time with the characters working through their individual issues.
Winnie- a former darling of the religious movie network- is facing scandal after her divorce and rumors her now ex-husband circulated about her infidelity even though he was the one who cheated. Don’t expect her to ever work through that hot mess though because her best solution is to take charge of her life by agreeing to star in a racy Santa movie made for the wholesome Hope Channel’s new venture Hope After Dark and then sleeping with her costar because it turns out she’s bad at acting sexy because she grew up steeped in purity culture and has never had an orgasm. Kallum is the costar in question- a former boybander who now owns a chain of pizza restaurants and has a sex tape in which he says “now that’s what I call tossing the dough” (🤢)- and he’s all too happy to give Winnie sex lessons because his only two personality traits are sex and pizza.
I have so many complaints that I can only list them because they fill me so deeply with rage.
Winnie- a former darling of the religious movie network- is facing scandal after her divorce and rumors her now ex-husband circulated about her infidelity even though he was the one who cheated. Don’t expect her to ever work through that hot mess though because her best solution is to take charge of her life by agreeing to star in a racy Santa movie made for the wholesome Hope Channel’s new venture Hope After Dark and then sleeping with her costar because it turns out she’s bad at acting sexy because she grew up steeped in purity culture and has never had an orgasm. Kallum is the costar in question- a former boybander who now owns a chain of pizza restaurants and has a sex tape in which he says “now that’s what I call tossing the dough” (🤢)- and he’s all too happy to give Winnie sex lessons because his only two personality traits are sex and pizza.
I have so many complaints that I can only list them because they fill me so deeply with rage.
- Worst tropes ever: surprise pregnancy and a miscarriage scare. These could have easily been omitted in favor of actually working through Winnie’s religious trauma and Kallum learning he needs to grow up.
- In what universe is the wholesome religious channel branching out into Cinemax-y softcore porn style productions?
- The film’s intimacy coordinator asks about boundaries and allows Winnie to simply say she doesn’t have any! That is a huge red flag for doesn’t know shit about anything. It is absolutely this guy’s job to clearly spell out everything no matter how minuscule and to step in whenever necessary to prevent boundaries from getting crossed and to keep everyone safe. But no, they just move on to choreography despite it being crystal clear than Winnie cannot give informed consent because she is absolutely not informed on anything sex related.
- Off hand mention of elf orgy in the background of a scene where their characters are fighting
- THE SLEIGH RUNS ON SANTA’S PEPPERMINT SEMEN. WHY?? I swear I’m a good person and I didn’t deserve this.
- People show up like they’ve teleported in. Winnie’s ex shows up on set (do they not have security at all?) and then her parents show up after she informs them of her pregnancy (at least this was on the street instead of on set but sure, it makes sense that they just materialize behind her)
- What is this Christmas town and how is it operating? A movie theater that only shows Christmas movies all year? That’s not sustainable. Don’t even get me started on the strip club where the dancers are named after reindeer.
- Winnie never tells Kallum about her narcolepsy and it doesn’t make much of an influence on the plot. It seems to exist just so Winnie can be further traumatized by her parents and ex-husband calling her lazy rather than understanding her medical condition but there’s enough going on. It could have easily been taken out and nothing would be lost.
- Kallum’s sister gets on his case for sleeping with someone who’d been in a years long relationship, which is not on him at all since he wasn’t the one in the relationship. Also, sister knew about it minutes after the sex so why did she wait until the girl got engaged to yell at him?
- During the above yelling, Kallum (a man in his 30s) has to Google Homewrecker because he doesn’t know what it means
- Kallum’s sister, her husband & all 4-5 of her kids have names that start with T and I just don’t like that. It’s giving Duggars which is not a good look.
- Miscommunication. I hate it so much and I’m sick of these golden retriever MMCs who mean well but say one thing wrong and the MFC goes silent for months and they can’t figure out what they did wrong. And then even after they’re forgiven the MFC will hold it against them forever. When Winnie is thinking about how Kallum is too irresponsible to be a father, she thinks about 3 things, one of which happened legit 14 years ago! Babe, go back to therapy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: Vomit and Alcohol
jessitheblonde's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage
kitwhelan's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
This was a chaotic mess of a plot for me. Fun and spicy, but chaotic. I really didn’t enjoy the escaping-Christianity cultiness part, nor the unexpected pregnancy and KEEPING IT as a way to bring our MCs back together . But the growing up character arcs both the MCs do is satisfying (hers more than his). Not sure if I’ll keep reading this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage
allierose2's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
Sometimes your holiday holds don’t come through til January and that’s ok….
This was good at times but tbh I feel like it’s irresponsible not to list TW at the front of a book like this that contains some pretty triggering non-sexual content, likeaccidental pregnancy and near-miscarriage can be really rough for some people and it seems irresponsible to not acknowledge that going in.
This was good at times but tbh I feel like it’s irresponsible not to list TW at the front of a book like this that contains some pretty triggering non-sexual content, like
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
npaquetsmith's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
I loved this book! It is cozy like a Hallmark movie but with some nice sex scenes thrown in.
I really enjoyed how this book confronted and critiqued purity culture and had the protagonist learn how to be sexual and then seize upon her new knowledge with vigor and not shame.
I adored the romantic interest and how much of a true marshmallow he was through and through, while still being able to maintain his sex appeal.
The trope toward the end may put off some people, but I adored it.
I really enjoyed how this book confronted and critiqued purity culture and had the protagonist learn how to be sexual and then seize upon her new knowledge with vigor and not shame.
I adored the romantic interest and how much of a true marshmallow he was through and through, while still being able to maintain his sex appeal.
The trope toward the end may put off some people, but I adored it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy
thethanatologywitch's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Ableism
This book, in my opinion, is way better than Merry Little Meet Cute. It felt like the authors had a better groove together, the characters were more fleshed out, and the pacing was so much better. The connection between Winnie and Kallum was palpable. The love scenes were HOT while not overly explicit and I would have read through a million more pages about their love.