Reviews with content warning for Grief - Always, in December

Josie and Max meet coincidentally, and though neither of them had planned it, they spend a few days together while Max sits out his wait for a rescheduled flight. The days are unexpectedly wonderful, and though Josie knows Max will be leaving on Boxing Day, she is still surprised he leaves without leaving a phone number. But they will meet again…

It takes a lot for me to enjoy a romance book, and my buddy reading buddies usually love the romances we read a whole lot more than I do. We picked this as our holiday-read, as it looked to be about something Christmas-y, but it wasn’t so much a holiday read as it was a book set in December.

I must say that I flew through this book because I was home sick one day with a cat on my lap, so I could not move to get the remote and had to spend the day reading. Though it has its flaws (miscommunication trope alert), I thought the story between Josie and Max was cute and this read like a movie. I cried.

If you’re in for a quick read that you don’t need your full attention for, add this to your winter TBR!

Content Warnings

sarahallez's review

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emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.25

Content Warnings

morganperks's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced

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

emily, bestie I’m gonna need you to be so for real right now. I can’t even give this a rating. This is a joke, right? I feel like I have been absolutely violated by books with Christmasy covers claiming to be ‘romance’, ‘heartwarming’ or ‘good’, and every time I get closer and closer to my 13th reason

Spoiler

maybe I’m naive and like to live in happily ever after land but I don’t think it’s necessary to kill off the parents and or love interest to have a good story. I love a good sad story as long as I know what I’m getting into but I do prefer my characters in romance novels to be alive

Update: upon further review, some of the blame may be on me for not reading the back cover where it says, "in the style of Me Before You" so there was a heads-up, but I stand by what I said. I was a victim of clever marketing. Heed my warning, if you're looking for a cute Christmas romance...this ain't it.

Content Warnings

karyan1's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

emmehooks's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

2.5

As a queer person who avoids Hallmark-style straight people romance, I had LOW expectations for this book.

Was I in love with the girl meets boy and they fall in love after 3 days storyline? Nah. Was I sold by all the coincidental meetings and their love/hate/forbidden love dynamics? No. Did it conform to my stereotyped expectations? Mostly.

That being said, I did get teary eyed at the end of the book. It was written well and the emotional aspects are relatable in a lot of ways. If you like straight romances and Hallmark-sequence tragedy with a silver lining, you’ll probably like it.

Content Warnings