A review by ohshanada
Merry Kismet by Anneka R. Walker

hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Merry Kismet is proof that the perfect notebook can change your life. 

Preface: I feel like I need to write two different reviews for this book, one for readers who are the perfect audience for this book & one for readers with similar preferences to mine, who may not be the exact audience. 

First Review: 4 stars (or more) for readers who love a book that reads like your classic Hallmark Christmas movie. And I’ll start by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with loving this kind of story! This is a very light & fun, clean romance that is dripping with holiday joy. We get Brie, the whimsical elementary school teacher who is firmly implanted in her hometown. And we get Rockwell, a corporate workaholic visiting this same hometown from his current home in LA. Rockwell is both Brie’s high school ex-boyfriend & super determined to never actually move back to this small hometown (he’s only visiting for Christmas). It even includes a little bit of magic in the form of a notebook which may or may not be able to make Brie’s holiday wishes come true. Tropes include second chance love (they dated in high school) & forced proximity (they are staying in their own halves of the same duplex). 

Second Review: 3 stars (or less) for readers like me who may want a little more heat in their romance & who also might not enjoy stories of tight-knit families during the holidays. This book was a little too clean for me - holding hands was a huge deal & they didn’t kiss until well & truly near the end. Overall, it was a cute holiday romance, but I didn’t really like Rockwell (the MMC) & the forced family holiday games made my skin crawl. Notes I took while listening included:
  • Rockwell literally has a “no nostalgia” rule. Lol k.
  • Cheesy family games that would make me want to jump off of a cliff. 
  • I really need this man to charge his phone. 

This book is festive, cute, & short. It may or may not be your cup of tea, but it’s a good addition to a list of holiday romances. 

Audiobook Notes: I listened to Merry Kismet as an audiobook & the audio quality was incredibly mismatched between the FMC & MMC points-of-view (different narrators). The FMC audio sounds perfect, like any other audiobook I’ve listened to. But the MMC audio is low-quality, muffled & sounds like it has that “underwater” sound. It makes the transitions between the points-of-view incredibly jarring & stops me from getting fully into the story. I also noticed a little glitchy-ness around the 12-minute mark of Chapter 21. 

Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Select for providing an advanced listening copy of this audiobook. All opinions & thoughts expressed are my own.