A review by teawiththefates
Snow in Love by Aimee Friedman, Nic Stone, Melissa de la Cruz
3.0
Honestly, I picked this up for the Katie West and that turned out to be the only story I enjoyed. "Snow and Mistletoe" was everything I expect from and love about West's stories. Soooooo sweet and romantic in the best way - I love that her characters are always likeable and she does such a good job of building up all the little moments between the protagonist and her love interest, as well as having wonderful supporting relationships. 5 stars.
In contrast, Working in a Winter Wonderland felt... cold. The protagonist was cynical and judgy of everyone around her, except for Heath who was clearly NOT going to be the guy she ended up with because he was TERRIBLE from the start. Was I at all surprised when his terribleness was revealed to Maxine? No, and she shouldn't have been either. The problem is, the guy she DOES end up with had no real page time at all until the very end because apparently no one cared about him (including the author???) until the last 8 pages of the story. Until then, they didn't get a single sweet moment together, so it felt rushed and unbelievable to me. Probably the only romance I believed in this story was the one Maxine had with that gold dress that motivated her to get a job in the first place. 2 stars.
No strong opinions about the other two stories.
In contrast, Working in a Winter Wonderland felt... cold. The protagonist was cynical and judgy of everyone around her, except for Heath who was clearly NOT going to be the guy she ended up with because he was TERRIBLE from the start. Was I at all surprised when his terribleness was revealed to Maxine? No, and she shouldn't have been either. The problem is, the guy she DOES end up with had no real page time at all until the very end because apparently no one cared about him (including the author???) until the last 8 pages of the story. Until then, they didn't get a single sweet moment together, so it felt rushed and unbelievable to me. Probably the only romance I believed in this story was the one Maxine had with that gold dress that motivated her to get a job in the first place. 2 stars.
No strong opinions about the other two stories.