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A review by brooke_review
Confessions of a Christmasholic by Joss Wood
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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? Yes
3.0
I have a love-hate relationship with Joss Wood's Confessions of a Christmasholic, a story about a down-on-her-luck traveler who finds herself virtually penniless and homeless amidst a charming Christmas village. It is there that she meets a local grumpy widower dubbed Mr. Christmas, who only pretends to love the holiday to honor his late wife's memory. There are some things that really worked with this novel, and others that really didn't, making this a mixed bag of a read that I enjoyed for the most part, but can't quite say that I loved.
Sutton Alsop has landed broke and broken in a small English village thanks to her best friend who stood her up for their 30th birthday trip of a lifetime, leaving Sutton to foot the bill. After paying for both her and her friend's share of the trip, Sutton is left without a penny to her name. Stranded with no way of getting home until her friend pays her back, Sutton plans on squatting in a home in a quaint Christmas village when she runs into Mr. Christmas, aka Gus, a Grinch of a man who bedecks his home in swaths of Christmas lights only because the town expects him to carry on his late wife's love of the holiday. Taking pity on Sutton, Gus invites her to stay with him and his twins for the holiday. As Sutton and Gus grow closer as Christmas inches nearer, they find themselves falling for each other. Can Sutton warm this Grinch's heart in time for Christmas?
Admittedly, I do not read a lot of romances, aside from the occasional rom-com, because I find them to be cheesy and unrealistic. However, I do make the exception for romances set during Christmas because usually the joy of the holiday can off-set any overbearing romantic storylines. Confessions of a Christmasholic has all of the tropes that you would expect in a traditional steamy romance - there's definitely a heavy dose of insta-love, and a preoccupation with sex - however, it also has a pretty decent plot, even if it is a bit underdeveloped. The storyline kept me interested as I turned the pages amidst eye rolls over the overtly sexual and dramatic behavior of the two main characters.
What I didn't like about this novel was the love interest, Gus. I frankly found him to be toxic to both Sutton and his twins. He traverses through the novel constantly being irritated by his kids, snapping at them and acting like they are a hindrance to the life we really wishes he were living. I worry about the future version of the twins, having grown up in a clearly hostile household. As for Sutton, his relationship with her is just about sex, yet he sets her up time and again to be indebted to him without a substantial partnership between the two. I worry about Sutton, as well, who is doing too much too fast with a guy whose personality and temperament is questionable.
Sutton Alsop has landed broke and broken in a small English village thanks to her best friend who stood her up for their 30th birthday trip of a lifetime, leaving Sutton to foot the bill. After paying for both her and her friend's share of the trip, Sutton is left without a penny to her name. Stranded with no way of getting home until her friend pays her back, Sutton plans on squatting in a home in a quaint Christmas village when she runs into Mr. Christmas, aka Gus, a Grinch of a man who bedecks his home in swaths of Christmas lights only because the town expects him to carry on his late wife's love of the holiday. Taking pity on Sutton, Gus invites her to stay with him and his twins for the holiday. As Sutton and Gus grow closer as Christmas inches nearer, they find themselves falling for each other. Can Sutton warm this Grinch's heart in time for Christmas?
Admittedly, I do not read a lot of romances, aside from the occasional rom-com, because I find them to be cheesy and unrealistic. However, I do make the exception for romances set during Christmas because usually the joy of the holiday can off-set any overbearing romantic storylines. Confessions of a Christmasholic has all of the tropes that you would expect in a traditional steamy romance - there's definitely a heavy dose of insta-love, and a preoccupation with sex - however, it also has a pretty decent plot, even if it is a bit underdeveloped. The storyline kept me interested as I turned the pages amidst eye rolls over the overtly sexual and dramatic behavior of the two main characters.
What I didn't like about this novel was the love interest, Gus. I frankly found him to be toxic to both Sutton and his twins. He traverses through the novel constantly being irritated by his kids, snapping at them and acting like they are a hindrance to the life we really wishes he were living. I worry about the future version of the twins, having grown up in a clearly hostile household. As for Sutton, his relationship with her is just about sex, yet he sets her up time and again to be indebted to him without a substantial partnership between the two. I worry about Sutton, as well, who is doing too much too fast with a guy whose personality and temperament is questionable.