Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 317 pages
Author: Jerica MacMillan
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: November 22nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads
BOOK SUMMARY:
My neighbor is a Grinch.
Since I run the Christmas Emporium and sometimes moonlight as an elf, that’s kind of a problem for me.
No surprise, though. When I brought over cookies to welcome him to the neighborhood this summer, he slammed the door in my face.
Until he brings his kid to visit Santa one of the days I’m working as an elf, and I realize there are key parts of their story I’m missing …
1. The little girl is his much younger sister, not his daughter.
2. He’s her guardian since their parents died in a tragic accident.
Now all of his handsome, broody glares make so much more sense. As one of Santa’s elves, I make it my mission to make this Christmas as special for them as possible. Which somehow includes trespassing on his property to hang Christmas lights and braiding the little girl’s hair regularly.
Despite his glares and grumpiness, I discover the soft underbelly of the beast. Will this Grinch’s heart grow three sizes as well? And if it does, will it have room for me?
A Very Grumpy Christmas is a standalone, small town, neighbors to lovers romance featuring a grumpy single dad and the sunshiny neighbor who’s determined to make his Christmas better. Full of heat and heart with an HEA guaranteed!
IT WAS GOOD.
Three stars is mostly a case of not exactly for me, but could be for you so take this review for what you will.
This was a pretty good holiday romance. I loved the Christmastime set-up with the emporium and that the heroine’s Dad actually plays Santa Claus really added to the spirit of the season. Another sunshine/grump trope (common for the holiday reads) was used here too.
I didn’t love the friends with benefits trope. It’s just not for me. And things were waaaaay past my comfort zone for spice and I had to skip a lot more than I hoped/expected. So if you love both of those things, I would say try this out! The writing is good, and the larger story is very heartfelt.
The moments between Shane, Sarah and Sophie were incredibly sweet. Probably my favorites in the entire book. I love watching them become an unconventional family in the midst of tragedy. Sarah worked really hard to light up there lives in anyway possible and it played out well for the story. The conflict wasn’t overdone and led to a nice ending.
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Holiday Romance
- Language: strong
- Romance: multiple very open door scenes
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of both parents, depictions of grief (most often in a young child)
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