Happy Tuesday Friends :)
I pray you all had a great weekend, and if you're visiting my blog from Canada, then I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!
I don't usually post on Tuesdays, but tomorrow is going to be a bit of crazy day for me, and so I decided to go ahead and share this post with you all today.
Now that it's past Thanksgiving in Canada, it seems the perfect time to start rolling out more of my Christmas reviews for 2022, and I'm excited to share another one of these reviews with you all today.
I had the pleasure of reading my first book by Karen Schaler last year, and I thought it a was a wonderful and heartwarming tale that gave me all the warm fuzzies.
You can check out that review using the link below:
Ever since, I've been wanting to give another of her books a try, and I couldn't wait to dive right into her newest release.
Even more exciting, this particular book releases today! So if it sounds like something you'd enjoy, you can go ahead and pick it up for yourself right away.
I hope you'll all keep on reading down below for today's full review.
Love Always, Christmas by Karen Schaler:
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Publisher: Hawktale Publishing
Publication Date: October 11th, 2022
Genre: Christmas Read/Contemporary Romance/Chick Lit
Synopsis:
From Karen Schaler, the three-time Emmy Award–winning writer of Netflix sensation A Christmas Prince and Hallmark’s Christmas Camp, the movie and novel, comes a sparkling new Christmas romance filled with humor, heart, and hope.
Libby is planning to spend the holidays alone until a mysterious Christmas card takes her on a life-changing journey where she discovers a family she didn’t know she had and a love she was never expecting to find…
Libby Larson’s Christmas wish is to get the holidays over as fast as possible. After losing her mom, her only family, she’s bah humbugging Christmas, while desperately trying to save her childhood Seattle home.
But when Libby finds a twenty-year-old unopened Christmas card addressed to her mom, what she discovers inside takes her to the snowy mountain town of Holly Peak.
As family secrets start to unravel, Libby must rely on Holly Peak’s handsome town manager, Adam Thompson, to help her find answers while reluctantly participating in the town’s quirky Christmas traditions.
In the midst of merrymaking and mistletoe, Libby’s life is forever changed when this Christmas brings her the gift of a family and true love.
Bonus Content: Includes exclusive Christmas recipes from Love Always, Christmas.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
I've lost count of the number of Christmas themed reads I've read over the years, and I could pretty much say by this point that I've become a bit of a Christmas fiction fanatic. Taking that into consideration, and the fact that I ended up loving the last Christmas book I read by this author, I couldn't wait to dive right into Love Always, Christmas. It sounded both heartwarming and festive, and I expected great things.
Unfortunately, this one didn't end up being the story I was expecting, and I'll get into why that is in a moment.
First, I do want to say that there were still quite a few things I did end up enjoying about this one.
The characters were lovely, and I enjoyed seeing how they each went out of their way to help one another. So many of them seemed to embody the Christmas spirit, and it made me want to keep on reading a story that I wasn't necessarily enjoying.
The mystery element was well done, and kept me guessing, and when the final reveal happened, I enjoyed how it added so much extra to the plot. Definitely wasn't expecting that when I picked it up, and it did help salvage my enjoyment of the story.
However, this one was a tad too cheesy by even my standards. I'm usually someone who loves the corny and predictable Christmas stories that basically play out like a made for Christmas TV movie, but this one was just a bit too much. Nothing seemed realistic, everything was over the top, and certain scenes had me outright cringing. In particular, everything about Libby's career in marketing was downright obnoxious, and I got tired early on of having every conversation be about the magic of social media, and the importance of hashtags. Her campaigns were kind of almost ridiculous, and I think her entire career could have been written in a much better light.
The Christmas festivities at Holly Peake could have also been a wonderful addition to the story, but instead they just came across as slightly implausible, and once again, over the top.
Overall, this one did have its cute moments, lovely characters and a beautiful setting, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting, and I don't think it was as good as this author's last book was.
Final Rating: 3/5.
Not really for me, but if you're someone who enjoys heartwarming and cozy Christmas stories then it might still be one that you'd end up enjoying.
Thanks so much to Hawktale Publishing for allowing me to advance read and review this one!
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Hawktale Publishing) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
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