Published: November 13, 2018
I’m a bit behind on my reviews and I must apologize. I got an ARC for this novel for an honest review and my review should have been up weeks ago however I’ve had several serious events happen in my family and I could not focus on reading and writing. So I apologize for that and I apologize to the author for being so late on this novel. But anyway I’ve read it and the timing was actually perfect since it is based at Christmas time. I don’t like to read anything Christmas-y until the day after Thanksgiving so this worked out great.
The novel was really cute and sweet. Ivy has had a lot of curve balls thrown at her lately and not the smallest of which is Celia who is basically mooching off of her and being a total bitch about it. Ivy is a nice person and hasn’t called Celia out on it yet but when Celia volunteers Ivy for a part-time job at Santa’s Village she just barely stops herself from killing her. However, Ivy finds she is enjoying her time at the Village especially when she meets Santa. Only this Santa isn’t some old man with a bowl full of jelly for a belly; he is a young, hot, Scotsman. Now, one thing Ivy has never thought would happen is that she is attracted to Santa. Well at least the man underneath the Santa suit. With the Village only being open right up until Christmas and the threat of Hugh (Santa) having to return to Scotland they try to make the most of the time they have been given together. Only it is much easier to tell yourself not to have feelings than to actually prevent them.
The novel was well written and a good read. It isn’t something I would generally go for though so if you have seen my reviews on Goodreads and Amazon you’ll see I only gave it 3 stars. That is also because we don’t get to see Hugh’s point of view at all. And if you’ve been following my posts at all you know that’s a pet peeve of mine. I would like to have seen how Hugh was handling meeting the girl of his dreams and then having to return to Scotland. Especially when they stopped talking for days or weeks. That part did elicit a few feels from me because I was rooting for them! Of course the novel was a great starter to the Christmas season and definitely was pro-Christmas miracles. I would pick up another book by this author again now that I know her writing style. But definitely don’t count this book out of your holiday line up if you need a new one for this season.
—“‘You know what’s a great cure for ‘one of those days’? Alcohol.'” -Meredith to Ivy—