Maddie

A nice little Christmas book! The plot was quite predictable but I didn’t really mind because all I wanted was this exact vibe. ‘The Christmas Tree Farm’ was my first introduction to Dream Harbor, and the other characters in the town have made me want to read their stories. I enjoyed the main character, Kira, being from a richer background and actually wanting to grow beyond her privilege. Also if you love dogs, you will definitely appreciate the amount of them in this book! My main plight with this book is that the author repeats herself a lot - almost as though she doesn’t trust her reader to remember key information (even though it’s a relatively quick read) or read between the lines. I am curious to see if that is a feature of Gilmore’s writing in general or if it is just in this book. Looking forward to finding out, as I am going to read ‘The Cinnamon Bun Book Store’ (also by Laurie Gilmore) next.

If you like Ali Hazelwood's other books I think you will enjoy 'Not In Love'. Be aware that this book is definately more adult as it covers some more serious topics but also more frequent and intense intimacy. Overall, I enjoyed reading this! It isn't the best book in the world, nor is it trying to be, but I had fun on the ride. I read this as a buddy read with my best friend, and we were kicking our feet and giggling as per usual with AH.

I enjoyed this book but it took a long while for me to get into - mostly because I do not enjoy reading about politics that much. That being said, I did really enjoy the book the further I got into it. In particular, I loved the emails that Alex and Henry exchange. I think the politics in particular felt a little too close to home seeing as the US presidential election just concluded, and once the main drama of the book happened, I felt like I was just reading the last chapter knowing exactly what would happen (I didn't mind that too much though). Overall it was an enjoyable read - it had good LGBTQ+ representation, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and the characters were varied and had depth. I think I would've preferred reading this from Henry's perspective more, but again that might just be because I am British myself and feel more interested in Henry's coming out than Alex's because more seemed at stake.