Review: All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox

Thank you Putnam Books for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

Another day, another holiday Rom Com. This one is perfect for fans of The Voice and country music, but even if you don’t like those things, I think this is the perfect holiday book for anyone who loves a fake dating Romance. It takes place in Nashville and you get to visit Banff, Alberta Canada as well. So dreamy!

It’s on the light side when it comes to spice and has a lot of heart. I really enjoyed it!

Synopsis:

“A pitch-perfect holiday rom com about two oil-and-water reality-star country singers who must fake a relationship in order to win the opportunity of a lifetime, perfect for fans of Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game and Christina Lauren’s In a Holidaze.
Will they hit the right notes this holiday season? When Sadie and Max are selected as contestants on the famed reality singing show Starmaker, each thinks they’ve finally gotten their big Nashville break. But then they’re paired up for duet week and stun the world with their romantic onstage chemistry. With fans going wild for #Saxie the network demands that they remain a duo on and offstage, or exit the competition. Faking a relationship until their final performance in the Starmaker holiday special shouldn’t be too hard, except for one small problem—Sadie and Max can’t stand each other. But with their dreams just within reach, they agree to the ruse. Will their fake relationship be exposed before they can win? Or might their phony connection turn real by the Christmas finale?” —StoryGraph

What I Liked:

The Tropes—I’m a sucker for fake dating, especially celebrity fake dating. It works so well! And I liked how we were swept away with Max and Sadie as they got wrapped up in the power of music and the magic of the season.
The Setting—Nashville is such a fun setting but I LOVED that the author took us to Banff in this book. It’s one of my bucket list destinations and while I haven’t gotten there yet, my imagination such has now.
The Characters—I thought Max Brody was just a delight. I’m not really a fan of country music but his cowboy charm totally won me over.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

The Time Jump—The first 45% of the book takes place in one December and the other half is a year later. I wish this had been better handled but I understand why it had to happen this way.