The Trouble with Tinsel

by Juliet Giglio, Keith Giglio

What could be more magical than a Hollywood Christmas? A few years after they broke up professionally and personally, the ex-screenwriting team of Kerri Williams and Jon Romano find their lives turned upside down when an old script is green-lit and they have to write together again. Now, for the month of December, Kerri must leave behind her life as a teacher in Brooklyn to return to sunny Hollywood and work with the man she used to love. Jon and Kerri just want to finish the film and get this awkward reunion over with. But Amari Rivers, the star of their movie, thinks they're engaged and wants them on set for moral support and love advice. Wanting to keep the star happy, Kerri and Jon pretend to love each other, bringing back all the old feelings they've been trying so hard to forget. Could this be the Christmas they finally get their own happy ending?

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Holiday, Audiobook, Contemporary, Fiction, Rom Com

320 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2023

Reviews

[b.andherbooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfunny, soul-less, & flat christmas romcom missing both the com & the rom for me.


SPOILERS



Choppy writing with flat characters (what did ANYONE look like? I don't know), along with just a baffling look at the making of a "romcom" that even read by someone who literally doesn't care about picky job details seemed baffling at best and just wrong?? at worst. Also, I thought we left head-hopping in scene to the early 00s and WHY was the open door sex only for the horrible director and hollywood star Amari (what does she look like, we don't know) and not the main couple?? We got a "they banged THREE TIMES" fade to black moment (not forgetting that main character Kerri is still affianced at the time, ope) and a pointless love triangle on top of a pointless fake engagement on top of a why do these people even like each other anyway story.

wouldn't watch this as a film & don't recommend reading the book either.

thank you to the publisher for the ARC

[Solei · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh I really was not a fan of this book at all. I have read like 207 books this year and this is only my fourth 1-2.5 star book, so if that doesn’t say something I don’t know what does. The cover of this one was so cute and the plot sounded like something I would like and a fun holiday book, but this just missed in so many ways. First of all, the writing style was not good. It was written as third person omniscient, which really was the downfall of this book because that meant that we were constantly getting thoughts from the most irrelevant characters ever. It also made it sooo hard to follow and I could not keep track of who the heck they were even taking about. I was also so confused because most of the story was about the main couple but then like 1/6 of the story would go to this other couple that really didn’t have much relevance and didn’t move the plot along at all. This story just really needed to be reworked before it was published because the plot really could have worked but the way it was told didn’t. My next big issue with this book was the CHEATING. There was so much emotional and physical cheating and not only did the cheating happen but they let it keep happening. Like she was literally engaged!! Why wouldn’t she break her engagement off before continuing to cheat on her fiancé. And she didn’t even feel any guilt about it at all it was gross. I also felt literally no connection to any of these characters and I didn’t really like any of them either. Overall, I did not like this book and I would not recommend it.

Tropes:
- fake engagement
- closed door
- second chance
- cheating
- third person omniscient pov

[Cam · Rating 2 out of 5]

That sure was a book I’ve read

[Jennie Droog · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should’ve quit but powered through.

[Hannah Moehrke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really thought Amari’s agent was going to lose it and kill everyone on set halfway through the book— which honestly would have made for a spectacular and much more enjoyable plot.

[Cypress McDonald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written like a fever dream, and actually has nothing to do with tinsel

[Fedythereader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, for sharing an ARC copy of this book with me on NetGalley!!

"Were you married?"
"Worse. We were writing partners."

Sweet, romantic comedy about second chances and fake engagements. In the land of dreams, LA, Kerri and Jon, ex lovers and screenwriters partners, will have to world together again to make their story happen with an actress who believes in love only when she thinks they are engaged. Only Kerri is about to marry someone else so they will have to pretend and in a game of forced proximity, fake engagement and one bed trope, they may or may not find their way back to each other and realise that dreams are not too far away. This book was unexpectedly fun and the Christmas vibes it gave were pretty great to be honest. I was laughing one chapter and then giggling the next. As a romcom it was very PG but it was fine because it didn’t ruin the light hearted atmosphere and vibes the whole plot was giving. I enjoyed it very very much and it is truly a great Christmas romcom for the season!!!

“fake marriages don't have real honeymoons.”

“And remember, Jon, this isn't a movie, we are not going to fall back in love again."

[Etta G · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was 4 stars for me, but I dropped my original rating to 2 due to the writing. Simple, repetitive sentences and random jumps inside the heads of minor side characters often pulled me out of the story.

I was shocked to find out after the fact that the two authors wrote some of my favorite Disney movies- Tarzan, Return to Halloweentown, and THE HILLARY DUFF/CMM CINDERELLA STORY??? They gained a third star for creating my childhood.

[Bailey Kost · Rating 1 out of 5]

well this was my least favorite read of 2024 🙈

1) Title has NOTHING to do with the story

2) I love a good fake marriage/engagement but NOT when the FMC is actually engaged to someone else??? It was giving cheating trope and I am just not here for that.

3) What was with the changing povs mid chapter??? Made no sense and felt like they were trying to put two love stories into one book.

4) The FMC’s parents were SO toxic and that seemed to be ignored

5) Overall…this plot was just so unrealistic (especially given the “film industry” parts) and just fell really flat to me

[Mariesa Drogosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I literally felt like I was watching a Cute Christmas Netflix movie from the start- YAS give me some popcorn and hot cocoa. I ate up every single word but absolutely despised the ending.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh heck no. Nope. We're done.

DNF.

First of all, third person pov where it's head hopping on the same page is exhausting and shouldn't be done. Please don't. But also, actively sleeping with someone while you're ENGAGED to someone else? Nope, we are done. Hard pass.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and sourcebooks Casablanca for the e arc. This book is a Christmas romance that focuses on two exes, Kerri and Jon, who broke up a while ago but now find themselves working together again as their old script got sold to be produced into a movie, causing Kerri to fly back from her fiancé and home in New York to LA, the place where all her screen writing dreams died. It’s a friends to lovers novel, except there were a few issues. I hated just about everything in the book. One of the first things I noticed was the writing. It felt extremely choppy and almost robotic at times. Sentences that could have been combined and worded better were split up into several sentences. The writing felt kind of juvenile, and I never usually judge writing style because I’m not a harsh critic, but this one really stood out to me because the poor writing really made the book worse. Every single character in this book was unlikeable. I especially hated Jon and Kerri. From the beginning I thought they were very cringe people but I quickly realized that Jon is pathetically still in love with his ex and doesn’t bother to hide it. He’s a grown man who knows Kerri is engaged, but ignores all of that and stares at Kerri like a lovesick puppy, hoping to win her back despite her current ENGAGEMENT. He had no respect for her relationship and only cared to win her back. Kerri on the other hand was even worse because she straight up CHEATED. She cheated on Beau, her fiancé, and not once did she actually show an ounce of guilt. I thought faking an engagement with another man was already cheating enough, but she kissed and slept with her ex. But her reaction? Yikes we shouldn’t have done that, anyway bye I’m going to see my fiancé. I highlighted so many passages that gave me the Ick. I guess the two do deserve each other because they were both awful people. It was obvious the authors tried to point out that everything about beau, Jon was the opposite, and better. I lost it when Kerri made a pro/cons list of her fiancé and ex. That’s when I knew she was trash. Everything still happened to work in their favor, and the ending was completely out of left field and over the top ridiculous. The amount of times all the characters had to remind us how in love Kerri and Jon were and that they were engaged and that they were a couple and that they’re perfect is awful. It’s like they tried to shove it in our faces that they’re the perfect couple and it couldn’t have been more obvious. So many of the chapters ended super randomly and abruptly that it didn’t even make sense. One chapter ended in the middle of a conversation and it was so odd. I also saw someone mention that none of the characters were described and they are 100% right. We do not get a single description of a single character. Not even hair color. We have no clue what anyone looks like. I just could not get past a single thing and I am sorry to say that this book was just not well written at all.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I read for my Christmas in July reads. Jon and Kerri's relationship throughout the story was kind of like that pair of friends you have that only work together for some unknown reason. Overall entertaining time.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

[Amanda Brogan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I flew through the last 60% in a little over an hour and not in a good way. I don’t recall a single character getting described, I’ll rely on the cover for what the main characters looked like. The writing wasn’t great and the third person narration kept jumping to side characters, and be an very confusing. Not to mention some logistics that didn’t add up, I know we suspend believe sometimes, but some parts fully pulled me out of the story. Not to mention the CHEATING.

[Ashley G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't like it when there is cheating, put a damper on the whole thing

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sparkling, festive variation of the holiday romcom!

Whether it’s the tantalizing Hollywood drama or the merry and bright second chance romance, The Trouble with Tinsel brings an enchanting Hollywood Christmas.

The Trouble with Tinsel is a quasi-autobiography from real life married screenwriting duo Juliet and Keith Giglio. This second-chance, multi POV, holiday romcom is more than a cheerful Christmas comfort. This book provides an insight into the filmmaking industry during a rather appropriate time considering the ongoing writer’s strike.

While it reads more like a script, readers will find themselves quickly immersed in the story with the Giglios' vivid storytelling.

I could easily see this book adapted into a film reminiscent of The Holiday meets The Proposal!

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Justice for Beau!

[Kristensbookkorner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years ago Kerri and Jon wrote a movie script called Fire and Ice. During that time they also had just broken up. 

Fast forward to the present time. Kerri is engaged to someone else while living in Brooklyn NY. Jon is still living the LA life, trying to get a movie script greenlite and Ubering. When one day to both of their surprises Fire and Ice gets greenlite!

Everything takes off from there. Kerri has to immediately leave her Brooklyn life to go back to LA to work with her ex-boyfriend on the film. 

There are many hurdles that they have to face while the movie is filming. For instance, their main character Amari assumed they were engaged judging by the ring on Kerri’s finger. They both thought it would be bad for the film if they admitted that she was actually engaged to someone else. So now they had to fake being engaged. Aside from all that, I loved seeing all the ups and downs of what went on behind the scenes of creating a movie. 

The story will have you rooting for Jon and Kerri to get back together. You could see that they complete one another perfectly. From their fun banter to their reciting movie lines. They were both such great well well-developed characters. 
It was also so easy to visualize everything in the book which really brought the story to life for me. 

This is an adorable holiday rom-com! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Amanda Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute rom-com about a former screenwriting couple, whose script gets greenlit for production, years after they have broken up, both as a screenwriting couple and an actual couple. Kerri, who currently resides in Brooklyn with her fiancé, flies back to LA to meet up with her ex to begin working on the movie. Kerri is wearing her engagement ring, and the star of the movie, Amari, mistakens her and Jon as the engaged couple, and that’s the whole reason she wants to continue doing the movie. So Jon and Kerri pretend to be an engaged couple, while slowly falling back in love with each other and their Hollywood dream that is coming true. Of course, her real fiancé Beau, is a problem that is always at the back of Kerri’s mind as they try to keep up this farce.
I found this to be a really cute and sweet read overall. At first I thought Beau was the better pick, but as the story went on and it showed how much Jon really knows and loves her, and Beau really only knows and loves a certain version of her, my opinion changed. I felt that the ending was a little rushed, but I still loved the story. Also, the ‘About the Authors’ page! These two have credits on some of my favorite films growing up! Such as Tarzan, A Cinderella Story, and a Halloweentown movie! How cool!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this one early!

[Viv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trouble with Tinsel
By Juliet Giglio; Keith Giiglio

2.5 - 3 stars

Summary: The story was an interesting premise about two main characters that had been lovers before find themselves in an arranged engagement to fool the movie production in a bid to enhance their prospects of their script continuing to be produced over the Christmas theme.

This book I had high hopes for. Instead I struggled to relate to any of the characters, they appeared one dimensional and chasing their tails all through the book. The heroine was too cheerful and no agency. She was not a strong character. She could have fought for what she believed in, instead she just plays down and follows the main male character lead. I felt like I was going round in circles over and over. The storyline was plausible to an extent, but it failed to hit the right marks for me.
I felt the book was too long for the story being delivered with most of the content a lot of same on each chapter. I wanted to stop reading after chapter 15.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mostly entertaining second chance, fake dating romance set over the holidays in LA as two former screenwriting partners reunite to sell, produce and save their latest film project.

I didn't love that there was also a love triangle and infidelity element - this one gave me tons of Roughest draft vibes (and not in a good way). While I didn't hate this one like I did the Roughest draft, it still had some rough patches.

Overall if you want a (mostly) feel good holiday save the movie read, and enjoyed books like Right on cue by Falon Ballard or Julie Murphy's Christmas Notch series, this one might be for you. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad if you go into it with low expectations. Which I did, but oof there was something off about this one. I love a good second chance and fake dating trope but the cheating ??? Ew. And not an ounce of remorse from Kerri either. The way Kerri handled the relationship with Beau was just awful all around. #JusticeforBeau. Some plot lines were solved a little too easily so there wasn’t much of a payoff. And the crazy part was, the whole time Jon and Kerri were working on this movie, battling all kinds of obstacles and they don’t tell us how the movie came out! Was it successful? Did they make money? Did critics love/hate it? I was fully expecting a scene at the end where they’re all sitting on the couch watching their movie that they made. But no, the ending was their wedding which was cute but also like I just listened to 11 hours of them trying to make a movie so I would like some closure on that front.

[phoebe♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

”That was good enough for Jon. He loved being back with Kerri, even if he wasn’t back with Kerri. He would take what he could get.”

What a perfect little Christmas rom-com.

Okay, maybe less than perfect. The synopsis was cute, with the classic fake-dating trope promised, but man… the only way I could truly enjoy this novel with no issues would be with duct tape over my mouth and my hands tied behind my back. Like I said, it’s a cute synopsis. It’s even cuter when you realize that it’s loosely based off of the two authors, who are also a husband and wife screenwriter duo. Absolutely adorable. Who wouldn’t want to write a romance novel about that?

But… I just couldn’t get with this book.

If I ignored every little issue that came up, I could love this book. It’s the perfect Christmas story for hot, rich white people who don’t care for anyone other than themselves. This doesn’t make it a bad story, but it certainly makes it much less relatable to most people. It’s sort of like what happened in The Futures by Anna Pitoniak—a lot of people rated it negatively because it was such a first-world problem, and, well… just not relatable at all. But the thing is, relatability isn’t the biggest problem. There’s tons of great books out there with characters that most people don’t relate to. There’s just a very specific genre of novels that have unrelatable characters in a bad and off putting way, and this is one of them.

This is the textbook definition of what I think of when it comes to cheesy chick lit. I can get down for a cheesy romance, but this was teetering on the edge of being just too cheesy, and starting to be nauseating. The line on page 31 about Kerri telling Jon that she isn’t planning on falling in love with him again… cringe. The same goes for page 110 where Kerri is editing the script for their movie and adds in real lines that Jon said to her when they broke up. The deliverance was just so skin-crawling. Luckily there were only a few lines that made me feel that way, and for the most part the dialogue was actually well-done in my opinion. The banter between Kerri and Jon especially. This is a good example of how a book can have a lot of dialogue but still keep a good flow in the story.

There’s certain aspects of contemporary romances that make me cringe regardless, and pop culture references always cheapen a book for me. It doesn’t matter who or what they’re referencing, it just sort of pulls me out of the story and plops me back into the real world, and the shining veil of a good story is gone forever. So clearly, I didn’t like the few Adele and Harry Styles mentions, even if I do enjoy their music myself.

I fully understand that having some unfortunate characters or actions in a book doesn’t mean that the book is endorsing said actions, but the cheating in this book was crazy. I get that Kerri and Jon were still in love, but nothing excuses cheating. Maybe that’s just a personal belief but I hate when books have a cheating subplot and someone gets hurt, even if that person (Beau) is kind of a bad person themselves. Speaking of bad people, the villains in this story felt like such cheap shots. They were completely two-dimensional; of course the nasty old fiancé that’s holding Kerri back from her LA dream and the mean director that changed their script were completely, one hundred percent evil. It just felt unrealistic even though this could totally happen in real life.

I have two last points. Both of these seemed forced in my eyes.

Firstly, Amari and Richard. I do like them together, but Amari seemed to move on from Lukas way too fast. Even if Lukas was a bad person who treated her terribly, jumping into another relationship just like that is kind of crazy. But like I said, I do like her and Richard together. I just wish they gave it more time so that Amari had time to heal after the damage from Lukas.

Secondly, I know that the entire premise is Christmas themed. That’s the point; a massive part of the setting. But it just feels forced, I don’t know how else to say it. The exact same story could have taken place in the middle of July. It feels like when musical artists tease a “Christmas release” and it turns out to be a cheap “holiday remix” of one of their old songs.

That being said, this was an easy book to digest. The writing was good and the story flowed well despite my criticisms, and I did finish the book feeling satisfied. I’m glad that Kerri and Jon got back together, and I’m glad that Richard and Amari did as well. Plus, Kerri’s family seems delightful and their little wedding at the end was super cute. I did enjoy this cute romance book more than I thought I would.

Thanks to Netgalley, Sourcebook, and Juliet and Keith Giglio for the ARC!

[Sarah Skibickyj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a good cheesy Christmas romance. This book was written by my college screenwriting professor and her husband so it was on my tbr list. It was a cute Christmas time Hollywood romance. The ending was a little rushed in my opinion with Beau immediately leaving and then all of a sudden Kerri and Jon get engaged and married but overall I liked the story and it was a cute fast read.

[jess]

DNF at 25%

I don't like the writing or the narration. The sentences are choppy and chapters end abruptly. I haven't read a single character description - and I've met so many characters, I don't have a single clue what any of them look like. There's no chemistry between the main characters, Jon just sounds sad and desperate as he continuously fixates on details of their previous relationship together.

Thank you to the publisher for this eARC and the opportunity to read it. I will not be finishing this book.

[macy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[lyric walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Jennifer (jm_bibliolater)]

Thank you Sourcebook Casablanca for the advance copy.

No. There should be absolutely ZERO cheating in an holiday book. What kind of cheer is that? It is a DNF for me.

[Tabatha Reed · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

The second chance H was extremely disappointing. I didn’t want h to fall in love with his unworthy ass again so I bailed out to save myself the aggravation.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

So very cheesy and formulaic. The ending was the lamest of all.