Amber Raey is working all the hours God sends as assistant to one of the country's top fashion designers, and her boss is a complete nightmare. Amber's dream is to launch her own fashion line one day so, for the time being, she just has to grin and bear it. And then opportunity comes knocking and Amber's suddenly on the fast track to the top.
The parties, the glamour, a whirlwind romance - Amber loves every second of her new life. But there's more to this world than its glossy exterior suggests, and when a face from Amber's past reappears, she finds herself in real trouble. With Christmas fast approaching, Amber is drifting further and further away from her family and friends. Can she get her life back on track before it's too late for a merry Christmas?
Vicky Pattison is an English television personality, fashion designer, reality television participant, columnist, writer, media personality and model. She is best known for appearing on the MTV show Geordie Shore from 2011 to 2014, Ex on the Beach from 2014 and her own show Judge Geordie since 2015.
I already had pretty high expectations, having read All That Glitters at the beginning of the years, and I wasn't disappointed (much). In fact, this book was a delight to read.
The only bug-bear I had was the cameo by the author herself. It was jarring, it took me right out of the story, and it brought my enjoyment down.
Amber Raey dreams of designer her own line, but that isn't going to happen in her current job. Working as a an assistant to one of the country's top designers, Amber is more likely to be dog-sitting than designing. But when Amber is approached by the head of a major fashion house, it seems all her dreams are about to come true, especially when she meets an American heartthrob who propels her into his life of glamour.
But Amber's life isn't quite as perfect as it seems and when a face from the past turns up, Amber's life is turned upside down. Can she right it again and make up for her mistakes in time for Christmas?
A Christmas Kiss is the first book I've read by Vicky Pattison so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a fun read full of northern humour and a cast of fantastic characters. I immediately warmed to Amber and I loved her outlook on life. She's a no-nonsense kind of girl and although she's quite ballsy, she has a heart of gold and cherishes her friends and family. What I liked most about Amber was that she wasn't perfect. She makes mistakes, which only made her more real for me.
I loved the bond she has with her flatmates, Tom and Jess and I can imagine the fun times the threesome have had over the years. They like to have a good time but they also look out for each other too. I also liked the friendship she forms with assistant Freddie and her new boss Alessandro is such a sweetheart and is so much more than a boss and becomes a real mentor for Amber.
Although the title and cover suggest a festive read, only a very small part of the book takes part at Christmas so it wasn't very festive at all, which is a shame as I was looking forward to immersing myself in a cosy Christmas read. I did enjoy the book but the suggested festive element was missing. But putting that aside, I thought the book was an enjoyable read that had me giggling in lots of places due to Amber's colourful way with words.
When I was looking for Christmas reads a view weeks back my eye immediately caught the cover of ‘A Christmas Kiss’. I just love the purple and gold cover. And when I read the book description of this book I knew I wanted to read this book. ‘A Christmas Kiss’ is my first Vicky Pattinson novel.
In ‘A Christmas Kiss’ we meet Amber Raey. Amber is living in London and working hard to become a fashion designer. Fashion and designing is her big passion and she doesn’t remember a time where she didn’t want to become a designer. But to get to her dream she has to work hard and do some terrible jobs. But slowly working hard pays off. Amber gets herself a job interview at one of London most prestigious fashion houses and before she knows it, her life will never be the same.
From the moment I started reading this book I enjoyed it. Fashion isn’t really my thing, but reading about Amber’s life in London and her friends and adventures really made up for that. I loved getting a look inside Amber’s life. It was fun to read how she got to her ‘dream’ job and I especially loved getting to know Amber’s friends and family. Reading about those characters and the relationships they had with Amber were really the best part of the book if you ask me.
For the most part I really loved Amber’s character. I loved how hard she worked and how she spend her free time. It was so fun to read how passionate she was about her work. After Amber met rich and famous Brandon, things got bad really fast. Not only for Amber’s work and life, but I also really began to dislike her character. For someone who was so passionate and caring one moment, she really got pretty self-absorbed and selfish fast. But that was the path the character took, and Vicky Pattinson definitely wrote this story in a way I really felt all those emotions. And I made me thankful we got Amber back in the end.
To me this book had a real ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ feeling. It was a good read and different than my normal reads. The romance wasn’t really what I hoped it would be, but in the end it was really good and perfect for Amber’s character. I did think this book was a bit too long when I was half way through. I think this book would have been just as good if a view parts were left out.
But in the end this was a good read. I wouldn’t really describe this book as a Christmas read. Something I thought it would be myself. The whole Christmas part doesn’t really happen until the last view pages. But that’s okay.. The Christmas Kiss is definitely an enjoyable read.
There was very little "Christmas" in this book despite the title, it was an easy enough read, but I did have to keep reminding myself to pick it up and read it.
Unfortunately it did read slightly like a bad fanfic at times.
Nice character and world building, but there was something off about the story for me.
A delightful, light read about fashion designing, love, family, friends and Christmas. If you are looking for a quick and easy read then this is for you. Not as much Christmas as I hoped but it's still an enjoyable read.
A quick read and not a great one, I'm afraid. Extremely misled by the title. I thought it would involve Christmas time and I guess it was mentioned but was not a part of the entity. If you enjoy British chick-lit about the fashion world and young 20-somethings, you might like this. Just wasn't my 'cuppa'.FRags to riches, heartache, heartbreak, party life, etc. The one unique bit for me was when the author became a character for a page or two. Now on to something more seasonal.
Thank you to NetGalley, little brown book publishing and Vicky Pattison for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.
Amber Raey has always dreamed of designing her own fashion label. But her boos is a true nightmare. Has Amber working all hours and doing menial tasks like taking her dog for a walk instead of using Amber to her full potential. Amber doesn't mind too much thou as she knows it is the first stepping stone to getting her new job.
Then one day Amber is headhunted by the head of a majorly popular fashion house and all of a sudden Amberd dreams are coming true.
Then Amber meet someone an American heartthrob who shows her the glittering sights of an ilustrious career can bring.
However is the grass really greener on the other side? Or are things not as they appear to be?
Amber gets a shock when a lady from the past reemergies in her new life.
A lovely warming Christmas read. Full of sparkle, and love. I instantly liked Amber and found her a great main character. Amber is a sweet lovely girl with a heart of gold that makes a few mistakes like us all and had to make up for them. She loves her friends and family. She is guts and bulsey and a great main character.
I love Ambers flat mates and friends Tom and Jess they are exactly the kind of friends a girl needs in her life as they are there for her throughout and they all have lots of fun and happy times together.
Ambers new boss Alessandri and assistant Freddie are absolutely darlings and you can't help but warm to them.
The only downer that I have of this book is that the front cover, title and bio promise me a wonderfully festive read. However there is only a little bit that is set over the festive period. Which is a little bit of a let down. As I was looking forward to curling up with a delicious Christmas read. But nethertheless this is still a very sweet book
Despite the fact this book really does contain a Christmas Kiss, the Christmas bit of the book is very small and right at the end, so I really would't worry about the title and you can easily read this book at any time of the year and enjoy it.
In fact it is a very enjoyable and entertaining story, focusing around the fashion industry and about what happens when you start to get a bit of press interest. These are clearly subjects that the author is going to know a lot about, and it does show in the way the story comes across.
This is an easy to read book that seemed quite inconsistent in places. There is a storyline all to do with Amber's family that should be more emotional than it comes across, but yet elsewhere its all shine and little depth.
The story is easy to follow and is split into four distinct parts, as the timeline of the progresses there really are four separate stages to Amber's journey.
There are two major love interests in the book, the one you are rooting for the whole way through, and the other which I was enjoying to start with, but within one relationship, Amber soon learnt just who she can count on.
What really did surprise is that for a book featuring an aspiring fashion designer, and some models, there was very little details of what designs Amber is working on, so by the time there are fashion shows roll around, its hard to feel empathy with Amber's neves, as I really couldn't picture anything that was going to be featured on the catwalks.
There were two cameos in this story, one that I loved, and the other that I have really mixed feelings about. The first was Issy Jones, who appears briefly behind the scenes, she featured in Vicky Pattison's first book, and it was great to just get a quick catch up as to what is now happening in her life.
The other cameo is of the author herself, and I can't work out if I am just annoyed that the blatant publicity for her own brand, or amused that she would include herself as a character. I suspect that fans of Vicky Pattison will love it.
There are laughs to be had definitely in this light hearted story that will definitely appeal to a certain audience, I just don't fully believe it was me. I did enjoy the book, but not as much as All That Glitters which is a shame.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for this copy of the book. I read and reviewed it voluntarily, and this is my honest opinion.
I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn’t for me. It seems I am in the minority according to goodreads however as a lot of people loved it! This follows the story of Amber, who is a Geordie girl living in London and trying to make her living as a fashion designer.
To start with what I liked, I loved the themes of friendship and family running through this book. Amber the main character has some fierce friendships and her family bond with her mother and sister is lovely. I also liked the references to local places to me and the ending although predictable was warm and fluffy.
What I didn’t like so much.... this wasn’t actually a Christmas book, the only thing about Christmas was the very end. So don’t pick this up expecting a festive read. I unfortunately did not like the main character and a lot of the side characters. I just could not connect with Amber. I thought she came across as rude especially to her boss and I cringed a lot at things she said. I also thought the Geordie words and phrases were very much overused, particularly ‘pet.’ Us Geordies do use this occasionally but not that often! I also really couldn’t stand her boyfriend, and easily guessed what happened with him.
This wasn’t for me but as I said a lot of people have loved it. It was a very light hearted easy going read, so a lot of people may really like it.
Amber works in fashion as an assistant, so when a chance of a life time comes at a fashion house of Rossi she finds herself jetting off to New York, falling in love with Brandon and discovering truths about her father.
As her life improves things then implode as drugs, family and friends all make terrible things happen for her but as she works out her life again, she finally sees a lot of truths and what had been right under her nose the whole time...
Vicky even makes a guest appearance herself in the book! I liked the idea and the play out of events, it seemed realistic and idealistic as Amber partly gets her dream life but also hard times try her too. If you like reality shows, make-up and party drama you'll enjoy this book!
This is a feel good story which left me with a smile on my face as I finished it.
Amber isn't having a great time at work, a hard nosed boss bringing her down at every turn. A chance encounter opens up a chance of a lifetime, something Amber has always dreamt about. She jumps at the opportunity to make something of herself and fulfil a lifelong ambition. But will having everything she thought she wanted really make Amber happy?
People begin to notice her, and that brings some unexpected benefits. This in turn leads to Amber making some decisions which may not be for the best. Will this bring about a downturn in her fortunes or will she be able to rise above everything and find a way through it all?
The characters are really well written, I love that the author features herself as a character in the story as well, a nice touch I thought. The story flowed very well, and it was believable throughout.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
I don’t usually read this kind of books but it has things that I’m interested in — fashion and ambition.
Set in London, an assistant to a renowned designer who tries to find her place in the fashion industry secured her dream job as a junior designer at the popular House of Rossi.
This is a story of relationships, passion and ambition. The book is an easy read if you’re looking for one. I might say it’s a typical love story but what makes me interested in this book is fashion 😅 I can’t deny that it makes me want to design clothes and shoes again 🤣🙈
This book had all the cheese and drama a Christmas book should have! Although Christmas only happens over a few chapters towards the end of the book, it still created a magical and special atmosphere. It discusses some important topics but manages to do it in such a good way to keep the book light-hearted and easy to read. Overall, this book is so hopeful and heartwarming, the perfect read for December!
I was given this book and to be honest, it is not something that I would have chosen to read myself. Well…I enjoyed it! Easy to read and flowed well. Fairly predictable storyline but I could cope with that. Meaty enough not to be too fluffy . The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that Vicky Pattison made a cameo appearance, and this felt really daft and a little egotistical.
Having recently read My Sisters Wedding by the same author I couldn’t help but liken some of the story line to that book, with the rogue parent turning up and selling a story to the press.
Disappointed with the number of typos in the book though, does no one proof read anymore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I’ve actually read this before but decided to reread for the Christmas period. It’s a good story, entertaining and lots going on. It reads like Vicky talks so if you’re a fan of hers you’ll enjoy it. Can’t believe how many typos were in this book thought, it was actually starting to annoy me. Last book of 2024 🎉
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I didn't enjoy this book because it was poorly written, with a very cliché storyline which was predictable from the start, and the author was included as a character! I wouldn't recommend this book. :)
I tried to read this book but it’s so poorly written and for the majority, has nothing to actually do with Christmas. Maybe a different title wouldn’t have my expectations set too high, but the lack of festive fun and poor writing meant I couldn’t get past chapter 5.
This novel was pretty trashy. It was not well written and it was completely cringey that the author had written herself in as a character that Amber had been completely star struck by.
The only reason this gets two stars instead of one is that it was an easy read.
I actually really enjoyed this book. Would've given it 5 stars were it not for its bad editing; there were often typos and grammatical errors which could not help distracting me from the story.