One Perfect Christmas

One Perfect #1.5

by Paige Toon

The sequel to One Perfect Summer... ​ One year after movie star Joseph Strike swept schoolteacher Alice off her feet, they are spending Christmas together in snowy Cambridge. But despite the romantic setting, Alice can't help but question whether life in the spotlight is really what she wants. Will a Christmas wedding provide some perspective? Or will the life she'd be leaving behind be too much to lose?

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Christmas, Contemporary, Ebooks, Novella, Young Adult

60 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 8, 2012

About the author

Paige Toon grew up between England, Australia and America and has been writing books set in sun-drenched locations around the world since 2007. She has written fifteen novels, a three-part spin-off for young adults and a collection of short stories. Her books have sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. She loves hearing from her readers so get in touch via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PaigeToonAuthor or visit her website and sign up to her free newsletter The Hidden Paige.

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute and enjoyable read. I loved finding out more about what happened Alice and Joe after the end of “One Perfect Summer” and really hope we might get another short story about them in the future!

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

One Perfect Summer was such an enjoyable book..
As a girl with a similar experience, I loved getting lost in the story of Alice and Joe.. so when I found out that there was a short story that told what happened next, I immediately bought the e-book..
It was a big disappointment!
A fair share of the story was recapping what happened in One Perfect Summer.. There is a wedding, and there is a hint to what may happen next, but.. nothing was developed!
If the intention and purpose of this "book" was just to get the faithful reader even more hungry for a potential sequel, then goal achieved!
But otherwise, I do not see the point, and I would have much rather waited for a "proper" - complete sequel rather than cathcing up like this. This is like going for coffee when you could be going for a nice meal!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I said I would be honest in my reviews so here goes - I didn't like this. If it hadn't have been the sequel to One Perfect Summer (and possibly a bridge into the next instalment), it would have only been a 3 star rating.

This short story is very short, more of an extended epilogue and much shorter than other novellas I've read. To make the matter worse, a lot of that is spent recapping parts of One Perfect Summer and because of that, there isn't much of a story - they've bought a house and Joe's built a snowman is about the gist of it.

It's a real shame as I loved all of Paige Toon's other books but this one left me feeling as though nothing at happened. I would rather have waited longer for a full sequel. That said, it won't put me off buying The Longest Holiday when it is released in May 2013.

[Rachel Keaveney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't see the point of this book, why not just wait and do a sequel?! She ends the book as if there will be another short story? I did love the story and loved catching up with Joe and Alice but felt a little disappointed!

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did really love this book but i agree with everyone else when they say that it would have been better as a sequel than a short story!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe and Alice such a perfect match. I love the public kiss while punting. I loved this short story. I want it to carry on.

[uma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character was super annoying but I just read it so I could just know what happened.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finising Paige Toon’s latest novel One Perfect Summer, I immediately rushed to my Kindle to read the short story sequel to the novel, One Perfect Christmas. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of One Perfect Summer. I didn’t like Alice very much, and I felt it was a re-telling of Pictures of Lily but in a different setting. Plus, the ending was horribly abrupt. One Perfect Christmas goes a little way to patching up the rough ending, but, really, Toon should have just held her horses and wrote a full-length sequel rather than bowing to fans demands and rushing out a short story sequel that takes all of 10 minutes to read.

It does feel as though One Perfect Christmas was a filler. That at some point in the future, we will see Alice and Joe again in some capacity. I’ll be honest, I found it too short to really get to know Alice and Joe in a relationship after so much time apart. I thought it all seemed a bit too perfect. Yes, they loved each other very much — at 18. We’re now meant to believe that nearly 10 years on, they still feel exactly the same and that they haven’t changed at all since they were teens. I don’t want to sound as if I’m on a downer as Toon is a brilliant, brilliant author, I just felt that this novella and its prequel were a bit idealistic.

All I will say, is that I hope The Longest Holiday gets Toon back to her best, back to the best I know she can produce. The good news is that it seems it will. The first chapter is at the end of One Perfect Christmas, and I like Laura already, so bonus. One Perfect Summer and One Perfect Christmas just weren’t to my liking, sadly. They just weren’t as good as Toon’s previous 5 novels.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just wished that this was longer & the full story, they get photographed & ...............

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Da ich die Hauptgeschichte nicht gelesen habe (und es wahrscheinlich auch nicht tun werde), musste ich mich hier erst einmal ein wenig zurecht finden. Aber das hat bald recht gut geklappt.

Bestimmt macht einem dieses Buch mehr Freude, wenn man den Vorgänger kennt, aber auch so ist es eine romantische Weihnachtserzählung. Ein wenig emotional, ein wenig kitschig - das darf für mich in dieser Jahreszeit schon einmal sein.

Dann gebe ich mich auch dem Awww-Effekt hin. Ausnahmsweise mal ;)

[TARA · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly not worth my time or $$. This should have been worked into One Perfect Summer! Disappointing!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG I'm so mad! I totally forgot I was reading a short story. When I clicked next and the story was over I was like what?!, Oh yeah I'm reading a short story lol. Alice & Joe one year later! The story shows you Joe & Alice's life since the end of One Perfect Summer. You get to see updates about Jessie, Emily and Alice's parents as well. We get a glimpse of how Alice is dealing with dating a celebrity and the obstacles they face since Alice decided to keep their relationhip a secret. The only horrible thing about this is, its short :(

[Ricci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urghhhhh just as the book was getting really really really good it ends! Loved how we were given a glimpse of Alice & Joe's relationship & how it came together. Just wished we given a bit more as the ending was abruptly finished & slightly rushed! But it was nice reading about old characters, can finally have a but of closure!

[Rhea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awww I loved reading about Alice and Joe again...I wish it would've been longer haha annoying how she ends it, just when something good was about to happen. I definitely can't wait to see what Paige Toon has in stall for these two!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got it today and had to read it! Absolutely great!!

Having said that i would really love a sequels.

[robynluckystars · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feel quite mean with this rating but it just seemed pointless and didn't really go anywhere. Doesn't really help that I can hardly remember a thing about "One perfect summer"!

[Tanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally caught up with my favourite Paige Toon characters: Alice, Joe and Lukas!!! :D

[Silke · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3 Argh ich würd so gern mehr über Joe und Alice lesen <3

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I think I may have a new obsession with Paige Toon books. I’m not a massive love story book reader, I normally go for mystery or thrillers, but these books are just a good lighthearted read that makes me want to be young again! But on the other hand I am pleased I have my happy ending!

Anyway back to the book! This follows Alice and her true love, 1 year after we left her in One Perfect Summer. I did feel the last book needed rather abruptly so it was great to catch back up with her and see how her life is panning out! There is some present day and some flashbacks to tie up loose ends. I’m purposefully being vague in case you haven’t yet read book 1 and are planning to do so. I am so glad we got this short story I really will miss Alice & ???!!!

[Ruth Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hangover from last year, I started it yesterday thinking I’ll read a novella, nice and short and easy to read, in an attempt to hit my book target for 2022. Got half way through and got distracted by something else and didn’t end up finishing it on time. Oh well!

Perfect little extra to the original story. I do however wish I read it closer to the original story as it took me a while to remember who they were and what had happened. But I soon caught on. It also made me hope there would be another to continue the storyline. I get the impression they are happy but not 100% happy.

[Karen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book straight after its prequel because I was curious as to what happened to the characters. While this does answer those questions in the short term, it suffers from the same problem as the first book in that it leaves you hanging and not in a good way. It leaves you not wanting more but feeling like someone has ripped out the back half of the book or like the author simply got bored.

Having said that I did enjoy the story and I did like the characters

[Sabrina Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This follow up novella was just what I needed after my "One perfect summer" hangover. I wanted more more more of Joe and Alice. I wanted to know if the ending in "One perfect summer" was what I was hoping for or if I had interpreted it wrong. Because I could have...

This was my happy read for the day.
This is definitely one for the fans. And it gave me all I wanted to have closure, just like Alice and Joe did.

Loved it! Thanks Paige Toon.

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

An attempt at a sweet and heartfelt short story but it lacked plot or any real moment of significance. The characters simply end the story exactly as they were at the beginning: uncertain and childishly jealous of their significant other’s friends of the opposite sex. Poorly crafted and very rushed, with much of the story being made up of haphazard flashbacks. I have little hope for the future of the couple, and the ending leaves readers with far more questions than the beginning opened with.

[Chaila · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh 😑 . That was just a fluffy continuation. I didn’t like it, I didn’t like Alice being a jealous, insecure girlfriend, I didn’t like the unfair treatment of Lukas- who deserved more. I wanted to read more about him, I wanted Alice to treat him with love and respect but instead we just received a brutal brush off. I was hoping for so much more of this book and it had the potential to be much more and amazing.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

One perfect summer is one of my favourites by Paige toon, so I really enjoyed revisiting them and getting to know more to the story, however I was a little disappointed by how short it was. I don’t mind a short story, but on my E book it was only 50 pages. It seemed to end quite abruptly and could have easily continued on a little longer to give us a little more to the story of what happens once Alice and Joe go public with their relationship.

Overall I did enjoy it, but was expecting more!

[Sophie Boness · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve had this on my tbr forever. I think I might have enjoyed it more if I’d read closer to the first one. As it was I barely remembered what happened in the first book and found it hard to get into the story. It also fell a bit short, I feel like this has potential to be developed into a whole second book.

[Keelie Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely catch up with Alice

Following on from ‘one perfect summer’ and what has happened since. I feel as though there’s still a lot to go with Alice and Joe’s story so hoping for future books...

[Sian Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rated it 5 star as I loved the story but felt as a sequel it could have done with being longer I'd love to know what they get up to next.
It felt a little rushed, not because of bad quality because it was well written, just that I wanted more .

[Lisa Whittaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes it’s a Christmas book (only a short one though!) but I just had to read more of Alice and Joe’s story from One Perfect Summer and it’s left me wanting to read even more of their story! Please tell me there’s more of their story in another Paige Toon book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me.

[Maria P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to have this short story sequel to A Perfect Summer and find out more about the characters. The ending for a Perfect Summer was a bit rushed so it was good to find out what happened next and gave a much better ending to the story.