Christmas Crush

East Village Christmas

by Brynn North

If I take on one more thing, my ornaments may all come crashing down...

I’m juggling all I can handle: work, family, and most of all, school. I’m already overloaded when my bestie Luci asks me to take on a big project to help senior citizens. Between Christmas and finals, it couldn’t come at a worse time, but I agree to it anyway.

Just when I think I have it all balanced, sexy baker Gabriel crashes into my life. The last thing I have room for on my plate is dating, yet somehow I end up in a whirlwind of holiday activities...and loving it.

Despite myself, I find myself falling for Gabriel.

But can I handle all my responsibilities and a new man in my life?

Am I going to crash and burn? Is it possible to have it all?

♥

Christmas Crush is a heartwarming sweet romcom novella with a stubborn woman, a man even more stubborn to win her over. It is the second story in the East Village Christmas sweet romcom series, including the prequel, Under Wraps.

Genres: Christmas, Romance, Contemporary, New Adult, Holiday

147 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2020

About the author

Contemporary Romance & Chick Lit with sizzle and sass

Brynn North's goal is to write fun, witty, and relatable books that leave you with a smile and laugh. Her heroines are often finding their way in life, in and out of relationships. Her characters may not always be perfect people, but hey, neither are we, right? She hopes that you can see another perspective or even parts of yourself in her books and realize you aren't alone in figuring this whole life thing out. 
Her books are chick lit or closed-door romance, perfect for readers who love chemistry and sizzle but no explicit content.

She is a Minnesota native and still lives in Minneapolis with her family, loving it for approximately eight months out of the year. The other four months she dreams about moving to a warmer zip code. She is a total cat lady, with the best cats in the entire world. #sorrynotsorry

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sweet and cute :)

[Carous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nota real: 3,5

Esta novela me deixou surpresa. Fui pega desprevenida pela carga dramática. Tinha 0 expectativas de que encontraria isso aqui e muita expectativa de que a história se limitaria a um clichê romântico natalino onde nada mais importa a não ser o amor e o Natal.

Não que Christmas Crush não tenha sua cota de clichê. Gabriel é descrito, não ironicamente, como tão belo quanto Ryan Reynolds. Tem a paixonite no ar; o fato de que nem ele nem Maria saem da cabeça do outro apesar de se conhecerem há poucos dias. O fato de eles terem certeza não só de que um é A Pessoa Certa para o outro, mas que nunca encontram nem se sentiram assim antes por mais ninguém. Tem mais sentimento mais clássico do romance do que esse?

Mas trazer um pouco de seriedade à novela foi, sem dúvida, uma surpresa. Achei que a autora jogaria o passado familiar de Maria como forma de dar profundidade à personagem e nunca mais o mencionaria, mas ele permeia toda a narrativa. É, inclusive, o motivo por trás dos desencontros do casal principal. Afeta seu círculo de amizade. Maria vê o mundo e, principalmente, namorados como uma forma de subtrair e não agregar na sua vida e foge disso.

Já a família de Gabriel é tranquila. Ele não tem muitos conflitos para lidar, apenas muitos pedidos para entregar na sua padaria. Digo, a autora podia ter maneirado um pouco. Além dele ser confundido com Ryan Reynolds por causa de sua aparência, sua patisserie coleciona troféus. Eu relevo a perfeição do cara em todos os campos porque é um romance.

De qualquer forma, ele gosta de Maria e os dois combinam muito bem. A interação entre eles éé fofa e apaixonante. Não há como negar que os dois precisam ficar juntos no final.

A novela traz outras micro situações que evitam que a história fique sem graça. E o núcleo dos idosos no asilo é uma adição interessante porque mostra um lado pouco visto da terceira idade.

Luci, melhor amiga de Maria, ganhou sua própria história no ano anterior e nesta aqui serve de grande ajuda para a protagonista.

Eu demorei a concluir míseras 160 páginas porque não estava me dedicando o suficiente a esta história. Assim que isso mudou, li em um pulo.

[Lizzi Craine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ the majority of this book was great. A really lovely, heartwarming Christmas themed story. Predictable but still good! Plus the characters were fab, I love them all (especially Grandpa!). But the last couple of chapters seemed so rushed!! Things weren’t described in as much detail as the other chapters, I had to reread bits to understand, and ‘June’ became ‘Jane’ in the last chapter too? The whole situation seemed rushed and not thought through and I felt really let down by it!! It’s a shame, but was still a nice read.

[Kerry - Readkerryread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria is just trying to make ends meet while also trying to finish her PhD portfolio. When she gets the opportunity to come up with some ideas for a senior center for some extra cash, she jumps at the chance. The Ryan Reynolds look-a-like Gabriel is just a bonus.

Gabriel is the sexy baker who is visiting his Grandfather and is volunteered to help Maria come up with some ideas. This is his busy season but he can’t help wanting to spend time with Maria.

I appreciated Maria not wanting to make the same mistakes her mother made, but Gabriel was so worth it. I loved how supportive Gabriel was and he wasn’t boastful of all his accomplishments. His non-date dates and gifts were really sweet.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one really surprised me. I was really just searching for short, Christmas romances to read on my Kindle and stumbled on this one. I ended up really loving it and thinking it was super sweet. It was a very clean romance with all steamy stuff being "off screen" which is not usually how I like my romances...but I still loved this anyway. Highly recommend for a quick holiday read.

[steph ⋆˙⟡♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

honestly, i really loved maria and gabriel's story a lot more than i liked alex and luci's.

i loved how they both immediately were attracted to each other but maria didn't want to admit it. i connected with maria a bit on a few different things, the bad past with family as well as just how busy she was (i was BUSY in HS), so i loved seeing her finally find someone who loved her for her and how busy she was AND her past.

they both truly loved each other and it was beautiful to see how much gabriel wanted to work for her love and trust. i also LOVED gabriel's grandpa sooo much, he was so funny. i loved the scenes with him and june. absolutely adorable.

i loved gabriel being described as looking like ryan reynolds because .. who's going to complain about that?! and he owns a bakery?!

overall i LOVED this!

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read with a fantastic plot. The characters were great and their development over the course of the story was fantastic. There were a lot of little quirks written into the story that I quite enjoyed. The taste of music, the cramming for exams, stubborn independent senior citizens. I enjoyed this holiday read and I found I could relate a lot to the characters.

I give this a four out of five stars. The plot and characters were all fantastic.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Roxx Tarantini · Rating 4 out of 5]

North is great at highlighting fun quirky characters and the relationships that envelope them. Christmas Crush is another one of those stories. Meet Gabriel and Maria as they navigate miscommunication and misunderstanding to finally come together; all in the busy chaos of the Christmas season. You'll love these too characters, and there's even a grampa to add some excitement.

A good quick read, I'm sure you'll enjoy!

[I was fortunate to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of the book from the author, with no obligation to review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.]

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet novella. A delightful well written romance set during the crushing pressure during Christmas time. Entertaining and enjoyable with a lot of the realistic pressures of real life. Smooth writing, interesting plot, likable characters and a good flow to the story. Marie is a strong heroine who owns up to her judgmental attitude, great to see the transformation. I received this book for free and voluntarily reviewed.

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this read. This has great characters, and a totally different view about todays senior citizens. It also features a different, more modern kind of nursing home. The main female character reminded me of so many independent ladies who struggle with asking for any kind of help. Least it show them as needy in any way no matter what. And to the unassuming people around us who don't have to puff themselves up, thank you for being yourselves.

[Wulfwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable quick story. I liked the characters a lot. I had a lot of empathy for Maria. I loved Grandpa and June. I felt like the relationship between Maria and Gabriel was interesting. I would recommend this one for those who like a realistic feel romance. It was not explicit so a good read for those who like the bedroom door closed. Pick this one up for those times when you only have a couple of hours to read.

[Brenda Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining Christmas romance between Maria and Gabriel. The author brings strong characters and a fun story , moves it quickly and smoothly and delivers a cute holiday read. Loved and highly recommend!

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own and freely given.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I know Marie seemed hard but really she is just guarded and scared because of her history. Gabe was basically a saint and so patient and awesome. He loves his family and has a successful business and is so thoughtful! I love how they connect and overcome to become a good couple.

[LNC1012 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas time and bakery treats

Finding people that add to your happiness and success rather than taking away from it, and can trust is sometimes hard but worth it in the long run. Then add a hot baker and christmas time and you can't go wrong.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was cute and closed door. The issue I had with it was that there were numerous editing errors. A couple of phrases were plain wrong and there were words missing from some of the sentences. It pulled me out of the narrative.

[Barbara Waloven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warm-Fuzzy, all the feels

Very warm and heartening Christmas-time story. The characters are all very endearing. From the Grandpa to the dear friend and the main characters. The plot was great. I hated the story to end. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a warm-fuzzy.

[Ginger Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story so much. Gabe was such a great guy. *Swoon* Overall, the story was fun, spicy, and the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story for the holidays.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect, uplifting holiday story!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, wholesome romance with likeable characters and a solid storyline. Recommended

[Carolee DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but as a psych major I would think she would be able to do something about her mother.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and cute.

[Vianna Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

i missed the 00:00 for this and I'm not complaining

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

serviu o seu propósito

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute Christmas read. Maria and Gabriel were easy to root for, and their chemistry was off the charts. The misunderstandings between them were so frustrating. The ending was perfect and fitting of the story.

[Mariam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of an almost love/ crush at first sight. Mary and Gabriel had an instant attraction the moment they met. They were in complete awe but circumstances weren't in their favour. There were some busy schedules and misunderstandings involved.

It's written in dual perspective so you get an insight of both their take on their situation.

One thing I loved was the way Gabriel directly and indirectly helped Mary. A very modest, reputable guy. He also owns and runs a bakery which is an added bonus.