This novel will make you believe in magic!
*Warning: Review contains spoilers.
General thoughts:
- The book was very fun, sweet, Christmassy (as expected and loved! The lightheartedness was just what I needed in my life right now), and funny. I especially smiled and laughed in Chapter 27! The romance was good!, the situations and people relatable (including --- just because I know from personal experience --- wanting better for your own relationship than your divorced parents had like Jared once said in this book), and plotline was exciting. It was Hallmark-y but in a good way! And I loved all of the magical interference and the MFEO/”fate will find a way to make sure you two are together” feels as well! Also: That definitely would have been terrible if the snowman marriage was really just Jared pranking Lacie. It reminds me of the same kind of idea as, “There are just some things you can’t say to people on April Fools’ Day…”
Characters:
- Lacie’s personality was amusingly type-A and organized-planner in a way that was both well-executed and pretty relatable! I’m probably like her more than I’d like to admit, even without the phone addiction and workaholism. Failure, things not going as planned, and spontaneity can all be hard! But I think that a message of her character is that life is more than just one’s image and practicality. I’m glad that Lacie learned to slow down. And considering that Jared said that he wants kids, it makes me wonder what she would be like with some!
- Jared is just a lot of fun, simply put! I loved his banter in places like Chapters 3, 6, and 7. I did get a little infuriated with him in places like the ends of Chapter 12 and 21, though. I was just like (to him and Lacie), “Get yo’selves together already!” I love the “best friends fall in love” trope, so I got pretty committed into seeing how good of a couple they were even when they were only a pre-couple. Guilty as charged!
- Tia I found to be a mixture of reasonable and insecure at the same time, because you should be able to trust the person that you’re dating if they’re the right one, and so there are multiple ways that that assessment can go. It was interesting and sad, yet what was right for everybody, how things turned out with her and Jared. I wish for the best for her (fictionally!)
Favorite sweet moments:
- Lacie and Jared snuggling in Chapter 19 after Lacie hurt her ankle.
- Lacie’s admission-of-love speech to Jared in Chapter 23.
A favorite passage/bit of figurative language:
- “The suggestion bothered her like a cat who has its fur petted in the wrong direction.”
Somewhat morals you could take away from this novel:
- Life isn’t what we expect it to be, but that can make it much BETTER than we expected it to be.
- Find that person who makes you not want to spend all your time on your phone (or doing other equally-busywork activities.)
A few random thoughts:
- There’s one point where Lacie said a roommate of hers had once broken up with her when she accidentally ruined one of her art projects. I am so lucky that though the same kind of incident happened to me, my former roommate and I are still friends…! I am lucky, and I feel for you, Lacie!
- Yeah --- and I agree that you can’t “just kiss,” like Lacie and Jared had hoped to do for the purpose of Romeo and Juliet. It doesn’t work that way! I can’t imagine my sweetheart and I trying that in a play, haha. Hormones are hard…!
- I also do not blame Jared for having hated sleeping at DIA once. I am from Colorado, and yeah…that airport is crazy!
Overall, I think that this is a really great clean romance, and I would recommend it to others and look forward to reading Junie’s upcoming story (as well as the installment that came before this one, because admittedly, I haven’t read it yet!) If you like the movie Holiday Inn or authors like Krista Lynne Jensen, Lucy Keating, and Chelsea Curran, then you will likely love this novel, too!