Rachel > Recent Status Updates

Yay, Hans backstory! And sympathetic Hans, at least for now. Yippee!

I will finish this book before 2025 ends. I am determined to make it happen.

I never knew Max recognized Ariel, even as a mute human, by her scent... Interesting.

That Mr. Hartman is Herrikhan's mortal disguise, I just know it!

Okay maaaaaaybeeeeeee the candy cane stuff was kind of hot. Until the end. Then it got gross. Also, were they banging in front of the reindeer? That seems inappropriate to me.

I don't know if it says something about me, but I hated every second of the smut. It just felt like an aggressive tonal shift to me. Way too vulgar for what's generally a fun, fluffy book. Not pure Hallmark cleanliness, but I think it could and should have been kept PG-13 (or 15) at most. Maybe closed door, or at the very least, MUCH less explicit.

There's a whole ass editors note printed in the book on page 281. Someone definitely fucked up in the final proofread of this book (if there even was one).

Every now and then, there are these weird little writing errors that take me out of the book. The conversation in Chapter 19 was full of them. And twice now the phrase was used, "I roll my teeth over the corner of my lip." Do you mean to say you bit the inside of your cheek? 'Cause I tried acting out the phrase and it... doesn't work. I don't know where it came from but it's WEIRD.

I think I ship Cole & Max together more than I ship Cole with Storee. Whoops? I blame the author for giving Max such goofy bisexual vibes (and I guess also my brain for picturing him as Lewis Pullman).

This is really cute and fun so far. I love all the little references and nods to actual Grinch characters. Though I'm surprised by the implication that The Grinch also exists as a piece of media in this universe. So in-universe, all the similarities are supposed to be coincidence, then? That hurts my brain to think about.

This book still kinda reads like a Hallmark movie but with smut and a sprinkling of dark romance themes thrown in. (Emphasis on "sprinkling".) It also really needs a better editor, 'cause in tonight's reading alone, I found a spelling error, multiple grammatical errors, and a sex scene that makes 0 mention of underwear being removed prior to penetration. I swear this book didn't even get proofread before publication.

God, this book needs more drama. All the club and Christmas stuff went a little too well for Chloe. I kinda wish someone else got into her house instead of Jack. Spice things up a little. (Not that the smut isn't spicy, but it's so, like, surface-level kinky, if that makes sense? Very basic D/S stuff. I mean, besides the voyeur thing, but I kinda hated that scene. Bit of a turn-off as a social anxiety sufferer...)