Rating: 3.5 Stars
Source: NetGalley
Description: Juliet is tired of working tirelessly to make Christmas perfect for everyone except herself while her sister Gemma breezes in and out with only the slightest of excuses.
Gemma is tired of her sister thinking that she's irresponsible and unreliable. It isn't her problem that Juliet is determined to be stressed.
After an uncharacteristic argument Gemma comes up with an idea. She will stay and run Juliet's Christmas, because really how hard can it be? Juliet will take Gemma's tropical vacation. But the sisters quickly learn that maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side.
Genre: Fiction
Why I Picked This Book: It looked Christmas-y and is set for the most part in England which had been sadly lacking in my Christmas reading.
My Impression:
Pro: I had only glanced at the premise when I request this book and if I had studied it more closely I probably wouldn't have requested it. Going in I didn't have high hopes for the actual premise. How could it possible be set up and not just seem silly? But it worked. It made sense why Gemma came up with the idea and it made sense while Juliet took her up on it. I loved both Juliet and Gemma. They were both flawed and had real issues with each other and it was interesting to watch them both figure themselves and each other out. There wasn't a lightbulb moment where they each realized that the other sister's life was more difficult than they had given them credit for and everything was fixed. It slowly evolved and they began to understand why the other acted the way they did. I really identified with both sisters and I really wanted them to work through their issues.
Con: The romance in this is a subplot at best and really I could have done without it. One had red flags popping up from the beginning and the other had an ick factor though it does get resolved. While I really liked Juliet the parts from her perspective did tend to drag a bit. Partly because at the beginning of her vacation she wasn't doing much other than figuring out how to do nothing.
Overall: This was an interesting read about sisters with lots of baggage learning to get past it and rebuild a relationship with each other. It also is about two women getting a better grip on who they are as people. If you're reading this book for those reasons I think you'll really enjoy it. If you're reading it as a Christmas romance I think you'd be disappointed.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely! Despite my hesitation about the premise I really enjoyed this.
Would I Recommend this Book?: Definitely! Though I'd recommend it as fiction not a romance.
Sometimes I wish the author's would just skip the romance..like you it isn't a necessary ingredient for me. I do like the concept of this one and I am glad you liked them both.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that a romance is not always necessary for me to like this type of book.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the sisters and learning to understand each other better. But like everyone else here we don't have to have the romance if it doesn't work with the book.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting. I'm not big on books about sisters. I'm not sure why. I'm with you and the others, romance isn't necessary in books like this and can even be a detriment, but I do understand the desire to include it in--for better or worse.
ReplyDeleteGood to know. If I know going in the romance is way light or a secondary I'm usually okay so appreciate the heads up!
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