THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!
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Hello sassy people! Today I’m gonna talk about another ARC!!!!! I had the honor to receive an Advanced Readers Copy from Escaping Christmas by Marie Landry!!!!
This book is a sweet, loving story about the Queen of Christmas and her small-town handyman. Two people, with their own baggage, trying to find love and security. This book was delicious and thoughtful, and I believe a lot of people would relate to these characters’ experiences, thoughts, and fears.
Escaping Christmas
by Marie Landry
Joss’s no-strings-attached holiday is about to become more tangled than a string of Christmas lights.
What happens when the so-called Queen of Christmas feels more like Scrooge? In actress Josslyn Hazelwood’s case, she decides to escape it all: the heartache and mess of her very public divorce, the press, and, most of all, the holidays and everything that comes with them. Spending a few weeks in the small town of Honeywell Hollow as “just Joss” is exactly what she needs.
Liam Doherty is happy to help Joss test her BFF’s theory that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. Her no-strings-attached holiday fling soon becomes more entangled than a string of Christmas lights, and she finds herself not only caught up in a whirlwind romance with Liam, but also getting sucked into the festive fun of Honeywell.
Joss knows she’s falling for both Liam and Honeywell, but the ghost of Christmas Past is determined to visit this Scrooge after all. No matter how much she tries to escape her past and Christmas, she’s forced to confront them both before she can appreciate the gifts of Christmas Present.
Genre: ARC, Romance
Year: 2021
Tropes: Celebrity Romance, Cheating Ex, Christmas Romance, Divorced, Handyman, Movie Star/Actress-Actor Romance, Small Town Romance
Smut factor: 🔥 🔥 🔥 3/5 (sex on the page)
TRIGGER WARNINGS (Based on StoryGraphs): No content Warnings According to StoryGraph
Main characters: Josslyn (Joss), Liam
Main conflict: Recently divorced, past traumas, lives and works in another city. Joss is only on vacation in Honeywell Hollow
Pacing: Slow (I read it slowly, but it was more about my mood than about the book)
Mood: Deep, Sweet
Hero: Cinnamon Roll Hero
Plot or character-driven: Character Driven
P.O.V.: Single P.O.V.
Character development: Deep
Diverse Cast: Small secondary characters are a bit diverse
Read in: November 2021
My Rate: 4/5
Feminist rate: 4/5 (I loved the process Joss went through in this book, recovering from her divorce and other traumas and being strong and finding love again, not only romantic love but family love, something she missed most of her life. But I didn’t see major “feminist romance” vibes, but that is okay.)
Adjectives and general thoughts: Sweet, deep, adorable, and positive. Beautifully written.
Great development on secondary characters, I want to read about all those people, the problem? They don’t have books out yet (this is a stand-alone, you can read it by itself and be fine, but I love a series and if I could, every single one of these characters would get a book). Also (SPOILER) I’ll be pissed if Murph dies in the next book, even though it sounds very likely 😭
Recommend this to People who love a sweet but deep book, that deals with mental health, past traumas, and cute small towns.
I have to say, I had never read a book by Marie Landry, but now I’m going to read everything I find from her. The writing in this book is fantastic, and I saw that from the first sentence in this book:
From the start, it was funny, but also heartfelt and realistic (That’s not to say that the whole book is realistic, most of us would never find a loving family and the love of our life in a weeks-long vacation) but the whole situation, the divorce, the adjustment, the shame and the will to scape, is all too understanding.
Also, I’m a sucker for deep character development, and this book delivers it. We understand these people’s fear, reluctance, and wants. The whole story is rooted in their past and I love that they deal with them. The fact that Joss sees her therapist again and deals with her feelings in a positive and professionally assisted way wins my heart right away.
I love the emotions, the severe, realistic problems some of these characters are going through, and how these people form a support system. There are a lot of romances where the only person the heroine has is the hero and I am so happy that this is not the case here. Liam is just a small part of this story, and I cannot express how happy that makes me. This is a book that tells a story about really good people, people who help everyone, people who have big hearts and warm hugs and good intentions.
And last, but definitely not least, the best part of this book is the scenario and secondary characters. This is why I love small-town romance so much, we don’t only get to see this couple’s journey, we get to meet and follow the stories of Mae, Murph, Thea, Nathan, Fiona, and the adorable Rex. This story would be so different without them. The town itself is a character here, it has a big role in the book, and it takes a really good writer to deliver and piece together all of these parts, which makes this book just a joy to read.
If you want to buy this book, it is now live on Amazon. You can also add it to your shelf on Goodreads and see what other people thought about it!
Well, that is all for today, I hope you like this post, hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Feel free to leave your opinion about it in the comments and I will see you next time!
Bye sassy people!
- I know that some comments I make about decent guys on my posts are the bare minimum a guy should do, so no, they don’t deserve to be treated like gods for doing the minimum, but at the same time, I’ve read a lot of sexist books and I appreciate authors who make characters that can serve as role models and examples of how a decent guy acts and what a loving and respectful relationship looks like. I believe we should always encourage these authors and bring attention to the ones that still write sexist characters and stories.
- I make a lot of comments about sexism and healthy role models in books, but a lot of times these characteristics don’t make the book a bad book and definitely don’t make the author a bad author. Please never shame these authors and these books for these comments, I simply feel that we need to have awareness of the less than ideal situations some books bring us, and not use the romanticized problem as examples of what a relationship should be. Most of these authors are still amazing, and the content they write doesn’t reflect directly with their personal views and opinions. Always make sure to respect and be kind to everyone, even while criticizing their content.
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Meet Me
Brazilian architecture student and book lover
One of my goals in analysing my readings was to talk about important topics, like feminist and consent, because literature, art and culture influence us, and I believe we should always encorage authors who talk about this topics.
Come check out my Goodreads Reading Challenge!
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020
I read 148 books in 2020, come see them!
