e-Audio, 13 hr 26 min
Narrated by: Vanessa Edwin, J,F, Harding, Robert Hatchet, Emma Wilder, Shane East
Release Date: October 15, 2024
Published by: Hot-Lanta Publishing LLC
Read from: November 17-21, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Audible
Content Warning: Sexual content, Grief, Death of a Parent, Car Accident, Cursing, Death, Abandonment, Injury/Injury Detail, Body Shaming
For Readers Interested In: Holidaze, Romance, Contemporary, Sparkly Covers, Realistic Fiction, Dual POV, LOL, AdultA new holiday enemies-to-lovers romance from USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn.
Every Kringle in Kringletown celebrated Christmas a lot.
But Cole Black on Whistler Lane, unfortunately, did not.
As his fellow citizens decorate their quaint town, brimming with carols and glad tidings, Cole wants nothing more than to hibernate the winter away. But his dreary plans are thwarted when his Christmas nemesis, Storee Taylor, moves in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Immediately, the new neighbor turns his life into a real nightmare before Christmas, especially when she decides to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest in honor of Cindy. And better yet, Storee is determined to win.
Over Cole’s dead body, she will. With help from his friend Max, Cole decides to enter the competition as well, to beat Storee at her own game by pretending that this hometown grump’s heart has grown three sizes this season and he’s fallen for the girl next door. And unfortunately for Storee, she has to follow his lead to have a chance at the Christmas Kringle title.
But the competition isn’t the only thing that heats up. Cole and Storee’s fake relationship becomes very real, and before they know it, they’re attempting to hide it from Aunt Cindy. Things get complicated, the competition gets tough, and all it takes is one single night for someone to steal it all…
*MY THOUGHTS*
I didn’t come into this expecting to love this as much as I did. In fact I felt really weird about it because how are you making this an actual re-telling? But y’all this turned out so well done! Don’t get me wrong, it’s long af, but it was really good and I really could not stop laughing.
Y’all this book was hilarious. I think if it wasn’t I really would have DNFed it because whyyyyyyy is this contemporary romance 10+ hours?! The book itself is 480 pages! Anyway, there were many times I laughed so freaking hard I almost woke up my kid. Like the lights on his house scene? Or the 50 foot Santa? Lordt I almost burst a blood vessel trying to make sure I didn’t laugh too loud. I don’t want to give too much away, but she was a hot mess and it made her hilarious.
The length seemed to be a bit of an editing issue. I think if some of the competition had been cut or if some of the bantering had been cut it would have been fine, but it was just too much book for me. I found myself taking breaks because I kind of had to. But even still, this didn’t stop me from telling everyone I was reading this and I was loving it. Because I did in fact love this so much.
Despite my original thought about this, the story was so good! I loved it so much. I mean I knew how it would be to write a grump, but I thought it was going to be an enemies to lovers or a grump/sunshine. But it was so much more than that. With the narrator and all. It was so much fun! Quinn did a damn good job at making this an actual Grinch retelling and not just the tropey story I was expecting.
The romance itself was also very good. HOWEVER, I didn’t love how he was acting to her. She had no idea what had happened and even when he could have told her, he didn’t. I didn’t understand why this made him mad at her? It didn’t make any sense to me. And for him to be holding that grudge too for years and saying all those weird ass little sayings? He was aggy as hell sometimes. I wanted her to walk away and cuss him out. I was very glad that I was not her because I don’t know that I would have stayed lol But I’m also petty sooooo. But when they finally got together, I was fanning myself. Everyone has said this, but THE CANDY CANE SCENE? I am never going to look at one the same lmao But the place and the way it was done? Are all her books like this? Have I really been missing this the whole time?
The holiday-ness of this one was amazing too. The town was very much a Who-Ville type of thing? Each character was in charge of something Christmasy in the town. And I really loved that. I do wish we got to see the reindeer more, but I realize that isn’t super important and it was something that actually mattered in the grand scheme of things, but still lol
This was so much more fun than I thought it would be. I’m not sure if I enjoyed it so much because it was a holiday story or what, but Lordt I know that I need to read more of Quinn’s stories. I definitely need to know more about what she’s written!
Overall, I give this
