The Christmas Wish: the hilarious new festive Christmas romance from the bestselling author

Product Information

Thank you, NetGalley, HarperFiction, and HarperCollins UK, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Gwen's life is falling apart. Her boyfriend left her for another woman and she suffered a break down at work that resulted in her being placed on leave. She travels home to spend Christmas with her parents, grandmother, cousin Manny and her sister and her family. Along the way she reconnects with her childhood crush Dev and through her time loop she's forced to realize what matters most to her. Only it really doesn’t, and Gwen wakes up the next day and, somehow, it is Christmas all over again, although she seems to be the only one who realizes that they had celebrated it the day before. Somewhat reminiscent of Groundhog Day, this continues to happen. But then Gwen wakes up to discover it’s Christmas all over again. She’s trapped in a snowy Groundhog Day. But would repeat meet-cutes with Dev really be so bad for a heart that needs mending?

But this book isn't just kikikis. It gets deep with it, which I can appreciate. Kelk explores deftly explores dysfunctional families, failed relationships, and career struggles. And boy can she write. I think she'd be an excellent literary fiction writer. She's funny but she's got the technical skills and talent, too. Last year, Gwen had been happy, expecting to be married to her boyfriend in the then-near future, but that’s over. He dumped her for the receptionist. Gwen had also felt fulfilled in the law firm where she’d worked for years, although overworked enough to have ended up on mandatory leave, and is beginning to question if she ever wants to return there. She’s dreading having to be near her sister, who will also be there with her husband and children, as they rarely have even a civil conversation. She’s also dreading having to talk to her father about her thoughts on leaving the company and finding another job that would be more fulfilling. I ask because for the past year I’ve insisted to my two boys that yeet is not a word, no matter how much they love it and how often they say it. I’ve told them it’s nothing more than slang, a nonsense word, and should be said as little as possible. She ends the day sitting with Manny by the fire after consuming enough alcohol to feel cozy with a plan for the next day - to forget about work, forget about her ex, and to avoid fights with her sisterThis story was an okay read. A lot of family drama. I was thinking it was a romance story and looking forward to cute romance but there were little of it. A lot of repetition since the same day started over again like 6 times. So much whining about unhappy job, being dumped, and the ache for the boy next door.. I do enjoyed the humor though. will salve the sting of her career hanging by a thread and her heart being trampled on. Because everyone else has their life sorted: even Dev, her boy-next-door crush, is now a tall, dark and handsome stranger with a fiancée. She can't help wishing her future was clearer.

I’m glad I went into the prepared to read it more as Women’s Fiction than romance. Right expectations are important to enjoy the book.As she figures out how to escape her own particular Christmas hell, Dev is the one bright spot. He might be all grown-up but underneath he's just as kind and funny as she remembers.

Overall, this was a sweetly fun, lighthearted read that offered unexpected moments of wisdom as Gwen desperately seeks a way to bring this Christmas-Day-on-repeat to an end, believing that if she can determine each of their Christmas wishes and fulfill them, it will finally end this seeming nightmare. Then Gwen wakes up to discover it’s Christmas day all over again. Like Groundhog Day but with turkey. And family arguments. On repeat. As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. The pacing is a bummer. Despite the humor and everything, the story dragged in some places. A couple of themes are handled with a weeny bit extra emphasis, but that’s no big deal when the book delivers on the nice Christmasy feeling and a happy ever after.

BookBliss

Reading this book felt like opening a box of Quality Streets, getting out the Christmas edition of the Radio Times, then popping on a Santa Hat' SOPHIE COUSENS HAPPY PUB DAY TO THIS BANGER! btw I'm holding a 48hr flash giveaway on my IG @girlwiththepinkskimask rn for anyone who'd like to enter (US/CAN)💖 Sparkles with wit and warmth . . . I'll read anything Lindsey writes, but this one might just be my new favourite of her novels' BETH O'LEARY

We have a superstition in Greece in which if you find a fallen eyelash on your friend's face, you hide it between your fingers, then you both make a wish and whoever gets it, they get their wish granted. My wish was for this book to be great and fun to the end. Gwen always thought her life was going great until recently. Her longtime boyfriend cheated on her and she had to move out of his house, she's on leave from her high-pressure job as an attorney due to an unfortunate incident with a client. She goes home to celebrate Christmas with her family and after a very eventful Christmas day, she wakes up to find that she's living the day yet again. And then again. As Gwen tries to change things and to discover who might have made a wish to have this happen, she realizes that maybe the person she needs to focus on is herself. Absolutely screamingly hilarious, full of Christmas-y sparkle and a lovely boy-next-door romance, but with some serious depth to bring you all the feels' LIZZY DENT Then Gwen wakes up to discover it's Christmas day all over again. Like Groundhog Day but with turkey. And family arguments. On repeat. This book surprised me in all the right ways and it wasn’t until the end where I realized just how much I loved it!!

Customer reviews

As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading as many books and essays about equality as I can get my hands on. There is so much amazing stuff out there! Funny, inspiring, sad, thought-provoking, empowering! I’ve been discovering so much that, at times, I’ve felt like my head was about to explode… I decided to start a Feminist book club, as I want to share what I’m learning and hear your thoughts too. Each day, she tries her hardest to figure out how to break this “spell,” which offers some entertaining moments, funny ones, as well as moments of love. Love for her family, for a boy she had a crush on when she was young, as well as trying to create a more amicable relationship with her sister.