I thought that "We met in December" by Rosie Curtis was an easy-going, fun read. I did not have the comparison issues (with another book along the same lines) that a lot of reviewers seemed to have reading this book so I was able to take it for face value.
We are introduced to Jess who is moving to the big city for a new job in publishing and leaving a cheating boyfriend in the dust. She's able to hook up with a room in a shared house in Notting Hill (not too shabby!) with 4 others around her age.
While the story touches upon her new job and the struggles she faces, it primarily focuses on the new friendship between Jess and her housemate Alex. The story alternates between Jess and Alex's point of view for the first year giving us a glimpse of how they are each feeling about their place in this world and about each other. While relationships are frowned upon in the house, Alex does end up sleeping with another housemate, Emma. Jess finds out and assumes that she has lost her shot with Alex.
I think the author did a good job of capturing the everyday development of the characters without it being boring and did a beautiful job of growing the relationship between Alex and Jess.
The relationship Jess had with her grandmother was very sweet and relatable but I was VERY unfond of Jess' mom- who was beyond unreal and obnoxious. I did find the whole Alex sleeping with a housemate but pining after Jess a little gross....I liked the idea that she had friends outside the house but a storyline revolving around one friend trying to get pregnant became distracting.
I don't think this necessarily as a Christmas book- even though it glazes over the holiday but it was a charming rom-com and would recommend it for anyone looking for a sweet light read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A gentle romantic tale. When Jess takes up a new role in London, she accepts university friend Becky’s offer of a room in the house she’s just inherited in Notting Hill. Jess meets the other occupants - Emma, chef Rob, who’s rarely seen, and Alex, ex-lawyer, now training to be a nurse. It’s love at first sight for Jess, but unfortunately Alex is getting over being dumped by his partner when he gave up the law, and is not looking for a relationship.

The story jogs gently along, with the usual will they, won’t they moments, the characters are quite likeable, and it has all the ingredients for a good book. However,for me I felt it was over long. In places it dragged and it was a slow read. A bit of a shame, as there was an enjoyable tale trying to come out.

This is a sweet book. Winter, romance, and warm humor-what’s not to love? This is the perfect story for Christmas reading by the fire. I definitely recommend it.

Jess moves to London from her home in a small town after finding out her boyfriend is cheating on her. Luckily, her friend Becky inherited a multi - million dollar home in Notting Hill and offers Jess one of the rooms for almost nothing, renting other rooms to a group of random friends. As Jess has just bagged a job in publishing, she's delighted with the offer. And also, she's instantly attracted to one of the other tenants, Alex - but Becky has a no - relationship between the tenants clause. But does Alex feel at all the same? What with this other woman coming out of his room one morning?

The characters were nice enough, even though they felt too one - dimensional but still, they were likeable. I liked Jess and Alex, he was the über - perfect boyfriend candidate, but was also a driven young man with a passion, willing to chase his dreams instead of settling for the wrong partner and job. However, I missed the chemistry between these two, to be honest, and perhaps this is why I was not so invested in their slowest. romance. ever, I'd love more dynamic interactions between them, something that will suggest that they really fell head over heels in love with each other - it was too lukewarm for my liking, too cautious.

I think the author tried too much to write a perfect, festive story and has overdone on fluffiness and general goodness. The book started really well but then it felt too repetitive and too slow. I appreciated the attempt of getting into Jess and Alex's heads during their walks through London but in the end they didn't bring anything new and I started to skip them. I also think that reading about Alex's reasons of changing his job once or twice was absolutely OK but I didn't have to read about it in every chapter.

I can't help myself, the comparison to "One Day in December" by Josie Silver is simply unavoidable. I wasn't looking for the same story but the cover and the synopsis to "We Met in December", as well as the title, have the same vibe and I was looking forward to a lovely, romantic story. However, this book left me disappointed. The beginning was good, and I was fully invested in reading but continually I was losing my interest as the story was losing its impact. Nevertheless, I kept reading, holding out hope that something would happen but the downfall was the lack of action and the fact that it felt so clichéd. There is not a lot happening in there, and as much as I can accept the stories to be predictable, here you knew from the page one how it's going to end and in the end I found myself willing the book to just cut to the chase.

Altogether, it was a nice enough, comfortable read, a book that you know what to expect from it and getting it all the way, a cute, warm and quick novel. Yes, I was hoping I'd enjoy this book much more which sadly wasn't the case, but I'm sure that you may find it a great choice for yourself. Yes, the book had tons of potential but ended up falling short for me. When the book looks like one of the best books written, sounds like one of the best books already written and the author's name is Rosie Curtis, I was hoping for some Notting Hill vibes. I didn't hate it, of course not, but it's not a book that will stay with me for long.

I loved this book, brilliant characters, humour, romance and a sliding doors scenario.
The characters draw the reader in, so much so you felt that you were a member of the “house family”
It was interesting to see Jess and Alex’s friendship develop as they spent time exploring London as walking buddies. You feel that they would be an amazing couple if they only took the chance. What happens next, you’ll have to read the book!. It was beautifully written and you didn’t want the book to end. Sequel please Rosie!
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A fabulous romantic read, heart-warming & cosy... a very easy, pleasant and satisfying read, a great treat for the colder evenings.

I think I only picked this book up because the cover illustration was so similar to One Day in December by Josie Silver(A book I loved!).
Sadly , I didn't enjoy this one as much. It was ok. Sweet but forgettable.

We Met In December is a sweet tale of love and friendship centering around a house share in Notting Hill. Jess and Alex both move in with Becky one December, and what follows is the year in the house told in the perspective of both main characters. Jess leaves Bournemouth to start a new job in London and Alex, recently single, has left a high flying job in Law to become a nurse.

I loved this story. It was warm and comforting and I read it pretty much in one sitting. A found myself willing the main characters to get together and loved going on their journey with them. I'll be eagerly awaiting whatever Rosie Curtis writes next.

This was a cute story about meeting someone and the timing being off. Jess and Alex are new roommates, and Jess feels a spark between the two. However, after a Christmas holiday away, she comes back to find out Alex became somewhat involved with another roommate of theirs. A year then goes by, with a friendship between Alex and Jess growing during the time. Other relationships and obstacles occur that never make the timing work out between the two...until it happily does. The year-in-the-life-of structure was interesting, if not a little slow in some parts. But it was an interesting way to see the relationship between Jess and Alex develop and grow. If you love rom-coms, you will enjoy this book!

I enjoyed this book, yes there are better versions of this type of story but ultimately I enjoyed the characters and spending time with them. It's light but I found myself pulling for the characters and enjoying being with them.
If you want a light little story with romance this is a nice way to spend the day.
I received an ARC from the publisher and net galley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I loved this book!
The romance of it all was well written without being slushy
The missed opportunities the slow build of the relationship was great
Definitely recommend
The characters were well described and you felt like you were really in London
The storyline really kept you interested to find out where it was going next
Great book ,

We Met in December by Rosie Curtis is one of those books that leaves you with all the good feels and nothing less. Stumbling across this on netgalley in my bid to chase away the reading woes that comes to nest once in a while, I decided to give this a try because even the cover itself seemed to call out to me.

Told in the first person from both Jess (the heroine) and Alex (the hero)'s point of view, the story begins when 29 year old Jess moves to London, wanting to make a fresh start, or rather, go places where she has never dared go before. Coming from a quaint little seaside town, Jess is a romantic at heart, and she knows that she is undeniably lucky to have struck gold in terms of living arrangements and a job that makes her vocation one with her favorite thing in the world, i.e. reading.

When Jess meets Alex, one of her housemates, it is as if her soul leaps in recognition to its other half. But house rules require that house mates refrain from becoming romantically involved; however that does not prove to be the deterrent when it comes to Alex and Jess. It is rather the timing which is a bit off right from the onset.

In the meantime, Alex and Jess becomes good friends, their connection being one that is strong enough for Alex to start seeing Jess in a new light. Alex is not in the mood for a serious relationship, having just got out of one with the woman that he had intended to marry. Plus a career change which meant going back to school is one that should keep him occupied enough to prevent untoward thoughts about his friend from creeping into his mind and psyche.

Jess being the stalwart person that she is, tries her hardest to move on and even date, believing that Alex would never see her in a different light. But then true love has a way of coming together and taking its own sweet time getting there, and that is exactly what happens in this sweet and emotionally satisfying story that delivered just the right touch of angst to make me smile!

Recommended for romance lovers who would love an easy-on-the-heart read.

Final Verdict: I fell head over heels in love with Alex, Jess, and London in a way that no story thus far has managed to do. Heartwarming with just enough angst and emotions to make this a wholesome read.

Overall a cute, Christmas read! At times I found it a bit boring and could guess the ending from the first few pages, but I would recommend if you have a snowy day to have a quick read.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute, quick read. Nothing too earth shattering that stood out to me though. Nothing that I really, really hated and nothing that I absolutely loved. A nice potion to pick up for a dreary afternoon on the couch.

The story follows Jess who is leaving her home town in Bournemouth to pursue her dream job in publishing. She gets lucky and gets to share with Becky her friend and 3 others. The main one we find out most about is Alex whom she seems besotted with from the first meeting, he's left his career as a lawyer to pursue becoming a nurse. She goes skiing with two school friends and when she returns to begin her new life it appears that Alex has been sleeping with Emma one of the other house mates even though there's a no relationship rule within the house. She does become very good friends with Alex through walks they share to help her discover her way around London. By the end of the book I realised I hadn't quite gotten into it, I mean Alex on and off with Emma all the way through suddenly declared his love and they live happily ever after? Plus I found the continuing meetings with her two friends from school slightly annoying as one was trying to become pregnant and the other was trying to make a break in to acting it just detracted even more so from Jess's story I'd have liked to have heard more about her career. I received this book for an honest review through netgalley.

I really enjoyed this story of finding a new love and starting a new relationship while trying to live her life and own her job with all the requirements.
In comes her family and especially her sister who cares for her more than she knows and for whom the Christmas family day it's very special. With a snow day insight, she tries to get to her home through all the cancelled trains and busses.
An easy read, good writing and a lovely story

We Met in December was such a boring book and unfortunately, the story really dragged on. Based on the synopsis, you’d think this book would mainly revolve around the lives of the two main characters Jess and Alex but instead it very heavily includes the lives of so many of the secondary characters which just didn’t interest me at all.

I also wasn’t a big fan of Rosie Curtis’ writing. Firstly, there were a lot of very weird time jumps in this novel. There were several chapters in which something happened, then the characters started thinking about what had happened prior to that moment and then the “something happens” part is explained again. Additionally, the writing was also very repetitive. For example, I don’t know how often the author mentioned that Jess’ mother wasn’t exactly the “motherly type” but at some point it just started being annoying.

Overall, We Met in December was a pretty quick read but definitely not a very interesting one. The pacing of the book was completely off and while most of the novel was way too slow, the ending was way too rushed and felt very abrupt. I was really hoping I’d enjoy this book but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

By the way, when I first saw the UK cover for this book I immediately had to think of “One Day in December” by Josie Silver which I really enjoyed. Maybe that’s why I had pretty high expectations when I started this book but I have to say, I really don’t understand why you’d choose a cover so similar for a novel that also has a title that is almost the same as that of said other book ….

Fabulous festive read! From the first page I was hooked into the atmosphere of Christmas in London and the beginning of a brilliant story. The book is based in wonderful Notting Hill with the types of characters I felt I knew. Jess has made a brave decision to leave her life in Bournemouth and start anew in London. Really loved reading this book, and hated coming to the end as I want to continue to read more! The characters have stayed with me. Great writing can't wait to read more from Rosie! Recommended highly for a fantastic holiday cosy read.

For Jess it’s time for a change, out with the cheating boyfriend, the safe career path and her hometown of Bournemouth and in with the new adventure. A new job in the publishing industry and a room in a shared house in Notting Hill, she’s off to the big city.

We Met In December tells the story of Alex and Jess over the course of a year following their first meeting one evening before Christmas when they move into the same shared house.

The story is told from two separate points of view, both Jess and Alex over the course of a year (plus an epilogue). I really enjoyed the structure of the story, seeing things from both Alex and Jess’s perspective as well as following them through the whole year. Both the point of view and time jumps are clearly identified throughout the book, with headings making it clear whose point of view we are reading at any given time, and also the date at which the action is taking place. The structure means the plot is well paced, I saw enough of their lives through the chapters to understand the journeys that they were both on, without reading a book thousands of pages long covering the minutiae of their lives throughout the whole year.

I really liked both central characters. I certainly identified with Jess making the move from Bournemouth up to the big city after I’d moved from my own little town in Devon up to Edinburgh. Although I have a much better relationship with my mother

than Jess seems to I also had a really special bond with my grandma so I loved seeing that reflected back within the book in the relationship between Jess and Nanna Beth. What I found especially refreshing about Jess’s story was that we saw her struggling slightly with the change, with leaving her grandma and moving into a new career. She didn’t just waltz into the office and know everything from the beginning, it gave what I felt was a realistic view of starting a new career and floundering slightly, going from a job where you knew exactly how everything worked to having to learn everything from scratch. I think it showed that while things aren’t always easy sticking it out can be worthwhile.

Then we get to Alex, dear Alex who gave up a well-paying career in law to retrain as a nurse following his father’s passing. Good looking and noble… a bit of a cliché perhaps but then who doesn’t want that in a Richard Curtis type rom-com? Bring on the gorgeous moral men I say, I’m already casting the movie in my head….

I really enjoyed the rest of the supporting characters Becky, Rob and Emma, Jess and Alex’s other housemates to Sophie and Gen Jess’s friends from home and of course Nanna Beth! I could very happily read more about any of these characters.

Final Thoughts
This wasn’t quite the first super Christmasy book of the year I thought it might be but nevertheless I really enjoyed spending a year with Alex and Jess. The story wrapped up really satisfactorily but I can’t help but want to catch up with these characters again. I feel there are things I still need to know! And yes it was tough to write this wrap up without spoilers!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to.