I adored this wonderfully romantic book that tells the story of Nick and Sarah. Nick is having a terrible year. Fired from his job at a law firm, he is unemployed and quickly running out of money. Rejected from every job he's applied for, he finds himself having to take a seasonal job, playing Santa at Southview shopping centre. His (shallow) girlfriend, unimpressed by his fall from grace, dumps him.

As he encounters snotty and spoilt children asking for expensive gifts his Christmas cheer is quickly fading. But when Alfie enters Santa's grotto, Nick's heart is smitten. All Alfie wants for Christmas is to see his Mum, Sarah, happy again after becoming widowed. Nick decides to set her up with his housemate and best friend Matt, and they hit it off from their first date. Sarah is happy again. So Nick should be happy too. He's made Alfie's wish come true after all. But, Nick has fallen deeply in love with Sarah and Alfie himself. He feels ashamed of his feelings, and his heart hurts every time he sees Matt and Sarah together. So, he leaves London for Oxford to make a fresh start. But Sarah is never far from his mind. Or Alfie.

When he discovers that Matt has ended things with Sarah, he finally admits his feelings and Matt supports him and rushes him off to try to catch Sarah and Alfie before they return home for Christmas. Has he left it too late? Does she feel the same?

I thought the friendship between Matt and Nick was written beautifully, it had a depth rarely seen in male friendships that I thought was really moving. And watching Nick and Sarah falling in love without ever crossing a line was heart warming.

A gorgeous festive tale that will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.

I had to stop myself from leaving a review of this book until I finished it. I just loved it. Some serious laugh out loud moments. The line "the only place around here that doesn’t have a menu filled with hand-raised avocados and free-range cutlery." had me howling with laughter. I fell a little bit in love with Nick. The storyline reminded me of a Richard Curtis film. It's just a lovely book full of heart and it's a fabulously festive read.

A fun, light-hearted festive story with likeable main characters and a great 4 year old to tug at your heart strings. The relationship between Nick, Matt and Sarah is great fun, and elements are a real laugh-out-loud. Although it had a predictable ending, I'd definitely recommend to all those who enjoy a warm read.

heart warming and hard to put down, an ideal book to curl up with on a cold winters day. Nick falls in love with his best friends girlfriend after introducing them. Nothing is going right for him. Can he turn his life around and find happiness?

All I Want For Christmas - Joanna Bolouri

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley.

Nick Harris has lost his job and his girlfriend in the run up to Christmas. Desperate to have a job, he takes a temporary position as a shopping centre Santa. On his first day as Santa he comes across Alfie, Alfie’s only wish for Christmas is that his mum, Sarah, will be happy again.

In an effort to fulfil Alfie’s wish Nick arranges a date for Sarah, and his best friend Matt. As Nick spends more time with Alfie and Sarah, he quickly realises that being friends with Sarah may not be enough.

Throughout this book you get to watch Nick grow as a character, the struggles he goes through with losing his job and struggling to find another job. I enjoyed the way that Nick and Matt are more like brothers, even when it could lead to heartbreak.

I would highly recommend this book to people who love a good Christmas romance.

Rating: 5/5

I loved this book from start to finish and found it difficult to put it down.

Written entirely from Nick's point of view, this book offers a unique male view point on his predicament that he's in love with his friend's girlfriend. Started off promising but got a bit repetitive towards the end. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

What a brilliant book kept me awake reading to see what happens. I found it really unusual that the writer is female but writes from a male perspective but it certainly works. The characters are all really likeable and you end up rooting for all of them and hope for a great conclusion...I will not spoil what happens but this is a marvellous book and though it has Christmas in the title it could be read anytime of the year even though the premise is based on a Christmas situation.
This is a lovely book that will stay with you for a long time read it before Christmas or get it for someone for a good Christmas read.

The first book I have read by this author. I will defiantly read more.

A fun romantic comedy, easy to read, heartwarming and with a Christmas setting.
Who could want more?

A great read for the Christmas season.

A wonderfully heart-warming tale for Christmas, ideal for a rom com movie next year. Nick is a suddenly single and unemployed man who takes a job as a dept store Father Christmas. Alfie is a 4 year old who goes to visit Father Christmas, asking for his heart's desire, which is his mum to be happy again. Luckily Nick has a single friend who might be just the right partner, but will that mean heartbreak for Nick?
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a cosy uplifting story, ideal for this time of year

A fun book which is excellent for the build up to Christmas. Nick, fired from his law job, ends up taking a temporary job as Santa in a shopping centre grotto. He meets Sarah via her young son Alfie, whose only request is for his mum to be happy at Christmas after the death of her husband. Nick introduces Sarah to his friend and flatmate Matt, who is usually a player where women are concerned. However, Sarah appears to change his outlook and he becomes quite enamoured with her.
What Nick doesn't factor in though is the bond he builds with 4 year old Alfie when they both come round to the flat and Nick is also invited out on dates with the three of them! He finds himself also developing feelings for Sarah which makes things complicated!
A lovely read!

Having never read a book by Joanna Bolouri , I was drawn to this by the cover and description on the back and what a gem of a book it is. I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down.
This is the story of lawyer Nick who looses his job at a prestigious law firm and struggles to find another. In desperation he takes a job at the local shopping mall as Santa where he has to put up with a stream of demanding children’s and an elf with a bad temper.
Then one day 4 year old Alfie climbs on his lap and changes Nicks perception of kids because all Alfie wants for Christmas is for his mum Sarah to be happy again after the death of Alfie’s dad.
Determined to make Alfie’s Christmas Nick sets Sarah up with his best friend and flat mate Matt but could this be Nicks biggest mistake ? because the more Nick gets to know Sarah and Alfie the more he realises she may be the one for him and he is hopelessly in love with them both.
This is a wonderful story, one of those that when you’ve finish you think what a lovely book, full of Christmas magic and definitely a contender for a hallmark movie. I’ve already recommended it to several of my book loving friends - one of my fave reads this year.

Nick loses his job as a solicitor in a top legal firm and in desperation takes on a temporary job as Father Christmas in a shopping centre. There are lots of little incidents that occur in this role but the main one is when he meets a little boy, Alfie and then meets his mother, Sarah, whose husband has recently died. After meeting lots of children who have high expectations for Christmas presents, Nick is impressed by Alfie who just wants his mother to be happy again. Nick then sets about match making Sarah with his best friend, Matt. As he thought,, the relationship is a huge success and Matt is smitten, for the first time in ages.
I really enjoyed the interaction between the characters. Nick has had a bit of a rough childhood but Matt’s parents took him under their wing and treat him as one of their own children. The relationship between Nick and Matt is also very strong and they are totally supportive of each other as both have had their share of knocks in life. They also have good friends who they see regularly but as they are in their early thirties and all their friends start settling down you get the feeling that both Nick and Matt feel it is time they followed suit.
I loved this book. The main characters are all good people and you really want things to work out for them. It is fairly predictable as there are lots of clues throughout the book and it was obvious it would all work out in the end but it was difficult to know how it would achieve a happy ending without someone getting hurt along the way. It is a romcom with a difference in that the story is usually told from the viewpoint of the female and this is told from Nick’s perspective. I picked up two books to read at the same time and just read a couple of pages of each and was immediately hooked by this one and ended up reading it in a couple of days.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. I really enjoyed it.

I've been a huge fan of all Joanna's stories so I was very excited for this book, however, it just didn't hit the mark for me. I was really excited to find out we were getting a male perspective and how Joanna would write him up but sadly I just felt it was rather a caricature of a guy living in London, I'm sure these do exist but everything felt very exaggerated and the character was incredibly self-pitying that you couldn't even feel sorry for him! That space was very much taken up with him feeling it and laying it on thick that you just felt he was a bit moany. The overall storyline was ok and I did wonder how things would end up and I think the ending was also okay, it tied everything up with a nice bow and wasn't really too unbelievable in the end. I guess I just wish there were more opportunities between Nick and Sarah, Sarah and the guy she was dating (Nick's flatmate) and also the flatmates perspective. We only got to spend time with whiny Nick! Either way, him being Santa was hilarious and I found it easy to turn through the pages in this book.

Joanna Boulouri's festive rom-com is full of charm, warmth, fun and so entertaining featuring 30 year old lawyer, Nick Harris, set in London and Oxford. Nick hits rock bottom after being fired from his prestigious law firm hits, broke and desperate, he grudgingly takes on the position of Santa at Southview Shopping Centre. His Z-list celebrity glamorous girlfriend, Angela, a reality show star, drops him fast, although it takes Nick a while to come to terms with this. Depressed and thinking of himself as a failure, surrounded by elves that include the initially hostile Izzy and the squeaky voiced criminologist, Laura, Nick listens to what children want for Christmas, dispensing gifts to them. His world is to change dramatically when he meets cute 4 year old Alfie O'Brien whose only wish is to see his mother, Sarah, happy again after his father's death.

Nick sets up the beautiful, funny, and kind single mother Sarah with his flatmate, former work colleague and best friend, Matt Buckley, on a date, and to his surprise Matt falls for Sarah. Nick has been friends with Matt since university, so close as to practically be brothers, despite their different social and economic backgrounds, and have been there for each other at their lowest points, such as the death of Nick's mother and Matt's break up with Karen, which he never really got over. Nick develops a close relationship with Alfie, enjoying babysitting him while Matt and Sarah go out on dates, with all of them going out together on various occasions, such as ice skating. It slowly dawns on Nick that he has strong feelings for Sarah on Matt's birthday, something which makes him feel sick to his stomach. Finding the pain of being around Matt and Sarah together too much, he takes up a job working for a homeless charity in Oxford.

Bolouri is an expert at writing a rom-com, although it is rather light on the romance side, making me smile and laugh throughout the romantic entanglements of the love triangle, and their social circle of friendships. The highlights for me were the close affectionate and bantering relationship between Nick and Matt, their bond so close that Nick would never knowingly do anything that would hurt him and risk their friendship, and Nick and Alfie's endearing relationship, Nick is just so good with him. I have never read Bolouri before but I will now lookout for her next book. This is a lovely festive read, so entertaining and with great characters, that will appeal to many readers. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

This was a wonderful, witty and well written romance. Full of really great characters that felt true to life. The author writes so well and I was fully engrossed in Nick’s professional and personal life and was willing him to get his well deserved happy ending. If I could award more than 5 stars I would.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read a preview copy of this book. A total joy to read.

Neither Hilarious nor Heartwarming!
I didn’t find this a particularly interesting story. For me this book was like listening to a public speaker who uhm’s and err’s or repeats the same phrase constantly. You get so irritated and distracted that you stop listening to the content and instead start counting the distractions. Which is exactly what I did - there were 322 profanities/vulgarities within a 285 page book.
Told from a male point of view this may well explain the language, though the women swore as well, so maybe not. I certainly didn’t feel it added anything to the story and if I hadn’t agreed to review, I would have given up on the book within the first couple of chapters. I am not sure what was supposed to be funny, it certainly didn’t raise even a giggle from me, let alone outright hilarity and the only heartwarming thing, was a little boy’s Christmas wish for his mother to be happy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Yes, finally a proper Christmas rom-com that is witty, sharp and makes your heart melt.
I've seen complaints about the language content of this book and first I'd like to address that; this book is written about millennial adult characters who are grown up professionals (lawyers), I don't think the book would have been very realistic without a few f-bombs and sweary banter. Most of the British Christmas romcom movies I can think of (Love Actually, Last Christmas etc) all have profanity, and frankly if you're going to read a book written by a comedy scriptwriter, who's previous books have all been raunchy, sweary comedy then it's to be expected, maybe they need to stick to Harry Potter to spare their outrage. However, if you're reading this review and bad language in a Christmas book really riles you then swerve this one.

I loved the characters, especially Nick and Sarah but also their close friends, there's a real sense of them reaching peak adulthood, settling down, getting married, having kids, and I felt it realistically portrayed that time in life where friendships evolve and not everyone is at the same stage any more. I could understand Nick's manchild personna but also had such a soft spot for him considering his background and how he hadn't had the easiest of times. He was fundamentally a good person trying to do the right thing but still figuring out what that was.

Yes, it's a love triangle and of course you can kind of imagine a certain predictability about where things will go, but I think the main appeal of this story is the characters journeys as well as the fundamental parts of Christmas spirit that spins through it all, i.e. cute kids, feel good moments, goodwill, friendship, simple gestures, and of course getting a bit tipsy to "Santa Baby".

I think it would make such an entertaining film.plot, I'd go and watch it (if we ever get to cinemas again). I could find myself thinking who would make a good Matt, Sarah and Nick etc. The way they interact, mess up and have fun was brilliant, I couldn't help but grin and laugh out loud to this book.
Perfect if you love Gavin & Stacey combined with the tension of One Day In December and the steamy chemistry of The Flat Mate.

This was simply a delightful Christmas romance. I went in with some apprehension, because when stories feature a love triangle, I usually end up hating the people involved and that really ruins any enjoyment the story could bring. But all throughout this story, I kept liking the characters involved in the love triangle more and more. Joanna Bolouri gave her characters the complexity needed to make this story work, without ever letting those complications drag down the mood or the pacing of the story.

Nick was a great character to follow as he tries to rebuild his life after losing his job and his girlfriend. His anxiety and slight jealousy were balanced out with his sense of humour and the love he has for his friends. As he carves out a new life for himself, he starts to figure out what he wants out of life and he grows a lot as a person.

It's hard to really nail a Christmas romcom, but Joanna Bolouri did it. All I Want for Christmas is a story full of heart and laughter, and the perfect way to spend a few hours curled up on the couch.

All I want for Christmas

I’ve been a fan of @joannaboluri’s since I read The List a while ago. I’ve read everything she’s released since then so when I saw this was coming I knew I’d be picking it up. I received a review copy from @quercusbooks via @netgalley.

Nick’s life is falling apart. Everyone around him his getting married, having babies and basically passing adult level 50. Desperate times call for desperate measures and Nick turns into Saint Nick with a stint as Santa at his local shopping centre. This is where he meets Alfie whose one Christmas wish is to see his mum happy again.

The story follows Nick as he tries to uphold his promise to Alfie that his mum will be happy again but it’s definitely not as straightforward as it seems. Nick came across as a really good man throughout this whole novel and despite having a bit of a thing for Sarah he stayed true to his best friend.

This book is heartwarming, Christmassy and full of selfless love. Perfect for the run up to the most magical time of the year. If you’re looking for more be sure to check out The Most Wonderful Time of the Year also by Joanna.

An interesting love story. I really enjoyed it. Read it in a night. I loved the main character Nick and his flat mate Matt. . It was nice to read a story where honesty and integrity played off. So nice that Matt was genuine.