This is the perfect Christmas second chance romance. Maggie is in her mid 20s and thinks her life is going perfectly with her dream job, a long term relationship and a great apartment. But when she is set to head back to her home town for 6 weeks that all suddenly falls to pieces when her boyfriend dumps her and she is made redundant. To make things worse she has to head home for her sisters wedding where she must face the person who has kept her away from her family.
Nathan grew up next door to Maggie and they were inseparable best friends until one night turned their friendship on its head. Can they take a Christmas chance on their friendship and love for each other.
I really enjoyed this book. The one gripe I have though as often I felt the chapters ended abruptly with the next one being set in a different place.
Thanks to Netgalley.com and Sapere Books for my complimentary eARC.

I tried to download this book for over a month but was unable to.

Please resend it to me;
PLEASE

I absolutely LOVED this. THE LONGING OH MY GOD. I was so invested in this love story. I really felt for this characters. It's really emotional, made me cry and made my heart actually hurt many times. I ate it up. One of the best romances I've read this year!

The chemistry between the characters is fantastic. The writing is great and the dialogue is fluid and very natural. There's also a strong focus on family and loss.

This is a Second chance romance between childhood best friends. It starts with Maggie coming back home for the first time in years, and we know that something happened with her childhood BFF and neighbor Nathan in the past. Now she's forced to confront him and what happened between them. The dual perspective is a plus because it makes the longing and tension skyrocket.

I was surprised that for a book just over 200 pages it packs so much, and it feels like a full length book.

Overall, I absolutely loved this romance! I really recommend it for people looking for an emotional ride and quality romance. I'm also excited by what this author will write in the future.

Thanks to netgalley and Sapere Books for providing me with this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this.
Twenty-five-year-old Maggie Green thought she had her life on the perfect track: a long-term relationship, a successful career in finance and a swanky apartment in London.
But then everything falls apart.
The company she has worked so hard for makes her redundant, and she gets dumped on the same day.
Not to mention the worrying call she’s received from her doctor.
With her pride in tatters, Maggie returns to her family home for the Christmas period. A home she hasn’t returned to for two years.
No one knows the real reason why she hasn’t been back. No one, that is, except the one person who she is most nervous about seeing again.
Will Maggie make peace with her past? Can she find love this Christmas?
Or will more obstacles be thrown in her way.

The only reason I didn't finish this book in one sitting is because I had to go to work :-( I loved it. Nothing overly complicated just a feel good read to curl up with. A gentle reminder that not everything you are told is without agenda and communication is key. The story flows well and the characters are well thought out and insanely human (i.e. Luke isn't perfect! he's as flawed as the rest of us). The visual presentations by the author are clear and easy to imagine. My only regret so far is that this is the first time I have read a book written by Tanya Jean Russell but it wont be my last!

Maggie seems to be living an idyllic life in London. She is on the verge of becoming the youngest director in her firm's history and she has the perfect boyfriend. But everything comes crashing down around her and she returns to her hometown for Christmas to pick up the pieces.

Nobody knows why she hasn't been home in so long, but there is a lot that reminds of her unpleasant times there as well.

I liked this short and sweet festive read. Maggie is a likeable character and you sympathize with the tough times she has faced in her life. Her storyline with Nathan is sweet but I personally found it a bit far fetched. I also found the storyline was pretty slow to begin with but speeds up a bit too much towards the end.

Thank you to Sapere Books and NetGalley for the eGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book resonated with me far more than I expected it to. You pick up a Christmas chick lit for a bit of feel good humour and escapism, although I got that, I also got so much more! Opinions on a book are very personal and shaped by your experiences. Yes, there’s some that have universal appeal and no relation whatsoever to real life but others, speak to you through your ability to relate to the character. With An Imperfect Christmas part of the reason I loved it was because there was so much of it that I could relate to; from Maggie’s illness to how much she’s changed under the influence of her boyfriend, to the realisation that the place she thought she needed to escape from was the place which held the most love for her and the place that she was meant to be.
When Maggie is dumped by her boyfriend, get abnormal smear results and loses her job on the same day her trip home for her sister’s wedding appears to be perfectly timed. The only problem is that it means facing Nathan, her childhood best friend who she’s been running from for years.
I loved how the family dynamic was portrayed and Nathan’s gran is just the best character ever!
I thought that the repercussions of the abnormal spear were very sensitively handled, the fear of the unknown and the questions of what the future might look like were all too familiar.
My only niggle would be that Maggie was so frustrating, she closes herself off so much, leaving without any contact, on more than one occasion, it’s not the grown up way to handle things and does seem a bit extreme.
At only 221 pages this is a quick read which is perfect to get lost in for an afternoon in the run up to Christmas

An Imperfect Christmas is a book about two high school sweethearts who went their separate ways but by fate have an opportunity to give their relationship another chance.

But no relationship comes with no complications!

Maggie Green is laid off just as she is beginning to expect a promotion and right before the holidays. On the same day, she receives news about cervical screening while she heads back to her childhood home. She isn't ready to share this information with her family just yet. Above all, she isn't eager to see her old boyfriend, Nathan.

Nathan is back for good. He has bought the Old Barn and started his own business. Even just seeing Maggie, his feelings, emotions come rushing back to him. He can barely stand that he can't act on these emotions as she seems to be 'supposedly' dating his brother. But even with that, Nathan continues to displays honesty with his relationship with Maggie.

In all honesty, I completely love the book! I could not put it down until I finished it. I love the chaos, the family dynamics, the problematic relationships, the candid moments. I did miss the 'festive' factor, although the other parts balanced it out. This was a heartwarming and a feel-good story. It shows how much past trauma and miscommunication affects people, which is something everyone should be aware of.

I like that even though it's fiction, it deals with relatable, life events which makes it easy for reads to connect with the characters.

Definitely goes up there with my favourite reads!

Two years ago, heartbroken and humiliated after an awkward incident with her best friend, Maggie Green fled to London to make a new life for herself. Now she has prestigious career and looking forward to an upcoming promotion, and a serious relationship with her coworker Rupert. But then, right before her planned holiday at home, she gets a call from her doctor about abnormal test results, her boyfriend breaks up with her, and to top it off he informs her that he got the promotion and her position has become redundant. She returns home for the holidays in fear and shame, only to face the past in the form of her best friend Nate. Sparks fly between them, but can she ever forgive him for what he did to her two years ago?
I always seem to have a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit, but this book helped me a lot. Nothing wrong that a little romance and holiday magic can't fix. It was a cute story.
Thank you to Tanya Jean Russell and Sapere books for the opportunity to read this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Such a cute Christmas story! Definitely one to get you into the holiday mood. I would definitely watch this if it was a movie.

Imperfect Christmas was a sweet, shorter read for this season. Maggie suffers a break up and a job loss before returning to her hometown for Christmas and her sister’s wedding. She also has a medical scare that she is dealing with, plus a lot of trauma from her childhood. She was raised by her sister- who was forced to grow up at a young age- when they lost both of their parents. This event led Maggie to be very walls-up when it comes to people leaving her.

Maggie reunites with her childhood best friend whom she also had feelings for a long time ago. She has trouble forgiving him because he too left her before she went away to college, which also contributes to her ‘people always leave’ experiences. It’s clear that they both want to be friends, but it is difficult because of the history between them.

I liked how Maggie was a real and relatable character. She had problems that lots of people have: jobs, health, romantic relationships, family relationships, friends, money. I thought the book had a warmth, and the story was dramatic with twists but not over the top. The end of the book explained how Maggie dealt with some of her challenges and some outcomes were very funny to me (especially how she dealt with her ex). I love reading about strong women who persevere against challenges! It didn’t take long for me to finish the book once I started because it flows so well, and I would recommend it to someone wanting an easy Christmas/romance read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Tanya Jean Russell, and Sapere Books for the eARC of Imperfect Christmas!

I am truly enjoying this book. The characters are developed, heartfelt and warm. It takes place just outside of London, so I am learning a bunch of English words. It's a fast paced book with lots of detail and back story. It is a predictable, yet a tad bit unpredictable at the same time.

It is the perfect book for the season. Enjoy!

This book was so super cute! The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because it was a little on the sad side for me and there were points in time where I just wanted to shake some sense into Maggie lol. But I loved that is was around christmas and Maggie's love story was so sweet. Highly recommend! It reminded me a lot of a mix between A Bartenders Secret by Caro Carson and Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover.

Lovely Christmas read and very well written This is a 4 star novel and I am sure everyone will enjoy this novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC

I really enjoyed this. Great characters, well-written and interesting story. The main character Maggie was really well-developed and the effect of her childhood on her adult years was well explored. Highly recommended.

An Imperfect Christmas is a book about two high school sweethearts who went their separate ways, and found each other again in the end.

Accountant Maggie Green is laid off just as she is beginning to expect a promotion--and right before the holidays. On the same day, her long-time boyfriend dumps her. Talk about an imperfect Christmas. Licking her wounds, she heads back to her childhood home, but she isn't ready to share her news with her family just yet. Above all, she isn't ready to see her old boyfriend, Nathan.

Nathan is back for good--he has bought the Old Barn and started his own business. Even just seeing Maggie, he wishes he could tell her everything about his plans, both present and future. But it seems that Maggie is dating his London-based brother. Throughout the book, Nathan is persistent and faithful to Maggie in all things. He never gives up on their memories together and what he believes their future will hold together. In sickness and in health, and he sticks to it.

I loved the family dynamics of this book. Both Nathan and his brothers, as well as Maggie and her family were excellent assets of this book. Almost ideal, but hey, its fiction. I also got a kick out of the ending with Maggie's career. That boosted the book a star in the ratings department for me! And finally, the only negative for me was that I wish there was a little bit more holiday overall. But it was all right. In terms of a holiday romance--okay. But for a light, easy-to-read winter romance where Christmas happens? Good!

A cosy, heartwarming read for this Christmas.

After losing her job and her boyfriend in London on the same day, Maggie returns home, where she hasn't visited for years. Her reluctance to return to her hometown is connected to Nathan, her old best friend who has just returned from travelling and wants to rekindle their friendship, or perhaps more...

A really lovely seasonal read!

This novel was...interesting.

I loved the story line of this British-based novel- Maggie the main character finally headed back home. That is honestly why I grabbed it!

What I wasn't ready for: a romance novel set with a Christmas frame. I am really interested in all the cozy Christmas, and this premise would be just a lovely setting.

Not that it didn't work for me, it just wasn't what I was expecting. I really liked ALL of the characters (definitely would read another novel with them in it!) except Rupert- he was the classic CRAP boyfriend. I did NOT expect the heavy surprises in the midst of the Christmas premise- I am still not sure how I feel about all of that.

I quickly let go of Christmas, and assumed this was just a romance novel and it read much better that way.

The author does a lovely job of creating such lovable flawed characters readers can relate to- I mean aren't we all?? I also thoroughly enjoyed the growth Maggie and the cast of characters experience.

If you are looking for a sweet romantic novel, with a tiny bit of steam, and an equally small amount of Christmas, then you will definitely enjoy this novel!

I was given this book by netgalley for an honest review. The imperfect Christmas is the PERFECT christmas book. It hits all the feels just at the right time. Definitely add this to your holiday reading. The book was heartwarming and shows us that no one has a perfect life, not matter how hard they try.. Tanya Jean Russell did an excellent job and created the perfect characters.

I love the novels that take place at Christmas, so this one fit the bill ♥
It is a precious romance to read at this time and sweeten ourselves

Maggie thought she was in control of her life. She has a great job, a successful boyfriend, and her health...that in until one day changes everything. Determined to withstand the onslaught of bad news alone, she returns home to help her sister with her wedding preparations and enjoy Christmas with the family she left behind without much explanation. No one knows the real reason why she hasn’t been back. No one, that is, except the one person who she is most nervous about seeing again.

This was an excellent read. Though my current copy still has a few phases of editing to go through as I got it pre-published, it is already well written, coherent, and engaging. I absolutely love Maggie and her small darling family consisting of her sister, her brother-in-law and niece, Evie. I absolutely love Nathan.

Rubert can fall in a lake...

While this book does deal with some heavier issues, it's done in such a manner that it doesn't read as a heavy book. Credit to the author for making strong characters that can still convey the joy of the season and occasions even though the main character is struggling silently on her own even as others attempt to help her. Maggie is fiercely independent after some harsh life lessons in her younger days. While it can be a problem, and is a problem, I can't help but admire her strength.

I also can't help but admire her desire to change as well as Nathan's desire to prove himself and different man to her. My only thing is this, I kept imagining Maggie older than she was described. I think it would have been nice if she was portrayed a bit older. But that's completely a me thing.

I don't know what to tell you. I really enjoyed this book. It was good. If it comes out in paperback, I'd probably get myself and my library a copy.

There's no higher praise than that, I think.