3.5/5
Such an enjoyable read! It’s about Izzy, whose not been home for Christmas in 10 years. This Christmas she will be back because her sister is getting married. Back home, she meets her ex boyfriend again, and things happen…
It was a Christmas book, so of course it was full of clichés. Sometimes I had to cringe a bit, but most of it was sweet.
I did have a hard time finishing it to be honest, it was pretty stretched out, I caught myself scanning the words instead of reading sometimes.
Overall a fun read, and would recommend if you want to read a sweet, sappy love story.

This is such a fun festive story, i think it ticked every festive story box for me and left me with a bit of a book hang over!

This is the story of Isabella who returns to her home town for her sisters Christmas wedding. She wants to come home enjoy the wedding and return to New York as quickly and quietly as possible but that's not going to happen because she has to explain her disappearing act not only to her family but also her high school sweet heart that she has left behind..
Leo has never gotten been able to forget Isabella and isn't best pleased to see her again but since his bother is marrying Isabella's sister he is forced to celebrate the eight days of Christmas with Isabella and her family.
The close proximity has them bringing up old memories . The only problem is Isabella's ex enters the equation and Isabella is left needing to decide what is best for her.

Highly recommend if you're looking for a fun and sometimes hilarious festive story!

Things I loved: second chance romance, heavy tension, funny
Things I didn't love: the airport scene, the meddling parents, MC was annoying, the fiancé
Going home for Christmas hasn't been an option for Isabella in years, but she refuses to miss her little sister's wedding. The only problem is that the love of her life, whom she left behind six years ago, is the best man and brother of the groom. But, unfortunately, Leo is asking questions that she can't answer, not without breaking his heart all over again. Leo can't believe he's spending eight full days of Christmas activities with Izzy. Tension from the past bubbles to the surface the longer Leo is around her. But he realizes the woman he thought would never leave him has changed. But will they be enough this time?
This novel was a fun second-chance romance. The tension between Isabella and Leo was so thick I could feel it through the pages. I was very proud of Isabella for finally coming clean about what happened all those years ago. I figured out who was involved beforehand, but I was still shocked by how things played out. However, once Leo opened up more to Isabella, he became incredibly thoughtful.
I could have done without Isabella's behavior in the airport. She owed Ben an apology. Leo's father owes him a better apology, too, after what happened and not telling him until years later. Additionally, I wish the main characters realized how selfish they were when preparing for Norah's wedding. They kept talking about not spending time with each other, but they should've been focusing on their siblings who were getting married. I also couldn't believe Leo acted that way after their dance at the wedding.
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys messy holiday romances full of surprises.
3.5/5

I love a good Second Chance romance and EIGHT DAYS OF CHRISTMAS had everything I love about the trope: the memories of teenage love, the palpable chemistry, the enemies vibe when they first reunite, the secrets that tore them apart finally coming to light.

Leo and Isabella are so great together! I loved their hate banter at the start of this book when they are suddenly thrown back together after a decade apart. Watching them slowly reconnect is sweet and steamy!

Leo and Isabella's families are so wonderful and I wanted to be invited to this 8 Days celebration! The competition and snark is so fun to read.

I found the conflict resolution a bit frustrating. Both characters are just to afraid to act and, much like the "just talk to each other" conflict in other books, EIGHT DATS OF CHRISTMAS suffers from "Just take the leap already!"

But the sweet ending of this story makes the mild frustration all worth it! I loved the final scenes.

Charming story with laugh out loud fun.

Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I couldn’t wait to get my first taste of holiday reading in. Thank you #NetGalley and #CityOwlPress for this arc of #EightDaysofChristmas as it was the perfect read.

Bring on the physical attraction and mental connection between our main characters, Isabelle and Leo. Loved their banter - their chemistry was perfect. Combine that with a National Lampoon Christmas Vacation family dynamic and I’m hooked.

Great character development and depth added to this story. Look forward to more by DeKruyf!

I absolutely loved this book!!! Although it started a little slow, I was sad when it finally ended. I really grew to love the characters and their history, the cute town, their family's quirky Christmas traditions, and everything in between. The plot was well developed and there were fantastic descriptions - detailed enough to envision yourself there, but not too detailed that the story drones on forever. I read many Christmas novels, and this is one is most definitely at the top of my favorites!

What a great start to the holiday season! This book makes me want to curl up in front of the Christmas tree with a book and hot cocoa already! It gave me all the Hallmark vibes I look for in my Christmas theme books. Second chance romance? Enemies to lovers? SIGN ME UP! I personally love a dual POV so I was beyond excited to see this book had that🙌🏼 I can't wait to see what the next book in the series has to offer ☺️

What a sweet little read, perfect for the run up to the holidays. The book follows a fairly high strung New Yorker who is returning home to Colorado for her first Christmas in 10 years, and joining her family for the holidays is her ex, and first love, Leo. There were lovely candy cane vibes and cute scenes of ice skating, Christmas tree decorating, snowman building and cookie making, The writing was quite well done, and at times it was quite atmospheric and in some scenes it felt like I was reading a romantic comedy. There were some nice twists and turns to the story that added an extra element which I wasn’t expecting and added a little bit of emotion, although I feel like this could have been explored deeper.

I did feel that the love story evolved too quickly for my taste, and I would have preferred the “enemies to lovers” bit to have lasted a bit longer as I much preferred the main characters banter when they were at each other’s throats. There were parts which were overdone, such as the digs towards FMC not returning home for 10 years, which I felt weren’t necessary and were tedious at times.

Overall, this was a good way to ease myself into the Christmas romances and I would look forward to reading anything else from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. Review also posted on Storygraph and Instagram: kims.reads

I just got finished with the arc of Eight Days of Christmas which releases TOMORROW (10/19) and oh my gosh!! I am ready for cozy winter nights, hot chocolate, and all the Christmas feels after reading this!!!

This book follows Isabella Whitley as she returns to her small Colorado hometown after being away in NYC for ten years. Her sister is marrying her best friend/high school sweetheart’s (Leo) brother and the wedding happens to be on Christmas Day. The 8 days prior to Christmas are reserved for her family’s Christmas traditions which all happened to include Leo. Their close proximity brings up their past and gosh, you just have to read this!!!

Leo is such a good book boyfriend ahhhh! His love language is DEFFF physical touch and gifts because wow he is amazingggg!!

There are soo many of my favorite tropes like 2nd chance romance, forced proximity, grand gestures, and friends to lovers!!!

This book! I’m a Christmas fanatic, I’m talking countdowns starting December 26. This story is quite possibly the best holiday romance I’ve read. In true second-chance trope style, our main characters broke up due to forces pushing them apart, leaving them miserable. While they’ve both tried to move on, how can you do so when the one that got away is there for all 8 days of your family’s Christmas celebrations. From the start, you’ll feel the connection that Isabella and Leo have. Don’t even get me started on the fact that they were first loves/high school sweethearts because I don’t want to swoon too much.

If you love Christmas, second chance love, small town romance or romcom books, you’ll adore this. It’s the perfect holiday romance and I already know I’ll be rereading this whenever I want some Christmas nostalgia and this time next year.

A Christmas-themed romance that I really enjoyed. This one follows Isabella, who hasn't gone home for Christmas in the last 10 years. Her job writing for the New Yorker magazine has kept her busy in New York City and she just hasn't felt the need to return to her small town in Colorado. Until her sister decides to have her wedding on Christmas Day. She cannot miss that. And that means going back home, after her long absence, and seeing her high school sweetheart (and next door neighbor) Leo. Of course, you know how this will turn out, but it's always fun to have a book that reminds you of watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

Nothing says Christmas like a little romance.
Coming home to Colorado for the first time in years isn’t was Izzy wanted to be doing, especially when her plane needs to have an emergency landing due to a bad storm which ends up with Izzy getting a ride back home from none other than her ex boyfriend. This book is full of heartbreak, love and all the emotions.

Going into this book I was expecting everything to be jolly and nice. What I didn’t expect was the digs being thrown at the main character by the people she loved. It made me mad, sure they weren’t all doing it to be mean however it was hurtful.

And because of that unexpected part it made me love this story quite a bit more. It wasn’t like a basic love story where boy meets girl and they fall in love, this was a different ball game and I’d love to read more novels by this author in the future!

Thank you for the ARC!

Who doesn’t love a Christmas love story!? And this is a lovely story of exes being thrown together through the festivities and circumstances.
I’m not entirely sure I enjoyed the relationship between Leo’s brother and Izzy’s sister, it seemed a little off but never addressed.
Leo and Izzy though we’re cute and you definitely, as a reader, want them to be together, I knew what the reasoning for Izzy’s departure would be before it was revealed and whilst it was the most obvious it felt like a betrayal and a little unusual that it was an element that would never truly be resolved in a neat little bow for this genre of story.

After some spooky reads i was in the mood for something different and this was perfect. A charming holiday read about family, traditions, second chances and grand gestures. Sure there were lots of cliches but in a good way. If you are in the mood for some romance with a touch of Christmas then this is the book for you!

I got this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was a good time! I thought it was a really sweet second-chance romance. It wasn’t too over the top cheesy (the dad’s enthusiasm for Christmas activities was a cheese fest, but in a good way), and it had a good balance of steam/tension/chemistry.

A few things for consideration: the description of a character in a wheelchair felt a little ableist, and there were some typos throughout e.g.

To / too
Jam / jamb
Ach / ache
Mago / Margo

A quality Christmas romance!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

5 *stars*

Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing an ARC copy of this book.

My thoughts:
I'm really liking this story. The tension, both angry and sexual, between the two main characters is so compelling despite the past. I'm in love with the idea of family tradition 8 days before Christmas. I'm eager to choose some of them and use them to start my family traditions. Reading about the family closeness and passion for keeping up the traditions is so heartwarming. Every word can influence our decisions, especially if it does not agree with your own opinion. Ten years have passed, but that does not mean that love can disappear. True love never ends, even if 10 or 2 years have passed. Everyone can find their true love by just listening to their heart.

Brief synopsis:
Leo tries to forget an old love when it comes to his life unexpectedly. Isabella broke Leo's heart and went to live in New York. It's been 10 years since Isabella was last home. It is difficult for her to return to where she broke the heart of her closest man. Isabella's sister Norah's wedding makes her return home. Isabella and Leo are forced to spend 8 days together. Does true love exist even 10 years after they last met?

My review is found on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4282559924
Review is available on 16th of october.

Thank you!
#EightDaysofChristmas #NetGalley

The story
It’s just before Christmas and Isabella is travelling home for her sister’s wedding. A journalist with the New Yorker, she has only been home to Colorado once in the ten years since she left for college. She left her teen love and next door neighbour, Leo without an explanation and her family won’t let her forget it. Her sister Norah is marrying Leo’s brother Landon, so there will be plenty of time for Izzy and Leo to reconnect now that she is back. But what happens when Izzy’s ex Harrison decides to try get back together?

My thoughts
This book is a real Christmas epic, second chance at love story. Each of the eight days before Christmas is filled with Christmas activities with the entire two families. I didn’t have a hard time picturing this a sweet holiday themed movie! Not too cheesy and just a few surprises to keep up the momentum. 🌲📚❤️

Thank you so much to City Owl Press and Starla DeKruyf for letting me read this lovely holiday romance early via Netgalley!

This book immediately hooked me on the first page! I instantly wanted to know all about Isabella, her family's eight days of Christmas, and what happened between her and her hunky ex-boyfriend. I finished this book in one night. You won't regret picking this one up. If you read "In a Holidaze" last year like I did, this is a similar read!

Why you should read: If you're looking for a cute, Christmas-y rom-com with a solid amount of tension, heart-wrenching moments, sexiness, and all-around adorableness, this is the perfect book for you. Isabella and Leo are both incredibly relatable narrators, and their romance is anything but simple. I was constantly turning the page to find out Isabella's secrets, to see more of their sass battles, and finally learn how they might make it work! There are also great, loveable side characters. You can definitely see the threads DeKruyf is leaving to set up future books in this series, and I'm excited!

Definitely check this one out for the holiday season! Or, you know, for whenever you need a little Christmas magic.

Christmas explodes in this book and I love it. A second chance love story wrapped up in a pretty holiday bow.

Izzy/Isabella/Bella starts off her first trip home in 10 years in the worst way possible. Running into her ex at the airport while stranded in the wrong state. What is supposed to be the start of her family's traditional Eight Days of Christmas leading up to her little sister's wedding on Christmas day turns into a nightmare of how to get home and avoid an incredibly awkward interaction with her very painful past. Naturally, she knew it was coming, her ex is the groom's brother after all she just thought she had more time before coming face to face with one of the most painful reminders of her life.

Leo was not prepared for the reality of facing his first love for the first time in ten years. She left for New York and never returned, he tried to move on he got married and divorced in the six years since they were last together. But even that wasn't enough to dull the emotional toll that this reunion has taken on his heart. Now he's facing a full eight days of constant interaction with the woman who tore his heart from his body and never even told him why. Surviving this Christmas will prove to be a lesson in patience and self-control he's not entirely sure he possesses. Because despite everything she's put him through, one look at Izzy and the passion they once shared flares back to life.

This book takes us through the Whitley Family Christmas, eight days of family fun togetherness with every Christmas tradition imaginable all while Leo and Izzy fight to remember why it's a smart lesson to learn from the past. Secrets revealed, new realities uncovered, is a second chance at first love really an option when all the hurdles they once faced are still very real and present?

Great characters, perfect holiday setting, well told story. An enjoyable holiday read.

Such a cute holiday story. I enjoyed Leo and Isabella a lot as characters. Loved seeing the chemistry right from the first chapter even when they are angry.