I enjoyed this one more that other Chelsea Bobulski books I have read previously. Beckett wasn't very likable in the beginning but he has good growth throughout the story and he can grow on you. If you like enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, and the bad boy falling for the good girl - all wrapped up in Christmas, you will probably enjoy this!

All I Want for Christmas is the Girl in Charge brings the next installment in the series, and it is written in dual POV alternating between Beckett and Evelyn. Oddly enough, I didn’t connect as well with Evelyn as I would’ve hoped. I understand with her type A personality and how much her college applications relied on the success of the play she’d written that she would be absolutely anal about everything. But that’s not really my style and it was a little stressful reading just how stressed SHE was.

Beckett, on the other hand, I liked well enough. He’s your typical misunderstood bad boy with a gooey inside. We don’t know too much about why he needs to serve some community hours – obviously something bad happened that required such punishment – but he ends up stuck with the play in the lead role of Mr. Darcy. I didn’t emotionally connect with him much better than Evelyn, but I loved seeing his interactions with his Aunt Bee and Uncle Bill (who were a big enough part of the first book).

Graham and friends make cameos in this book too, set during Christmas time the following year after Graham’s story. There’s a little less focus on Christmas than book 1 but it’s in the little pieces, like Beckett working at the Christmas tree farm.

I wish I could’ve invested more in the relationship to have made this a more enjoyable Christmas read, but it was a light read either way for this time of year.

“They fight sometimes, but they also still cuddle on the couch every night after dinner, so I think that’s become my definition of happily ever after. Not finding this imaginary romance where you never fight and things are always perfect but finding someone you never want to be too far away from. Someone you want to cuddle with every night, even twenty years in.”

This is a young adult contemporary romance that is short, only 244 pages. But I devoured it. What an absolutely adorable Christmas-ish love story. The broken boy. The overachieving straight A girl. I just loved Beckett and Evelyn. Their story is one you root for. This book is book two of the All I Want For Christmas series and I can’t wait to dive into book three! Although I did not read the first in this series I still felt sucked right in.

“More. More. More. That’s all I want. More of her. More of me. More of us and whatever it is we’re becoming when we’re together.”

I always highlight quotes and passages that I love throughout a story. Sometimes I get nearly to the end and realize that nothing much has jumped out at me. This one though? I had to scroll I highlighted so much. 😂😂 There are a lot of great messages tied into this sweet story of love and redemption and being more than what you were born into.

Thank you to Netgalley, Wise Wolf Books, and the author for this complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to try not to mix up my stories since I read almost all of the series at the same time. Evelyn and Beckett meet because Evelyn is directing a play she wrote and Beckett finds out he can earn community service hours if he takes a role in the play. I loved this book in the series because it was comforting. It sort of follows the story from the first book in the series because one of the supporting actors play one of the main roles in this book. This book was also dramatic because things escalate pretty quickly in it. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book.

The second title in the All I Want For Christmas series, readers meet Evelyn Waverley, a super overachiever, and Beckett Hawthorne, a former child prodigy with a dark past.

They have a connection from the moment they meet, but avoid each other until happenstance brings them together. Evelyn is doing an abbreviated Pride and Prejudice production for school and Beckett ends up filling the role of Mr. Darcy at the last minute.

Plenty of typical teenage angst and misunderstandings in this delightful young adult romance.

Thank you to Wise Wolf Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I actually think I enjoyed this book more than the first book in the series. It follows two new characters, Evelyn and Beckett, who have a holiday romance while working on a play together. I liked these two main characters and enjoyed reading how their story played out. The main characters from the first book in the series do make brief appearances in this sequel, which was fun as well. I also liked all of the pride and prejudice references sprinkled throughout the book (the play they work on is an adaption of pride and prejudice so it’s brought up a lot). Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good young adult holiday romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of All I Want for Christmas is the Girl in Charge by Chelsea Bobulski.

I really enjoyed the second installment of Bobulski's "All I Want for Christmas" series. This book follows Evelyn and Beckett as Evelyn convinces Beckett to be part of the school play of Pride and Prejudice: Christmas.
I probably enjoyed this so much because of the strong influence Pride and Prejudice had on the writing and the characters. Overall I found the writing and the characters so much better and more likable in this installment and I really felt for the troubles that the characters went through during this book.
The plot made sense and was compelling enough for me to read this quite quickly and I just wanted to finish it to make sure that Evelyn and Beckett got the happily ever after that they deserved.

This was probably my favorite of the four. The two main characters are complex and interesting and I loved the alternating perspective chapters. A great read!

Plot:
Evelyn, Christmas High's Senior Class President, volunteer at every Christmas charity drive, and basic overachiever, has a problem. She's co-directing and starring in her dream role as Elizabeth Bennet in her high school's production of A Pride and Prejudice Christmas, but Greg, the boy who was supposed to play Darcy broke his leg.

Enter Beckett, Aunt Bee's nephew, former child prodigy, and recent juvenile delinquent. Beckett has arrived in Christmas, VA to spend his community service hours working at his uncle's Christmas tree farm, plus getting away from his addict mother and abusive stepfather.

Beckett doesn't have any interest in playing Darcy, but when he (mistakenly) mentions the play to his social worker. She presses him to do it. He agrees, not expecting Evelyn's joyful attitude about life and all things Christmas to melt the permafrost that has formed around his heart. Soon he finds himself imagining a very different kind of future, one that is filled with the sorts of things he always thought were too good for him-hope, love, family-and he has Evelyn to thank for it.

Thoughts:
Oh wow! I loved this even more than the first book. This one continues from the first one. It's the following Christmas in the small town of Christmas. Beckett, our bad boy, has moved to town with his Aunt and Uncle. We know them from the first book. We also know some of the kids from the high school because of the first.

I'm glad it was switched to dual POV unlike the first book. I am a sucker for dual POV. This book is so good. The character development, the banter, the storyline. I can't say enough good things. The chemistry between Evelyn and Beckett. It's like no one else exists to them when they are around each other. Very 10 Things I Hate About you vibes.

Read this if you love-
Small towns ✔
Christmas ✔
Playful banter ✔
Dual POV ✔
Bad boys ✔
Grumpy Sunshine ✔
Strong backstories ✔

TW: drugs, alcohol, child abuse

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The bad boy with a troubled past and good girl that loves order and being in charge. Cute story but typical plot. Overall for me it was okay but not fabulous.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Evelyn Waverly has always been the take charge kind of girl. She works hard in her classes, she likes being organized and in control, and she likes things orderly. But when Beckett Hawthorne enters the picture…nothing goes like she plans. Beckett is working at his uncle’s tree farm and trying to whittle down his community service hours all while avoiding his stepdad’s threats to make him return to Texas. Beckett just needs to keep his head down and get through these hours and when he turns 18, he will be a free man… but when he gets roped into playing Fitzwilliam Darcy opposite of Evelyn’s Elizabeth will his plans for his future change? Will Evelyn take charge of his future too? Is that something that he even wants? Beckett isn’t sure, but he knows that when he is around Evelyn, he feels the most at home he ever has. This holiday YA romance is a well told story that will pull readers right in and have them rooting for both Evelyn and Beckett. Romance, challenging pasts, overcoming stereotypes… this story has it all!

I won’t be reading this title. I have all of the books in this series and the first two that I attempted to read were basically the same. Much emotional cheating and the plot is almost exactly the same. I don’t want to set myself up for that again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.
It was a cute and heart warming story about 2 teenagers.

Beckett has a troubled past with a bad childhood due to his drug addicted mother and abusive step-father. Beckett goes to live with his Uncle Bill to work off community service hours. Beckett didn't plan to audition for the role but the social worker pushes him to. Evelyn is the pretty girl that loves to be in charge and is the star in the play she wrote and co-directs, the boy Darcy playing her co-lead gets hurt and Evelyn needs to find another actor.

This story is told from both Evelyn and Beckett's point of view.

Evelyn has decided just the thing to help her stand out to colleges- writing a play based off "Pride and Prejudice." The problem? She needs a Mr. Darcy! Her original pick is injured and nobody wants to help.

Beckett is in the system and just counting down the days until he finishes his community service hours. He finds himself being pushed to be Mr. Darcy by Evelyn. Due to his own background- he has no interest in being the center of attention on stage. He caves to pressure only to get more community service hours in.

This was a sweet little YA holiday story. It does have characters from the first book (All I Want for Christmas is the Girl Next Door) that make an appearance randomly throughout the story. This story can be a stand alone read. It's a quick fun read for this holiday season!

I read this via NetGalley- however, my thoughts and opinions are always my own.

This book is a very loose enemies-to-lovers (it's really more mild-dislike-to-lovers) story following Evelyn, a. very driven girl who is staging a self-written stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice featuring her as Elizabeth Bennet, and Bennett, the "bad boy" who is living with his aunt and uncle due to his mother's drug problems and his step-father's abuse, and is mostly just trying to get to age 18 and fulfill his court-mandated community service hours. He ends up being cast as Mr. Darcy due to a lack of other options and with the assurance that rehearsals will count towards his hours, and thus this adorable romance starts.

I absolutely adore Pride and Prejudice (it's one of my favorite books of all time), so I already knew I was going to love this book. The setting, revolving around rehearsing a play where the two protagonists are playing love interests and gradually realizing their feelings for each other as they do so, is a favorite rarely-used trope of mine. The characters were both very lovable; I related a lot to Evelyn (the intense scheduling, the Pride and Prejudice obsession), so I obviously enjoyed reading about her. However, I also ended up loving Beckett much more than I was expecting to, since the bad boy/troubled new boy/etc. archetype doesn't usually do much for me, though those elements did play much less of a role than I was expecting them to, and he really is just misunderstood. There was tons of chemistry between the pair throughout the book, so the romance felt much more satisfying because of that. I also enjoyed the little Pride and Prejudice parallels that Bobulski utilized in their relationship. My one criticism (which is also an issue I have with the other books in the series) is that the romance definitely felt like it got too serious too early, especially since they'd only really known each other for a few weeks.

I also really enjoyed the side characters and plot. Getting to see the characters from All I Want for Christmas Is the Girl Next Door and All I Want for Christmas Is the Boy I Can't Have was fun, and Aunt Bee and Uncle Bill's subplot was also really cute, and I was almost as invested in that storyline as in the main romance.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, and give it an enthusiastic five stars. I would recommend it to anybody who loves Pride and Prejudice, very mild enemies-to-lovers, or is just looking for a fluffy contemporary YA holiday romance to read.

All I want for Christmas is the girl in charge by Chelsea Bobulski

4 stars


Sum it up: 

Evelyn is the girl that loves to be in charge, pretty much an overachiever but when the play she writes, stars in, and co-directs come to a halt after the lead boy breaks his leg she needs to find another lead.


Beckett has a troubled past with a bad childhood, he comes to live with his uncle bill. Beckett didn't plan to audition for the role but when he gets challenged he doesn't want to back down.  



My thoughts:

Oh Beckett the misleading acting tough bad boy has all his walls up and needs someone to knock them down, and Evelyn strong-headed is the perfect person for the job. They make a cute team and how they get around each other. Now the one thing I couldn't stand was how strong-headed they both were and neither wanted to fully open up it was a little frustrating for me it's like your yelling at the movie the whole time just kiss her you, idiot. Watching Beckett's walls slowly go down and having him open up was extremely cute and how Evelyn brought out the good in him and he in her. Wasn't a fan of Becketts's stepfather coming back to try to take him but it definitely shows what his past was like. Love the different points of view we get to see from both of them. So far Chelseas books definitely seem like they're cute quick reads that take me to hallmark movies, which is you love you'll want to read these.

I love Pride and Prejudice, cheesy Christmas movies, YA contemporaries and brooding love interests with hearts of gold, so in some ways, I was the target audience for All I Want for Christmas is the Girl in Charge. And I loved it for about the first third of the book. Admittedly, there were a few issues. Like the other books in the series, the story was rushed, and the romance seemed especially cheesy this time around since the protagonists seemed especially fond of poetic rhapsodies, but it was cute and Christmasy and had nods to P&P, so I was willing to overlook these flaws as part of the story's charm.

Then we hit the midway point where I started having more issues with the book. One of my biggest issues with Bobulski's books is the fact that the romance develops so quickly, she needs to invent reasons the couple can't be together halfway through the story and a lot of times it doesn't work. As a frequent Hallmark channel movie binge watcher, I can say that's it's a pretty common issue, but it's especially obvious in The Girl in Charge which is extra melodramatic. The big twist toward the end of Act II feels kind of senseless because there hasn't been any build-up to it. There was definitely a way to incorporate it into the story better, but Bobulski didn't make it work. Plus, the sudden shift in tone with the climax made it feel a little too outrageous.

Petty points: There was this whole Twister scene that I did not need at all. I didn't realize this when I was reading it, but I guess the book is marketed as Christian (or at least "clean and wholesome romance" on Amazon)? Either way, reading about the relative location of people's crotches and pant zippers doesn't seem to fit either category (and is not something I think anyone is looking for in their YA fiction.)

TL;DR: first half of the book--cute, fun, good cheesy. Second half of the book--weird, jumbled, bad cheesy.

This was an enjoyable and very quick read. The Christmas setting was wonderful and anything related to Pride and Prejudice has me hooked from the start.

I really liked both of the protagonists and I'm a big fan of the "good girl/bad boy" trope, which worked well in this story. The romance is very cute and you can't help but root for Beckett and Evelyn throughout the book.

With all that said however, I did have some issues. First, the swearing is completely unnecessary. Thankfully, it's pretty minimal - but I really don't want it in my cozy Christmas romances. Second, the writing is nice but didn't read like 17 year olds. The setting should have been college, not high school, to fit much of the dialog (both internal and external) better. Third, I'm not a fan of instalove, and it is heavily prevalent here. Last, the ANGST!!! Ugh, every other page was dripping in full blown teenage angst. 🙄 🙄🙄

But even with those caveats, I really did enjoy this book and would read more from this author.

Grab your hot cocoa and snuggle up with a blanket with this book!

A perfectly cute Hallmark story in a book. This book does center around teens rather than adults, but doesn't feel childish. The story flows easily and you can devour it within a day.

I requested this book (and the other books in the series) because some of them were in the Christian section on NetGalley and they looked like fun Christmas reads. I was hoping since this one was listed under Christian that it wouldn’t have language and some uncomfortable content… but I was disappointed.
Like the first book, I think I could’ve really liked this book if it hadn’t been for the language and a some content that made me uncomfortable. This books overall plot was fun. A girl who loves Pride and Prejudice so much that she writes a Christmas play adaption for it at her school. I loved that! I love how much she loves P&P and Darcy was fun because I could relate to that love of literature. And then a grumpy boy comes along to play Mr. Darcy and of course they start falling for each other even though they’re so different. The idea is fun but I just had issues with it.
The language was a really big thing for me. It seemed to get more frequent as the book kept going. It disappointed me a lot. Sometimes the characters just really frustrated me and sometimes I didn’t ship them… (okay, maybe because I liked Kyle)

So while the plot of this book was fun and I enjoyed some of it, it really disappointed me.

*I received an ARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.