received ARC from Net Galley

RATING: 1/5⭐

REVIEW

I love Christmas romance stories. I usually enjoy every one that I read, so I was excited to get to this one. Unfortunately, it fell really flat for me and I was finding myself anxious to just have it over. I have no intentions of bashing this book because there was nothing inherently bad. I just want to highlight a few aspects that I did not enjoy.

This book had a lot of time jumps. I have no idea how long this book took place. There was a specific chapter I remember that ended on the main characters in a fight, and then the start of the very next chapter they were in a completely different location hanging out, fight forgotten. I also had trouble deciphering who was speaking. All the characters sounded the same and I would get lost in a conversation. We also didn't get any Christmas vibes until about 35% of the way through. Even then, it did not feel as Christmas-y as I would like.

I did not feel any chemistry between the two characters. The only thing they had going for them was loving each other for over 10 years. It was hard to really care about their relationship when I did not feel anything.

Sadly, this was not for me, but I hope others enjoy it more!

The Christmas Project by Christi Barth
Publisher: Tule Publishing, American Heart
Genre: Romance
Publication Date: November 16, 2021

The Christmas Project by Christi Barth is a sweet, second chance, Christmas romance and I absolutely loved it! The book was funny and sweet and made me smile. I loved the characters and how there was little bits of humor sprinkled throughout their dialogue. The story was beautiful and I loved it!

If you are looking for a special holiday romance, look no further! The Christmas Project is a must read this year!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is an honest review for an ARC that I revived on NetGalley.

This is the story about Mariana Vasquez who is put in charge of restoring Brampton Mansion, a historic home she had loved since she was a child, back to it's former glory. She decides to raise the money for the city by having a Christmas Showcase. She is hoping the prove to the city of Baltimore that this old house is actually worth saving and using as a community space for the area.

When the other designer who is supposed to help Mariana finish the project breaks his leg, Mariana turns to an old friend Scott Ashford who she has not spoken to in year. Scott agrees to help because his last renovation project turned into a PR nightmare and he wants to start over fresh. He also wants to make amends for leaving Mariana after graduation 10 years ago.

I won't give away more than this because of spoilers but over all this is a delightful Christmas story that of course has a happy ending that we all want. If you enjoy romances with friends-to-lovers and second chances, then you will enjoy this book.

What an quick fun enjoyable read. A second chance romance between 2 interior designers and an old mansion in Baltimore in need of a major refurbishment along with a quick turn around time made for fun reading. Both Mariana and Scott were good characters who had been friends in graduate school and were now trying to become friends once again. It was a sweet romance.

This is the type of story I love reading during the holidays. Easy to read and happily novella size. You don't always have a ton of downtime and the smaller page count helps to make sure you have time to read it and do all the things you need to do.

I really enjoyed both Mariana and Scott. You could feel their attraction to each other. I think the only ones not seeing it was them. They are so busy with past hurts and walking on eggshells that they don't deal with those past hurts. At times I wanted to yell at them to talk about it.

As a viewer of their romance, you could see what they couldn't. Happily, they did get with the program and talked things out. I can't tell you how happy I am for them. Throughout the book, you could see how well they worked together. Neither one had to fight hard to be with the other person.

There are many great moments and I think you'll really enjoy this story. The only thing I wish is that the author offered more description about what was going on in Brampton Mansion. I never felt I really got a good picture of it. I know not everyone will care about that. It's a small thing that I feel could have made the story even better for me.

If you are looking for a fun, sweet Christmas story this is perfect for you

Christmas romance mixes with friends to lovers. Former friends Mariana and Scott both need a successful renovation of a mansion to put their careers on track. Working together again, they rediscover what they had, figure out where things went south, and determine a new direction. It's a simple story and a quick, light-hearted read.

Mariana's holiday showcase house/ historical reno project has just run into a major obstacle. With a do or die deadline looming, there's only one person who can fix it, but she hasn't spoken to him in ten years...

Scott left Maryland, and Mariana, behind for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in NY after graduation. When Mariana contacts him, he says yes. His firm could use the good PR, plus he needs to make amends to the one person he hurt.

Finding the project is doable, but it will take every second Scott has till the deadline, and he digs in. Scott thinks he's in control, but it's obvious Mariana is the one actually holding things together.. and micromanaging.

In addition to the project, they're hitting every Baltimore event to get good press for the fundraiser to save the historic mansion post-showcase. Spending time together is like old times when they were besties in grad school. Old sparks ignite, and the feelings are there, but Scott's headed back to NY, and Mariana doesn't have time for complications.

It will take a grand gesture from Scott to prove he's worth the effort while Mariana learns it's okay to delegate work to others. If they could only sort out the feelings between them and take a risk... on what may be love... they might find a way to be together.

A friends-to-love, second chance romance peppered with scenes from Baltimore at Christmas makes a wonderful holiday romance.

**Received an ARC from Netgalley**

This book had some of my favorite things. Christmas romances and second chances at love. I really enjoyed this sweet and heartwarming romance. It got me excited for the holiday season. Christi Barth has very quickly become one of my favorite authors. This story was well written and kept me interested until the end. That isn't the case with every book. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One of the main characters was occasionally annoying in this book, but overall I liked it a lot. It was a fun Christmas novel.

This is a surprisingly cute/decent holiday story, reminds me of a Hallmark movie. I enjoyed it very much!

I received an advance copy of, The Christmas Project, by Christi Barth. This is a sweet Christmas love story. One to cuddle up with a blanket and a hot chocolate, by the fire with.

Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the fate of a historic home hangs in the balance if the project manager can’t deliver it fully restored by the night of the Christmas Showcase to prove to the mayor and city council that it is worth saving and will make a wonderful small event space. A woman must swallow her pride and reach out to the man who left her in a lurch after grad school. This holiday story featured two characters still figuring out their lives, atoning for past mistakes, forgiveness and understanding, and friendship that turned to love. I enjoyed The Christmas Project quite a bit, but felt like the story got a bit bogged down in the restoration project and therefore the romance angle got lost.

Mariana Vasquez realized she’d bitten off more than she could chew when one of her designers fell through the steps of the Brampton Mansion damaging his leg and leaving him unable to help finish the project in the three weeks she had left to do it. Her boss was on her back and she knew the only way to bring it in on time was to swallow her pride and contact her once best friend and the man who broke her heart when he walked away from their plan of opening their own firm. It won’t be easy working with him again, but for this project she’d do just about anything.

Feeling a bit down and out after his latest project became a PR nightmare for his firm, Scott Ashford was surprised by the gift basket that arrived in his NYC office filled with Baltimore and Maryland treats along with a request from his once best friend Mariana who has asked for him immediate help, he knew that not only would he go but it was way past time he apologized for his past mistakes.

Once Mariana and Scott got past the initial clumsiness of being around one another again it was easy to see the friendship that had once met so much to each other. While they both often thought about their past and the feelings they had towards one another, I never really quite felt romantic feelings between them. Fondness? Absolutely. A close friendship based on mutual respect and admiration? For sure. But that heat you expect to feel and Mariana’s friend claimed she saw? I didn’t feel it. Had they had more alone time together where they weren’t in crisis about the project or jumping through PR hoops to get the project out into the media, maybe I would have but they had almost NO alone time throughout this book and thusly, I didn’t feel a romantic connection between them. That being said, I liked this story and found the restoration project interesting. I also felt like we got to know Scott really well, his motivation for bailing on Mariana ten years prior, why he worked on this project pro bono, his work with the Big Brother’s project, and how he was dealing with the fallout of his last project. However, we really didn’t get the same from Mariana and it would have been nice if that had happened.

A word of warning to my romance loving friends, there is one shared kiss and that’s it in this book, and other than a big Thanksgiving gathering, they were together alone that wasn’t for the promotion of the project. So if you are expecting more, it doesn’t happen.

As a feel good Christmas miracle holiday story, The Christmas Project works, but as a holiday romance not so much in my opinion. It was lacking time spent together not involving the project for that to happen.

This was a very cute holiday themed romance! If you love the enemies to lovers type book than this is for you!
I love how they come together to renovate a mansion in time for the holiday season. Also they find love along the way! Cute, cozy , feel good vibes reading this one!

I love a good heartwarming romance especially one that has a renovation save the holidays type theme.
Premise
Can they forgive the past and pull off a Christmas miracle?

Mariana Vasquez has always adored the historic waterfront Brampton Mansion, but the beloved building has succumbed to years of neglect. When Baltimore City inherits it, there's only one chance to keep it from being demolished. Mariana plans to earn the mansion a second chance and the money to pay for its upkeep with a designer Christmas showcase.

A mix-up on Scott Ashford’s last renovation job has shaken his confidence and harmed his business. He needs a fresh project and great publicity to caulk over his disgrace. Donating his expertise to save a historic property sounds perfect…except the opportunity is dangled by an old friend. Well, ex-friend, since he abandoned her ten years ago…

Mariana has too much pride to ask Scott to return to Baltimore for her, but she’s desperate enough to ask him to come back to save the mansion. There’s barely time to finish all the restorations, so Mariana’s sure she won’t have any time to fall for Scott again. But maybe the mansion isn’t the only thing that deserves a second chance this Christmas…

The characters of Mariana and Scott are well written and it was neat seeing how they came back together to save this mansion and reconnect along the way. It was a feel good book perfect for curling up on these cold nights.