The only reason I finished this book was because it was my pick for bookclub. I appreciated that Max broke some stereotypical gender norms with his love of knitting and cute little dog he took everywhere. And the authors did a good job of making me wish the competition was real so I could hear the two MCs sing together. But other than that, this was a major disappointment. Holy miscommunication Batman. That’s it- that’s the entire novel. We’re told they’re falling in love but never actually see anything but them misunderstanding and not talking to each other… over and over. The writing is disjointed and cheesy. I was literally rolling my eyes. I didn’t care for any of the characters and was just waiting for the story to end. Also CW galore, there’s a lot going on- sexual harassment, death of a loved one, abandonment, alcoholism- but there’s no real feeling behind it. This wasn’t it for me.

I can't with this charming Christmas romance book by Maggie Knox. It's like reading a Hallmark Christmas movie but with a lot of steamy bits put in!

Sadie and Max are competing in a Country music reality TV show (think American Idol or The Voice.) Their chemistry is off the charts on stage, so the execs ask them to team up for their performance.

As they learn to get along off-stage as well as they do on it, a passionate romance ignites. Until the machinations of the music industry drive a wedge between them. Can they reconcile before Christmas?

𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀: All I Want for Christmas
𝒜𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇: Maggie Knox
𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒: Christmas Romance
𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝒫𝓊𝒷 𝒟𝒶𝓎: October 4, 2022

This book read more like a YA book to me. I felt like their fights and disputes for very juvenile and the writing was very forced. I didn’t really like their banter and felt there was a major lack of character development, both individually and relationally. I still enjoyed all the Christmas vibes, though! Thank you Penguin Group Putnam for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a unique premise for a Christmas romance, and I really liked it! Overall, I would definitely recommend reading it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This was just an ok read for me. I found myself skimming through most of the book because of the weird pacing and Max and Sadie’ relationship connection was very dry.

This is a new to me author and I have to say I am looking forward to reading more by this author! I loved this book

I read The Holiday Swap last year by Canadian duo Karma Brown and Marissa Shapley writing as Maggie Knox. Admittedly, that book felt very Hallmark, saccharine, predictable, and I didn't feel like the characters were as developed as they could be. Now, I'm not going to be so bold as to say that "Maggie Knox" read my review and took it to heart. LOL! But, man, they pretty much fixed most of what annoyed me in The Holiday Swap and wrote an incredibly sweet, well-written, believable holiday romance this year. All I Want For Christmas was really good! If I could give 1/2 stars, I might even give it 4.5 instead of 4. I really liked the depth of both Max Brody and Sadie Hudson. Their relationship was anything but easy-going Hallmark-made. They had to work through their own stuff to figure out how they would work together. There was a smidge more "spice" in this one compared to The Holiday Swap which was totally vanilla and contained zero spice. Now, when I hope this duo will write another holiday romance next year...maybe they can take the spice level up just a tiny bit more. A dash more cinnamon and this book would have been a perfect 5 stars! 😍

Favorite quote (around 94% -- Ebook): "Take it from me, life doesn't always play out the way you imagine it will,. But that doesn't mean that what you do instead isn't worth something."

Thanks to Netgalley, the authors, and publishers for providing access to an advanced copy of the book. It is greatly appreciated.

2.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

This was just a very middle of the road book. While I overall enjoyed the book and romance, I was left wanting more. I felt like there was a lot more that could've happened with this romance. For the most part I felt kind of bored. I also don't understand why it's a Christmas romance when the holidays aren't really even mentioned that much or even play a big part of the book. I also don't feel like the flow of the story. It felt very choppy while I was reading, I felt like something important would happen and we would just skip over the details. Gran? Cruz? I wanted resolutions to things that were brought up and I didn't get them. Overall just a a meh romance that doesn't really have anything to do with Christmas.

I was really looking forward to reading All I Want for Christmas because it takes place in Nashville and the main characters are on a reality show. I ended up loving those parts of the book, but sadly I didn’t enjoy much else. The relationship between Sadie and Max gave me whiplash. There was way too much conflict in this book, to the point where it felt like they were apart more than they were together. We never really got the chance to see their relationship develop because yet another problem would arise, resulting in a blow up where each person would write the other off “for good.” I enjoyed the very brief moments we got to spend with them and feel some sort of connection (Max sure can take care of an injured Sadie😍) but there were so few that I can’t help but feel disappointed. I needed more time to fall in love with Max and Sadie!

Thank you to Putnam Books, Penguin Random House, and Netgalley for the gifted book in exchange for my honest review.

I overall feel neutral about this one. While it had cute moments, it also had a lot of easily avoidable miscommunication. I LOVED The Holiday Swap from last year so I will certainly read more books from the Maggie Knox duo in the future.

This book was okay for me. I was really excited to read an enemy to lovers and then the fact that there was a music competition made it that more interesting. Sadie and Max both had a lot of mixed communication. The fact that Max left and didn't speak to Sadie for so long made me so upset and that she was the one to go after him and apologize to get him to come back. There was so much back and forth bickering and nonsense. I am glad the book ended the way that it did. There were a lot of sweet and genuine moments in the book and for that I am thankful.

This was a book I received from Netgalley for my honest review.

This was super cute! I loved the author's last book, The Holiday Swap, and thought this was a great follow-up for those same sweet holiday romance vibes. I will definitely add any future books by the author to my reading list :)

The pacing of this book was off and I couldn’t connect with either character. Max and Sadie are contestants of a singing competition and fake a relationship for the show. I typically like enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes, but this wasn’t for me.

Max is the son of a songwriter, struggling after the loss of his mom to find his heart in music again. Sadie is an up and coming artist from *Milwaukee*. They met before, and did not end on the best terms. Now these enemies are each other’s only chance to win over the fans and make all of their dreams come true.

This is a combination enemies to lovers & fake dating trope set in the holidays, so I was super excited to read it. I felt connected to each of the characters - both Sadie and Max having dreams and hopefully having those come together, while also suffering some heartbreaks of their own.

However, their chemistry together didn’t quite hit home for me. I felt meh about #saxie for most of it, with the exception of a part in the middle where they actually were away from the music. The will-they-won’t-they back and forth got a bit redundant and I just wanted to yell into the book at them! Especially when it came to slimy Cruz, is Max really that dense not to see it??

Although I didn’t love it, I really did still like this and it was an enjoyable, fun holiday read! Would recommend for others looking for the same.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for my DRC in exchange for an honest review!

All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox
Rating: 3 stars
Seam: Closed door
Pub Date: 10/4

Miscommunication, keeping secrets, bad decisions
A small-town girl gets her big break when she appears on the singing show, Starmaker, and is paired up to sing with Nashville royalty, Max Brody. Sadie and Max have undeniable chemistry on and off stage, and when the audience goes crazy for the duo, their managers come up with the idea that they should fake date to increase their chances of winning.

There is a lot to love about this one. The fake dating trope is one of my favorites, and when you pair it with forced proximity and the celebrity element, I’m sold. I liked the unique premise where the MCs met on a singing show and then spent time in Nashville as country music superstars. Sadie’s character is passionate, strong-willed, and unafraid to chase her dreams, and I love how she stays humble and kind when she becomes a star.

Max, on the other hand, is difficult to like, and just when I thought he was growing on me, he did something else that either didn’t make sense or was just plain hurtful. The miscommunication trope is not for me, and unfortunately, that’s the only kind of communication happening between our MCs. It seemed like every time these two spent time together, they argued, jumped to insane conclusions, or one of them stormed off. I’m all for adding a little drama to a ‘will they won’t they’ storyline, but it happened too often here, and I got tired of it. They fought so often that it was hard to root for them as a couple. If this were my friend in real life, I would have told her to forget about this toxic relationship a long time ago.

This is the second book by this author duo I wasn’t a big fan of, so maybe their writing style isn’t for me. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the gifted arc to read and review.

Will they hit the right notes this holiday season?
All I want for Christmas by Maggie Knox is a fun and cozy holiday read! If you are a fan of music theme romances and enjoy all things Nashville, you will enjoy this festive read. There's plenty of drama and some will they / won't they vibes. Add this one to your TBR!

When Sadie and Max are selected as contestants on the famed reality singing show Starmaker, each thinks they’ve finally gotten their big Nashville break. But then they’re paired up for duet week and stun the world with their romantic onstage chemistry. With fans going wild for #Saxie the network demands that they remain a duo on and offstage, or exit the competition. Faking a relationship until their final performance in the Starmaker holiday special shouldn't be too hard, except for one small problem—Sadie and Max can’t stand each other.

But with their dreams just within reach, they agree to the ruse. Will their fake relationship be exposed before they can win? Or might their phony connection turn real by the Christmas finale?

This one was meh—between the constant misunderstandings between Max and Sadie, their cringeworthy name that was over-used, and the bits of “southern-isms” that were peppered in any time the author seemed to remember the setting, it was not good.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Review of All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This what a cute Christmas read. It had the Christmas setting, reality show, fake dating and all the things. It’s the kind of book I might not enjoy year round but certainly do this time of year. I listened to it on audio and really enjoyed that version. My fave is that the dog is named Patsy Canine.

Quick synopsis: Sadie is an aspiring singer who lands a spot on a reality singing show competition. One of her competitors is a music legacy named Max. They have to team up for a duet and the world goes wild. The producers then insist that they compete together and fake date for the benefit of ratings. It’s a rollercoaster once that happens.

This is a really fun Christmas read sure to appeal to fans of country music! The Nashville setting is perfect. The story line is cute and cozy without being too saccharine. And the charterers are people you want to root for. The pile up of miscommunications definitely strain credulity, but if you can suspend your disbelief for a bit it's a fun ride.

All I Want for Christmas follows two country musicians who must work together in order to get their own contracts and record deals. Max comes from music royalty and Sadie hails from the Midwest. Their managers set them up as a fake couple to get more publicity. However, they both have so many problems and act childish with each other that the ending and HEA just seemed rushed to me.