For some reason I never felt connect to Sadie and Max. I loved the enemies to lovers / fake dating tropes but I'm not sure.... it felt a little bland maybe? I hate that word but I think I needed a little more to root for the romance and the characters.

Cute holiday romance! Enjoyed Nashville and the whole country music tie in. Also the dogs name was great.

This has all the makings of a great Christmas story - fake dating, celebrity romance, holiday songs, cute dog in knitted sweaters….

The premise of the book is so good. I loved the singing competition. I loved how the corruption of key players in the music industry was portrayed. I loved the timeline. I wanted to love Sadie and Max more…. Their immaturity and miscommunication really brought the story down for me though.

I was expecting more Christmas, but since I’m reading this one in September that was fine. 😂 It’ll be fine to read year round. 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

A fun Christmas-time romance with engaging characters and festive settings...what's not to love? Reality show junkies will especially enjoy the singing competition aspect of the book. This was a quick, entertaining read.

Thank you #Viking Publishing and #NetGalley for the ARC e-book.

Cute romcom full of holiday magic straight out of a Hallmark movie. It's enemies to lovers, fake dating, and even grumpy/sunshine. And after reading The Holiday Swap, I was so excited to read this one by writing duo Maggie Knox. So where did it all go wrong?

”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 anything.”

Sadie is a ball of energy and enthusiasm. She knows what she wants and is willing to go to almost any length to get it. But when she’s unfairly paired up with someone from her past, she has to make a choice: fake it ‘til you make it or walk away from your dreams forever.

Trying to get out from under his father’s shadow, prodigy Max Brody wants to be able to do his own thing and not what everyone else tells him he should be doing. His one shot at gaining independence is being on Starmaker, a musical reality show, and even being partnered with a novice isn’t going to slow him down. Even one as beautiful as Sadie Hunter.

“You and Sadie may not always go together like peas and carrots, but that doesn’t mean y’all don’t have something worth fighting for.”

There’s a lot of great life lessons in this book. And in terms of Christmas stories, this one fits the mold. But it’s almost too cliche. The constant miscommunication or lack of any communication started as angsty, but quickly turned into frustration. And the amount of inner thoughts (that really should have just been spoken) is what brought this book down in ratings for me.

However I loved the witty lines, how all the loose ends get wrapped up, and even some of the plot twists. Honestly, if you’ve seen any Christmas romcom, you can see the plot twists coming from a mile away. But it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. If you’re a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies and rockstar romances, then this one is for you!

“You can love someone who isn’t perfect, and be deeply loved despite your own imperfections.”

Loved Maggie’s first book last Christmas season and this one was just as good! All the cozy Christmas feelings. I loved. I will be posted my review on my Instagram closer to the Christmas season.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of All I Want For Christmas by Maggie Knox. Unfortunately this book was not for me. Did not care for the characters or storyline.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a free eARC in return for an honest review.

I had a very hard time getting through the book. I had a hard time connecting with the main characters and the story. All I want for Christmas started out in Nashville and once it starts out it jumps to different places and timelines. It got confusing and I felt like the flow of the book got disconnected. My favorite part of the book was when they were in Banff. It was Christmasy and felt like a contemporary love story. When Sadie and Max weren't in Banff they were fighting for the whole book and not being able to see the other's perspective. They had a hard time opening up about each other's trauma and when they did, nothing happened. Both characters didn't experience a lot of character growth and they were hard to relate to. I think this book has a lot of potential if it stayed in one time period and Sadie and Max were able to communicate without one of them running off or not having their phone off.

3/5 for this book. Trigger warning, there is some SA. I did enjoy the Holiday Swap so I am excited if Maggie comes out with something next year I would still read it!

Reading the description of this book, and having enjoyed their holiday book last year, I was so excited for this one. However, it fell a little short for me. Miscommunications are common in romances, but this one had too much miscommunication, almost to the point of giving the reader whiplash. I also was missing feeling the chemistry between the main characters beyond being told there was chemistry. The dialogue also felt a little disconnected. Sometimes the characters were brusquer and swore, other times they would use terms like “ding dong,” It felt disjointed, and I’m curious if the variations were because of having two co-authors. The southern/country phrases also felt overdone and honky. I liked the premise of this book, but the execution felt a little rushed in places and unfinished in others.

All I want for Christmas is a contemporary romance with a little bit of Christmas sprinkled throughout. The story follows Sadie + Max who are competing in the televised singing competition, Starmaker, in Nashville. When they start competing on their own, the higher ups decide that they will be better together, but what happens when your enemy becomes your singing partner (and maybe more)??

After loving The Holiday Swap last year, I was very excited to get an ARC of Knox’s next Christmas rom com! And boy, did it deliver! Guys, this book was so damn charming and full of heart. I devoured it in an afternoon. Sadie and Max were both so wonderful and well developed as characters. They had such amazing chemistry and so much growth together and as separate people. The fake dating and enemies to lovers combo was fantastic. I loved the alternating POVs and the time jumps between last Christmas, this Christmas and next Christmas (Next Christmas was perfection). This book also dealt with some heavy topics like grief and trauma and sexual assault and did them in a very respectful and real way. I thought the pacing was pretty steady throughout the book. My only complaint is that there was SO MUCH miscommunication. There were several times both characters just needed to listen to each other (or their friends/family) or take a beat before overreacting to certain situations and it got to be a little much towards the end. But honestly, overall, this was such a great read. If you love country music and singing competition TV shows, put this one on your list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Highly recommend this one! This was my first book to read by this author but definitely won't be my last. The characters will stay with you long after you finish the book and you will find yourself wishing the story would never end.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the Publisher for my eARC of All I Want for Christmas. I really enjoyed Maggie's Knox's previous book so I was very excited to dive into this one. Unfortunately I didn't love it.

I found the premise to be fun and entertaining with the American Idol type show but I didn't think the details were well executed. The main characters saw each other, judged each other, and decided they hated each other. Then only a few pages later they are agreeing to fake date and realize that there is *sOmEtHiNg* between them. The transition between the two is was very sudden and didn't read well. They also had multiple fights and meltdowns throughout the book and I lost count of the number of times one or both of them refused to communicate like an adult and stormed off without speaking to the other. It came across like a Jr. High fight.

I enjoy a Christmas/holiday book but this one just really missed the mark for me. However, I understand that not every book is for every reader and I hope and think many will love this book especially for the fun concept of an American Idol type country show.

This one was so darn cute! The exact kind of book that makes you want to cuddle up by the fireplace with someone. Fuzzy blanks, hot coco, and lots of snacks are required of course.

Sadie and Max are both contestants in the singing reality show Starmakers, each trying to make their big break in Nashville. When they get paired up for duet week everyone goes crazy for #Saxie and the chemistry they have onstage. The network demands that they remain a duo for the remainder of the show. To make their chemistry even more believable Sadie and Max start fake dating. The only problem, they can't stand each other. Will their fake relationship be exposed or will it turn into something more?

All I Want For Christmas is a fake dating, enemies to lovers, slow burn romance set in Nashville, TN that's sure to win the hearts of country and non-country music lovers. This is the second book I've read by Maggie Knox and while I enjoyed this book, I liked The Holiday Swap more. All I Want For Christmas was a great read, don't get me wrong, it just didn't feel as festive as their first book. I really didn't get a strong holiday vibe from this book. I did love the country music vibes I got from this book. At times I got frustrated at Sadie and Max's characters and their lack of communication. But being able to read this story from both of their POVs helped me to see where each of them were coming from and the personal issues they were working through. If you're looking for a fast, cute, Christmas read with all things country music this is definitely a great one.

Starmaker the country music reality show where a lucky winner gets the dream of a record deal. Obviously every contestant wants it... but after dooing a swoony duet on the second show 2 contestants gets permanently linked as a duo... and then, since you have to give the audience what they want they embark on a fake publicity relationship stunt. Because....let's get them votes!😅
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This was a cutesy adorable country music christmas love romance. I could read the southern accents and they were filling my little ol' heart!
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Loved seeing the softer and caring side of Max. Seeing him free himself from his ghosts was sweet. Sadie really was going to make her dreams happen and she really was in it to give it her all, despite her infuriating new teammate. She really went through it to get where she wanted.
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Sadies Gran is forever in my heart! ❤️ 😥
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I overall enjoyed this holiday read. However, I thought that the miscomunication trope was very present here and very recurrent sometimes frustrating me a bit.
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Also, just to be clear this is a PG-13, clean romance with no open door spice scenes. (In case these aren't your thing!) Don'tsay I didn't warn ya!

It was cute! Another solid Christmas read! Knox writes adorable books that you just get wrapped up in. Get cozy and grab this one. I read it in one sitting!

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of All I Want For Christmas by Maggie Knox. I really did not enjoy this book. I felt that it is poorly written. The story for was not believable.

Did I enjoy this book? Yeah, sure, but it was pretty average. There really wasn’t anything that set it apart from any of the other romances set during Christmas. It’s also hard to love and support a romance that is barely there and that you don’t really see grow. I liked Max and Sadie and their backgrounds individually but their relationship wasn’t built out enough to know who they are together.

I probably wouldn’t recommend.

This was…not good. I won’t be able to review it properly because that’s all I can say honestly. Basic and boring in a way that might work for you but I just got annoyed by the lack of development and constant miscommunication. I only finished it because I felt like I could speed read it and get the same effect (and I did).