All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox ✨

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)??

For having Christmas in the title, I was expecting a lot of Christmas, but there wasn’t. So that was a disappointing. The Christmas vibes did pick up at the end though. If you’re expecting a full on hallmark Christmas movie reading experience, this is not it!

I liked Max and Sadie together a lot, but whew. There were lots of ups and downs. All at the same time, they were both grieving the losses of loved ones, trying to heal, figure out their careers together and apart, falling for each other, spending a week together in a cozy cabin, and ultimately, having lots of miscommunication. Oh, and a dirtbag producer harassed Sadie. It was A LOT to digest.

I did like how the book spanned the timeframe of three Christmas seasons. Then, now, next. That was a cute touch!

Ultimately, I’m giving it 3.5⭐️, because I enjoyed parts of it but overall was left underwhelmed.

bookish things:
🎤 fake dating
🎤 dual POV
🎤 enemies to lovers
🎤 Nashville
🎤 famous main characters
🎤 grief rep

I really wanted to give these authors a second shot but unfortunately i just couldn’t get into their writing. The Holiday Swap was a bit dull and this was more of the same, despite both books having a decent premise.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
By Maggie Knox
4/5

Sadie and Max put me in the holiday spirit with their sweet story of two country musicians who get paired together for a duet on a reality singing show and up fake dating to try and win it all.

I went into the story with low expectations because I wasn’t super excited about the premise of musicians and a reality competition. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I felt pulled into the story from the very beginning!

I loved the settings of Nashville and Banff, the side characters (Bobbi!! Tasha!! Becca!!), and the added depth that was tied in to the conflict towards the end. (Definitely check those TW’s if you are sensitive to certain things!)

The miscommunication trope really doesn’t do much for me and tends to leave me feeling irritated with the characters. I went from heart eyes to WHYYYYY real fast when things started to really get out of hand near the end.

Overall, I recommend 🎄

Read this if you love:
♥️ fake dating
♥️ rivals
♥️ musicians
♥️ miscommunication trope

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie Knox's previous book was not a hit for me. But the premise of All I Want for Christmas reeled me in. And who can resist a Christmas book in July? There were definitely some issues here for me, but it was a step up from The Holiday Swap.

At the start of this book, Sadie and Max are competing in a country music reality competition. After some crazy chemistry during the duets round, they decide to team up to hopefully win the grand prize. The only problem is they can't stand each other. Can they come together to make country music gold?

First, this book was almost too plot heavy. There was too much going on and not enough character development. Toward the end, I had trouble keeping track of who was where and what was happening. I liked the premise of the country music competition and I wish the book would have leaned into that more. It wraps up pretty fast and then there is a huge time jump. Next, Sadie and Max were terrible at communication. HORRIBLE. Poor communication is one of my least favorite tropes and I just wanted these two to sit down and talk to each other. They are both way too quick to stomp off angry. Over. And. Over. And. Over. I tried to root for them as a couple but honestly, they both seemed to think the worst of each other at every turn.

Things I did like: 1) the Christmassy atmosphere. Take me to a cabin in Banff now. 2) the Nashville music scene. I don't think I've read a book about country music stars and I think the authors did a great job at creating that scene. 3) the fake dating trope. It really was believable here and I could have used even more fake dates.

If you are in the mood for a fluffy, escapist Christmas read, give this one a shot. While it was not a hit for me, I know it has an audience that will love it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam Publishing for the advanced e-book in exchange for for my honest review.

A cute Christmas Romance with a lot of classic tropes. If you are a fan of fake dating & enemies to lovers - you will enjoy this book! A quick read for the holiday season!

Thank you to Netgalley & Putnam for the advance copy!

I enjoyed this romance with appealing characters and a Nashville country music setting. The initial antagonism between the two main characters develops into a rocky love relationship with a lot of ups and downs and for the most part, the previous traumatic experiences with dysfunctional family relationships ring true as a contributing factor. I did find that I wanted to slap Max by the time the last misunderstanding happened--he really wasn't a quick study when it came to learning not to jump to the worst conclusions about Sadie! It feels like maybe there were one too many instances of the same sort of thing occurring to derail their romance. On the whole, though, the villain of the piece is satisfyingly sleazy and underhanded, Sadie's realization of his duplicity is well handled, and the tension and passion of the love story between Max and Sadie are great.

Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. So much so that I also like to do a little celebrating for Christmas in July!

Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam gave me the gift of allowing me to read an ARC of Maggie Knox's "All I want for Christmas" due to be released October 4, 2022. This book combined two of my favorite things, Christmas and country music! The book read like a Hallmark Christmas movie and definitely put me in the mood for some holiday romance.

Sadie is a struggling artist from Wisconsin trying to make it big in Nashville. Max is the entitled son of a country music legend. Both are selected as contestants on the popular reality singing show 'Starmaker'. Each have their own reasons for wanting to win the big prize but when they are paired to sing a duet together, their chemistry is explosive. So explosive that the network demands that they fake a romance on and off the screen for the ratings or be kicked off the show. Saxie, as the duo is nicknamed, must then figure out how to give the public what they want, knowing they can't stand each other! Will they be able to pull it off and make their dreams come true? Or will their pride and stubbornness cost them everything they have worked so hard for?

There were times where I loved these characters and times where they infuriated me. I liked watching them grow and witness how they handled the many problems they were dealing with in their personal lives and together. It was a beautiful love story with what I can imagine would be a beautiful soundtrack. The perfect Christmas book to make you believe in love again.

I loved this book! Two country singers are forced to pair up and fake date on a reality singing show because they have undeniable chemistry. They go from enemies to lovers, a favorite trope of mine. Would definitely recommend you read this holiday!


Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Putnam Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love fake dating tropes and Christmas books, but the miscommunication was a bit much. Still a cute story though

Thank you to NetGalley, Maggie Knox, and Putnam Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was super excited to dive into this book, because I thought the storyline sounded so fun! However, I felt like at the end of the day this story suffered from too much drama. It just felt like the relationship between Max and Sadie never fully developed, because every few pages a new miscommunication or problem was being thrown at them that lead to one of them assuming the worst about the other. Then a few pages later we were back to love declarations after barely there apologies. I also felt like Sadie never fully accepted any responsibility for doing anything wrong, which was frustrating at times, because she would just kinda brush it to the side with a small apology without changing any actions. Also, Max was initially the person who warned Sadie about how creepy and predatory Cruz was (and Sadie completely ignored him) so for him to just suddenly forget this at the end of the book and act like it was news seemed strange to me and like a big plot hole. I felt like this story and the premise had such potential and I loved the first 30% or so (Honestly what ends up being the first December they know eachother), but after that the book just kind of fell apart for me and never fully recovered. The reconciliation fell flat to me and it was hard for me to be invested in the characters at that point.

Thank you to the Maggie Knox duo, Putnam Books, and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
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All I Want for Christmas is branded as an enemies-to-lovers between two contestants who are trying to make it big in Nashville and are forced to fake date. As someone whose playlist screams y’allternative, who guzzles fake dating fics and cheesy Hallmark movies like water, and whose trope she would kill for is enemies-to-lovers, I wanted to love this book. I wanted to sing it’s praises. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me.
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I struggled to connect with Sadie and Max or anything they were going through. I’m not talking I struggled to identify with them. I’m talking they seemed like little robot people going through the rom-com motions and there was nothing for me to clamp onto. I desperately wanted to! But there was just zero spark for me. Or for them.
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I thought we’d spend time with them as they transitioned into a musical duo and were forced together. I thought we’d see Sadie and Max get to know each other and unwillingly fall head-over-boots for each other. That’s the best part about any enemies-to-lovers or fake dating storyline for me! Unfortunately, we don’t get that here. We miss out on all that potential competition drama and fake dating awkwardness due to time jumps. One minute they’re struggling to look at each other, next minute they’re professing their love.
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Another thing I simply couldn’t stand here was all the miscommunication. This book was a miscommunication extravaganza and not in a fun way. Sadie and Max have zero communication. They flip-flop more than a fish out of water and have zero faith in one another as people. It was so frustrating to read. I guarantee if they sat down for five minutes and actually talked to each other all of their problems would be solved.
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All I Want for Christmas simply wasn’t the yee for my haw this Christmas in July. I’m sure it’ll be someone else’s. Maybe I’ll give the other Maggie Knox book a stab in the future. For now I’m hanging up my boots and calling it a day.

I LOVED this book. While it wasn't anything earth-shatteringly new, it WAS a greatly enjoyable dynamic christmas book. It's not completely cheesy hallmark christmas movie, but it's heart-warming and perfect for around the holidays.

The book takes place over the course of two christmases, and I really loved the nashville/celebrity aspect, and I loved the complexity of the characters.

Realistically, I gave this a 4.5, but thought it deserved to be bumped up to 5 stars. It's wonderfully cute and complex, not just a basic love story, and I genuinely enjoyed my time reading it. The ONLY thing I didn't love about this book is sometimes the character's behavior didn't make sense to me, it was only 1-2 times, but still something I noticed.

Sadie and Max are contestants on " Star Maker " . They were told to fake a relationship for their fans even though they don't like each other.. They fall in love despite complications and misunderstandings. Will they have their " happily ever after " ?

Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me.

I liked the music woven throughout. The settings were lovely and lots of fun Christmassy touches woven in.

But unfortunately there was endless miscommunication throughout and I couldn’t enjoy it.

Thanks all the same to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this advance copy.

First of all, I really enjoyed The Holiday Swap (book #1 by Maggie Knox). With that being said, this book was not what I was looking for. I hate hate hate the miscommunication trope and I feel like Max and Sadie were soooo dramatic for no reason. I also got zero christmas vibes from this one and that was disappointing. About 50% in, I just started skimming through a lot of the inner dialogue. I am sad I didn't like this one.

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy for a review with my honest thoughts.

I stopped reading this book at 50%.

I was not drawn to the characters and found the miscommunication trope throughout really disappointing. I didn't believe in the relationship between the two main characters and had a hard time with the time skip and them not talking to each other for almost a year while also fake dating? I wasn't interested in how the story played out and was disappointed by the lack of development almost halfway through the book.

I was super excited to get an eARC copy of this book from NetGalley! I absolutely love Christmas and a “Christmas in July” book made me so happy.

This book follows two aspiring country musicians as they are on a reality music show and then forced to be a “duo” and fake a romance that ends up with true feelings. It’s somewhat of an enemies to lovers story. I loved some of the settings in this book, especially the cabin in Canada. I enjoy all things holiday and this books spans over three Christmases. I did not really believe the romance between the main characters. The feelings between them seemed to have came out of nowhere and both of them have a lot of personal issues that need resolved and it felt like it never did. Without giving too much away, it was pretty predictable in a few scenarios.

Overall, it was a decent book. I probably would not turn away any Christmas book and this would be a cute book to read while you’re cozied up and it’s snowing outside. As far books from this author goes, I did enjoy The Holiday Swap quite a bit more.

I would be interested if the duo wrote a third!

2 things I love: Christmas and fake dating. Unfortunately this book was a bit of a miss for me. I really don’t like when characters cannot communicate and Max and Sadie’s issue was bad. The story/setting was cute and I am sure that will resonate with some readers. Unfortunately this just was not for me. 2.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

A very cute Christmas fake dating love story! I do wish that there were more Christmas events mentioned in the book for it being a holiday storyline. Love the premise and it being in Nashville! The characters can be frustrating with their lack of communication, but that's the trope! Overall a cute read,

Thank you NetGalley and Maggie Knox!

If you enjoyed The Holiday Swap also by Maggie Knox, then you will also love All I Want For Christmas. This book was so cute and lovely. I even broke out some Christmas decor - in July - for this pic!

Sadie and Max can’t stand to be in each other presence unless they’re on stage together. When they are onstage they come together and form a wonderful beautifully lyrical union. They’re both contestants on a reality country singing show set in Nashville. When they’re approached with the idea of pretending to be dating in order to win, will they agree? Yes! But, will they be able to stand each other long enough when they aren’t singing to make it through their contractual obligations?

I wish it weren’t 100 degrees out while I read this so I could light a fire and sit by the fire with some hot coca. Alas, a nice cold ice tea and air conditioning will have to do! I actually think I will save this one so I can read it again this winter, when I can get all cozy. This truly heartwarming story is one you should definitely pick up. I gave it a strong 4/5 stars and a special thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC.