Two country singers are forced to team up to compete in a reality show, and start fake dating. This premisse had all the markings of a new favourite read for me. Unfortunately though, I didn't quite become invested in the story. The main thing a romance needs, in my opinion, is compelling characters, because how else are you going to root for their romance. I found neither Max nor Sadie particularly interesting or likeable, and I can't really pin down why; they just felt bland to me, which means their romance also felt bland. Their story is set over the years, and all the time jumps definitely took me out of the story as well. There are some Christmassy elements, but it didn't really capture a festive atmosphere. Which I know is strange to complain about since I'm reading this in July, but it's an important element of any Christmas novel.

Super cute holiday romance. I loved the chemistry between Max and Sadie. The book was great, I read it one sitting!

I was hopeful this was going to be a quick and fun light read, however it didn’t quite check the boxes for me. It seemed a little all over the place and I found myself not wanting to pick it up and read unfortunately.

———————

Spoiler alert:

I was very disappointed with how the authors wrote about Cruz and quite frankly the lack of punishment he received for his actions. Working in a non profit organization that focuses on sexual assault / violence, I was disappointed knowing a young adult could read this and fear nothing would really happen to their perpetrator in the real world besides getting a slap on the wrist. This was extremely disappointing to me, especially coming from a female duo of authors.

Another NetGalley ARC read for my two weeks of Christmas in July. Before I get into the review, I want to say a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers over at Viking for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All I Want for Christmas is a Hallmark Christmas Movie style story set in the Nashville music scene. Max and Sadie are competing on Starmaker--a country reality music competition--when the producers decide to pair them up as a duo for the show. Their chemistry on stage is undeniable, but if they want to keep #Saxie trending, they’ll have to do more than sing a couple songs while staring into each other’s eyes. All I Want for Christmas is out on October 4th and is available for pre-order now.

There was so much to enjoy in this one. I love both Sadie and Max as characters which is pretty rare for me in a romance. Normally I prefer one over the other, but they’re both such great, and flawed, people. I also found following them around as they prepare for and record for this show entertaining. It felt pretty true to how reality show competitions work in the U.S. at least. And it was so much to fun to root for the two of them to figure it out. At first you definitely get the Fake Dating vibes which I am such a sucker for. And as the story goes on you get to see them realize how much this had never been fake for either one of them. I think this would actually make a pretty good Hallmark Christmas movie. The setting for this one around Christmas time made you ready for the holidays (even if you’re reading it at the end of June and have six months until Christmas which is FINE, it’s fine). The romance, the Christmas were both so much fun.

The problem for me in this one is the sheer amount of miscommunication. The miscommunication trope is one I really dislike in romances and it felt like every time I flipped a page they had some miscommunication that would get fixed if they just stopped and talked to each other. There were one or two instances where I could see someone being unwilling to discuss something because it hurts (Sadie with her grandma’s death), but most of the time it made no sense for them to not open up and talk things through. These were both grown adults and I would hope they could communicate.

If you’re ready to get in the holiday mood, this is a great romance read for you. I also suggest this one for anyone who likes reality show competitions or music. It’s a quick and easy read with plenty of Christmas magic thrown in.

Left me feeling fulfilled, happy and ready for the holidays. It will be a perfect holiday read. Cute story.

I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.

One of the best books I've read in a long while. I LOVE Christmas!

Sweet, enemies to lovers romance during the Christmas Season!

This was the first Maggie Knox book I've read and I really enjoyed it! Set during the Christmas season in Nashville, Sadie and Max are rival contestants on Starmaker, an American Idol-esque reality TV show looking for the next country music star. Max is country music royalty, son of a legendary Nashville couple and Sadie is a hopeful musician on her last hope to make a splash onto the music scene. When they get paired up on the show as "Saxie", a power couple destined to win over the audience, feelings emerge and dreams may begin to change. Between creepy producers, overinflated egos, sweet grandmas, country music, and two lost souls trying to make it in a big pond, can Max and Sadie make a lasting go of it?

I really liked this one! It was fairly lighthearted, a little corny (in a good way!), and full of country music references if that's your cuppa! Taking place over the course of three Christmases, Max is trying to create a name outside of his father's shadow and Sadie is just trying to keep herself afloat in a rapidly changing world that isn't always kind to newbies. Alot of what I liked about this one is that it's realistic? for lack of a better term. Imaging all the changes that come with being thrust into the limelight. Everyone is looking at your relationship trying to pick apart every little mistake you might make. It's easy to see why Max and Sadie are struggling to talk things out and often react without thinking it through. I do wish that we had gotten just a little bit more fleshing out of the MCs relationship. Alot of the focus ended up being on different relationships besides the MCs (Sadie and her grandma, Sadie and her mom, Max and his dad, Max and his mother). It ends up pushing Max and Sadie's relationship to the backburner just a bit. However, I still thought this was a super cute Holiday romance!

Thank your NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

When a book is compared and advertised as being very similar to the hating game, it is an immediate read for me. It's a one click read for me. That's one of my favorite contemporary romances, hands down. But this...this was not that. I didn't enjoy the country music aspect of it, I didn't enjoy the childish MCs. I didn't enjoy any of it honestly. It could've been something great, but it had so many misses. I haven't read anything else by her, but this book just was a miss for me. The only thing I enjoyed was the Christmas aspect. Maybe others will enjoy it, and per the reviews, they seem to. This just wasn't it for me.

Have you ever seen those tennis match gifs, where the audience looks left, right, left, right in rapid succession? I’ve discovered the book form of that experience. It’s called All I Want for Christmas, by Maggie Knox. In case you aren’t familiar with Maggie Knox, they are the writing team of Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley.

Writing duos aren’t uncommon but well-written novels by writing duos are. It’s tough to meld two different writing styles into a cohesive story. Even books with each author writing a different POV need to align tone and story arc.

This book suffers mightily from tone and story misalignments. Occasionally, the writing duo hits the right note (pun intended) but mostly they don’t. This should have been caught during the beta read but the authors don’t get a pass for a possible lack of good feedback. Anyone reading this book should be able to see that it doesn’t flow effectively from scene to scene.

Moving on from the writing duo problem, let’s talk about communication…never mind. I’m so mad or sad or confused that I need to just storm off, maybe leave the city, end the relationship, cry on someone’s shoulder, or get really drunk. For the third or fourth time.

I wish that were tongue-in-cheek but communication failures are the entire basis of the relationship between the two protagonists of All I Want For Christmas. At some point, the writers had to have realized that there isn’t much of a story here. The two protagonists (Max and Sadie) just keep breaking up and then getting back together again randomly. Are they teenagers? I think they might be teenagers.

Honestly, I’m not sure how anyone could believe that these two characters can have a successful relationship. They never talk to each other. They either sing, pout, or have sex. Sometimes all in one scene.

But neither character grows. Repeatedly, Max is told to “get his crap together” but he never does. He continually says he should but then he misunderstands his love interest or jumps to conclusions that only 16-year-olds would jump to or otherwise gets his feelings hurt enough that he has to walk out, sometimes with a wave, sometimes without speaking. Oh, and sometimes it’s more of a sneak out than a walk out.

Sadie endures a lot of heavy lifting to carry this story. Max is supposed to be kind of quirky. He’s crafty – though they don’t delve into WHY he’s crafty in enough detail to make it meaningful. He has a cute dog – but we aren’t given enough time to understand how the dog came to be a big part of his life. He has a very special guitar but the reveal of the guitar’s prior owner is so underwhelming you might actually miss it.

Yes, Max has parental issues that aren’t effectively addressed in the story – they’re discussed weirdly at the end when the authors try to wrap this hot mess up in a bow – but there’s no good resolution, no closure, no growth.

Sadie .… well, let’s just say the authors gave her abandonment issues, death of a loved one, potential loss of her career, lack of support by a parent, objectification by the media and the audience, AND sexual harassment by her employer.

None of this is managed well either. In order to draw out the story, she doesn’t tell Max ANYTHING, which (shocker) leads to more miscommunication. Then, because she’s completely irrational as a character, she gets mad at Max for not figuring out that she has something going on. You know the old trope: the woman is waiting for the man to realize she wants flowers and gets mad because he’s not a mind reader.

Miscommunication may be the core of this story but lest you accuse me of miscommunication, I will tell you clearly that there are other books – better books – more worth your hard-earned money. If you do read this book, let me know if you figure out:

Why Max smokes -- once -- in the story
Why the grocery store has fresh strawberries but dusty boxes of pasta
What happens to the rental car
Where the letter came from
Who contacted Max on his cellphone
Why the famous and successful producer creates bad music
Why the famous producer has a catfish restaurant that poisons its customers
Why the mom follows Sadie around

Should I go on? No? I can go on if you’d like. Still no? Fine.

I received a digital ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC

Based on the description, I was ready for a sweet romance between budding musicians during Christmas. Instead, I got a lot of disappointment.

The whole plot of the book required the main characters to act like children. This book would be half the length if the main characters talked their problems out like adults. They always assumed things about each other and never gave each other the chance to explain.

This caused their relationship to seem very toxic. At the flip of a switch, Max and Sadie would go from over the moon to hating each other’s guts. I honestly got whiplash. I get the feeling their relationship would never survive in a real world setting and they would definitely break up after the book. I secretly hoped they would break up and then both of them get therapy.

The pacing was also very odd. It’s a cute idea for the time to skip to every Christmas, but for this book it just didn’t work. After a year's time skip the characters didn’t change whatsoever, which is unrealistic.

Overall, I was disappointed with this book. It had few redeeming qualities.

I was really looking forward to reading this fake dating book set in my hometown of Nashville, but unfortunately the characters fell too flat. Their relationship had too many steep ups and downs, I couldn’t keep up. The thing I enjoyed most about the book was the local Nashville references! I haven’t read many books set there and the authors did a great job of incorporating both the touristy and local side of the city. Overall, this book was fine but not my favorite.

I read this book in almost one sitting (had to make dinner), but did finish this in one day. Sadie and Max are part of a reality singing competition show in Nashville. Sadie is trying to make it big and Max is trying to escape his famous last name thanks to his father. After an initial pairing, Sadie and Max end up becoming a duo and in a fake relationship. When real life starts to intervene, these two realize they have a history together. What happens when you develop feelings in a fake relationship? Of course, you throw yourself into work - but Sadie and Max have different ways to doing this. What happens when you have to perform as that duo a year later? I loved all but one character (and you'll know who when you get there). This would be a perfect holiday movie. It's the perfect mix of reality competition and romance. Thanks to NetGalley, the authors and publisher for the advanced reader copy.

I truly wanted to like this book! I thought the premise of country music royalty, Max Brody, and Wisconsin-bred starlet-to-be, Sadie Hunter, meeting via a reality singing show was cute. However, I found the main characters too difficult to like. The continuous hot and cold love story became redundant and a tad tiring after the third or fourth scenario. I’m all for a slow burn, but it was less of a slow burn and more of a light-switch love story.

I truly appreciate the opportunity to read an e-ARC. Thanks, NetGalley.

Sadie and Max are both contestants on a reality singing competition show. The showrunners decide to get viewership up by partnering Sadie and Max together and creating a fake romance between the two. They will need to navigate their fake relationship on the show and in real life.

For a holiday romance, it was lacking in the Christmas spirit. Other than mentioning Christmas eve gifts and a few tree decorations at the competition set, Christmas was kind of an after thought as was the actual singing competition. I had a hard time seeing the chemistry between Sadie and Max. The amount of drama causing them to be apart far surpassed the amount of time they spent together. I enjoyed Sadie's Grandmother. She brought a warmth to the story that it really needed.

This was the first book I've read from Maggie Knox. I don't know that I would try another of their novels. The formatting and weird hyphenations in the kindle edition drove me bonkers. I'm hoping those issues get worked out in the final edition. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

A Christmas romance can be a fun read any time of the year. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. Despite the cute cover, the book isn't really about Christmas. More importantly, I didn't engage enough with the protagonists to understand what they saw in each other until very late in the book. The premise of their meeting on a TV reality singing competition was promising, but it wasn't fleshed out and almost disappeared from the narrative. Also, there were too many tropes and stereotypes in the plot and the dialogue.

The author duo does, however, demonstrate their talent in the family dynamics sections and in the last chapter and epilogue. Sadly, it wasn't enough for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

A merry Christmas romcom set to country music. Writing duo Maggie Knox’s sophomore tale takes place in Nashville, Tennessee - the Music City - and winter wonderland Banff, Alberta, Canada, and features a singing competition reminiscent of NBC’s The Voice. For my taste, the drama in this rivals to lovers story is considerably overdone, particularly for a holiday read, and at times derails the flow of the story and detracts from or confuses the character development. I found I mostly didn’t mind all that, however, as overall, to borrow a line from the novel, “The vibe was warm and festive.” Protagonist Sadie’s grandmother deserves special mention as she was a delight and inspirational. The country music references were great fun. In between dramatic scenes, the book includes an abundance of Christmas decor, peppermint tea, candy canes and the like. Also, for any readers not previously familiar with the Danish / Wisconsin pastry Kringle enjoyed by its characters, I can attest it is as delish as Sadie claims. Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking for the complimentary e-ARC. This review reflects my honest opinion.

All I want for Christmas
By Maggie Know

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publishing date:10/4/2022

Sadie and Max are both chosen to be contestants on a reality show music completion called Starmaker. Even though Max comes from a well known country music family, thanks to his  father- it seems both Max and Sadie may be on their way to finally getting their big break in Nashville! After a successful duet together in an early competition round, their agents realize.....what would make this PERFECT?! you guessed it...FAKE DATING!!!! If they can win the hearts of the fans as #saxie, this will surely lead to career stardom, right? All they have to do is get through 1 year of fake dating, before they cut it off.....if only it was that simple though.

So has anyone called the hallmark chanel, because this would be the PERFECT addition to their holiday movie lineup!

I loved the setting- Nashville, holiday lights, country snowy cabins...all things I love about Christmas! I probably would have loved it MORE if I read it at Christmas however.

For the first 50% of the book, I was dead set on giving this 3 stars. But the last 30%, really did win me over! The ending wrapped up beautifully! As the story began,  I had a hard time seeing the chemistry between Sadie and Max, but it progressed and I was definitely feeling those lifetime movie moments by the end.

I enjoyed the family aspect of the story as well. It wasn't all romance. It explored family relationships, grief and even sexual assault from power figures.

I enjoyed the book! I definitely think you should ass it to you holiday tbr pile!!

I received an ARC of, All I Want for Christmas, by Maggie Knox. Such a sweet Christmas story, Sadie and Max are good characters. I liked the chemistry between them.

I think the premise and the idea behind this book was great, but I just don’t think it was executed the best. I just couldn’t connect with the characters and eventually had to DNF the book!
I was so sad because I loved the other works I have read from this author!

I was so excited to receive this ARC--I had greatly enjoyed the author's previous book but I must say this one was a disappointment. I could not get invested in the characters. They seemed very superficially fleshed out and the tropes weren't feeling fresh in this story--a lot felt cliched and some of the dialogue and descriptions were formulaic and tired. None of the secondary characters were at all memorable, simply stand ins to move the story along.
Gran was probably the most interesting character but she was not in the story long enough to make it all work.
There was a lot of telling rather than showing, exposition on how the characters were feeling or what they were thinking and that made it feel very detached. I was not invested in the characters success or in their romance. It didn't feel believable to me.
Overall a disappointment. I would have DNF but the author's previous book gave me the impetus to press on,
Did not spark joy.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.