I cannot even describe my love for this book! Maggie Knox hit it out of the park again. I am 100% team Saxie! Sadie and Max are competing on a singing show similar to the voice and are paired up following a very successful duet. The only problem is they do not like each other. This book is split into two parts which comprise of the competition and then the year after. I think this did have some traction struggles in the first half but it really picked up speed 25% in. I think the issue was that there was so much world to build that it sometimes impacted the pace and flow. The second half being the more important so the singing competition did at times seem rushed and too long- overall a pacing issue.

I just thought it was so cute though with some spice thrown in- nothing too excessive.

I really loved these characters and would love to see them again in the future.

Tropes- enemies to lovers, snowed in,

I loved having the opportunity to check this one out and look forward to Maggie Knox’s next release!

Sadie and Max both want to win Starmaker, the country music singing competition, and their chemistry is out of this world. What happens when their feelings become real? I was all over the place with this book. I really loved the characters for most of the book, but overall the book lacked focus. I was confused as to where it was supposed to go. I thought it was going to be about a singing competition, but in reality that's finished in the first quarter of the book. The rest of the book takes place a year later, where misunderstandings run rampant. I get irritated when issues that could be solved with a conversation get dragged out. Overall, this was a miss for me, but I'll give the authors another chance.

Maggie Knox’s first book, ‘The Holiday Swap,’ which came out last year, was one of my favorite Christmas romances ever. So I was incredibly excited to read their sophomore one. Unfortunately though, I think it fell flat.

I was in love with the premise—two musicians on a Voice-like show, fake dating and having to write Christmas songs together… it sounded perfect. But after an incredibly quick introduction to the characters and their predicament, the story jumped forward several weeks and completely skipped all of their relationship development. As a result, their relationship for the rest of the book made absolutely no sense. I didn’t understand why they liked each other or why they were battling their attraction, because I never saw it grow. One moment it wasn’t there, the next it was. If there had been another 50 pages at the beginning to establish a connection, I do believe I would’ve love this one.

Thank you so much Viking for this finished copy! Even though I didn’t like it as much as the first, I will forever continue to read their Christmas books 🥰.

This one was one I couldn't wait to read. As I'm a sucker for a Christmas Rom Com. I have to say this one lived up to my hype. This one had Christmas, Country music and reality shows. Basically the hero is a basically country music royalty he's the son of a famous country singer, but he was to make it on his own terms. The heroine just wants to break into the music scene. When the two go viral they end being forced into fake dating. What could go wrong? I warmed up to the hero faster than I did with the heroine, because the reader quickly learns that there is more to him than meets the eye. And it helps that this rom com is from both the hero and heroine's point of view.

I wish I could say this book was as great as I wanted it to be, but the nonstop miscommunication had my blood boiling. This was NOT your run of the mill miscommunication trope that happens once, maybe twice. Nope. No Siree Bob! It felt like every other chapter one of the characters was storming off with their mouths shut and their assumptions turned up to the max.

I wanted to stop reading a few times, but as much as I hated how often they acted ridiculous, I still couldn’t help but want to see how it all played out and if they would finally get their crap together.

So this is a weird one for me. I feel like I should have hated it, but I didn’t. I finished the whole thing and even enjoyed certain aspects. It was weird and I’m torn on how to feel.

Yay me for finishing another Christmas book though! 🥳😆

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for the arc in exchange for my honest, and confused, review

I really enjoyed the Holiday Swap last year by Maggie Knox. So I immediately wanted to read All I Want for Christmas without even reading anything about it. It also has the cutest cover!

Sadie and Max are both contestants on Starmaker, a Nashville singing competition. They team up for a duet that goes viral and the producers want them to finish the competition as partners. At first their chemistry is awful, but as they get to know each other, they get closer. Until Max can’t take it and bolts away from Nashville. Can they pull it together for the show?

This book wasn’t as good as the Holiday Swap. It wasn’t particularly Christmassy and I never really felt the connection with Max and Sadie. They were both immature and incapable of having adult conversations. Max fleeing the situation every time things got hard and that got old quickly. I did like Sadie’s relationship with her Gran who encouraged her to pursue her dreams. Overall this was just okay for me.

Thank you so much to @putnambooks for my gifted copy.

All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox is a fun holiday read. This book features the Nashville music scene and two up and coming singers. I love the way their fake relationship blossoms into something more. Readers of holiday romance will love this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I was seeking out Christmas books as they are very popular in our library for the month of December, but unfortunately this one didn't blow me away. I'm personally not a romance/holiday reader, but I don't think this would be a winner with our readership.

1.5/5 ⭐️

I was so excited for this book. I was ready to relive American Idol S1 with Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson, but I could not disrespect them like that by comparing them to Sadie and Max.

Sadie and Max are the fictional embodiment of toxic. It was just back and forth between them having a moment then either A) Max seeing something, overreacting, then running away or B) Sadie having baggage, pushing people away, then being sad that she’s alone.

Usually with books that have toxic main characters, I can overlook their toxicity as a couple if their characters individually have redeeming traits. I could not do that because Sadie and Max weren’t developed outside of their relationship. It was difficult to like them when all they did was chase or run away from each other.

Two quotes that I wish I could unread:
“You really aren’t a stiletto gal, are you?”
“Baby you’re hot chocolate running through my veins”

That being said, I really liked the author’s writing style. I usually don’t read stories in third person, but the writing was very easy to read. Nothing was overly descriptive and I wasn’t bored reading it.

I did like the storylines with Gran and Lynn. They supported Sadie completely in following her dreams, even though their way of showing it was a bit unorthodox. My fav character from the book was Patsy the dog.

This will be a book I will add to my list of couples that don’t stay together past the epilogue.

This arc was provided to me by NetGalley and Putnam Books in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. I loved the premise and the insights into the good (and ugly) side of the music business, especially in a competitive town like Nashville.

A few things that stuck out: The side characters were a little confusing to keep up with. It felt like Max’s dad didn’t have an arc - he started out one way and towards the late middle, his character suddenly seemed like a different person. I also felt like there was a lot of melodrama around the thing Sadie didn’t tell Max.

Overall though a fun festive read - a good balance of romance and Christmas without too much of one over the other. (Also a PG romance.)

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the authors for the ARC!

I had wanted to read The Holiday Swap last year, and never got around to it. Needless to say, I read All I Want for Christmas in one sitting, and loved it so much that I went and got Swap! This was so seriously fun, funny, and perfect for the reality TV world we live in, I couldn't have imagined anything better. I enjoyed every moment of this festive novel, and I really hope to seem more from this duo!

DNF’d at 17%.
When you’re trying to rush to what should be the 30% mark of your plot by the 15% mark—when next to no chemistry exists between Sadie and Max (insert Regina George: stop trying to make #saxie happen), that’s not good. A brief skim confirmed the timeline’s a mess, jumping ahead a week at a time before jumping back to tick day by day. Looking at other reviews at this point, Sadie and Max seem to have the temperament to match—breaking up then getting back together multiple times. There’s not much to the characters, and not enough time to build a connection to what little we get to work with. Disappointing.

First of all I would totally watch his reality show. Second of all I loved this. Sadie and Max are contestants on a reality singing show that had been losing ratings, until this year. Looking to shake up things on the show they have a duet week which of course, Sadie and Max are paired together and their chemistry could set the stage on fire and sets the ratings through the roof. A fake relationship has been proposed to them to continue hiking up those ratings. They go along with the plan, but neither are happy about it. They can;'t stomach each other, but in no shock to anyone with that intense chemistry a real relationship forms. This was a fun one and would love to have heard these duets performed!

Thank you #Penguin and #NetGalley for and advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

First I want to thank Putnam Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am a sucker for holiday reads and when I saw this book with country music and Christmas, I couldn’t help myself.

This is the story of Sadie and Max, up and coming country music artists who meet on a reality show. While competing they become singing partners and fake being a real life couple to help their careers. This story covers many holiday seasons and shenanigans ensues.

What I Loved:
- Gran, Sadie’s grandmother makes a big impact and she is just amazing
- Patsy, who doesn’t like a dog in any story but being Max’s companion just made him even more attractive
- Knitting, this makes a big impact in the story and as someone who loves to knit/crochet I was so happy to see it in the story
- Country music, I LOVE country music and having it being such a feature in a story was fun to read and experience

The reason why this book wasn’t a solid 5 star read was the amount of miscommunication throughout the entire book. I am like most romance readers where I can understand some of it but when there is to much it kind of hurts the overall story and that is what I got from this book.

Overall this was a sweet holiday romance that had a lot of good stuff but just be aware that if you are not a fan of the miscommunication trope this might not be the best read for you.

Such a cute feel good holiday romance, This one and just so cute. Thank you to Putnam for the advanced copy

This was such a cute book! Saxie is the absolute best - and as the music lover that I am, I loved how the actual entertainment industry in Nashville played such a role in this. This is such a great Christmas / holiday read!

Sadie and Max are competitors on a musical competition to find the next star - the two hit it off on the wrong foot from the start, but when they are paired together for a duet, it's hard to ignore their musical chemistry. Fans across the world love them singing together so much, that they have to start fake dating....and then, as expected, fake feelings lead to real feelings.

This book has enemies to lovers AND fake dating trope, and it's everything.

Thank you so much for the early look at this book!

This book was perfection! I loved the musical setting & the romance!
I feel like this book was made for me to enjoy!
4 wonderful starts from me!

This was a cute country rom com. It was my favorite tripe, fake dating, but also had some second chance in there as well with the multiple years it covers. I really enjoyed this sweet Christmas story.

I just don’t feel invested in their relationship. There’s no enough heat or mystery to keep me going.

I really liked the author's Christmas book last year, The Holiday Swap, so I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me and I just couldn't push through to the finish line.

The characters never really grew on me and the flow of the story felt off. Also, I can't stand miscommunication tropes and this one is FULL of lack of communication between the main, *cough* childish, characters.

While I do know a few that did enjoy this one, I can't say that I'm one of them and would steer you to The Holiday Swap instead.