Member Reviews
This was a really fun Christmas romance! I loved seeing how the holiday is celebrated in two different locations, I thought it was really cool how the setting played such a big role, almost like they were an additional character. I love Suleena's voice and this was a really enjoyable holiday book!
Sonia, a big city girl, works at her family's auction house, and Beau, a former form South Carolina, is expanding his business, so he seeks her help to decorate his new offices. So she tries to convince him that Christmas in New York City is the best by taking him there to see the sights, and in turn, he tries to convince her that Christmas in the country is actually the best. Who will win?
This is a cute opposites attract, city vs country, insta-lust, very cheesy rom-com. I would've loved to see a bit more of a slow burn, but the banter was great and so was the relationship development. This is the 2nd book in a series (the first one being Two Houses), but you can very well read this one as a stand alone (I have). If you love Hallmark Christmas movies, this is for you!
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The story of Sonia and Beau. Each trying to convince the other that their Christmas is better, but will city of country win in the tale of two very different Christmas 's.
Contemporary Romance - M/F - Spice 3/5
A lovely Christmas vibe thought-out and I don't think it was over done. This book had me thinking of what Christmas activities I might want to do this year. There are some touches on some serious topics like childhood trauma, and anxiety.
Beau and Sonia are cute in their own ways and both have a bit of a stubborn streak. I truly loved the wiliness from both to try new things, that was refreshing. The acceptance and support of boundaries was also found here.
There is a lot of details and thoughts going on from Sonia's point of view. This was not a fast read for me. Overall a cute holiday romance adventure.
Thank you yo NetGalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores (Harlequin), Carina Press for granting me an ARC!
The sequel to Two Houses pits holiday-obsessed city girl Sonia (the unsung hero of Two Houses!) against Southern country boy Beau (Beauregard Dean, but he doesn’t like it when you call him that) in a battle of who does the best Christmas… New York City or a peach farm in South Carolina. What starts out as a professional arrangement for the pair decorating his new office turns personal when their chemistry cannot be denied… but relationship-averse Sonia is the polar-opposite of serious romantic Beau and neither of them are willing to compromise. Not on their relationship status nor on the winner of the best Christmas competition. Sonia prefers to keep things casual and not get feelings involved, still feeling the trauma caused in her childhood watching her parents leave her behind year after year. Beau is a serious relationship, long-term and forever kinda love guy, wanting what his parents have. It’s an opposites-attract, breaking-down-each-other’s-barriers kind of story.
With all the heart and humor (and steam) that made Two Houses one of my favorite books from 2021, Two Christmases is the perfect read for the holidays!
Are you ready for a steamy Hallmark movie in book form? Look no further! Two Christmases is the book for you! This was a cute, low-angst story that gave off all the Christmas vibes.
Sonia is a big city girl. She adores NYC and can't imagine a better place to spend Christmas. Beau is a small town guy from South Carolina who doesn't love the hustle and bustle of the big city life. When they meet at Sonia's art auction, they hit it off and decide to show each other what the other is missing. Can this relationship last with two people who are so opposite?
This was a cute book. It was full of both NYC and small town Christmas cheer. Was it over the top cheesy at times? Yes. The writing style relies heavily on snappy inner dialogue that feels a little surface level at times. The relationship part happened fast (they are together at around 20%), but their differences did seem insurmountable. Sonia was also dealing with abandonment issues from her parents leaving her as a child. That offered a decent amount of depth to this fluff filled story and made me appreciate Sonia more as a fully formed character. Beau was less complex but we didn't get his point of view, so that's to be expected. The supporting characters, especially Priya, were great.
If you are looking for a Christmas themed rom-com, this book will be perfect! Is it going to blow you away? Probably not, but it will be a delightful thing to read under the Christmas tree lights.
Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review!
New Yorker Sonia agrees to a fling with art client Beau, a Southerner in town for a couple of weeks. When the feelings between them deepen, she travels to South Carolina with him for Christmas. Can people from such different worlds find a way to stay together?
This book is so cute! I loved Sonia and Beau, both together and separately. If you like rom coms or chick lit, this is a must-read holiday novel.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
A lovely and festive story, full of humour and festive. i thoroughly enjoyed the characters, rooted for them, and had a lot of fun in reading this novel.
I liked the humour and the city-vs-south situation was very funny.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
Country mouse/city mouse opposites attract cute romance in which there’s lots of fun banter between the two main characters, Sonia, the big city girl who works at the family auction house, and Beau, a farmer from South Carolina, who’s business is expanding and he needs to decorating his new offices. When they meet, the sparks fly and Sonia tries to convince Beau that Christmas in New York is the best Christmas and as she shows him the sights and sounds of the city theystart to get feelings for each other and he invites her to experience Christmas in the country. She doesn’t think she can take it, so she turns him down, but can she convince herself that it’s for the best?
Thanks to Carina Press and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.
Thank you NetGalley, Suleena Bibra and Carina Press & Carina Adores for the ARC of Two Christmases. This is my personal review.
I love books with Christmas romance as the theme. Sonia and Beau were total opposites. The connection and chemistry between the two for me just wasn’t right. I could not feel anything between the two. This was just not what I was expecting from the book. It took a few days to read it – I would put it down and hoped that I would get more from it when I continued to read it. It was an OK romance for me but not one I could or will read again.
A huge thanks to Carina Press for my complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are entirely my own,
This is a rom-com perfect for fans of Hallmark Christmas movies. The book is a city vs country and opposites attract holiday romance, It's a battle of the wits between Sonia ( a city girl) and Beau (who is a farmer) when she tries to convince him to user her family art auction house for his new business. Sparks fly between this two people as they are all adamant of their convictions . Two Christmases is a holiday romance full of witty banter, relatable characters and setting.
What a cute Christmas rom-com! I was happy to see Sonia get her own story after enjoying her as a character in Suleena Bibra’s first book, Two Houses. This book has Sonia, who works at the Loot auction house, meeting a new client, Beau, who’s in New York to open an office for his new green energy company. His family business is a peach farm in South Carolina, and he intends to go back and run his new company mostly remotely. That means he’s only in New York for a short time, which works just fine for Sonia, who doesn’t do relationships.
As she helps him pick out art and furniture for his new office, they debate which place has the better Christmas: New York or Beau’s small southern hometown. Sonia sets out to prove herself right by taking Beau to all kinds of Christmassy places in the city. Spending so much time together leads to things heating up between them. Before long, Sonia develops unexpected feelings she tries to tell herself are just temporary. When Beau goes home, Sonia goes with him, and he tries to show her the magic of a southern Christmas.
This definitely hits the sweet spot when it comes to Christmas cheer. It’s got ice skating, hot chocolate, tree decorating, and lots of warmth, along with a super cute couple. If you love holiday romances, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
This was an enjoyable story, overall.
Some of the tropes that I appreciated:
small town/big city; opposites attract; intercultural relationship; parental abandonment issues; commitment problems.
What I liked:
The two main characters, Sonia and Beau (although Sonia irritated me at times with some of her reactions).
The banter and growing affection between the main characters
The contrasting style of the two settings with their respective Christmas traditions
What I disliked:
The sex scenes--somehow they read awkwardly and I found them unconvincing
The final resolution of Sonia's relationship issues with her parents--it was too facile and quick, considering how much she'd been traumatized by their abandonment.
I am a sucker for holiday romances.
And a romance with multiple holidays? Sign me up immediately!
Add to that two main characters who are as different as night and day, from two very different worlds, with commitment issues and nothing in common but each other...
This is the perfect holiday book. I was able to read it straight through in a single weekend, which makes it the perfect choice for a chilly winter read, snuggled under a blanket with a hot chocolate (or chai) and maybe even snow on the ground.
(Okay, it's a fall 88° here today, but I can certainly dream of perfect Christmas weather and Silver Bells!)
I highly recommend this delightful Christmases story for your holiday wishlist.
"Three glasses into this Southern sweet tea experience and I can already feel the addiction forming."
"I'd call it a Christmas miracle, but with all the work that went into it, there was nothing divine about it."
Look, I tried, I really, really did. But it was just so boring and it felt like a literal hallmark movie with the big city career woman FMC and the small town farmer MMC and the awwww shucks and the ma'am and the wanting to show him all that NYC has to offer during Christmas time. The first love scene came at 20% and it was a short bleep of a scene and I was just not into it at all, which is unfortunate because the first book was pretty good and I thought this one would be good but seriously, it was just so boring and I couldn't keep going.
ARC from Netgalley, review is all mine.
This was such a fun & charming read! Even though this is the second book in a series, you can read it as a standalone. I loved Sonia & Beau - I thought they had fantastic chemistry in & out of the bedroom, and I loved the banter between them. We only have Sonia’s perspective, but I think it works really well - being in her head was entertaining at times, but we also got to see how conflicted she was as she was falling for Beau while also dealing with her abandonment issues towards her parents. Family plays a large part in this story, and I loved seeing the chaos that only family can bring. This was a wonderful read to get me into the Christmas spirit!
Another super fun rom-com from Suleena Bibra!! Most people know how much I adored Two Houses by Suleena when it released last year. I was so excited to learn that we would be getting another novel from this universe, this time following Sonia, Priya's cousin. This book was promoted as a city Christmas vs. country Christmas Hallmark movie (but dirty), and I loved the city vs. country debate of the book. As someone who's always lived in an urban area, I was very much on Sonia's side of this debate, but I did find myself slowly getting charmed by Beau's country Christmas.
The romance in this book was super cute and it was nice to see this softer, sweeter relationship between Beau and Sonia compared to the fierce, competitive nature of Gavin and Priya's relationship in Two Houses. I do wish there was a more drawn-out slowburn between Beau and Sonia, but if you love high heat and insta-lust, you'll definitely love this book. I also really loved how this novel touched on what it means for Beau to be dating Sonia, an Indian woman, as a white man. I think this story did a great job and highlighting some of the extra steps (and sometimes obstacles) that POC have to face when in a relationship with a white partner.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was definitely the South Asian family dynamics and watching Sonia navigate feeling like a part of Priya and Ajay's family while feeling almost rejected by her actual parents. I think the differences between Chacha and Chachi vs. Sonia's parents showed all the different ways South Asian immigrant parents show love and support to their children. I loved that Sonia got to reconcile with her parents at the end of the novel and that she started therapy to talk though the trauma she's endured from being neglected by her family 💗.
In short, if you enjoy Hallmark movies but want to read one with a South Asian lead, definitely check out Two Christmases when it releases this October!! 4.25 stars overall rounded up.
This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Carina Press & Carina Adores (Harlequin) and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own..
Lovely whimsical read perfectly set in the holiday season.
When city meets country, finding the perfect Christmas will mean finding common ground. Don't miss this charming opposites-attract holiday romance!
This little blurb was telling the truth !! It was a perfect Christmas read, full of Romance, fun and warmth.
Beau and Sonia are your fantastic characters, perfectly characterized and super sweet.
I loved how the setting that goes from the big city to the countryside and the Christmas air turned out really well in this novel!
Obviously, being a preview book, reading it in August with an atrocious heat was not the best but I can already see myself re-reading it over a good cup of hot tea on a snowy day during the Christmas holidays!
Highly recommended if you want a perfect book for the holidays and full of excitement and warmth!
Thank You NetGalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores
This book gave me all the Christmas and romance one book could have in it. This was a Christmas movie in a book. It was a 4/5 for me. I want a mug of hot chocolate and candy canes while reading but it August and 95 degrees. Definitely a reread in December is a must.
There were two things that keep this book from being a five star read, that was the use of the word carpetbagger (I didn’t think this was a word to call someone from the North- like to negative to say to someone that would be possible joining your family) the word was him calling her baby girl- I wish he had a better pet name for her