Cute book but not just my style. I wish I enjoyed it more. The style of writing is great but I didn't connect.

Once again Jennifer Joyce has written an amusing Christmas book, that so long as you suspend your belief in reality at one rather key point, it completely and utterly believable.

Zoey is given a second chance at December, and has been told she has to create 6 new couples in order to survive the accident that that kills her first time around. But that is easier said than done, especially as she is determined to save her relationship with Scott, which very early on was frustrating me.

I just wanted her to see the obvious, but she seems rather oblivious, and instead is trying to match make all sorts of people, and as a result there are a lot of festive group activities. Oh and she works in the Santa's grotto department of a toy store, so there is Christmas all around in this book.

And I loved it, so festive, and fun, and has a wonderful cast of characters to get to know. I really enjoyed getting to know Zoey's colleagues, as well as all the festive activities they get up to, from the quizzes, to the karaoke. And the Christmas market was lovely too.

And then there is the Bake Shop which does the most delicious sounding cupcakes, and plays are rather key part to the story, not that I'm saying what that is! But the sweet treats certainly had my stomach rumbling.

A really enjoyable and entertaining Christmas story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Just hope I don't have to wait as long as I did for this book, for the authors next book.

I love this take on A Christmas Carol. It is such a unique story!

Zoey isn't looking forward to Christmas this year as her boyfriend of three years has just dumped her, days before Christmas. She is going through the motions at work, trying to be jolly, until she and the Santa Express collide...

She is given a second chance to live. Her task: bring together six couples in love matches. She has 23 days to accomplish this.

Matchmaking proves to be more difficult than she thought and she is running out of time. She might need a Christmas miracle...

I really enjoyed this cozy christmas romance book although I felt the ending was a bit short and would have been nice to see how the romances progressed into the new year.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC

This was a fun cosy Christmas read and a bit different in its makeup. I recommend this one and givve it 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

This story follows Zoey, who gets a second chance at life- with a catch. She is tasked with the job of matchmaking 6 couples by Christmas Eve in order to save herself. I loved the cozy Christmas vibes of this book! I think the author did a great job conveying the feeling and tradition of the holidays- reading it, I felt like it was December! The main character Zoey was very likeable- but her boyfriend had absolutely no redeeming qualities and it was frustrating that she was so blind to it. Overall, this book was very sweet, but I found the plot to be extremely predictable. I really wish there was a little more depth to the plot, and more to figure out! Thank you to Netgalley, HQStories, and Jennifer Joyce for the ARC.

Zoey is a young 25 year old woman who tragically gets dumped, 3 days before Christmas by her boyfriend Scott. Zoey blames herself for the breakup and thinks there's more she could have done to save her relationship.

Zoey's doom and gloom is only worsened when during a Christmas parade for C&L toys, an unfortunate accident happens and Zoey tragically collides with a Santa Express bus, resulting in Zoey visiting the afterlife where she meets her grandmother.

Zoey's grandmother offers her another chance of life but there's a catch, she must match 6 couples and help them find true love and become the Christmas Cupid before the 25th December. Will she choose to save her relationship to Scott or as her grandmother said are some things best left alone?

Review:

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ stories for this ARC.

At times I felt this book wrapped you up in a big Christmas hug, I loved the festivities and warm feeling, like drinking a hot chocolate (sticky toffee of course!) on a cold winters day. However I sometimes found the book to lack excitement and became a little bored of the predictably of the characters. Overall I would rate this book a 3.5

Thank you Netgalley for a arc of this book! This book is very cute for the holiday season. Though I wish the plot was better, It wasnt terrible and still fun to read!

Ah I really enjoyed reading this book! In fact I rushed through it as I wanted to know how it ended so I will reread it again soon! After a bit of a shock at the beginning, it righted itself quickly and I loved the story. It was well written, funny in parts and kept a good pace. Some characters were truly horrible and others absolutely lovely! I wish the predictable ending had happened a bit sooner so we could read more about the main character being deservedly happy! Excellent read, highly recommend, thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy x

This one does all the things cozy Christmas romances are for - a quick and sweet romance filled with hope and joy. We’re taken along Zoey’s second chance at life to match 6 true love stories. Although the ending was predictable about half way through, it gives all the cozy warm feelings to make you continue anyway, even if you’re positive you know how it’ll end. There are characters that you’re made to hate and trust me, you will hate them. The characters you’re made to love are precious and will make you wish you knew them.

Great book. Was a bit of a shock at the start with the twist but I soon got back into it.

I think I could see the ending coming but I didn't mind. I still enjoyed the book.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked the premise of this book! Its a fun one to read during the holidays for sure.

Such a cute, Christmas book! A warm, cozy story that will have you curling up and reading the entire book in one setting! I really enjoyed this book!

I really loved this book! So cute and perfect for the Christmas season. It definitely had me wishing for the holiday season to start soon. The main character Zoey was adorable and relatable and I couldn’t wait to finish the book to see how it would end for her. I loved the idea of getting a do over and being able to see the things in your life with a new perspective. Couldn’t put this one down and will be recommending it when it publishes! I want to thank NetGalley and HQ for the digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you are a fan of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies this is a book for you. Cute easy read that puts you in the Holiday spirit. Not realistic at all but good read.

Christmas is usually Zoey's favorite holiday, but this year, her boyfriend dumps her two days before after a huge fight, she's had a terrible haircut...and then she dies in a tragic holiday parade accident. However, she's given a second chance at life, sent back to the beginning of December. Her life will continue -if- she manages to match up 6 couples before Christmas.

This book was a complete and utter delight!! I was afraid it was going to be overly cheesy but it was so well done. I enjoyed every minute and was sad when it was over. I will definitely purchase and reread once it comes out!

I loved the cover and the blurb and needed to read this book. I love all things Christmas!

The story was festive and laugh out loud funny at times. I loved the descriptions of the department store and Santa's Village. Zoe was a likeable and not. She was fun, endearing and clueless. Scott is just a crap boyfriend and I wish she had called him on it and dumped him so much sooner. I loved the matchmaking, and the lengths Zoe went to get couples together. I wish there had been more time spent on her and finding her love match, it felt a bit rushed at the end.

While the story was predictable it is a fun Christmas read and I'd give it 3.5 stars.

As you know, I adore a good Christmas romance, be it a book or a movie, and I was pulled in by the fun-sounding blurb of this novel.

The blurb reads:
Zoey Beake is having a bad December. She’s just been dumped, she’s had an extremely dodgy haircut that even the biggest woolly hat can’t hide, and then a tragic accident – involving an elf outfit, stilts, and a red double-decker bus labelled ‘The Santa Express’ – leaves her dead.
But then Zoey is given a second chance at life. Sent back to the start of December, if she can match six couples by Christmas Eve her life will be saved. Which gives her the perfect opportunity to win her boyfriend back too…
Can Zoey find love in time for Christmas?

See, super fun sounding, right?

I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed the Christmas theme. The descriptions of the workplace were reminiscent of Elf (the movie), and I could picture the toy shop and other locations in my head. I enjoyed seeing her use her do-over to spend more time with her family, and I really appreciated that all of the characters were normal people. No secret royals or millionaires.

What I didn’t enjoy reading about, was the way that Zoey spent so much time trying to be the ‘perfect’ girlfriend in order to keep her skunk of a boyfriend. There was so much time spent with Zoey being a doormat to her boyfriend and holding in her feelings and wants and needs. There was also some regional slang used (apparently calling someone a banana means that you are calling them silly) that detracted from the story for me.

Overall a cute story.

I was given an ARC through Net Galley to give an honest review of the book.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas books are always a great read! And this book turned out to be that.
I loved the idea of Zoey's second chance at life and a way to do things right for her and for others.

A very unique & festive read that I'd definitely recommend this season.

Ps how gorgeous is the cover?

This is the first time I have read anything by Jennifer Joyce and it was such a delight! When I I initially read the premise, I scrunched up my nose at the idea but figured “Hey, it’s a holiday romance - why not”.

The story was nothing like I expected!

The way Joyce approached Zoey’s mission to find six true love matches allowed her to deep dive into the true essence of every type of relationships - flings, lost loves, new loves (old and young, queer and straight), unrequited love, second chances, unhealthy relationships, marriages, etc.

What I love about the book: Two things come to mind when I think about this book. The first is the parallel perspective Joyce gives you as you read the story. We get a glimpse into Eloise’s relationship with Annie. How Annie treats her, how unhealthy it is, and no matter what, how Eloise is stuck in a cycle of lost hope, being strung along, and eventually heartbroken. Zoey sees this and worries about Eloise and can’t understand why she would subject herself to Annie, while at the same time, we see Zoey doing exactly that with Scott. Each time she utters sage advice, you find yourself screaming “Do you hear yourself right now?!” The other thing I really liked was that you don’t realize you are slowly falling in Friend-love with Zoey. She’s kind, she’s sweet, she’s is selfless and she truly cares about the people in her life. I didn’t know how much I cared about her character until she repeats what Scott said to her in the “Terrible Row” and I found myself saying (out loud) “Oh f*@& that guy!”

What I didn’t like about the book: The transition between Chapter 40 and Chapter 41 caught me off guard as it felt a little rough and incomplete. One minute she wants to say goodbye to her friend (Milo) who means the world to her. The next chapter she wants to wants to intertwine her fingers and kiss him. While I understand she was slowly starting to see him for the wonderful person he was, I felt like there was a “skip in the record", one transition sentence/paragraph that would have helped us as the reader understand what made it finally click for her. We get more as we read further into Chapter 41 but with that initially jump for Chapter 40 and 41, I went back and read the last page because I just couldn’t figure out how she went from one train of thought to the other.

What I’m indifferent about (but feel I should mention): While the story is engaging and enjoyable, it is predictable. I knew within the first dozen chapters that Scott was messing around with Kelsey, Milo liked Zoey, and Milo and Zoey were going to be couple number six after he saved her life. Even though those easy assumptions came into fruition, it didn’t take away from the story at all as you saw Zoey’s story the same way she saw everyone else’s. It was supposed to be obvious to us, the readers - that (I assume) was Joyce’s intent. Like watching a horror flick and telling them “Don’t go in there”, we could only be spectators to the disaster that was her relationship, holding onto hope that she would finally see what we saw and do what we knew we wanted her to do, dump Scott and be happy with Milo.

The best thing about the Christmas Cupid is that it isn’t some cheesy holiday romance that resembles a Hallmark Movie. It isn't filled with overly exciting, edge of your seat moments. The most concise way I can describe it is using the frog in the frying pain analogy. The story warms you up slowly and you don’t realize how captivated you are by it until you find that you can’t put it down and the moments you do, you are still thinking about it! The friendships, the relationships, the possibilities are what makes this book a must read!