Member Reviews

This was a cute holiday romance! I absolutely love the group of friends that Rowan has (honestly, I feel like they are probably my favorite characters in this book)!!! They see that she is struggling during the holiday season and plan a super fun daily gift delivery (Advent style) to get her into the holiday spirit! It was really nice to see how Rowan’s self confidence grew each passing day with each gift - no matter how silly or small the gift was. The hunky delivery guy was just a bonus!

I did find it hard to read at times with the toxic work environment, the unhealthy relationship with her ex and how bratty her daughter is to her. I could definitely see why Rowan’s self confidence and image was so poor. The world would definitely be a better place (especially at holiday times) if everyone had friends like she has!

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I am in full Christmas mode after reading this fun story! I loved the title and the cover was so cute! I had so much fun reading this holiday rom com. This is my first read from Sophie and I can't wait to grab more.

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⚜️ Book Title - Santa, Please Bring Me a Boyfriend
⚜️ Author - Sophie Ranald
⚜️ Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚜️ Some Genre/Themes/Tropes: Adult Fiction, Romance and Christmas time

I received an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this book via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is my honest review.

This was a cute christmas time read. Very fitting for the holiday season. It’s not overly in-depth overall but it does give you that oxytocin hit.

I did get a bit lost with the POV changes as they didn’t transition very clearly and I really wasn’t a fan of how the FMC kept falling into bed with the ex… not my cup of tea.

I would recommend to those who like a slow burn, sweet Christmas time read.

I want to say thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

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Ahhh I had such high hopes for this book. It sounded and looked like such a cute Christmas RomCom, right?! But unfortunately it’s been SO hard to get into. The characters lack depth in my opinion and the story is just not that exciting for me. This is such a SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW burn book and unfortunately wasn’t it for me.

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The story of Rowan and Alex. I like how it is told from both points of view, both characters were likeable and you want them to finally have a chance together.

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Thank you #Netgalley for this advanced copy!

As a fan of Sophie Ranald, I was excited to be granted access to her newest holiday read. This book was cute and a fast read. We follow Rowan, a single mother, doing her best to support her teenage daughter Clara. When Rowan finds out her ex is getting married, her friends decided to surprise her with 24 days of surprise gifts. These gifts and experiences brought joy to both Rowan and Clara, and unexpectedly the delivery man. We then begin to follow the life of the life of the delivery driver and his interactions with Rowan. A fun rom com type read with a holiday twist.

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My fingers are crossed that my friends decide to arrange an advent calendar for me just like Rowan's friends did for her... bonus if it results in a sweet and feel-good rom com just like this book by Sophie Ranald. The Scottish accent will get me every time, but reading through Rowan and Alex's story as it builds with each gift had me cheering for them for sure. Even though I read this book on a fall afternoon, it brought me 100% into the Christmas spirit.

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I love Sophie Ranald’s books, she’s got a hilarious turn of phrase and the witty, close knit friendships that her characters have with each other are really enjoyable but I’m struggling to see that this book is written by the same author as P.S. I hate you.

The story is sweet and has some enjoyable moments but it’s lacking in depth. Alex the delivery guy is cute but there’s not much that makes me wonder about his story, until a storyline comes along that gives a moment’s pause but it’s soon over.

The main character, Rowan, will be alone this Christmas because her teenage daughter will be with her dad (the ex that Rowan was, until relatively recently, still sleeping with), and her friends have noticed that she’s a bit down so they send her an advent calendar of lovely gifts and experiences so that she has something to look forward to each day and brings the joy back.

The guy who delivers these daily parcels is the extremely handsome Alex [a fact Rowan knows then forgets in an editing error that I hope they fix in the Kindle versions] and he seems keen on Rowan too….

There’s another story around Rowan’s estate agency job and the dubious activities that go on there but it’s not really given much depth or detail.

If this was a first draft, you’d think this was going to shape up into a cracking Ranald read but I’m so disappointed to say that it just feels lacklustre and like it needed a lot more work before it would have reached that level.

That said, mediocre Ranald is still head and shoulders above some of the books that are published these days - it’s pleasant and enjoyable but just not top notch Ranald.

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I loved Alex and Rowan’s story!! Each character had their perfect place and, in my opinion, emphasis was made just enough on what mattered in the story while leaving out what wasn’t necessary. It was a slower read for me but that’s not a bad thing. One to enjoy during the holidays for sure!

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A slow burn romance. Rowan is not in the holiday spirit but her friends try to help her out. She soon has her eyes set on a guy. I love the characters. Rowan's friends are friends you want in your life. There is a lot of British references that I was learning along the way, too! A cute book to read for the holidays.

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I've enjoyed all of Sophie Ranald's books so far. They're so reliably fun to read, with this one being no exception. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

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Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with an advance review copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest review. Santa, Please Bring Me a Boyfriend is my first book by Sophie Ranald. I love Christmas so much, I'm crazy about it so when I saw this book on NetGalley, I had to request it. While reading it, it indeed felt like a Hallmark movie, but I also loved Hallmark movies, so I did not care, The title is funny, and to be honest, it represents me hahaha.

This book is a combo of third and first-person perspectives, I have to accept that I have trouble reading third-person perspectives but the love story of Rowan and Alex is good so I put that aside to focus on the story.

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Actual Rating 0.5

Santa, Please Bring Me a Boyfriend screamed Christmas romcom. Think Hallmark movie. Some parts absolutely gave off these vibes, but for the most part I felt the book fell a flat. I found all of the characters really annoying and under developed. The romance portion of the book felt awkward. The characters did not mesh well t0gether. I personally did not mesh with the writing of this book. I think it is safe to say this book was not for me by any means; however, it might be something you like.

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Santa, Please Bring Me a Boyfriend by Sophie Ranald
This is such a cute, funny, and romantic book! Rowan and Alex were very addictive. Both were very well created characters. Rowan I completed identified with as a person, and Alex is just a textbook book boyfriend. This was more of a sweet slow-burn romance over a steamy story, but I liked it. It just worked. Well thought out original plot, with some fantastic characters thrown in. I recommend.
Many thanks to Sophie Ranald, NetGalley, and Bookouture for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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My first touch with Sophia's titles, and I got an expectation versus Reality kind of feeling with the book. That much given thanks to the synopsis, wich promises one kind of story, personally I thought that was about a single woman whose find interested by a misterious delivery scotish man, and the narrative leads to another, with the protagonist being divorced and having a not-ended kind of relationship with the kid's father. However, this doesn't mean that I didn't like the story, is just the case of a little odditing in the beggining, but as the narrative flew by and I was being immersed and knowing better the characters, I was able to appreciate the whole thing and its entertainment, 3,5/4 stars

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Santa, Please Bring Me A Boyfriend by Sophie Ranald is a charming holiday read. I loved the relationship with Ro and her friends, her daughter, and with Alex. I even liked the work plot. It shows so much growth and character development. The relationship was sweet but very much a slow burn. This is a sweet rather than steamy story but a great holiday romance.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the E-Arc. Even though this was a solid read and there were many things that I enjoyed. The Friendship and Identified myself with being a single mother. This was just not the story for me. It was too slow paced for my liking but I would still recommend.

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I really enjoyed this book, it was the perfect balance of everything and I absolutely loved the advent calendar idea that Rowan's friends came up with for her, let alone watching how her feelings for Alex blossomed and grew in line with the daily parcels that he was dropping off. I was super impressed by how quickly her friends came up with and implemented this idea as it was so thoughtful and personal, even if there hadn't been a hunky delivery guy dropping off all the parcels!

And talking of Alex, I did really like him but we had quite a bit of mystery about who this other woman in his life was which kept me on my toes wondering what was going on and meaning that I couldn't fully agree with Ro's feelings at first. I went through a few theories before finally guessing the correct thing just before it was revealed but then I panicked that Rowan would get the wrong end of the stick and everything would go wrong.

The little treasure hunt was probably my favourite advent day, purely for the walking around the neighbours houses looking at their decorations and then ending with a light trail. As houses near me start putting up their decorations I love to go for a wander to see them all, wrapped up warm and then get home and have a big mug of hot chocolate so this has made me very excited for these upcoming evenings!

Overall this was just such a lovely book and I really enjoyed reading Ro and Alex's story, even Clara had her moments of being a delightful teen - even if these moments were quite sporadic, but the least said about Paul the better! I'd not read anything by Sophie Ranald before but I shall certainly be keeping my eyes out for more books by her in the future and will be browsing her backlist to!

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I really enjoyed this story. I loved the relationship with Ro and her friends, with her and her daughter, and with Alex. I even liked the work plot. It shows so much growth and character development. The relationship was sweet but very much a slow burn. This is a sweet rather than steamy story with much to recommend it.

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BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Santa Please Bring Me A Boyfriend' by Sophie Ranald

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Sophie Ranald, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 7th October 2022.

This is the second book I have read by this author. I have also read 'He's Cancelled' which I would highly recommend.

I was originally drawn to this book by its intriguing cover and its hilarious sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'This totally addictive, fabulous and feel-good romance will give you ALL the Christmas feels this festive season! Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Sophie Kinsella and Beth O’Leary.' I am a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Sophie Ranald and if this book is half as good as 'He's Cancelled' it's guaranteed to be a page turner. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 41 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in England, UK 🇬🇧 . I always enjoy when books are partly or fully set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact visited and gone on holiday in England on many occasions so am looking forward to possibly recognising name places.

This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Rowan and Alex. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.

What an absolutely fantastic laugh a minute, heart warming, stunning must read!!! Absolutely loved it fairplay!!! This book has fantastic descriptions that set you straight in the scenes. The cover, title and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.

The storyline itself was absolutely unputdownable so make sure you clear your schedules before starting to read it!!

This is the second festive book I have read this year and I am tempted to put the tree up!! This book is an absolutely gorgeous read that is perfect to lift your spirits!! It is filled with romance, friendship, family, love and of course Christmas!! I love that the protagonist is an estate agent but it is shocking how competitive the industry is. The fact that Sophie has done her research into the industry shines through! There's nothing worse than having a book filled with errors as the author didn't do their research into the subject they are writing about. I absolutely adored Rowans friendship group 'The Girlfriend Group' which I will talk about later. However, I will say that the fact that they gave her an advent calender which she had to wait to open as her friends had taken the gifts out and replaced several of them with other heart filled and generous gifts. It is such a sweet and beautiful idea which I loved watching unfold. It is a unique storyline, I've never come across a book where someone is attracted to their delivery man/woman and that was something else I loved unfold before my eyes. This was a light hearted, easy read which made me laugh out loud and smile so many times I lost count. The ending is stunning as is the whole book. I would love to see this turned into a movie. I would be the first in the line to see it!!

The characters were all an eclectic mix and each one of them were realistic and strong. I was completely invested in them especially Rowan who I thought was a fantastic female role mode especially as a muml!!! My heart went out to her so many times watching her struggle as a single mum of a teen, watching everyone enjoying their Christmas plans and putting up with the chauvinistic pigs at work. Marty and Brett are absolute d|ckhe@ds who I would have loved to punch and her boss Julz wasn't any better!! How they treated Rowan and Kimberley was a disgrace, as well as being sexist and illegal and I loved Kimberley's comeback at the end!! You go girl!! Alex is absolutely lush, romantic and I just absolutely adored him. I definitely won't forget him in a hurry!! Shame my delivery men are nowhere near as decent!! 'The Girlfriend Club' which consisted of Rowan's absolutely amazing friends Kate, Naomi and Abbie made me green with envy. Such an amazing support group with such caring, loving and thoughtful friends that looked after each other and gave Rowan the best Christmas anyone could ask for, along with Alex. What I wouldn't give to have friends half as amazing as that!! These characters, well most of them, were one of the best group of people I've ever 'met' and they will stay with me for a long time!!

Make sure you read until the end to enjoy the first 2 chapters of another of Sophie's books 'Sorry Not Sorry'. I haven't read this myself but after reading the first two chapters it is definitely on my to read list ASAP as it looks like yet another amazing read!

A MASSIVE WELL DONE to Sophie on yet another HUGE success!!! I loved every page of your book and I cannot wait to read more past and future amazing books. This is exactly why you are on my top 3 favourite romcom authors list!! Here's to your next success 🥂!

Overall an unputdownable, unforgettable, stunning romcom that will put you in the festive spirit and have you staying up late at night to finish it.


Genres covered in this book include Women's Humourous Fiction, Romance Novel, Christmas Romantic Comedy, Humorous Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Humour, Romantic Comedy, and Domestic Fiction amongst others.


I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Sophie Kinsella, Bridget Jones, Bridesmaids movie, Emily Henry, Beth O’Leary and anyone looking for a absolutely stunning festive and heartwarming read!


394 pages.

This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle and £9.99 in paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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