This was another great addition to my holiday reading list! This British holiday read had a bit of a Groundhog's day type theme, which I was reluctant about at first but ended up loving. Gwen Baker is a single lawyer who no longer loves her career or her overall direction. She is heading home to the country to spend Christmas with her family. Then she wakes up and realizes that it's Christmas day AGAIN…over and over. Sprinkle in some family drama and a romance with her high school crush! I found this book to be humorous and charming and I recommend to anyone looking to read a little little holiday cheer! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc in return for an honest review

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well! What a fun story! This is the first book I've read by this author and it was very enjoyable. I loved Gwen and her quirky family (especially her Nan). The dialogue was my favorite kind of snarky wit, the love story was very sweet, the family relationships were heartwarming, and I loved watching Gwen figuring out how to handle her "Groundhog Day" experience.

A few parts were a bit too screwball comedy for me but I mostly enjoyed the humor and there were several laugh out loud moments.

Some profanity.

So, bottom line, a nice Christmassy story to enjoy during this festive season.

The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk
If you liked the movie Groundhog’s Day, this book is definitely for you! I just loved this book. From the witty dialogue, delightful characters, hilarious disasters, and a few life lessons, it was just such a good book. Read it.
Many thanks to Lindsey Kelk, NetGalley, and Harper 360 for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute Groundhog Day remake!
Sometimes it felt like too many days repeating but I adored the ending and how each day brought Gwen closer to her family and true self.

A fun, Christmas story that seems to be a little bit more family dramedy than pure romance (even though there is romance!). I loved the second chance love story and the dysfunctionally insane family. The time travel/groundhog day element was well done and even though it took a minute to hook me, when the hook hit it hit well!

Groundhog day is one of my favorite tropes, and I absolutely loved how it was done here. I love that the characters are so clearly imperfect and real, and it was such a joy to dive into this story. I especially loved listening to the audiobook. Definitely would recommend this to anyone looking for a cute holiday romance, especially for those who liked In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren.

3.5 stars- Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC. I've never seen Groundhog Day, but I think this book is better because it has a female mc and it's Christmas being relived over and over. I went into this book thinking it would be pretty good, but nothing special, just a cute little romance, but I was wrong. The author does an amazing job at making you slowly sympathize with the characters more and more, at around the same pace Gwen does. I think Cerys was done really really well, because at the start of the book, she was really mean and annoying, but as the days went on and Gwen learned more about her, my perspective shifted. I'm sooooo glad she left Oliver. She needed to, I'm so proud of her. This is obviously a technique used in tons of books, but I think the author did this especially well.
I think the romance element was cute, and even though there were a lot of scenes where she was thinking about Dev and with him, for some reason I feel like the romance was just lacking. She was just talking about how she had a crush and then he was like"omg I had/have one of you!" and then they kissed. And then the day happened over again and they kind of did the same thing with a different setting. I think the writing for the romance part was just a bit flat. I would have loved more details about Drew and Manny's relationship, because the only scenes were just kind of weirdly sexual (just kind of uncomfortable comments thrown in there).
I will say, there is one thing I HATED HATED HATED about this book. The REFERENCES. I do not want to hear about tik tok and memes and NFTs! I want to read a book to ESCAPE this world, not to hear more about it! The worst part about the references was that you could tell it was a Millenial trying to be "with the kids/times", and they were just weird. The scene where Dev was taking pics of Gwen for Instagram was so awkward. "Do you want a boomerang?" How was this book written in 2022?
One funny thing I liked about this book was all the little British things they said. Like "have a cheeky look" or that thing where Gwen was saying she couldn't talk to "fit" people. One question, though. Do Brits eat a lot of Jelly? Dev had like a small paragraph talking about how he wanted jelly with ice cream and stuff? Idk I just think craving gelatin and ice cream is a little gross, but to each their own i guess.

This book is centered around Gwen Baker, who is in the middle of an almost mid-life crisis after an incident at the job she worked so hard to get. While I loved this book's concept and ending, the beginning was a tad slow, and there was not enough romance in there for me. I love the reconnecting of childhood crushes but wish there would've been more interaction between the two.
Overall this book is great for someone looking for a quick, sweet read that focuses a lot on familial love and relationships.

The Christmas Wish is a British romcom that resembles The Holidaze in its "Groundhog Day" execution. I was a little nervous about reading this so soon after the aforementioned similar title but they were different enough that that didn't bother me. That said this one still missed the mark for me.
Its hard to put a finger on it but I had a very hard time eyeball reading it and ultimately got through it by listening to the audio book. In that format it kept my attention and was still a nice read but it just felt like it dragged (the first section of the book prior to the first time loop, in particular, felt particularly drawn out). It really wasn't much of a romance, though there was ultimately a happy ever after, but I feel like it was more of a story of personal growth and finding your own happiness.

This book is probably lovely for someone, but it wasn't for me.

This sweet Christmas romance takes the reader on a holiday journey Groundhog Day style. Our heroine, Gwen Baker is stuck in a Christmas time loop. She figures that it has something to do with the wish of whoever got the sixpence at Christmas Lunch. Could it be one of her parents? Her sister? Her gran? Her cousin maybe? And then there's the boy next door whom she's harbored a crush on for decades. As she goes through Christmas Day after Christmas Day, Gwen learns more about her family and herself than she ever thought she would.

I really loved this book. Each character was well rounded and fully fleshed out which is difficult to do in a fairly short holiday romance. I was really rooting for Gwen who was clearly going through a rough time but wasn't to whiny about it. The setting was sweet and the book really captured the feeling of being home for Christmas as an adult. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a cozy Christmas read.

🎄 B O O K • R E V I E W 🎄
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Title: The Christmas Wish
Author: Lindsey Kelk
Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This was exactly what I needed to kick off Christmas season! This is not your typical holiday rom-com; its more of a family drama with some romance sprinkled in (exactly what my cold non romantic heart likes). This one started a bit slow, and I was a tad weary of the continuous time loop plot (especially with In A Holidaze being on of my favorite Holiday reads) but this was different, in a very good way. This story has layers, focusing on struggles with dysfunctional families, injustices in the work place, and even messy breakups. The character development and growth while facing these problems was perfect! And I’m not going to lie - I’m really liking this continuous the loop idea.
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This gave me all the feels (one of my favorite kinds of reads). There were points through this one where I was laughing my ass off, plenty of times where I felt like I got a swift kick in my ass because I too have faced these problems and plenty of times I was grinning from ear to ear as my little black heart grew a few sizes. Like I said - all the feels. And the truth of it all of Gwens realizations were spot on.
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This perfect Christmas read was just published November 15th and is definitely a must read this holiday season! Huge thank you to @netgalley, @lindseykelk and @harpercollins for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
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#netgalleybookreview #netgalleyeARC #eARC #electronicadvancedreadingcopy #christmasreads #familydramawithahinofromance #bangerread #holidayreads #continuoustimeloop #figureoutthesixpencewish #wishesonchristmas #charactersjourney #charactergrowth #allthefeels #holidaymustread #fourstarbookreview #harpercollins #harper360 #lindsseykelk #thechristmaswish

I loved The Christmas Wish! Christmas/Holiday books tend to be hit or miss for me, so I went into this with tempered expectations, but right from the start I was engaged and even laughing out loud. I was also leery with the Groundhog Day concept since it's been done so many times, but I didn't mind it at all here, and loved seeing the different interactions with Gwen and Dev. The whole book was entertaining and gives you that cozy holiday feeling, but still hits you in the emotions at different times, especially about not being where you thought you would be in life, and family expectations. I'll definitely be recommending this to friends, and it will probably become one that I reread each holiday season. Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins and Lindsey Kelk for the e-arc.

I want to start off by thanking NetGalley for my copy of this book!

Ok I’ll be honest, Ground Hog Day (repeating the same day over and over again)themed anything are kind of a no for me BUT Lindsey did it in a way that made it a super enjoyable read! The author did a good job at making each new repeated day totally different from the previous and I feel that’s where others lack when they attempt this.

I loved Gwen and Dev and their whole story because it reminded me of my childhood crush who also happened to be my neighbor, like in this book. Although my story never evolved quite like this one because he moved away when we were in 2nd grade haha
He and his family did however come back to visit almost every year, at least up till the first Harry Potter film was out (I don’t know why that particular part is what my brain chose to remember). But less visits happened as we got older and we lost touch even though we are still FB friends. It’s fun to remember those silly childhood crushes.

ANYWAY moving on lol
There were so many relatable moments in this story that just hit home for me. The description of what the characters consider a perfect Christmas, family all around the house while Christmas dinner is being prepped, watching home videos of past Christmas’ etc.

I also feel like the author is really good at knowing her audience and making her characters super relatable. Other than Gwen being a lawyer, I saw A LOT of myself in just how she handles and deals with life.

I loved Gwen’s family; in some ways it reminded me of my own and in others it reminded me of Clark Griswald’s family haha

Last but not least I adored the ending, ugh I think my heart grew 3 sizes!

I love everything by Lindsey Kelk, this was a little different but a lot of fun. The twist on Groundhog's Day was a cute addition to the story, The cast of characters kept this story interesting from beginning to end, Great read for the holiday season.

Gwen is having a terrible Christmas- she’s single after her long term boyfriend cheats with his receptionist, she’s on leave at work, and her family holiday isn’t going well. When she wakes up the next day, she’s shocked to find out that it’s Christmas all over again! Gwen tries different strategies to get herself back to the present. Will she be stuck in an endless loop of Christmas days, or will she figure out whose wish needs to be granted to make it to the next day?

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a cute holiday read with laugh out loud moments and funny dialogue. The romance aspect was more minimal than I expected, and there is no spice. However, the groundhog’s day storyline is funny and makes the book interesting. Gwen and Manny were witty and relatable as main and supporting characters. I liked Dev but really didn’t get enough of him, I felt like the book could have used more development of his character. Overall, this is a cute holiday romcom that I enjoyed!

Thank you to Lindsey Kelk, Harper Collins, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Harper 360/Harper Alcove for my advanced copy of The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk.

I've enjoyed Lindsey Kelk books in the past but I struggled with this book. I think the "Groundhog Day" style book just isn't my jam. It was too repetitive for me, I also wanted more romance - this was more of a women's fiction with the family drama and overall it felt too immature for me.

I LOVED this book!!

A wonderfully festive Christmas novel mixed with Groundhog's Day, where the protagonist continues to re-live Christmas after disastrous Christmas until she figures out what the Universe is trying to teach her about life and about herself.

The characters were delightful, the disasters hilarious, and the life lessons priceless. I loved this book so much and can't wait to read more from the author.

4.5 stars

I love Christmas-themed novels, and this may be one of my favorites! While this premise was reminiscent of the stereotypical Hallmark holiday movie, it was not the typical read for this genre. It's a perfect mix of holiday and humor, and it was just what I needed. I loved the "Groundhog Day" aspect of the story, as well as how it impacted Gwen's personal growth and her relationships with her family members.. And as a fan of all things British, I loved all the British references/terminology. There is a romance angle, but, thankfully, it's not overpowering. Themes of grief, loneliness, trying to find your path in life, and searching for love will resonate with readers. The cast of characters is well-developed, and the small English village is a charming setting for the story. I've never read anything by Kelk in the past, but I will be checking them out, for sure!

I really enjoyed this holiday book. It was the perfect balance of holiday content and hilarious laugh out loud dialogue. I did wish it had a bit more romance. You get little hints of it throughout and then it hits you at the end but I just wish the romance had been amped up a bit. This book is full of pop culture references but done in such a cute way. I loved how the author tackled the dysfunctional family dynamic, failed relationships, and career dreams but in a way that it didn’t cause the book to feel heavy. I did feel like it had In A Holidaze vibes. Both books have a Groundhog Day premise and both are trying to figure out how to break the curse. I read In A Holidaze last year so I felt like I was far enough removed from it. I wouldn’t recommend reading both this season. This book had me laughing out loud so many times and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a holiday read that is not just fluff.

Read if you like:
▫️Groundhog day
▫️Witty dialogue

3.5 stars. It was a fun Christmas book, not a favorite but it was okay and enjoyed it. While it does have romance, I would say it has more family dynamics. If you are a fan of the groundhog day trope you will love it.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.