3.5 rounded up to 4

You know it’s a bad breakup when your mom lies and tells you that your ex-fiancé died in a car accident. Oof. You know it’s REALLY bad when your friends are in on the lie too. Whoa!

This was a sweet & cozy romance novel which is perfect for the winter season. In this series you’re always guaranteed a HEA.

This book had a great cast of characters. Except Ian, but he was a good villain.

A winter love story. Need I say more? Fine. It’s a great romcom story. Though it takes place in winter, it’s a story for every season

Lovely book, so cute, funny and cozy Christmas story.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the book

What a great novella! And I am all about a Christmas love story! I have to say, the best part of this book was the karate chop!!! Haha. I laughed uncontrollably the first couple of chapters, it was a strong start, but it lost some steam in the middle and leveled off. I loved the main character in this book, she is smart, quirky, and definitely puts her foot in her mouth multiple times (kinda like me).

This review is also available on my Goodreads: https://www.goodreads..com/dannifowler004

As a lover of all things Christmas, from music to decorations to novels to movies, I was naturally drawn to this novella. What I had hope was going to be a warm and fuzzy romantic Christmas read was the most baffling and messed up story I have ever read.

This book is apparently a part of a series called “Seasonal Singles,” but I have not read any of them yet. The author employed a rather interesting twist on the usual “meddling mother” plot device. Lexi’s mother tells her that her former fiancé, Ian, died. Diabolically, her mother lied to her in an attempt to trick her into coming back home for Christmas. Naturally, Lexi finds out her mother lied and flees to her best friend’s farm. There she meets John, the farm hand. They barely interact, but magically they fell in love!

I wanted to believe in this romance but I just could NOT. Every plot twist was just ridiculous and unbelievable! First, I don’t know how Lexi fell for her mother’s INSANE trick to get her to come home for Christmas! Then, I don’t understand HOW she and John fell in love when they barely had any interaction whatsoever. I started to wonder if maybe I was missing parts of the book? Overall, I just did not enjoy this novella at all.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

A fun fast holiday read. There was a lot of things happening in such a short book. Lexi is tricked into going back home and ends up meeting a new guy John, very insta-love story. The story feels like it is missing a few plot details, it might be because it’s a little short so there wasn’t enough room to go into details. But nonetheless I enjoyed reading.

This story was just so hard for me to follow. I feel like nothing happened for so long and then suddenly everything was different with no real path from point A to point B. There is definitely potential.

Lexi, a sports publicist in LA, rushes home to Little City after her mother informs her that her ex-fiance has died. She's been away for 3 years, ever since the breakup. After a fight with her mother, Lexi goes to stay with her friends Briar and Dax. She ends up staying there alone when Dax's mother has a heart attack and they go to be by her side. While staying there, she meets Dax's cousin, John Johnson, who works on their tree farm and takes care of their horses.

This story started out so well, and I had high hopes for it, since I love a good Christmas romance. It was fine, but it felt like the love story between Lexi and John came out of nowhere, Sure, they eyed each other and occasionally interacted, but I didn't feel it. There was no tension, no will-they-or-won't-they. The other parts of the story worked out in a satisfying way, but, as a whole, it felt like it was lacking. I think if there was a little more to the romance, it would have been a nice, well-rounded story.

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Super cute story to cozy up with on a cold winter's day.

An easy enough read to devour in one sitting, I would have liked to see a bit more character development, but with it being as short and sweet as it is, it was the perfect palette cleanser between my normal dark romance.

Would recommend and will absolutely pick up more works by Cornish in the future.

This is such a cute story. While I enjoyed reading it but it felt like something was lacking. I was a bit disappointed. Thanks for the copy Netgalley.

If you are looking for a short, sweet love story this is the book for you. My only complaint with the book is that it is too short which prevents there being much in the way of plot or character development. I liked Lexi and understood why she would be so angry with her mother (especially since her mother acted like she was the crazy one when the first time they ran into Ian). But because the story was so condensed there was never really time for those two characters to hash things out. Loretta's alcoholism is kind of just thrown in there and never fully discussed. Because there was no development with that it really wasn't necessary to the plot. You get a nice glimpse of romance between Lexi and John, but again, because the book is so short there wasn't much time to show that romance develop. We don't get to see much of them together. I realize it sounds like I'm saying I didn't like this book, but I did. I just wanted more to it. It's more like an outline of a story rather than a fully developed one.

3 years ago, Lexi ran away to LA from her small hometown after her fiance unexpectedly broke off their engagement. Now, she's flying home for the holidays... to attend his funeral.

But not everything is as it seems and Lexi is left to deal with the fall out. Thankfully, she has her best friend Briar and husband Dax and can stay at their Christmas tree farm whilst she processes all she has learnt.

When she meets John, Dax's older cousin who works on the farm, sparks fly! Will Lexi contemplate a new love story in her home town?

This book was short and sweet but I was hooked! The writing style created such a clear story line and I connected with Lexi's thoughts and feelings very early on. It's a clean romance and I appreciated the detail is regards to her family and friends relationships also. I'll be reading the other books in the 'series' (although they can all be read as stand alone books).

Thank you to Netgalley, author Michelle Cornish and SolVin Creative for the ARC copy to read and review.

-Spoilers Maybe-

I devoured this one!
Warming My Winter Heart was such a cute, quick read. If you’re in a slump this is definitely a way out!🙌🏼👍🏽

We have all been in a spot where we wanted to runaway, not thinking about how it might affect the people around us. We usually don’t end up doing it though. We’ll Lex did going through with it and now she’s back in Little City-literally the name of her hometown.- Having to deal with a little bit of the aftermath. Definitely felt bad for how they got her back home but sometimes heartache makes us do crazy things.

Not only that but she ends up finding a sexy older man, John Johnson, who’s sings beautifully and always plays for keeps. My heart literally melted for him! Ian who?

Definitely add this to your winter read!

When Lexi Blair comes home to Little City from LA for Christmas, she gets the surprise of her life—the ex-fiancé she thought was dead is very much alive and wants her back!

It’s Christmas Eve and Lexi’s seen a ghost. Or . . . she thought he was a ghost until her mom admits to faking his death so Lexi would come home for Christmas.

After a humiliating run-in with her ex—which results in Lexi disowning her mother—she hides out at her best friend’s tree farm, babysitting a nameless puppy while her friend and hubby tend to a family emergency.

But farm life comes with a few perks Lexi isn’t expecting—mainly a hunky farmhand who’s helping Lexi run the place until her friends return.

While Lexi ran from Little City, John ran to it, and she quickly learns he’s healing from past hurts of his own.

Can Lexi and John stop running before it’s too late?

This was a super short read, easily finished in under an hour.

I really wish the plot had played out like the blurb, instead it is an insta-love situation, with the main female character Lexi, falling for the main male character, John, after only a handful of short conversations, she doesn't even know his background before deciding she is in love with him.

There were a couple of plot holes, but overall it was a cute Christmas read that left me wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

I have just finished reading this book and I loved it. It’s a perfect book to read in winter when you’re snuggled under a blanket and would definitely recommend. It follows the storyline of a girl called Lex going back to her hometown to see her parents and best friend and then romance comes in and I just thought it was very well written.

This book was cute and a super cute read but I was disappointed overall. Everyone loves a cute winter romance and if the book was as detailed as the description it would have been 10/10. There was little to no character development and a love story that developed out of thin air. How do you fall in love with someone who you’ve had a total of 5 minimal conversations with no personal background. There was a lot that could have been added to make this a solid read. While I enjoyed it I was left wanting more. Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an a honest review.

This was a sweet romance, despite her mother lying to her and her foot in mouth habit. I loved it. It was so cute!! I can't wait to read more in the series.
I just reviewed Warming My Winter Heart by Michelle Cornish. #WarmingMyWinterHeart #NetGalley
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This is a short and sweet Christmas romance to get you in the holiday mood. It was a perfect read to get me back into reading after a short hiatus and I can never resist a sweet holiday romance. Though the beginning started off pretty crazy to grasp my attention; the story mellowed into a typical hallmark romance and I cant imagine a better story for the hallmark Christmas season.

A fun festive read.
Lexi is back home, but lies bought her back so what will happen when she finds out the truth?

Author if you are reading this you should stop right now. First let me start off my saying I love Hallmark Christmas movies. I love Christmas books that are like Hallmark Christmas movies. Thsi was like the worst possible version of one of those stories. Cause this book was really bad, the situations and what happens is really messed up, but it was bad in a way I loved. In a way I got so much enjoyment out of it. I was debating whether I should rate it based on my enjoyment of it, which would be 4.5 stars, or actual quality, which would be 1 star, but went in between because I was indecisive.

So this story is the story of a really messed up family. The synopsis sounded awful in a way that I had to see how this played out. I mean your mom fakes your ex's death to get you to come home? How? Why? How did she not know it is fake? I had so many questions. Well...it is super messed up. The mom and best friend are in on it, mom used to work for the newspaper so she made a legit newspaper obituary for him and sent it to her!! Like....that is commitment. And she cried her heart out to her bestie who never said anything. Because...well they did it because they missed her! She hasn't been home in 3 years! So obviously you have to do something, like fake someone's death! I mean there are no other options....

Now at first our main character is rightfully angry about this, but she is WAY too forgiving. She finds a note from bestie that bestie never sent saying how much she misses main character and well then she just forgives everything! She tells them they have nothing to be sorry for when they apologize because the whole situation is not fucked up at all. I mean totes normal. I just...she forgives everyone WAY too quickly without anyone even trying to gain her forgiveness! No groveling, noting just oh it's totes okay, you all missed me so I understand. I mean...no. No. no no no no no. That is not okay. It is unhinged how these people acted. And to top it off the mom is an alcoholic and starts drinking again after main character storms off so of course main character blames herself for her mom falling off the wagon. Like no. This whole book was full of wtf moments, moments that make no sense, and an emotionally abusive mom that is just forgiven instantly. Yey!

Oh and then we also have a love interest who is as interesting as a piece of cardboard. They barely spent any time together and there was no development of their relationship. It just suddenly they were in love or something. I mean I read this a week or 2 ago and I cannot even remember anything about love interest....

So yeah this book was a complete mess. It was not well written, the characters were not good, there was no connection between everyone, and main character does all the emotional labor and forgives some pretty unforgivable things. Because they missed her so everything is totes okay. Objectively it is a terrible story, but it was so bad enjoyed reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book