What a fabulous enemies-to-lovers Christmas romance! This is my first read by Sarah Monzon, and it certainly won’t be my last! I just looooved the workplace rivals tension that resulted when both MC’s were competing for the same promotion at their design firm😍 The lengths they went to in order to outdo one another were HILARIOUS!!🤣

However, what I appreciated most about this story was the anxiety representation!! Although I do not personally struggle with social anxiety, I have friends that do. Reading this story gave me a more in-depth understanding of what it is like to live with anxiety and how to best support those individuals. Furthermore, I really loved how Sarah Monzon tied faith elements into this story. Seeing our FMC (MacKenzie) rely on the Lord for strength in persevering through her social anxiety was both inspiring and encouraging🙏🏻

Read if you enjoy….
💚 Social anxiety rep
💚 Workplace rivals romance
💚 Single dad
💚 Faith elements

Overall, I HIGHLY enjoyed this sweet Christmas romance & would recommend it to others!! P.S. I listened to this story on audiobook and both narrators were fabulous! They really brought the dual POV’s to life🤩

🚨TW: brief on-page anxiety attack, side character with Alzheimer’s
🚨CW: no language & just kisses!

This holiday office romance was fun and unique! I appreciated how each main character had a close friend who was there to talk them through situations (and set them up a time or two, as well!). The workplace competition scenario might have been a bit more Hallmark than would be realistic, but it made for a great story. Good clean romance that made me laugh and kept me reading!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I enjoyed the snarky first-person female protag’s voice. Loved the humor sprinkled throughout the story.
Our pour heroine is stuck in insecurity. She overthinks everything—what Meyers Briggs’ updated personality charts calls “turbulent.” She habitually rejects herself, undervalues her own strengths and positive traits, and fears she’ll fail in social situations. She has difficulty communicating her thoughts due to paralysis of social anxiety.
Her bff will help her overcome her tendencies, and the heroine will use interesting strategies to do so.
I felt the author did a fantastic job with the heroine’s characterization and her hang-ups. Her storyline resonated with me as genuine, flawed, and relatable. I cheered for this heroine to overcome. Hooked, I was curious how she would.
The faith element was interesting here too. The heroine prayed for deliverance, but it didn’t come the way she expected. I loved this subtle thread.
The flawed hero has some growth ahead of him too. He’s confident, but perhaps teetering on cocky. He doesn’t always have compassion on others, he blurts things out to his buddies, and he overlooks the underdog at work. His nobility is in his guardianship of his sister’s orphaned children. So we don’t dislike him for long. It was satisfying to watch him grow as well.
I liked that the male protag was the planner. This is a welcome twist on the usual trope. Another helpful author choice was putting the female MC’s voice in first-person narrative, and the male MC’s voice in third person. That helps readers track whose POV we’re in as we come back to the story.
Watching the heroine find her voice, celebrate her strengths, and overcome her fear kept me engaged. The simple answers didn’t solve it. I loved that! God often takes us through a process to find healing or breakthrough. He overcomes our misguided attempts or beliefs while teaching us the truths that set us free. He answers our prayers over time. I loved that part of the book. Kudos to the author for going deeper than a surface, pat answer.
I love the competition and the aptly chosen title wording. They’re at war, after all.
My only drawback was with Frank. Not that the author included him, but that, at first, the hero’s pursuit didn’t feel any different than Frank’s. This is a fine line—not to write heroes who come across as creepers as they back heroines against walls. Otherwise, this book is very, very well written.
I also read her book Kiss Me on Christmas and appreciated her inclusion of an autistic child. See my review on this blog for that book as well! Sarah is making a name for herself (at least with me) of competently writing about autism and anxiety disorders. I appreciate these deeper layers and tougher topics, especially since she doesn’t gloss over these challenging issues nor does she offer easy answers. Her work feels authentic because of her approach. She’s on my list of authors to watch!

Early December is such a busy time. Last minute work commitments and family obligations can make a person crazy. For Mackenzie Graham, she also has to worry about the annual promotion. The person with the most Christmas spirit, Mackenzie is so shy she hasn’t really ever worried about competing for the role. This year she is a contender and she is up against her workplace crush. It’s takes everything in her to be up to the task because she could really use the raise. Her competitor Jeremy Fletcher wants and needs this promotion. He is confident he has what it takes to win. Mackenzie and Jeremy start to get to know each other better and things get complicated. Both are so close to winning, it should be a race to the finish but both are losing steam. This is such a cute book. The characters really resonate with me. The struggle is real and no one knows what others are going through. All’s Fair in Love and Christmas by Sarah Monzon checks all the boxes for a Holiday read. I want to thank Netgalley and the author for my copy, for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of All's Fair in Love and Christmas. Forget Hallmark movies, I cannot get enough of Christmas rom-com novels at this time of year!

Mackenzie Graham wants nothing more than to do her job without drawing attention to herself and without having to talk to people any more than necessary. So when she’s put into the spotlight as a contender for a promotion, against a man she’s had a crush on for two years, for a boss who has a history of promoting the people who show the most Christmas spirit, she will have to force herself out of her comfort zone. Jeremy Fletcher really needs that promotion, since he’s raising his twin niece and nephew after the deaths of their parents, so he plans to use his penchant for meticulous planning to win the promotion. Mackenzie throws a wrench in his plans, though, by being much more than the quiet co-worker he’d never really paid attention to before, now that she’s been thrust front and center for him.

This is bizarrely the 2nd book I’ve read this holiday season that has a lot of overlap with my own life. Mackenzie’s mom has Alzheimer’s and has days where she doesn’t remember Mackenzie and/or is extremely agitated. My mom had Lewy body dementia, which declined quickly, but during that time, we dealt with a lot of memory issues and agitated states (even before we knew that she had dementia). Also, I have social anxieties similar to Mackenzie, though mine seem to be a different flavor, so to speak. While I recognized a lot of the inner monologue and choices made to avoid being in the spotlight, I don’t think I could bring myself to do some of what Mackenzie does to try to win the promotion—though possibly with such a powerful motivator (needing to pay for her mom’s care), I could. There was a certain thing she does a few times to try to push herself to be more confident that I KNOW I would never do, and that angle doesn’t really go anywhere anyway, so it’s a little strange in the story anyway.

I was a little thrown off by the many references to TV shows and movies at first, but I think that’s just because I don’t actually read a lot of contemporary fiction—more historical or even SFF. But even in those references, there were a lot made to shows and movies I love, so it made me feel all the more connected to both main characters. Jeremy’s little shudder over thinking about his pre-teen charges spending countless hours watching other people play video games on YouTube made me feel as seen as the reference to Mackenzie’s half-print/half-cursive style of writing. If I could stop here, this would probably have been a 5-star read for me.

There were a couple of things that stuck out to me throughout the story, though, that brought the rating down: I don’t care for 1st-person, present tense for one POV and 3rd-person, past tense for the other. It’s kind of a pet peeve of mine, especially since it almost never seems necessary to do it that way. I suspect the author wanted to be more “in the head” of Mackenzie, with her social issues, and didn’t feel the need to do that for Jeremy, but even then, why the present/past difference? And the Christian content was weirdly paced. I had seen this was marked as Christian, which is why I was surprised to see absolutely no references to God by 15% of the way into the book. There is, though, flirting and suggestive movements, lots of secular music and such, and then suddenly there’s a prayer and biblical reference that seem to come out of nowhere. To be clear, I do not expect every book marked Christian to be chock-full of prayers and references to God or even to have a solid Christian message or moral. But other than Mackenzie’s belief that her lack of faith keeps her from getting past her social issues (which I kinda wish had been explored more), I would never really know that these characters are Christians. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book. It contains a lot of Christmas charm and is not too sappy, as Christmas romances go. I recommend it for fans of Christmas romance, especially with some Christianity involved.

ENGLISH

I am obsessed with Christmas themed books. I like the aesthetic, the ambiance, the brightness, and lightness of it. Likewise, I selected a couple of Christmasy books from Netgalley to read for November/December. This was the first to be read.

First things first: I enjoyed some details, but the things I did not like… Well, let's just say I was not able to enjoy the book fully because of them.

The plot is basically a rivals-to lovers story. She has been in love with her coworker for years, despite having almost never spoken to each other, and he did not even notice her that way. Until of course their boss puts them against each other for a promotion. So instead of doing their job and proving their value as workers, they decide to do Christmas things/traditions because the boss is known for giving promotions to people with the most Christmas spirit. Despite how stupid and cringy it might look, this is what I enjoyed the most about this book. In fact, I fell like this over the top unreal situations are what make fun this sort of typical Christmas movies or books.

The problem however were mainly the characters. The MC is socially anxious, which trust me I get, but it gets to a very stupid point where she gets to a psychologist (good thing). Suddenly she is able to use the tools they give her to talk to anyone, to not let her brain fool her and to solve all those problems. Yeah, sure. On the other hand, the love interest is supposed to be this very clever and organized person but the moment he notices her he “loses control”? Like, seriously? Those changes I understand, but them being so sudden… Plus, those things change because someone mentions God.

That is my biggest concern with this: the amount of times God, religion and prayer are mentioned. I understand it is important for US culture, but it felt like a Christian book more than a romance novel. And it always happened when the characters realized something important. It all just feels like a preaching for Christianity.

All in all, I enjoyed the Christmas spirit of the book and the overall plot, but the characters were annoying and the constant mention of Christian religion took me out of the book. This was definitely not for me.

SPANISH

Estoy obsesionada con los libros de temática navideña. Me gusta su estética, su ambientación, su brillo y su ligereza. Por eso, seleccioné un par de libros navideños de Netgalley para leer en noviembre/diciembre. Este fue el primero que leí.

Lo primero es lo primero: me gustaron algunos detalles, pero las cosas que no me gustaron... Bueno, digamos que no pude disfrutar plenamente del libro por culpa de ellas.

La trama es básicamente una historia de rivales de oficina a amantes. Ella lleva años enamorada de su compañero de trabajo, a pesar de no haber hablado casi nunca, y él ni siquiera se fijaba en ella de esa manera. Hasta que, por supuesto, su jefa los enfrenta para conseguir un ascenso. Así que en vez de hacer su trabajo y demostrar su valía como trabajadores, deciden hacer cosas/tradiciones navideñas porque la jefa tiene fama de dar ascensos a la gente con más espíritu navideño. A pesar de lo estúpido que pueda parecer, esto es lo que más me ha gustado de este libro. De hecho, me parece que estas situaciones irreales exageradas son las que hacen divertidas este tipo de películas o libros típicamente navideños.

Sin embargo, el problema fueron principalmente los personajes. La protagonista tiene ansiedad social, cosa que entiendo. Pero llega a un punto en el que va al psicólogo (cosa buena) y de repente es capaz de usar las herramientas que le dan para hablar con cualquiera, no dejarse engañar por su cerebro y solucionar todos esos problemas. Sí, claro. Por otro lado, se supone que el interés amoroso es una persona muy inteligente y organizada pero en el momento en que se fija en ella "pierde el control". ¿En serio? Esos cambios los entiendo, pero que sean tan repentinos... Además, esas cosas cambian porque alguien menciona a Dios.

Eso es lo que menos me ha gustado del libro: la cantidad de veces que se menciona a Dios, la religión y la oración. Entiendo que es importante para la cultura estadounidense, pero me pareció más un libro cristiano que una novela romántica. Y siempre ocurría cuando los personajes se daban cuenta de algo importante. Todo parece una predicación del cristianismo.

Con todo, me gustó el espíritu navideño del libro y la trama en general, pero los personajes eran molestos y la constante mención de la religión cristiana me sacó del libro. Definitivamente, no era para mí.

-Ele

This was such a cute Christmas romance. I loved the rivals to lovers and ALL of the Christmas cheer.

This one is Christian fiction, but it was not faith heavy.

Perfect cozy winter read!

Thank you, bethanyhousefiction and netgalley for my copy of this book!

3.5 stars

It's an epic Christmas competition at Limitless Designs. Boss Sofiya has promised that there will be one promotion this season. Mackenzie and Jeremy are the dueling employees. For Sofiya it is all about the feels of Christmas. Ready, Set, Go! What I loved about this one:

🎄Mackenzie has real-life issues like social anxiety and a mother in an Alzheimer's wing. She needs to make enough money to pay the bills, but struggles with her one-on-one interactions at work.
🎄Jeremy is a nice guy who also needs more income. He is taking care of his late sister's twins. Nathan and Natalie are preteens now and getting more expensive by the day.
🎄The supportive friends! Keri is Mackenzie's roommate, colleague, and sounding board. Nathan has a trio of friends with a sense of humor: Alejandro (a nurse), Lincoln (a coworker), and Jill (Lincoln's spunky wife).
🎄Christmas celebrations in different countries are featured and implemented at the office.
🎄Both of our MCs seek guidance in prayer and scripture.

Looking for a clean, Christmas rom-com? This is the book for you. Perfect for fans of Courtney Walsh and Toni Shiloh.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bethany House for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mackenzie is witty and eloquent – as long as she’s talking to herself! As soon as she needs to converse with coworkers or clients at her graphic design firm, Mackenzie’s social anxiety turns her interactions into a train wreck. She desperately needs the promotion offered by her boss to help pay for her mother’s medical expenses.

Jeremy is confident and charming – as long as he’s in the office. At home, where he’s responsible for raising his preteen niece and nephew, Jeremy’s strictly ordered life doesn’t leave any room for fun or spontaneity – or God’s leading. He likewise is fighting for the promotion at the graphic design studio to help cover the growing expenses of child-raising.

Set in the days leading up to Christmas, Mackenzie and Jeremy’s battle for the promotion turns into a showdown of who can out-decorate, out-bake, and out-Christmas the other as they vie for their supervisor’s attention. Along the way they start to fall for each other, and the office competition turns into an office romance.

And while the romantic elements of this book have all the appeal of a Hallmark movie, what is really striking about this book is the social anxiety representation and focus on mental health from a Christian perspective.

Writing from her own first-hand experience, author Sarah Monzon allows readers to experience Mackenzie’s social anxiety from a first-person perspective. When we meet Mackenzie she is coping with her anxiety through prayer, reciting Philippians 4:6 to herself (“Do not be anxious about anything. . . ”) and berating herself for her apparent lack of faith. But when a panic attack occurs in front of her friend, Keri, she encourages Mackenzie to seek professional help for her mental health, ensuring her that “all healing comes from prayer and faith but that God uses doctors and medicine as His hands to perform the healing. . . the stigma of mental health needs to end.”

It's ok to have Jesus and a therapist. This beautiful truth packaged with Christmas traditions and a dose of festive mistletoe makes this a holiday romcom worth reading.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

BOOK REVIEW - All's Fair in Love and Christmas - Sarah Monzon - 5/5 Stars

Guys I finally finished a book in time to write a quick review! I purposely picked this book to read next as I knew I would enjoy it immensely (like I have all Sarah Monzon's books) and therefore read it quickly and I was right! This story tops the scale in downright adorableness. Mackenzie and Jeremy are soooooo cute and endearing. I loved everything about this story (except for the pavlova being accredited to the Aussies, as a born and bred New Zealander, that dessert is ours! #iykyk), the characters were super relatable and lovable, all the Christmas traditions were so interesting and the romance was addictive. Not everyone suffers from such crippling social anxiety as Mackenzie but a lot of us experience a small degree of it so it made me super sympathetic to her and I was rooting for her the whole time. Jeremy's great awakening to how amazing Mackenzie is may be my new favourite romance it was so sweet! This story as a whole just left me feeling so happy!

If you're looking for a cute Christmas read, look no further! The main character, Mackenzie, was relatable, and Monzon included great mental health representation in the story. She even took it one step further and discussed negative connotations between mental health and religion, which I feel is not discussed nearly as much as it should.

The love interest, Jeremy, was sweet, though I do feel like he did fall for the FMC a little too fast. Like how Mackenzie had a crush on him before our story began, I wish he would have noticed her sooner, too (off the page). However, for the story to have only spanned a few weeks, it made a lot of sense. So for readers who don't mind fast romance/insta-love, then they'll really like this story. Considering the length of the novel, it also worked really well. As someone who is always on the hunt for a quick read, I can't fault it for that! :)

The main issue I had with this book were the alternating POVs. The male POV was in third person past tense, and the female POV was in first person present. I don't mind different tenses (first vs. third) in the same story, but I did mind the past vs. present. I am the odd one out who enjoys third person present, so I wouldn't have minded it.

Overall, however, Monzon is a very talented writer, and I would be happy to read more of her work! This book put me in the Christmas spirit, and I couldn't have asked for more than that!

A super cute and festive rom-com. This would make a (really good) Hallmark Christmas movie!

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book made me so happy! It was Christmasy, funny, and romantic. It was just a really fun, enjoyable book to read!

I found Mackenzie to be super relatable. I feel like I rarely read books where the MC struggle’s with social anxiety so I loved seeing that! I related so much. It was really nice to see that.
I liked Jeremy. While I didn’t feel quite as connected to him as I did Mackenzie, he was a sweet guy and I did like him!
I also really liked Kerin and her vintage style!

I love that this story is not just a fun and hilarious book but it also has depth. A good book in my opinion makes me both laugh and cry and this one definitely made me laugh but it also made me tear up at times.
I loved seeing faith content in this book as well! It added so much to the story.

Overall, this was a sweet Christmas romance book! It was also a quick read so you can finish it in an evening or two which is really nice.
If you are a fan of Christmas rom-coms that are mostly lighthearted but also have depth, I think you’ll really enjoy this one!

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a complimentary copy! All opinions are my own.

One of my overall favorite Christmas reads. It was such a fun Christmas Rom Com. I highly recommend!

I loved this book from start to finish. Jeremy and Mackenzie work together and she calls them into her office. They are put into a competition to get promoted. They both need the job and money for different reasons. Jeremy has custody of his twin niece and nephew. Mackenzie is struggling to pay her mom's nursing home bills. This book follows them as they both show their Christmas spirit and then they get set up on a blind date together. I loved the ending and I loved the characters in this book. It was an uplifting and fun book! I will definitely recommend that we buy this for my library.

This story was a cute one! I didn't know what to expect, but I connected with it way more than I anticipated!

Mackenzie is up for a promotion at work and, in order to make this a reality, she must spread Christmas cheer at her office job! However, this is no easy feat for her because she has social anxiety. I thought this aspect of the story was done really well and allowed the reader to easily connect with her. Social anxiety is often something that people can't understand and it can result in even more isolation.

On the other end of the promotion is Jeremy, whom Mackenzie hasn't interacted with much at the office. The story weaves together a romance between the two as they fight for this promotion at work.

A feel good story with relatable characters really gets you in the Christmas spirit! A worthy read.

All's Fair in Love and Christmas proves to be a delightful rom-com that combines festive cheer with a compelling competition element. The story's lighthearted tone and the chemistry between the characters make it an enjoyable holiday read. The competition aspect adds an extra layer of excitement and intrigue to the narrative, keeping readers invested in the unfolding romance. Both characters are lovable, and the Christmas-themed backdrop enhances the overall charm of the book. With a perfect blend of humor, romance, and holiday spirit, All's Fair in Love and Christmas is a great choice for anyone seeking a heartwarming and fun read during the festive season.

This book was everything I love about romances and more!

In this story, we follow Mackenzie and Jeremy, two very different people fighting for the same promotion. Mackenzie is hoping to win in order to pay for her mother's medical care, while Jeremy is planning for his niece and nephew's future, whom he adopted after their parents died. The competition is simple. Who can impress their Christmas-loving boss the most and win the promotion?

There are several things I love about this story. First of all, even though it's a rivals-to-lovers, there's not any sabotaging of the other person. They have a wonderful, friendly competition. Secondly, the mental health representation in this is spot on! Mackenzie suffers from social anxiety, occasionally having panic attacks when she gets overwhelmed by crowds. As a sufferer of social anxiety myself, I completely understood where she was coming from and loved how they handled it. This entire story was written beautifully and really drew me in. I finished this book in one day and that was while I was at work! It's a quick, easy, and fun read. I highly recommend it if you love a good office romance!