Diana Merriman is not looking forward to Christmas. Her fiancé Linus has been in a coma for 3 weeks after a bike accident on his way home from work, and she still feels guilty about their argument. When going through Linus' things, she uncovers his Christmas gift for her, a beautiful snow globe with a tiny replica of their town of Snow Haven inside. Little does she know this snow globe will change everything as she wakes up and finds she's back at the morning of Linus' accident. Stuck in a time loop, she tries everything to change the fate of the day, but she soon realises it's not just her fiancé who needs saving.

I love a good time loop story. I love watching a character repeat a day and grow as a person, and I enjoyed reading about Diana changing her whole outlook on life. This is definitely a story about cherishing what you have and finding your true self and happiness. This has all the markings of a hallmark movie putting you right in the Christmas mood. This will make you laugh and cry. A highly enjoyable read.

3.5 stars for Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains. This was a really good Christmas read, especially if you like It's A Wonderful Life or Groundhog day.

In this story, a woman named Diana continues to wake up on the same day over and over again. And the day always ends tragically with her husband ending up in a coma. When one of her neighbours puts an enchantment on her snow globe, Diana is convinced that this must have something to do with the time loop. But no matter what she does to try to change the course of events, the day always has the same sad end.

I really liked the magical element to the story and the time loop. But the loss of stars was because it went on a bit too long for me. In the middle, it got a little repetitive and I felt like I needed a change of pace. However, I really did enjoy the growth of the main character. Overall, a good read with some depth.

This was an interesting concept and it fit perfectly with the theme of Christmas. I'm not really one for a serious/sad festive read, so this wasn't really for me, but I wanted to try something new. It's very well written and the characters have a lot of depth.

As a fan of a time travel loop, Groundhog's Day is a personal favorite, I loved the premise of this book. Life can get hectic and you may not slow down and focus on the important stuff...until you have no other choice. Tackling some tough subjects along the way, this book still manages to stay hopeful. I am a sucker for a holiday story and this is one of my favorites so far this year. Thank you to Kinsington & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 4 holiday heart warming stars.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to review this book. The houghts and opinions are my own. Diana is not looking forward to christmas. Her fiance, Linus got in an accident and has been in acoma for 3 weeks. She ends up in herr own version of groundhogs day. She has to relive the day he got in the accident over and over again. I enjoyed this book and I loved that Diana grew as a person and learned important lesson.

Sweet, emotional, holiday story. It gave me all the christmassy vibes I was hoping for. I really enjoyed to read about Diana's work and her patients she was visiting - there were a lot of amazing characters. It's my bad that I didn't read the synopsis before I started to read it. Time loop storys is not my favorite ones. I keep losing interest when I read about the same day repeating itself over and over again. But overall a festive and a good book with a touch of magic.

By now, you’ve probably seen or read dozens of iterations of Groundhog Day that marvelous Bill Murray/Andie MacDowell movie in which weathercaster, Phil, lives the same day over and over until he finally gets it right. In Annie Rains’ heartfelt new novel, Through the Snow Globe, Diana Merriman, an emotionally contained physical therapist, makes a wish on an enchanted snow globe to spend one last day with her fiancé, Linus, who is not expected to recover after being struck while on his bike. Unexpectedly for Diana, that one day, the day that Linus gets injured, begins to play on repeat with Diana evolving with each new passing.

Facts about my reading this novel:

1. I read it in one evening. I couldn’t put it down.
2. I initially disliked Diana who couldn’t see how closed off she was from everyone else nor how abrupt.
3. I wondered what Linus saw in Diana.
4. I smiled.
5. I loved the magic.
6. I loved how Diana changed and moved into her emotions, the good and the bad.
7. I imagined Linus as Ted from Schitt’s Creek, the affable sweet vet.
8. I cried. Literally.
9. When I finished, I thought what a wonderful read this was and how Annie Rains had put her own spin on the trope of the repeated day and how well it had worked in allowing Diana to change and become a realized person.
10. Magic is all around, if we just let it in.

Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for sending me a copy.

I absolutely loved this book. Incredibly written, I felt all of my feels, and sometimes all at the same time. The Groundhog Day trope was done so well, and I could feel and relate to the feeling of giving up hope after trying so hard. Diana is such a great character, I love all of her flaws and seeing her grow and rediscover herself was fantastic. Can’t recommend this enough!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Well written, moving and heart warming. I loved it and hope to read other books by this author
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Lovely Christmas book - mixed in with Groundhog Day vibes. Lovely cute romance. The cover is lovely!

Commitment adverse Diana has done everything in her power to avoid setting a wedding date. But when her fiancé is struck by a delivery truck and ends up in a coma, she wishes on a snow globe for a do over. Instead of waking up on December 5th, Diana is forced into a time loop where she must re-live arguably the worst day of her life in hopes of changing the outcome. Unfortunately, nothing she tries appears to work. Can Diana save her fiancé or will she be stuck reliving the same nightmare day in and day out?

Through the Snow Globe could have easily ventured into a cheesy holiday read. Luckily, Annie Rains managed to steer this ‘Christmas Groundhog’s Day’ in another direction. Readers can expect to get lost in a touching story that will leave them full of hope and holiday cheer!

This is the perfect read if you are looking for:
-fast paced
-clean, holiday romance
-featuring wonderful cast of secondary characters
-the true meaning of family
-tugs at your heartstrings
-gives you all the feels

Favorite Quote: “Sometimes we don’t know our heart’s true desires, we just chase things because we think we should.”

Special thanks to NetGalley, Annie Rains, and Canelo for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A really well written book. Perfect for christmas. JT is a book that grabs you from the first page. It is a joyful book. I really loved it.

This book was so good! It's a beautifully written Christmas story that holds your attention from the first page until the last. I loved it! I received a complimentary copy from Canelo via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Hip-hip-hooray for another Christmas romance story! Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains mixes in a time-loop plot line, and this reader was hooked from the first chapter. A sweet story that touched my heart, it is an entirely enjoyable read from beginning to end.

Meet Diana. She’s a physical therapist who tells it as it is. One thing leads to another and she finds herself in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again. Will she be able to save her beloved in peril? Or will she be doomed to repeat this loop forever?

The main character grew on me, so give her a chance. She does win you over, and for some readers, their hearts. Rains has a writing style that is engaging from start to finish. Her ability to keep the characters fresh is magical. I also loved how this was so much more than a romance story. It touched on work-life balance, friendship, and family. Three cheer to Rains for this story, and I’m looking forward to reading more of her work!

This book was ok. The "Groundhog Day" aspect got kind of old. I felt like I was supposed to learn a lesson. In the end, I'm glad I finished it, but overall I felt it was kind of "meh".

This was such a fun and cute winter read. I loved the coverband it had me drawn in with the title. The story left me wanting more

I just adored this book. I will be recommending this book for years to come to anyone that will listen! I’m usually not a Groundhog Day timeline fan but this book may have changed that for me.

Diana struggles with sharing her feelings in all areas of her life, but when her fiance, Linus, is hurt in a bicycle accident, Diana wishes she could change the day. Through extraordinary circumstances, Diana has the opportunity to change, but it takes her awhile to realize what has to happen in order for her deepest wishes to come true. I really liked the way Annie Rains brought this story together.

Not for me.

I felt uncomfortable reading it and haven't been able to return to it once I put the book down.

It's well-written. But I can't bring myself to relive someone's worst day of their live.

In a Nutshell: A Groundhog-Day style Christmas story about a woman stuck in time loop. Mostly typical as per the genre and theme. No surprises. This is an outlier review.

Story Synopsis:
Three weeks ago, Diana’s fiancé Linus was hit by a delivery truck on his way home from his toy store and he has been in a coma ever since.
On the night before Christmas Eve, Diana finds the gift Linus had purchased for her – a snow globe of their town. After a neighbour’s well-meant wish over the snow globe, Diane finds herself waking up on the day of Linus’ accident. After some initial confusion, she realises that she has the chance to save her fiancé, but as the day loops keep on repeating with no success, Diana is forced to ask herself some tough questions.
The story comes to us in Diana’s third person limited perspective.

As a Christmas book, this book is wonderful. Many important themes of love, forgiveness, togetherness, family, work-life balance, inner healing, mental and physical health, and foster care and its issues fit in nicely with the holiday season’s emotions. The December setting also lends itself to mentions of gifts, family dinners, Christmas trees and other decorations, which further add to the merit of the book as a Christmassy read.

As a ‘Groundhog Day’ kind of time-loop book though, it left me with mixed feelings. For one, such stories usually feature a central character who is somewhat like a Grinch. However, I didn’t find Diana detestable. (Not that I liked her as well. She left me unaffected.) Diana was closeted, professional to the point of being curt, and focussed on what she wanted in life, but she was also a good friend, a great therapist and a loving fiancée. Her issues were more because of her sad past and her upbringing under a strict grandmother than because of negative personality traits such as vanity or selfishness. As such, her ‘Groundhog day’ experience felt like an unnecessary punishment.

Moreover, I found the time loops quite repetitive. Except for tiny changes in the events of the day, most of the content felt pretty much the same. Only one loop, that had her reveal her frustration with the situation, felt genuinely different, though it’s again a common occurrence in such stories.

As we see the events only through Diana’s eyes, the other characters such as Linus, Diana’s friend Rochelle, and her patients Maria and Addy, all have a set role to play, and we don’t get to see much variety in their portrayal. Of course, a couple of them are still more likeable than Diana. Linus’s dedication and generosity and Rochelle’s unconditional friendship come out well. Addy is also nicely complicated character within her limited role. The remaining characters are mostly uni-dimensional.

There is plenty of repetition in the writing, and sometimes, the scenes are overly descriptive, with every action of Diana being detailed in a step-by-step fashion. The ending, after the loop situation is sorted out, feels like an elaborate infodump.

I must add that a part of my disappointment also stems from comparison. By sheer coincidence, I read Christmas-Groundhog Day combo just a couple of weeks ago. That novel also wasn’t as impactful as I had expected, but at least it tried new things within the typical tropes. This book, in contrast, sticks to the tried-and-tested, leading to boredom.

SPOILER:
The manner in which the time loop is resolved wasn’t very convincing to me. Moreover, the depiction of Linus’s waking up from the coma seemed quite unrealistic. No patient would be so coherent of their surroundings and so easily accepting of their situation after three weeks in a coma.
I am also not too sure of what to make of the change in Diana’s life after the loop. She had been focussed on her career and avoiding a family commitment earlier. And now, her “happier” life involves her giving up on her work as a therapist to become a teacher, and going from not being comfortable around children to having a foster child willingly and being good at mothering. So one purpose of the time loop was to make her let go of her original career goals and settle into a more traditional role, even if that wasn’t what she had wanted earlier? It seems like too drastic a change, and not even one with a convincing transition.
END OF SPOILER

All in all, the story is sweet and predictable, and exactly what is typical in this genre. It doesn’t push the bar in any way, and that’s the main reason I wasn’t more captivated by it.

Though this author is known for her romance fiction, it would be better if you don’t read this book as a Christmas romance. It is more a journey of self-discovery than about a romantic relationship gone awry because of one partner.

Recommended to readers who enjoy the ‘Groundhog Day’ trope and are okay with the lack of novelty in the proceedings.

2.5 stars.

My thanks to Canelo and NetGalley for the DRC of “Through the Snow Globe”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.