This was such a great Christmas book!

The main character, Zoey, directs Christmas movies and is trying to make her newest movie happen in the place she envisioned it - Chelsea, Quebec. This is pretty close to where I live. The thing I loved most about this book is hearing about all of the familiar location and names of places close to it.

The big problem for Zoey is she needs to get the approval from Ben - who happens to be the town grump and wants nothing to do with Christmas or her movie.

There’s lots of wintery goodness (an ice storm - with lots of talk of an ice storm that actually took place here years ago), good grumpy/sunshine and enemies to lovers vibes and just an overall fun read!

My only complaint would be I found it dragged a bit in the middle/towards the end and could have been a bit shorter.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
🎅🏼 grump vs sunshine
🎅🏼 small town vibes
🎅🏼 descriptive scenery
🎅🏼 Christmas wonderland
🎅🏼 single POV
🎅🏼 single timeline
🎅🏼 HEA

I absolutely love the little map graphic of the town right at the beginning of the book!! It’s such a small little thing but I absolutely love having the visual to put along with the description of the scenery/neighbourhood.
I know we’re not supposed to say this … but I absolutely love this cover 🤪 I know we’re not supposed to judge a book based off its cover, but the cover is the very first thing that attracted me to this book. Once I read the description as well I was 100% sold that I was going to love this book.
I absolutely loved the descriptive scenery in this book that allowed for the perfect Christmas-y read.
I always love when I accidentally stumble upon a book that takes place in Canada because that’s where I’m from, but this book took place in Quebec!! Which is super close to me and that’s so cool and random 🤪
I really liked the author’s description of literally everything in the book. I could actually picture myself standing on a little snowy street in Canada covered with Christmas lights and I could see exactly the outfit I was wearing. It was actually like a movie in my head the author was so descriptive (but not overly so!)
A lot of “Christmas” books I’m reading lately are guilty of being barely about Christmas or just mentioning Christmas or winter a few times in passing .. but this one was absolutely 100% a Christmas book 💕💕 Every scene describes a beautiful wintery wonderland full of Christmas trees and lights and all the treats come along with it 🎄 This definitely put me in the Christmas mood; I really really enjoyed it.
I really liked the random French words thrown into the conversations constantly! It gave me a chance to brush up on my French and also made me feel like I was exercising my brain 🤪 so a win-win read!
I always like when a book switches it up from the norm; this one includes the script from a movie the main character is producing in addition to the regular storytelling. Idk why but it makes the story more fun to read when there’s multiple formats 🤪

Love reading my Christmas romance books when the season rolls around. The story of a movie director scouting locations for her "dream" Christmas movie plays out like a Hallmark Christmas movie iitself.

Positives:
Easy and enjoyable read for the holiday season
Enemies to lovers friendship where everything works out in the end
The setting of a small town in Canada is not the norm but was enjoyable to read about
The Christmas song lyric competition running through the book-complete with a Spotify playlist at the end!

Negatives:
The snowstorm conflict went on a little too long for my liking
The romantic development was very slow to build, then all of the sudden-bam!

Decent heart-warming winter read with minimal drama and a lot of Hallmark vibes.

❄️ MAGICAL MONDAY ❄️ featuring “It Happened One Christmas” by Chantel Guertin!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Zoey Andrews is a Hallmark Movie producer from Los Angeles who absolutely adores ALL things Christmas. Zoey has a vision for her latest movie and is dead set on making sure that she can lock down the perfect location in Chelsea, Quebec 🇨🇦!! She flies to Canada to scout out the location herself and make sure she can get the applicable permits needed in time before Christmas. However, she may need a Christmas MIRACLE in order to get what she wants!

Standing in her way is Benoit Deschamps, the town’s Christmas tree farmer and begrudgingly the Mayor of Chelsea! Benoit refuses to bring a movie set to the town, as well as unwanted publicity. This man is so grumpy and frustrating .. and well unbelievably hot .. and a true wrench in Zoey’s plans for the perfect location.

As a brutal ice storm and frigid temperatures land Quebec into a state without power, Zoey and Benoit find themselves stuck together in isolation in the middle of nowhere. Can they put their differences aside?? Or will being stuck together put more of a wedge between them?? 🥶

Read this if you enjoy:
☃️ festive Hallmark movies
☃️ forced proximity
☃️ enemies to lovers
☃️ opposites attract
☃️ small town settings
☃️ grumpy vs. sunshine
☃️ books set in Canada 🇨🇦

Thank you kindly to @chantelguertin @doubledayca @penguinrandomca @netgalley for my gifted digital copy of this adorable holiday read! This book is out NOW and should be added to your holiday TBR immediately 🎄🎁

I loved this book!!! It felt like a fresh Christmas story. One of survival but was still funny and filled with hope, romance and the magic of Christmas. But there were also moments of shock, and anticipation and action. I loved everything about it.

This was so stinking cute!!! The enemies to lovers, Hallmark like story was a perfect read for the Holiday season. There is the strong, fiercely independent FMC from the big city who comes into the small, idyllic town to get a quick approval to film there; and the grumpy mayor who refuses to budge on his answer of "NO." If you read the synopsis you will know there is an ice storm. However, what I though would be a predictable plot threw in a few loops. Overall, it is a fun romantic read.

If you love Hallmark movies, this book is perfect for you. Zoey is off to Chelsea, Quebec to secure a location for her film. But while there she has some problems that she encounters with a resident of the town. Ben is very protective of Chelsea and doesn’t want the film to be shot there. This starts a series of unfortunate problems for them both. Then there is the ice storm…

I really enjoyed this book. This is my second book by Chantel Guertin and the second book I didn’t want to end. I closed the book with a big smile on my face.

If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend adding it to you reading list.

I would describe this as a Lifetime holiday movie. All the cheesy things you expect but a step down from a Hallmark movie. I enjoyed reading this but the romance felt a little off. I don’t mind insta love stories but I felt like they didn’t really have a connection and then all of a sudden they were sleeping with each other and wanting to be together. Also I didn’t really like the ending. It bugs me that they didn’t address the whole issue of her living in LA while he’s in Chelsea, Canada.

Overall it was a cute fast read but isn’t necessarily a must read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy to review!

I loved the idea of the main character being a screen writer and director (?) for holiday movies (a la Hallmark), but I felt like more could have been done for that story line. The ice storm was a good way to bring the two main characters together, but I wish she had done more to really convince him to let them film in Chelsea. I didn't mind her relationship with Ben, but it wasn't anything new for me!

I loved the concept of Zoey filming a Christmas movie! Much like Mireille and crew, I was totally invested in the script- and the beautiful, snowy Chelsea backdrop. Bring in Hot Benoit and you've got yourself a winning film (and book!).

I flew through the first half of the book and was totally invested in Zoey's quest to scope out filming locations and acquire a permit. However, once the ice storm hit, the storyline called for a suspension of disbelief. Between the storm itself, Ben being knocked unconscious for hours, trekking through the story (and have a conversation among the howling winds?!), surviving fallen ice branches and the forest coming up, it was all a little much. But still fun to read!

This was a fast, fun read, even if you did have to use your imagination at times. Even when imagining the romance between Zoey and Ben. I did love lyric game that they played. It makes listening to Christmas music more fun! I also appreciated the French peppered throughout the book (and the tabernac interjections!).

This was definitely a good read getting me into this Christmas mood this season! I would definitely recommend this to readers if you want a quick read to get you into the mood this year!

Small town, christmas romance set in a small idyllic town in Quebec.

Zoey Andrews works for a production company that makes sensational Holiday Movies, and after working her way up the corporate ladder her screenplay is finally being made into a film, and after the final shoot permits get secured she could not be more excited. Then she learns they got permits for the wrong place and she is determined to make it right before her movie gets cancelled and replaced. She travels to Chelsea Quebec, where her movie is set to scout out places to shoot, and everything goes well until she encounters Benoît Deschamps, the man who owns the local Tree Farm. He refuses to let her use the farm, and when she goes to the mayor's office to get a town permit she is disappointed to find Benoît is also the mayor and denies her that permit as well. She is now fighting the clock as a massive snowstorm is set to hit the town, and the deadline for work looms.

Was this outrageous is so many ways, Yes. Did I eat it up anyways? Also Yes. Zoey was a little bit obnoxious and did get on my nerves but it did work in the context of the story. I just had such a fun time, and it being set in small town Canada made me so happy. And it felt so Quebecoise, and all the little things felt so well included I just really like my reading experience.

Zoey Andrews loves Christmas and directs popular Christmas movies. When she writes her own script for a movie, she has the perfect town in mind: Chelsea, Quebec. After a mix up with their location scout, Zoey only has a few days to find the right places for them to film. However, as soon as she gets to the town, she comes up against Ben, the owner of the Christmas tree farm and mayor of Chelsea. Ben refuses to allow Zoey to have a permit to film in town. Zoey tries to change Ben’s mind, but as time is running out for Zoey to get the permits, they’re caught in a devastating ice storm. Ben and Zoey are suddenly facing a life and death situation. As they get closer to each other, Zoey keeps trying to change Ben’s mind, and possibly win his heart.

This is a fun and fast paced rom com! I read this book in just two sittings. The town of Chelsea sounded like the perfect holiday town. When Ben and Zoey were caught in the storm, the story took a scary turn. I knew nothing too serious would happen since it’s a rom com, but it was still scary to imagine being stranded in a severe ice storm. The ending was adorable and made it all worth it.

It Happened One Christmas is an adorable holiday rom com!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book!

WHAT WORKED:
This enemies-to-insta love rom-com was a totally escapist and an easy, light-lift read. Set over the holidays in a snow sprinkled small town in Quebec, filmmaker Zoey and Christmas Tree Farm owner/mayor Ben find themselves trapped by an ice storm. Sweet, predictable and forgettable.

WHAT DIDN'T:
The section with the ice storm really bogged the story down. It felt very unrealistic and pulled me out of the rest of the story.

Synopsis: After a mishap, film director Zoey travels to Canada to get film permit for her movie. While there she encounters resistance from the sexy town mayor and Christmas tree farm owner.

My take: The premise of this book sounded so cute, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I was invested in the beginning, following Zoey who cares so much about her movie that she is willing to travel to Canada to try to keep it alive. We meet some fun small town characters who are super invested in having the movie there. I also enjoyed Ben and Zoey when they were at odds. It started to go downhill for me when the author pivoted to build a romance for them because I never felt their chemistry. It was very insta-love which is not a favorite trope of mine. Huge hallmark fans will probably love this one.

If you want a sweet holiday romance, with a Canadian French flair, pick up It Happened One Christmas.

Although there are aspects of the plot that may seem a little overly sweet and implausible, this is fiction. And sometimes you need to just be swept up in a << somewhat spicy >> Hallmark type of story. Written by a French Canadian author, she brings readers into a cultural experience with aspects of a French Canadian Christmas with their traditions. I do wish there would have been more depth to the characters of Benoit and Zoey to add further believability and tension to the enemies-to-lovers storyline. It felt a little surface.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for the electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed the first 50% of this book, it was a nice Christmas rom-com with two opposing MC’s. I loved that Zoey, the female MC was a screenwriter/ director trying to get permits to film in a quaint Quebec village. While, Ben the handsome/charismatic male lead is the mayor who won’t issue the permits, causing strife between the two main characters. I was enjoying the story, and felt it was progressing nicely until the ice storm.

I didn’t like the ice storm section of the story at all. Zoey, who up until this point was a strong character lets Ben make all the big decisions. The decisions that he makes are questionable survival wise. It reminded me of the “I shouldn’t be Alive” documentary series on TV. Also, this section of the book dragged on for far to long, in my opinion. For me personally, this section of the book really killed it for me.

I really have enjoyed other books by this author, but this one was a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

It Happened One Christmas was a great fun, heartwarming, Canadian Christmasy read. I loved that the plot centred around the scouting of a new holiday movie in small town Quebec. It was great to see a holiday book set in Canada and somewhere less common. The Canadian references were great and I loved Zoey and Ben (and of course Simon) and their character development. The romance was adorable and I would definitely go to his Christmas tree farm!

It's a Hallmark movie in book form. Absolutely loved it! Super easy cute, enemies to lovers and opposites attract read. I wish I read it during Christmas.

I loved this adorable holiday gift. This was just the perfect book to read curled up on the couch under a blanket with the Christmas lights on. I loved Zoey and Ben and this story! This is a book I'm going to have on my to keep shelf. I couldn't get enough of this story, I didn't want it to end!! 5 star read for sure.
I just reviewed It Happened One Christmas by Chantel Guertin. #NetGalley
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