The son works to save his family business with the help of the outcast at school. It was a great story of overcoming obstacles and understanding how being yourself is better than being part of any popular crowd.

i’m usually not the kind to read christmas books in october but i’m not even feeling the fall vibes at the moment so scratch that. it was really fun, i enjoyed both characters a lot, they both were pretty well written and felt like real people. it’d be a 4 stars if not for the way blair, trey’s girlfriend was written. it’s so annoying that the author had to make her a very mean person to show that their relationship wasn’t working anymore. i liked his realization at the end that it was not the healthiest but it’s always so annoying that you have to make the ex-girlfriend super mean and shallow to show how good that other girl is. yes, they had lots of things in common and we did see all of that in this book but that little detail always bugs me. i really enjoyed the christmas/winter as well as the community vibes to this book, it almost feels like a small town except it’s just a london neighborhood which is pretty different from your typical christmas rom-com setting. very nice book, 3.5⭐️

Super cute, feel good read that really gets you in the mood for the holiday season!! I love the sense of family and community that was displayed throughout this story. How they all came together to help save one of their own.

Side note: The songs listed as chapter titles will make one heck of a holiday playlist!!

Definitely one to add to your holiday reading list!

*Audio Arc in exchange for an honest review*
Actual rating: 3.5⭐️

This book is about a black-owned independent bookstore named "Wonderland" in financial trouble. It's been in Trey Anderson's family for generations and Trey badly wants to help support his family. And then there is Ariel, who really needs a job and comes up with creative ideas wanting to save the bookstore owned by her crushes family.

Trey seems to be the typical teenager, not always making the most intelligent choices, sometimes acting pretty childish and having to live with the consequences. He is in a relationship with a girl he doesn't seem to like so much. He seems like one of the popular kids but has to live with stage-fright, the one thing keeping him from becoming a singer.

Ariel is such an interesting character, I really like her a lot. She seems more mature than others her age and had to endure some tough times, like for example dealing with the loss of a loved one and bullying. She wants to get the chance to participate in a renowned art program which is very pricy, hence the need of a job. I really like what she contributes to the bookshop and how her art is so pertinent throughout the whole book.

This story is soooo cute. It's been quite some time since I read a young adult book and this book is so adorable. It marks the importance of supporting (small) indie bookstores and gives an insight into the struggles the owners have to deal with. This story follows two teenagers, which is obvious by their (sometimes naive) behaviors. I loved following their independent experiences and how their stories intertwine to find creative solutions to save "Wonderland" together.

I will say that I kind of missed the Christmas theme. I adored that every chapter was introduced with a Christmas song reference, but other than that, the Christmas spirit was a bit lacking for me.

The audio book really improves the whole reading experience for me. The narrators, Nneka Okoye and Ben Bailey Smith, really did an amazing job bringing these characters to life and making the reading process more pleasant.

Overall, I liked this book. If you are searching for a quick and sweet read, I would recommend it in audio version, making the story even more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley for providing access to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Normally, when I jump into a YA Contemporary Romance I expect a fun and engaging ride and this book, in that regard, did not disappoint. Compared to other audiobooks, the choice of two cast members had been perfect here, and I felt like they fit the characters quite well, even if their performances did not blow my mind necessarily.

The plot of the book, on paper - of saving a black owned independent bookstore - sounded amazing, but I felt like the characters themselves were the biggest letdown of the book. Both of them were shallow, their attraction to each other often being throws as 'he's so fit' and ' I tried not to stare at her tits', which on top of a plastic-y romance, also showcased a vocabulary that I did not enjoy, but others might still find very real and will appreciate as such.

From a diversity point of view, I am incredibly glad this book exists. From the first page, it's been incredibly clear how white most Christmas stories are, which was a thing I never noticed before and it became quite worrying. But I still wished the story had provided so much more, since it had a lot of great elements - the bookshop conflict, the family bond, the mural, the fair booth - that were overshadowed by the main cast's shallow traits and the book's lack of humour.

Love in Winter Wonderland was one of the best audiobooks that I have ever listened to. I loved both narrators and didn't want the book to end. The story was so heartwarming and I found myself wanting to listen at all hours of the day. I will definitely be recommending this one to all of my friends and I can't wait to read more from Abiola Bello.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audiobook copy!

Holiday season is one of my favorite parts of the year. This book helped to kick off my dissent into more holiday reads. In this novel, we follow Trey and Ariel as they try to stop Trey's family bookshop from closing. This premise made me excited for what's to come. However, I finished this and felt alright about the main characters and their romance. Trey is in a relationship for most of the book but its obvious he has feelings for Ariel. Knowing this made it hard for me to root for the romance since I felt like Trey should have broken up with his girlfriend early on as opposed to waiting till things got messy. Outside of the romance, I enjoyed the journey of the characters as they try to save the bookstore. I would still recommend this book despite not vibing with the romance especially if you are trying to get into the holiday spirit.

I'm not sure how I felt about this book. I didn't really like how the main love interest had a girlfriend for the majority of the book and was catching feelings for Ariel. I also didn't like the way that they kept bringing up her weight and how insecure she was about it. The "saving the bookstore" storyline was okay. I just don't know if everything about it made sense. I loved that it was Christmas themed so it might be worth it to get into the holiday spirit.

I don’t usually use the word “cozy” to describe a romance novel but that’s exactly what this book is! The playlist countdowns to Christmas, the community coming together to save the bookshop, and a slow burn romance make for an excellent story and truly add to a wonderful cozy London Christmas story.

My only complaint is that the characters ages made it seem more new adult and YA.

Trey's family founded a black-owned bookshop called "Wonderland" that's threatened by the encroachment of a large bookstore nearby, "Books, Books, Books." While Trey doesn't especially enjoy having to work in the bookshop as he goes to college, and his mean-girl girlfriend HATES the time he spends there, when his mother tells him they will likely have to close the store down, he's determined to find a way to keep it going.

Ariel is a quiet, artistic classmate who's desperate for a job so she can afford to go to an art intensive her recently deceased father attended when he was her age. It was their dream for her to go there too, and now the only thing standing between her and getting in is a stellar application and the tuition fee.

She talks herself into a job at Wonderland, which Trey is not thrilled about. But since his father broke his leg, they need the extra help. As she learns about the problems at the bookstore, Ariel and Trey start working out ways to save the bookstore, ways that just might be exactly what she needs to make her art-intensive application stand out.

But little did either of them expect that they might end up with a bit more than they bargained for when all is said and done!

Thank you to Abiola Bello, RB Media, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

What a great way to get in the festive spirit (even in October!).
This was such a cute love story with current themes that deserve to be present in YA books like Black owned businesses and POC relationships.
I thought the balance of young love (or pining, rather) to the plot set around the bookstore was done perfectly. The details of everyday struggles in independant bookshops were very accurate, as a bookseller myself I really appreciated it, since too many similar storys romanticize those and give an all too simple answer to (money) problems.
I did miss the "You´ve got mail" references. Apart from the independant vs chain store aspect, there really wasn´t much of it in here. Normaly I would expecht anonymous correspondence of some kind, if a book is compared to this particular movie. But once I understood that that wasn´t the case, I quickly got on board with the rest.

Other topics: plus-size, eating disorder, loss of a loved one, bullying, art

Loved the setting of this book. Gotta love a bookstore romance and the work throughout to save an independent black-owned bookstore is one that you can really get behind. Made me wish I could donate to the go-fund-me (and will certainly remind me to buy books from a black-owned bookshop again soon).

I liked April's journey of confidence and Trey's journey to figuring out what is important in life. These two trajectories keep you interested in the two main characters as they circle around each other in this very slow-burn romance.

This mix of jealousy/drama and not talking to each other certainly felt very YA to me, and as someone who reads YA in very small doses, I think my rating reflects that. If you are a YA fan, this book might just be the right one for you.

3.5 ⭐

It's a really cute story, I enjoyed Ariel as a character a lot, and I LOVED that it was set in a bookstore!
Trey was 50/50 for me in some scenes I loved him and then in others I was like who is this character.

The Chemistry between Ariel and Trey was soooo good I loved them together! HOWEVER Trey was with Blair for almost the entire book, and it felt like he was just cheating on Blair.

Blair's character was really well written, you're meant to not like her and boy did I hate her.

The book has a dual POV which I love in a romance, the audiobook also had two different narrators which is always a huge bonus when it comes to audiobooks!

overall it's a really cute bookish holiday romance!

Thank you Netgalley, Abiola Bello as well as the publishers for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Audiobook Review - Love in Winter Wonderland is an adorable contemporary YA romance set in a college/bookstore setting. This is every book nerd's dream romance! This book is full of diversity, activism, grief and family. Recommended purchase!

I'm a sucker for any book that takes place in a bookstore. Make it a Black-owned independent bookstore, and I'm sold. Wonderland has been in Trey's family for generations, ever since his great-grandfather opened its doors. In the beginning, he decidedly does not like his family's bookshop and resents having to work there (and being expected to one day take the reins), but when he hears they are in trouble and they will have no choice to sell it after Christmas, he becomes passionate about finding a way to save it. After his dad suffers a ladder injury, Ariel comes on board to help the cause. Ariel and Trey are in different crowds at school; Trey is popular and Ariel is, well, not. However, in the process of saving Wonderland, they become friends and maybe even hover in the gray area between friends and "more." (Trey, though, is dating Blair.) Ariel wants to attend the art school her late father attended, but she needs to show how her art has changed her community. She views saving Wonderland as her opportunity, painting a huge mural of Black authors on one of the walls.

I liked how they used digital marketing to appeal to others to donate, but some of the plot seemed unbelievable. Like how Wonderland stayed in the news for as long as it did. These days, people move on so quickly and jump from one cause or story to the next. Also, you're telling me Rihanna—fucking Rihanna—reposted your GoFundMe, and you didn't reach your goal? Rihanna, a billionaire, could donate the entire $50,000 without making a dent in her net worth. This actually made Rihanna seem out of touch.

There is other woman drama, but in this case, Ariel felt like the other woman. I was very uncomfortable with the emotional cheating between Trey and Ariel. For about 90 percent of the book, Trey is in a relationship with Blair, though God knows why because he can't seem to stand her most of the time. What he sees in Blair is beyond me, but no one deserves to be cheated on. Ariel, babe, if he's willing to cheat on one girl—one he's been dating for almost two years, no less—with you, then what's stopping him from cheating on you with some other girl? Especially if he doesn't view what he did as cheating, which I'm not sure he does. To me, it feels like we're expected to excuse Trey's emotional cheating because his girlfriend is a snobby bitch, but it reflects poorly on him that he was with her for so long. How does he not see Blair for who she truly is? Truthfully, Trey isn't a very good boyfriend. He forgets about Blair's birthday and has his little brother draw a card for him to give to her, he dances with other girls at the birthday party he's throwing for her (which gets blackout drunk at), and he keeps things from her. And yeah, Blair isn't a very good girlfriend either, but that's besides the point. How are we to believe Trey would be a better boyfriend to Ariel?

As he's breaking up with her, and after she confesses what she did, Trey says that he loves her but they're just toxic together??? Bffr. He also says, "The twins are by far the hottest girls in college. But then Ariel came along, and for the first time, I was looking at another girl in a romantic way." Um. Ariel has always been there; you just never noticed her. This feels so icky to me. If I were Ariel, I wouldn't forgive him for believing Blair over me. Saying something to the effect of, "I didn't believe it when you told me, but I believe it now that I heard it from my lying and vindictive ex-girlfriend" is not a very good start to a happy non-relationship.

Which leads me to the ending: Trey decides he's not ready to jump into a new relationship with Ariel after breaking up with his long-term girlfriend, so they agree to just continue getting to know each other and if they're meant to be, they'll be. While this makes sense practically, it's not very satisfying fictionally. They do kiss one time at the VERY end (we're talking final paragraphs), but we have no insight into what happens after. Forget about their relationship, we don't even know how Ariel's art school application pans out! As a reader, this is frustrating, especially when it's a huge part of the plot.

Audiobook Note: Ben Bailey Smith and Nneka Okoye were fantastic (especially Nneka)! It is a dual narration, and I feel like Nneka does a better job at changing her voice for each character than Ben, who only deepens his voice for Trey's dad. At just over 7.5 hours, it is possible to binge in just a day, especially if you listen on 1.5x or 2x speed—and since it is YA, it is an appropriate office listen. Since I didn't have accompanying text, I totally thought Trey's best friend was called "Books" and not "Boogs, haha.

Thank you to RB Media for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Thank you to NetGalley, HearOurVoices, and SOHO Teen for the e-ARC and audiobook copies.

This was my first Black YA Christmas story. I love Christmas, so this read was a no-brainer, even though it was September.

We are introduced to Trey Anderson first, who is battling to support his family's bookshop while also wanting to pursue his dreams as a singer. One thing is standing in the way: he has stage fright. Ariel, my favorite character, is an artist with the goal of getting into a distinguished art program. The one thing holding her back is money. This is where Wonderland, the indie family-owned bookstore, comes in. Wonderland is in need of saving as it is struggling to keep up with the competition. The author sheds light on not only the struggle of owning a minority business but also the factors that go up against them in the book industry.

Ariel carried this book for me; she was multi-layered and compared to Trey, who drug a relationship he wasn't interested in for 90% of the book. I did not particularly like him entirely because of that, but I understand they were kids, so I give grace there. Someone on here said emotional cheating occurred, and I 100% agree. Ariel dealt with the grief of losing her father, binge eating, bullying, and financial struggles. Ariel was just more interesting as a character overall because of the adversities she faced.

I loved the 66-track Black Christmas playlist, but that may have been the only thing that really reminded me of Christmas. The story just lacked that Christmas feel for me, so if you are looking for that in this novel, I wouldn't recommend it for that purpose. The audiobook was great and helped me fly through the story. I loved Ben Bailey Smith and Nneka Okoye as the narrators for this story. It was perfect and I'm glad I requested it.

I would recommend this book if you love bookstore-centered stories and books set in the UK.

3.5 stars. this was a cute YA holiday romance that starts as a friendship in a bookshop. I love that this romance did not feel rushed, it felt very natural.

i did not really like Trey all that much. he kind of sucked. i don’t think he treated his girlfriend, blair, very well. i think he was kind of borderline cheating after things started escalating.

I really liked Ariel. i think she made this whole book. she was talented and kind hearted. she did nothing except try to help peor, even with everything she was going through! i think she deserved better than Trey

Thank you NetGalley and Avila Bello for this audio ARC.

This was such a cute YA romance! I absolutely enjoyed this book. This romcom is a must read! The characters worked so well together and I enjoyed their chemistry. This was such a sweet Christmas book and I highly recommend.

So firstly I’m in my early 50’s! As soon as I started to listen I realised how young the characters were in the audiobook and felt too old to be listening! But…. I carried on and if I’m honest I couldn’t have stopped! I thoroughly enjoyed it, it had an amazing Christmas feel, great storyline and characters, the narrators were both fab. I have so many new tunes for my Christmas playlist now! I’m so glad I didn’t give up, definitely good for the younger readers/listeners and I’m sure for us more mature ones too. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to enjoy this title.

Lovely slow-burn romance book for a cosy day of reading, or in this case listening. This book focuses on a black-owned bookstore and showcases mental health, which I find significant topics to write about. Two kids in college (around 17 years old) working together to save the local bookstore, finding that they have more in common than they think and evolving in trusting humankind when that faith has been lost before.

The book switches between the POVs, which was a bit confusing at first, but added to the story once I figured it out! The accents needed a bit of getting used to but weren't an annoyance after that. They even added to the story set in London.

This is the perfect audiobook for occupying your mind, when working on something with your hand or when you are travelling by bike/car. It is about 7 hours long, which I think is a perfect length for a book like this.