Fans of Hallmark Christmas movies will really enjoy this one! I had a nice time reading this, but while it was cute enough to make me smile at times, in the end it was just an okay read for me. I didn't hate it or anything, I just think it will ultimately be forgettable for me.

I liked that this book had those Hallmark Christmas vibes and honestly, I could totally see this becoming one of their movies. This was simply nice to pick up during the busy holiday season and settle in with some hot cocoa and "turn off" while enjoying a sweet read. Nothing earth-shattering here, but sometimes that's what you want, y'know?

Where I found this story wanting was the chemistry (or lack of) between the two main characters. I just didn't feel it, so that was a struggle for me. I also felt like the writing could do with a little editing to really sharpen up the plot. The ending felt somewhat rushed, and while I did not mind a story without spice, I will say that the lack thereof made the ending feel unrealistic even for a Hallmark-style story.

Again, I enjoyed this enough to cozy up with this story during Christmas but I didn't especially love it. It's a very quick read, so I think readers who are looking for something simple and sweet would still enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Katie Bachand for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.

This was about a 3.5-star read for me but I rounded up to a 4-star read.

In this Christmas novella, we have a couple of tropes going that I love: grumpy/sunshine, fake relationships, forced proximity, and boss/employee. I'm not huge on the fake dating trope but I have started to read more holiday romances and it seems to be a common trope.

The reason I ended up rounding up to a 4-star is that I have started to be less picky with holiday reads. I don't need them to be groundbreaking, more than anything they are just fun reads. This book was basically what I would describe every Hallmark movie as but just in a book format.

My biggest concern is that I did feel like at certain points there was some misogyny going on with the MMC. If you love holiday romance reads and aren't super picky, I would recommend this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This quick holiday romcom had ALL of the tropes! Fake marriage of convenience, grumpy boss + sunshine, billionaire romance and office romance. The plot was cute and really grabbed me in right away!

Absolutely freaking LOVE this novel. Hilarious!! Love love love her writing style. Can’t wait to read more (future) books from this author. Definitely my new favourite author!! Great job Katie!! Keep up the amazing work and writing! :)

This is a very light hearted Christmas novel. Very enjoyable and fun read. The characters are loveable & there are so many Christmas elements which make it very fun

A Great Way to Enjoy the Season
I thoroughly enjoyed Ava and Hendricks story. This isn’t meant to be an angsty deep novel. It’s meant to be a light hearted holiday romp you enjoy with a warm cup of cocoa and holiday treats. This novel is basically a Hallmark movie with all the holiday good feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy. Opinions expressed here are my own.

Let’s start with what I liked the most about this book. "The Worst Christmas Wife" was such a festive escape that I felt like I was watching an over-the-top Hallmark movie. When I’m reading a Christmas book, I want it to be able to feel the warmth and magic of the holiday season. While the narrative succeeded in cultivating the festive spirit, there was a lot left to be desired.

The plot had potential, but unfortunately, I felt like it was too fast paced and was skipping from scene to scene. The ending felt abrupt, and I would have liked to see a little more buildup to the big moment that occurred at the end. It very much detracted from the overall story.

One thing that bothered me the most was the writing quality, which hampered my reading experience. The prose lacked clarity, forcing me to repeatedly read through convoluted sentences. This inconsistency in writing disrupted the flow of the narrative, making it challenging to fully engage with the story.

Character development, specifically for Hendricks, unfolded rather quickly without the necessary build-up. It was hard to feel one way or another about him. On a positive note, the main character, Ava, was likable to me. I appreciated her qualities, her strength, and her outlook on life.

In conclusion, "The Worst Christmas Wife" by Katie Bachand delivered the perfect dose of Christmas spirit and is great for a reader looking for just that. While the plot has potential and the main character is endearing, the abrupt ending, poor writing, and sudden character development for Hendricks may leave some readers wanting more like it did for me.

Fun quick holiday story. I enjoy a fake romance holiday story. This was entertaining and enjoyable. I enjoyed Ava’s character and related to her in many ways.

The Worst Christmas Wife is a delightful Holiday Romantic Comedy. It is full of all the fun gimmicks that Rom Com fans love: Fake Romance, Grump and Happy, and Forced Proximity. When these two signed a contract to pretend to be married, the only clause left out was love. I received this book for review through Netgalley. Now I am hooked, and I can’t wait to read more of Katie Bachand’s books. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a quick Holiday Romance.

When Ava becomes the personal assistant to well renowned architect, Hendricks Cole, she never imagined she would be posing as his wife. The two enter into a ‘Christmas marriage’ in hopes of securing a major job. After spending the entire month of December playing house, will actual feelings form, or will their arrangement end in disaster?

Everything about this book sounded amazing from its title to its description, but sadly it failed in execution.

This is a relatively short novel. It lacked the character development necessary to make the fake dating and grumpy/ sunshine (holiday addict) tropes believable. With limited time to build a connection between the male and female main characters, their relationship was reduced to instant love.

While this wasn’t my favorite read this holiday season, I appreciate Netgalley and Katie Bachand for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

So much Christmas spirit - holy moly! I loved the banter between the characters and Mr. Scrooge came to realize how great his life could be. This was a very sweet holiday read. Non-existent spice, which isn’t my first preference, but the story was solid so I didn’t miss it as much.

This story was everything I love about holiday channel movies without all of the cheesiness. Steam level was a zero but it wasn’t needed at all. The song and dance between Ava & Hendricks was so natural that it made this an easy read.

Ava has the best eye for interior design and walks in to Hendricks Cole’s office at the right moment. His current assistant is retiring and looking for her replacement. But he soon realizes he needs more than that to win over a high profile client.

I laughed out at loud, got the warm fuzzies, imagined where I can fit three Christmas trees in my house, cringed at the word glitter, and imagined her embarrassment about the snowman undies. I was bummed when it ended. I did want an epilogue to give me just a little more cabin snuggling and a lot more of her family & friends!

Side-note….I just found a new author to fan girl over! I’ll be diving into more of Katie’s books in the new year!

👉🏻Read if you like:
•Workplace Romance •Fake Dating •Christmas Theme •Grumpy Sunshine •Romcom •Christmas Movies •Family Fun •Hilarious Best Friends

🤔 What‘s your favorite holiday movie?

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.
___________________
Posting to Goodreads and Instagram today 12/19

This was a very cozy, easy holiday read. It was well written and the description of the Christmas decorations made me feel so nostalgic and start thinking about redecorating my own house (on December 19th, which is really the last thing I need to be doing 6 days before Christmas!). The premise was a classic marriage of convenience where they have to convince someone they’re in love for a job. I enjoyed it, however I felt the love story of the couple was a bit lacking. I didn’t really understand why they were falling in love, since they didn’t really have any conversations or activities that would make them get to know each other or start to see each other in that way. It felt too fast for them to start thinking they loved the other person, and none of the events they took part in created a romantic environment. I didn’t think they had very much chemistry, and they didn’t even kiss once in the entire book (only on the cheek quickly). Overall, it was a good read for Christmas and definitely felt very festive, but the romance needed to be turned up a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a fun and sweet Christmas read. Thank you @netgalley and @katebachand for the ARC. Ava is a hoot! She is all sunshine and Christmas cheer with a side of spitfire. Hendricks is a grumpy Architect in need of an assistant. There is a high profile client he is trying to land, the only problem is she believes in Loves stories. What better way to land the client the make up a marriage contract with his assistant. This is a sweet slow burn. You don’t want to miss it.

DNF 10% 🚫

1st red flag 🚩

"I don't have time for this," Hendricks Cole grumbled to himself, sounding like an old Scrooge rather than the young bachelor he was"


2nd red flag 🚩🚩

"her exotic femininity"


3rd red flag 🚩🚩🚩 (I'm an optimist)

"Hendricks readied himself to walk into his masculine office building"

(how can an office be masculine? 💪🏢🏋‍♂️🦬🥩)


my final straw

"[assumes she's single after their first encounter] But, he had heard her speak. And he knew any man or woman couldn't possibly deal with that regularly."


NOT for me

Thank you so much NetGalley and Katie for the opportunity to read this amazing story! I might ramble in this review and I apologize.
This book was everything I needed in a holiday read. The fake marriage. The Christmas vibes. The descriptions of the decorations. Ugh. My heart is so happy with this book! I’m obsessed with it. I want more! This story was so cute and maddening at times. It was absolutely perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing!

This book is the definition of a cozy read for Christmas. It had elements like a Hallmark Christmas movie but better. I fell in love with the characters. I found the author did a great job providing a great profile of both main characters and bringing them together. The end was slightly predictable (like a Hallmark Christmas movie) but I didn’t mind as the whole read was great and had me in a choke hold throughout.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this Christmas book.

This is a fine Christmas novella filled with grumpy/sunshine, boss/employee, fake dating with found family and a Christmas extravaganza (with a sprinkle of hockey).

Overall, I didn't love the dialogue in the beginning but once the story started to flow I finished it quickly. The side characters are great. The relationship progression is a little choppy but was entertaining and cute.

Thank you to the Katie, and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this work. I received an eARC and am leaving a review freely and honestly.

The Worst Christmas Wife is a quick, fun, Christmas filled book that my fellow Hallmark movie lovers would enjoy for the season.

Ava is a very talented interior designer who LOVES Christmas. Hendricks is a self made billionaire architect who is described (by Ava) as Scrooge and the Grinch.

Ava needs a job and through some connections, ends up working for Hendricks. They seem to be total opposites, mostly when it comes to Christmas, but Ava is a very strong FMC and doesn't back down from grumpy Hendricks.

With a joint mission to win a huge client, they agree to be fake-married. Like any good Christmas romance, fake feelings turn to real feelings. I won't give any details away, but of course there is a happy ending.

The author did a fantastic job illustrating Ava's designs in words. I could vividly imagine the Christmas scenes that Ava was designing and executing and caught myself wishing I had Hendricks budget so I could design my home the same way.

I am not a writer, but I can imagine that trying to create chemistry, magical Christmas scenes, character development, and supporting characters in just over 200 pages is a challenge. Katie Bachand rose to that challenge and executed it wonderfully.

I definitely recommend this book to readers looking for a Christmas filled, feel good, romance for the Christmas season.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and Katie Bachand for giving me a copy of this book for my honest review.

This was a good little Christmas novel. The FMC starts working for the grumpy MMC and they are trying to land a design job for a big Christmas and love loving celebrity. To fit the bill for the job, the MMC asks FMC to enter a contract that they're married...

It was an enjoyable journey, I liked the banter, a few laughs throughout and some awesome friendships.

Would recommend this fake dating romance (closed door) for an easy Christmas read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.