Rockwell has come back to Bearwood for a brief visit to help his friend and check on his mother. He has not been back home for over 7 years and he absolutely does not want to stay in this small town. But, his friend has loaned him an apartment and it just happens to be next to his Ex, Brie! And Brie just may end up changing his mind.

Brie has been given a notebook to write down her list for Christmas wishes. She writes down her ex boyfriend’s name, Rockewell. And lo and behold, within seconds he is standing at her door.

I am on a Christmas book kick. I find this time of year very draining and rushed. So, I thought some Christmas books would help keep me from falling apart and hurting someone. 😂.

This book is adorable. I loved Brie and her antics…and yes she gets herself in a mess more than twice! She is just what I needed! Then there is Rockwell! He did a runner on Brie when they were teenagers. He has no intention of staying in Bearwood, nor does he plan to fall in love! But Kismet has other plans.

I have not read the others in this series and this is a stand alone. BUT! I am adding the others to my list. This book did exactly what I wanted it to do! Bah humbug 😂😂😂

Need a cute romance to keep the Christmas spirit…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review .

Merry Kismet is the second in a series written by different authors and can be read as a stand alone book. Cute but predictable story of first loves meeting up again in their hometown. The first half of the book was really repetitive, both main characters repeatedly going through all the reasons they wouldn’t work out. Fun, easy read, but a bit repetitive.

This book was so cute. The narrators were great as well. Hallmarky, Christmasy goodness! Brie & Rockwell were fun to follow & I can't wait to check out more by this author.

A sweet second chance, Holiday romance. Brie and Rockwell grew up together in a small town they were high school sweethearts until Rockwell broke up with Bree and moved away. Now he’s back to try and convince his mother to move to the big city where he lives so he could take better care of her. While he’s home during the Christmas holiday, he and Brie pick up where they left off. It is a clean, wholesome romance that you can enjoy without really thinking about it. There’s not a lot of drama, it’s just flirty fun. I listened to the audiobook that had both a female and male narrator. For me something was off, I felt like I had to slow the speed down and turn up the volume when the male was speaking. They didn’t seem to be consistent. Maybe that was just what I was listening on, so hopefully that it’s not a problem for anyone else. I’m giving, this book 3 1/2 stars, I just didn’t feel connected with the characters. It was a cute story, but not one of my favorites. I have loved other books by this author, and will continue to read her books, this one just missed the mark for me a little bit. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you for the review copy of this title - this was a sweet second chance story that was perfect just a few days before Christmas. I enjoyed listening to the main characters fall in love again and will gladly recommend it to sweet romance lovers in our store.

This was a 2nd chance love story! I loved it! Perfect for getting in the spirit of Christmas!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own!

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Select for an audio copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally care for second chance romances. I still give them a try now and then. I'm so happy I did in this case, this romance was great! Ihighly recommend the audiobook!

Brie and Rockwell had broken up seven years before. She still missed him, so when he came back to town for the holidays, she was excited. This had all the Hallmark vibes with forced proximity, fake dating and meddling matchmakers.

I listened to the audio for this one. The male narrator's parts were muffled and of low quality so it was a bit of an adjustment when switching POVs. The female narrator did a great job though.

This was a cute holiday romance that could easily be read in a day. Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

A super cute and fun holiday read! I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit. I loved the second chance romance, I just wish there was a bit more Christmas in the story.

I must address the elephant in the room: Rockwell? ROCKWELL?!?!?! I'm such a huge Name Nerd and his name took me out of the story every single time I heard it. Not only has Rockwell never appeared in the top 1,000 baby names since 1880, but if we look at the time Rockwell and Bree were supposed to be born, Rockwell was given to less than 5 boys per year. In years since it's gained a *little* bit of traction, but still there haven't been more than ~100 boys born in any given year EVER named Rockwell. That's out of about 4 million babies. Authors, I beg of you, do research before you choose names!

Off my name soapbox, this book itself was okay. It started out great, but I couldn't stand this couple together and wasn't able to root for them at all. Where was the chemistry? Not all romances need a second chance, sometimes the people are better off not together. The writing also felt very juveniles, but perhaps that was the narrators' deliveries. There were also some issues with my audiobook, but hopefully that has been fixed.

Thanks to netgalley

Brie Holland never got over her first love, Rockwell, the guy who left her and their hometown to go live in the city. When a nice cashier tells her about Christmas wish lists (or Kismet lists), the young woman finds herself making one and writing her ex's name at the top. Soon after, someone rings at her door, and it is none other than Rockwell. Bree has now a second chance at a happily ever after with the only guy she's ever loved.

Lovely little story for the holiday season. I'll admit that I found it a bit underwhelming though ... We knew from the beginning that Bree and Rockwell weren't over each other, so their relationship didn’t really evolve or anything (but they were cute together). All the characters were one dimentional, especially Bree who didn’t have anything to say other than she wanted her ex back, and despite Rockwell's complicated family history (meh).

🎧 Audiobook : 2.5/5 I don’t know if there's an issue with the version I downloaded but the audio quality in Rockwell's chapters wasn’t very good. Bree's chapters were fine.

⛄️ Is it Christmassy enough ? 4/5 a family get together, ugly sweaters, small town events, cookie baking ... Yes !

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for giving me access to this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book was so adorable and fun!

The characters were relatable and had a lot of depth and growth throughout the story. Their romance was so sweet and I loved the chemistry and history their friendship had. It felt like a Hallmark movie done right!

As someone who married their high school boyfriend, I could relate and loved the second chance from teenage love.

I really liked the narrators but the male narrator’s recording was not great quality. I listened through netgalley so the final version might be better.

I binged it in two days and couldn’t have gotten the Netgalley approval at a better time! I was so glad to sneak in one more adorable Christmas story into the season.

🔥: kisses

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ALC. All thoughts are my own.

Very cute (yet very predictable) short holiday romance. I got this as an audio book and, while I enjoyed the narrators, the male narrator sometimes sounded like he was in an empty box while recording. It was odd and was a stark contrast to the female narrators recording environment (not a huge deterrent, but something I noticed as a huge audio book reader). Solid 3.5 stars.

The start of the book made me a little worried about it being too cheesy for my taste but the further i got into the book, the more i enjoyed it. I thought the couple was sweet and faced realistic troubles which was nice because you could really put yourself in their shoes.

Thank you to the author, narrators, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this title in exchange for my review.

I thought this was a cute, if predictable, holiday romance story. It was fun to get to know the characters a bit and see the story unfold. It is rather predictable, though, so not a lot of surprises.

I hope the audio is fixed before the release, though, because the male parts were very difficult to hear clearly, the recording was both not very clear and also much softer in volume than the female portions.

3 stars for 'I liked it'

Second-chance holiday romance = check. Merry Kismet had me laughing out loud. I’m honestly not sure I ever stopped. Brie is so the sunshine to Rockwells grump. Watching (or listening to, I guess) his heart of ice melt for her was just *chef’s kiss*. Honestly, there’s just something about high school sweethearts going their separate ways (on bad terms of course!) and reconnecting years down the line that hits different. If you can’t tell, Merry Kismet met a few trope boxes here, in the most amazing way.

My only problem was with the male narrators audio quality. The female narrator was crisp and clear, absolutely perfect. Our male narrator sounded like he was in a tunnel, going through a windstorm all whilst covering his mouth. I had to turn the volume up on his parts to hear (I only use one earbud at work) and then back down for Brie’s part.

As far as the story itself though? Super cute holiday rom-com!

I listened to an audiobook performance by Elise Taff and Sean Yves Lessard and I loved every part of the narrative, generally I don't like it when there is dual pov and the female voice does a falsetto or imitation of the male voice and vice versa, but these two narrators solved it very well, and I really enjoyed the story through their voices
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Merry Kismet is a second chance romance, between Brie, an elementary school teacher, and her High School boyfriend Rockwell who mysteriously appears on her doorstep after she writes his name on a Christmas wish list given to her by a very mysterious lady
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From that moment Brie tries to become disenchanted with the love she continues to have for him while she has a little hope for that future that could not be. While they live together as neighbors in the middle of the town Christmas festivities
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I really enjoyed the story although I had a hard time understanding the reason why they had ended the relationship and why Brie wasn't angry with him if he had disappeared years ago without a word, but then everything run smoothly
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I enjoyed the beautiful scenes painted by the narrations and each interaction of the protagonists that keep make me smile.
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Thanks to Anneka R. Walker and Dreamscape Select for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

This is my second read in the Gift-Wrapped Romance series of standalone books and it was another enjoyable cozy Christmas story. I really enjoy second chance romance and this one had that touch of Christmas magic that we love in these stories. I was so afraid that Brie was going to get her heart broken again but Rockwell pulled through. The third act was handled really well and I enjoyed the sweet moments between the main characters. I just wanted a little more of their backstory and more info in the epilogue on Rockwell’s current situation.

I listened to the audio of this on an ALC from NetGalley. I thought both narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life though the sound quality on Rockwell’s chapters needed some work.

Content Notes: Infidelity (side character), kisses, sick parent

I love this book! Love that they had a male and female narrator! The story is so sweet and has a great flow! Can't wait to listen to more from her.

I really enjoyed Brie and Rockwood's story. This book is perfect for fans of second chance romance and friends to lovers. A great Christmas read.