2.5 Stars. When three adult siblings hit crossroads in their personal and romantic lives, they return home to the Catskills for the holidays. Liz is a Hollywood showrunner, unsure with the direction to take her show after a hit first season, and how to deal with her crush on the show’s star, Violet. Birdie is a struggling comedian constantly trying to attract attention from every woman she meets. Rafi was recently turned down when proposing to his girlfriend, and needs an escape. The three, along with their mother, famous actress Babs, hope for a reset over the holiday season.

I read this book in honor of Christmas in July, but unfortunately it was not the book for me. It’s a very character-driven plot with the three different romances developing, but with so much going on, it just wasn’t holding my attention. I also didn’t find myself loving any of the three siblings—they were fine {with the exception Birdie, I disliked her} but just not characters I found myself particularly invested in. I enjoyed the moments when they were participating in holiday activities, such as Christmas tree shopping and baking cookies, and would have loved more focus on these type of things. While this book was not a match for me, if you like romance books with some steam, complex characters, and multiple relationships, this may be the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for my gifted e-ARC!

"Most Wonderful" is a heartwarming and festive tale set during a family Christmas at the Belvedere Inn. The story beautifully intertwines love, laughter, and surprises, making it a perfect holiday read.

The novel centers around a famous mother who is secretly battling an illness while trying to maintain the joy of the season for her children. This dynamic adds a layer of poignancy to the story, highlighting themes of familial love and the strength of keeping up appearances during tough times.

One of the standout aspects of "Most Wonderful" is its authentic and sensitive portrayal of characters discovering their sexuality. The way the author handles these revelations with care and realism adds depth to the narrative, making it relatable and impactful.

The setting of the Belvedere Inn provides a charming and cozy backdrop, enhancing the festive atmosphere. The author does an excellent job of making Christmas truly feel like the most wonderful time of the year, filled with warmth and togetherness.

Overall, "Most Wonderful" is a delightful read that captures the essence of the holiday season. Its blend of humor, heartfelt moments, and surprising twists keeps readers engaged from start to finish. If you're looking for a book that embodies the spirit of Christmas and celebrates love in all its forms, this is a must-read.

This book was sweet and enjoyable and I’m looking forward to re reading it during the holiday season to feel those jolly vibes! I loved that we got THREE queer love stories and it was just really beautiful!

A cute book but a bit of a slow-going, uphill read for me. Dialogue, especially, felt forced and I had trouble connecting with the characters. Even still, taken at face value as a sweet holiday story (which, bonus: focuses on queer relationships!) is a win. 3 Stars.

Georgia Clark does it again. Most Wonderful is a rollicking page turner that many of my friends will be receiving as a Christmas gift this year.

Winter in the Summer!

"Most Wonderful" is an absolutely charming read. It’s cozy, feel-good, heartwarming, and refreshingly engaging, featuring one of the most swoon-worthy romances I've come across. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

A great read and I look forward to reading more from Georgia Clark! This is more than your standard holiday romance. Of course, there is the fabulous swoony nature of attraction and love but there is also a beautiful sibling relationship that feels very real and nuanced. And an exploration of emotions that is often lacking in romance novels. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and was sad to see it end.

A family navigates through changes. Babs, a performer of 50 years, celebrates every Christmas with a family gathering. Her daughters, Liv and Birdie, along with her son Rajit, make it a point to visit. The story unfolds around her life and the lives of her children, encompassing joy, drama, and change. It's a sweet and affectionate tale that I would recommend to all readers.

Christmas is here early 🎄🌈
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I almost wanted to wait until December to finish this book! Will def. Be purchasing once it’s out. At the beginning I was worried the multiple POV wouldn’t help with setting up the ambience but it honestly felt like being in the middle of it all.
I ‘gobbled’ this up! Found myself feeling like I was reading some family tea and wanting to find out more about how it all connected and so on. Def a queer holiday must have!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to. I love Georgia Clarks books

"For those who create, seek, or champion queer joy."

This book brings all the holiday joy. A must-read.
The sarcasm. The sense of humor. The witty and heartfelt writing. Tropes for everyone.

What's not to love?

Honestly, perfect holiday read. Liz would call it "colorful organized chaos." Rafi might add that "his heart felt like it'd been stomped on by a rogue herd of reindeer." And Birdie? Well..."What does success have to do with happiness, right?" Be aware, this book is unafraid of hard topics. Add in a famous mom with a holiday inn, and you've got magic.

<i>Thank you to Dial Press Trade and Netgalley for this eARC. This is my honest review.</i>

This was a sweet, intensely queer holiday rom-com. And with 3 love stories going on, it was honestly a lot of juggling to make it flow properly, however Georgia Clark manages very, very well, for the most part. It's also officially the, probably, the second gayest holiday book I've read, after [book:Make the Season Bright|206180603], though with all love to Ashley Blake, I think this one has a smidge more focus.

The Belvedere siblings are great. Immensely flawed, but also completely loveable. In some ways, the oldest, Liz, feels like the central protagonist, at least by typical rom-com standards. We start the book on her POV and end it there as well. Liz's story has the most tropes, as well (spoiler:<spoiler>a full sex scene, the dreaded 3rd act break-up, and a traditional HEA</spoiler>). Liz felt like someone who was forced to be type A by circumstance (although it was implied she took after her father in that way), and it was lovely to see her choosing to be lightly selfish at times. Her love interest, Violet, was obviously fantastic and reminded me of Katie Price from [book:Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous|195790770], which I will never hate.

Middle child Birdie was a walking disaster, and I kinda loved her. There was points where I had to put my phone down, just turn away because I could see something she was doing would be terrible and I mildly hoped if I looked away from the page long enough, that would change and/or not happen, yet of course it did and all I could do was cringe. On the flipside, she arguably has the biggest arch of the three siblings. Her opposites attract romance with Jecka was also great. (another spoiler: <spoiler>I like that their story ended on a hopeful note, rather than Clark trying to shoehorn a full HEA in for them. I think that would have done a disservice to Birdie's journey to work on herself.</spoiler>)

Finally, Rafi was just a sweetheart. His story in some ways had the lowest stakes. He fell for his best friend, the equally sweet (albeit apparently ripped) Ash, and it never felt like they weren't going to get together. But in a way, that lets the reader just sit back and enjoy their chapters for what they are.

All that said, every story did feel a little trimmed, like you couldn't get a utterly complete picture just by the very nature of trying to fit 3 love stories into one standard novel, set over a full month (in a bit of an afterword Clark mentions the book being almost twice as long prior to revising and <i>of course it was</i>). I wish we could have had a fuller look at things...it felt like Birdie's story with Jecka may have suffered the most, there seemed to me to be more statements like 'they did this and this and great sex' without much detail (it felt notable that the Belvedere sibling that seemed to have the most sex prior to the start of the book only had off the page sex once she met 'the one', but maybe that contrast was on purpose).

Minor qualms aside, I really loved this book, and can't wait to put it in people's hands for the holiday season! 4.5 stars rounded up.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc!!

this was a cute story but overall ended up just being a 3 star read for me. there were a few pacing issues and just not overall a super memorable story for me. I love that there are more sapphic options now and I hope the publishing industry continues to publish more!

Growing up watching copious amounts of Hallmark movies and being disappointed in the lack of queer couples means the premise of this book was a dream come true for me. We follow three queer siblings returning home to their mother's house for a Christmas filled with chaos, tears, and love. This book is great for anyone who is a fan of the classic features of Hallmark movies - cheesy, corny dialogue, too perfect to be real happenstances, and happy endings for all - but make it queer.

In terms of the couples, I really enjoyed the best friends to lovers story of Rafi and Ash, and the coworkers to lovers story of Liz and Violet. All four of these characters felt real and I was rooting for their happiness at the end. Unfortunately I didn't quite feel the same for Birdie and Jecka. I really didn't like Birdie for the first half of the book, and maybe that was intentional, but it made me drastically slow down in my reading and enjoyment every time one of her chapters would come up. By the end of the book, Birdie had grown on me a bit and I did like the conclusion to her story with Jecka, but overall I wasn't a fan of her parts of the book. I felt like Birdie as well as the siblings' mom, Babs, felt like caricatures which stood out negatively against the other characterizations in the book. Despite having so many main couples, I felt like Clark did a great job at balancing all of the characters' page time and development, and they all felt like unique voices.

While I did find there to be too many pop culture references for my liking, I was pleasantly surprised by the way several different serious topics were woven into the story. Things like alcoholism/addiction, depression and anxiety, and parent death were all handled with care.

Overall, I found this to be a cute Christmas read despite its imperfections! Thank you to
Random House, Dial Press, and Netgalley for this eARC!

Most Wonderful is a queer holiday romance perfect for the holiday season! The story centers around three siblings, Liz, Birdie and Rafi who travel home to their famous mother’s beautiful home in Woodstock NY for the holiday season. We follow each of the Belvedere siblings on their journey to finding love.

I love good banter, and the banter between the siblings was spot on and quite funny. Their relationship was really special and I enjoyed how they supported each other through all the trials and tribulations. I also really loved their mom, Babs, she was such a character and really was a fun addition to the family dynamic.

The slow build-up to Christmas really worked for me. The book has a great Christmasy vibe. We have all the parts of a great Christmas story; family gathered together in a big house, picking out and decorating the Christmas tree, baking cookies, as well as family fun and of course drama.

I enjoyed each of their love stories, though at times it was a lot to have three separate love storylines going in alternating chapters. My favorite was the romance between Liz and Violet, they have great chemistry. I really thought their story was well done and was the one that I felt most invested in. I know a lot of readers love steam, and if that is your thing this is the book for you! I prefer a closed door romance myself, so those parts were a bit of a struggle for me personally.

Overall a great holiday story and I recommend it if you love a good Christmas romance!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dial Press Trade Paperback, Georgia Clark, and NetGalley for the gifted digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars
-
This is the perfect kind of book I needed right now in the middle of summer; just when you think you're getting one queer love story, you get three queer sibling love stories. I was a little worried at first as we bounced between the sibling's POVs - but after a few chapters, it was easy to distinguish who was who. I enjoyed that the siblings were SO different, often when you read familial tales, it seems that sibling characters are carbon copies of each other.

In this countdown to Christmas story, we follow the Belvedere siblings as they head to their famous mother's Catskill Manor in hopes of escaping reality to work on themselves. Liz is a Hollywood showrunner who's trying to up the next season of their hit show, Birdie is a comedian but is more focused on ladies and booze and faces the possibility of having her career fizzle, and finally, Rafi the youngest of the three who proposes to his girlfriend in front of all their coworkers and gets rejected. Throughout the story, you learn to fall in love with this trio of siblings and start rooting for them wanting the best.

Although this is penned as a Christmas story, I felt like it was focused more on the family and their lives with a bit of holiday magic sprinkled throughout. This book doesn't shy away from spicy scenes, each of the siblings has a romantic plot that will leave you blushing! You end up falling in love with the siblings and with their mother Babs even more - she's eccentric as can be and doesn't shy away from anything.
-
I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Dial Press Trade Paperback, and Georgia Clark for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book publishes on October 15th, 2024 - preoder yours today!

Most Wonderful was such a delight! I loved the festive, wintry setting of the book. I'm impressed that the author was able to successfully weave the love stories of three very different characters into one story, but she did it and she did it so well. Each of the characters are three-dimensional and so relatable!

Most Wonderful is an absolutely delightful and cozy Holiday romcom. It has real heart and emotional depth while keeping the overall tone of the book light (which is a real feat!) Definitely put this one on your cozy winter reads list!!

I wonderful cozy (and spicyyyy) romcom wrapped in a Christmas bow. Multiple POV, eccentric and queer characters makes this a great read for anyone during the Christmas season!

A fun novel that gives you the heartwarming feeling everyone is looking for at the holidays! I always love a good wintery book during that awkward time between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and I think everyone will want to pick this one up.