The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy is a heartwarming and delightful holiday rom-com perfect for fans of feel-good Christmas stories. Callie, heartbroken after being dumped by her childhood sweetheart, is in full "Grinch mode" and determined to avoid Christmas at all costs. To her dismay, her meddling sister Anita stages a holiday intervention, creating an Advent calendar filled with cheerful challenges designed to reignite Callie's belief in love, herself, and the magic of Christmas.

As Callie reluctantly participates in the tasks, she begins to open up to the festive spirit and a charming baker who could be just the person to help her heal. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and as they tackle the Advent calendar together, Callie's strict rules on love and the holidays are tested in the most heartwarming ways.

Cassidy’s writing is filled with warmth, humor, and just the right amount of holiday magic, making this a perfect read for cozy winter nights. The book balances sweet romance with themes of self-discovery and healing, and Callie’s journey from heartache to hope is both relatable and uplifting. With its charming setting and lovable characters, The Christmas Countdown is a feel-good holiday read that will leave you smiling long after the final page.

A feel good holiday novel! I loved The Christmas Wager last year and was super excited to read this one! Hallmark vibes for sure.

This was such an enjoyable Christmas romance! It can be hard to tell a unique story when it comes to holiday romances, however Holly Cassidy managed to pull it off. The advent calendar challenge was so fun and I enjoyed seeing the main character find herself again. At times the plot felt a bit predictable and I would have loved some more flushed out side characters. However, if you're looking for something light-hearted and festive, you can't go wrong with picking this one up!

General thoughts:

If the goal was to hate Grant, goal accomplished. What a dick! Lol. He embodies everything I loathe about corporate America.

Oliver not liking game of thrones but loving slasher movies is absolutely peek man to me.

I love the idea of an activity advent and may now do this myself next year. I found the connection between Callie and Marco very genuine and enticing.

This was a really sweet book. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read it early.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Christmas Countdown was my first book by Holly Cassidy, and it won’t be my last. I absolutely love Christmas romance books, and this one hit all the right notes—festive, heartwarming, and filled with charm.

Callie’s journey from heartbroken Grinch to someone rediscovering the joy of the holidays was so fun to read. I loved the advent calendar challenges, especially how they brought her and the charming baker, Taylor, together. Their chemistry was sweet and natural, and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop as they tackled the holiday tasks side by side.

The small-town setting and holiday atmosphere made everything feel cozy and magical. And the ending? So satisfying—it wrapped up the story in the perfect way. If you're looking for a feel-good holiday rom-com, this one is definitely worth a read!

What a fun book! I loved the idea of the advent calendar with a gift related to the next task to complete. It makes me want to do this for my family next Christmas. I loved the sisterly love and how each task was planned with such care and thought to get Callie out of her funk and back out enjoying life. The various scenarios were fun and cute (hello roof scene!) and just the right amount of romantic tension.

Thank you to @netgalley @berkleypub and @putnambooks for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"The Christmas Countdown" by Holly Cassidy is a heartwarming holiday romance that will leave you feeling cozy and cheerful. Recently heartbroken, Callie is determined to avoid the festive season. However, her determined sister has other plans, creating a series of festive challenges and treats to help Callie embrace the spirit of Christmas. When Callie finds herself struggling, the charming baker Marco steps in, offering his enthusiastic assistance.

As they navigate the countdown together, Callie and Marco find themselves drawn to each other, slowly learning to trust and open their hearts to love again. Cassidy delivers a delightful blend of Hallmark charm and subtle spice, creating a captivating and engaging read.

Highly recommended for fans of authors like Jenny Bayliss, "The Christmas Countdown" is the perfect holiday escape.

4 stars

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A cozy Christmas read! Perfect for that time of year. Holly Cassidy always creates the best little town settings.

3.5 stars.

Single POV, first person, closed door. Hallmark vibes.

A cute, quick romcom. I read this in one sitting. Callie’s sister revives their old holiday advent tradition of doing an activity and getting a treat in an effort to cheer her up after a bad breakup. Callie still works with her ex, and he moved on fast.
They run into Marco, our MMC, during one of these activities and the two have an instant connection. When Callie’s sister gets called away to work, she facilitates the opportunity for Marco to do the advent tasks in her absence. Each have a wholesome holiday theme.

The B Plot of Callie’s work having a shakeup was interesting, as was the wrench thrown in about Marco’s business.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!

This has such a fun premise, Callie’s sister makes an advent style calendar for her with treats and tasks to help get her more excited for the holidays after a breakup. There are so many festive happenings, constant Christmas cheer and it’s coupled with a sweet developing romance that I enjoyed. The narrator was delightful and did a great job!

If you’re looking for a closed door holiday romance then definitely give this one a try. Loved all the advent challenges and following along as Callie discovers who she is and who she wants to be.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC for my honest review!

Overall 3-3.5 star read for me. This was full of fluff and Christmas elements, a very Christmasy book which I did enjoy that aspect. I just felt that parts of this book fell flat for me, I wish there was more meddling (not normally something I want), and at times it felt slow. I was expecting to fly through this book but it took me quite some time, and I read several other books in between.

All in all, a fun holiday read, but not much that fully stood out to me or was very memorable.

(not shared outside of Goodreads due to lower rating)

This was so cute! I was hooked from the beginning and it was hard to put down. I loved the meet cute and how the story progressed. There is character development and a natural progression between pur main characters. This is the second book by this author that I have read and I have loved both so this will be an instant read author for me! The plot layout of advent challenges really made it hard to pause reading because you wanted to find out the next task and how our characters would interact. This is a closed door/fade to black, strangers to friends to lovers holiday romance. I can't wait for next Christmas and another book from this author.

Thank you to GP Putnam’s Sons and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

I rarely read romance, but I will read Holly Cassidy’s Christmas holiday romances, and this is my second one that I have read and loved. I love a good advent calendar and to incorporate one as part of the plot was fantastic and I listened to this in one sitting. Other than possibly including a murder (HA!), this was an amazing and lovely holiday read that I absolutely enjoyed. The audio was wonderful and I recommend reading it this way if you can.

Sooo very Hallmark movie, christmas edition. It's cute and I think a cool idea would be to read it like an adventure calendar during December. Tons of Christmas activities, and the story is a little predictable but eh, it's a Christmas romance so it kinda should be.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This novel wasn't great, but wasn't terrible either. I liked the idea of the older sister trying to get her younger sister into the holidays again by using the nostalgic advent calendar, but the romance portion was tiring. The writing made me not trust Vince from the beginning, and I was right in doing so. I wish there wouldn't have been any love mishaps in it, and more focused on her finding love with Marco while doing the Advent tasks.

A solid three stars for me, but I don't regret reading it. It was still a cozy holiday read, just not one I'd choose to re-read.

I loved the idea of the advent calendar from one sister to another, but the book was a bit too slow for me and I ended up DNFing it at 20%. The chemistry just wasn't there between the two main characters.

The Christmas Countdown is a charming Christmas rom-com. Callie is in a funk after breaking up with her childhood sweetheart boyfriend. Her sister Anita creates an advent calendar of gifts and challenges designed to get her back in the Christmas spirit. I loved the sweet romance that developed between Callie and Marco, as well as the sister relationship between Anita and Callie. The book was slightly cheesy in places (the puns became grating pretty quickly) but overall, this is a sweet lighthearted romance, perfect for the Hallmark movie lovers out there.

This was a cute hallmark christmas story. After 10 years Callies bf breaks up with her and her christmas spirit is gone. Her sister comes up with a plan for her to remember christmas past with an adventure calendar of sorts. This helps her find herself and maybe a cute man or 2.

This was a very "feel good" holiday book. I enjoyed the character development in the female main character. This one definitely got me in the Christmas mood! 4 stars!