Such a great book, though at times I wanted to shake some sense into the two main characters. In December Lexie finds out her estranged father, Richard, has passed and left her with half of his company and the other half to one of his aspiring employees, Theo. They are required to work thr business for a year and turn a profit before any discussions of selling the business can commence.
Lexie struggles most of the book with her feelings towards her father. He left her and her mom for a new family when she was seven. Lexie never processed his leaving and thus flits around from job to job never putting down roots in order to protect herself from getting hurt.
Theo has never lived up to his parents high standards and has always felt like a disappointment. Prior to working at the travel agency he would also flit around from place to place and job to job. Richard was thr first person to believe in him.
Both Lexie and Theo have to come to terms with their past and learn communication can sometimes be the broken link that would have fixed some of their problems.

Emily Stone is a must-read author for me, and A Winter Wish has surpassed my expectations. I thought I would see somewhat of a miscommunication trope, based on the synopsis, but the story is more about wrong assumptions of others' intentions and motivations, and the resulting relationship issues both romantic and familial. This book really affected me emotionally, too. Lexie and Theo both have strained relationships with parents, and I felt the hurt on both sides as they failed to fully connect. The romance between the two was fairly predictable, but I enjoyed the journey along with the characters.

The travel agency that is depicted in the novel seems like such a fantastic idea. I enjoyed reading about the trips planned, and the experiences they included on the itineraries. What a great concept!

While parts of the book take place over the Christmas holiday, this is not a traditional 'Christmas romance' and would be a great read at any time of the year, especially in the winter.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for the digital ARC of A Winter Wish by Emily Stone. The opinions in this review are my own.

In A WINTER WISH by Emily Stone, we meet Lexie, who has just gotten a phone call from her mom. She tells Lexie her dad has died. After the funeral, she learns her dad has left her half of his company. He left the other half to Theo who worked for her dad for five years. He isnt thrilled with this deal and he lets Lexie know, over and over again. Will he try to push her out? Does she even want to keep her half? She hasn't had a real relationship with her dad in years after he left her family and started a new one. Keep the tissues close by! You are going to need them!


A WINTER WISH is going to pull at your heart strings throughout the story! Be prepared for Emily Stone to rip your heart out! She will do a nice job of putting it back together as well! A WINTER WISH is such a beautiful and heartbreaking story that had me wiping my eyes over and over again. The emotions this story will pull from the reader are extreme and heart tugging!. Emily Stone, you shredded my heart! If you love family drama and second chances, you will love this perfect story by Emily Stone. So many things take place in this book and you see these wonderful, realistic characters navigate these tough situations.


I don’t want to say too much for fear of giving away all of A WINTER WISH but once I started reading this beautiful and heart breaking story, I could not stop! Everyone should have this unforgettable book on their reading list if you don’t already. The dialogue between Theo and Lexie, is just hysterical. There is so much pain in this story and in Lexie’s heart that I was crying like a baby while reading but mostly when I was finished! I was instantly emotionally invested in all of the characters from page one and I can not wait to read more by this wonderful and heart tugging author.


I received a complimentary copy of this book from Fresh Fiction. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was okay for me. I think I was expecting more of a Christmas feeling from this book and there is hardly any Christmas feels. There are open door scenes and I prefer closed door romance. With that said, the book is well written and the romance is okay. I like the enemies to lovers feel. The Christmas traditions and travel agency is a fun twist. But it felt like something was missing for me with the relationship between, Lexie and Theo.

I loved Stone's previous novels and was very excited to have a chance to read A Winter's Wish. Unfortunately, this story was not quite to the same level as her previous work. The premise of the story was overall good but I just could not get into the characters and feel anything about their outcomes. I still appreciate the chance to read this advanced copy and thank the publishers for the chance.

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC. I really wanted to like this because it checked off a lot of boxes for me, but the writing style just didn’t click for me and I had to DNF.

A Winter Wish
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
368 pages
Releasing today: October 15th, 2024

An unexpected inheritance. Two polar opposites forced to work together. Lexie’s father passed away & she is unsure how to feel. They didn’t have the greatest relationship for the last 10 years. She is shocked to see that her father has left her half of his holiday travel company. She is also shocked to see the other half of the company is left to her father’s young bad-tempered executive, Theo. They both have to go on a work trip to Spain & chemistry starts to arise.

This book was cute, fun, and a light read. I enjoyed Theo & Lexie’s characters and their banter. The atmosphere of the book was overall great. I wish the relationship was stronger between Lexie & Theo, it would have made it easier to root for them!

Thank you @dellromance & @emstonewrites for the finished copy of this book!

Read if you like:
✨Forced proximity
✨Enemies to lovers
✨Holiday vibes
✨Slow Burn

#dellromance #emilystone #romance #holidayromance

I thought this was cute! I think Stone's other novels are stronger, but I found the travel agency concept charming. It blended Lexie's love of travel with an opportunity for a career, and Theo was very sweet as well. Well suited for each other. Some bits could have been more fleshed out, and I think the relationship between Lexie and Theo could have used a little bit more depth. I think they just went from hating each other to not so quickly. A slow burn in terms of physical intimacy but we still did not get to see much of them interacting aside from the two trips they went on. I also appreciated Lexie's conflicted emotions about her dad. She struggles throughout the novel with them, and truthfully anything less would not have felt genuine. I liked that, and she does show such growth. It also had a strong supporting cast which is always a important for me. Overall, I had fun reading it!

I've loved everything I've written by this author and A WINTER WISH might be my favorite of all. It's so cozy and heartwarming. While the chemistry between Lexi and Theo is major and I adored the romance aspect, Lexi's complicated feelings toward her late father broke my heart, and I really enjoyed seeing how the relationship with her half-sister developed. I loved the whole idea of the travel tours based on local traditions for celebrating holidays. I truly had trouble putting this down and can't wait for the author's next book.

Thank you, NetGalley for this arc of A Winter Wish. I tried really hard to finish this book and got about seven chapters from the end and just could not do it. I feel like the book dragged on and could have gotten to the point quicker. While I understand, the concept in storyline was good. I just felt like there was too much fluff in between and the character development was lack luster, I was expecting this book to be a little bit more winter focused and I just really wasn’t getting that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC!

3.5 Stars!!

Ahhh this was a fun, sweet, and tender holiday read. I love that we get grumpy/sunshine when it came to Theo and Lexie. As someone who isn't close with their dad, this story felt a bit tender. Lexie's estranged father passes away and leaves her half of his traveling business. She has to work through her emotions and grief and learn to work with Theo who owns the other half.

While this story was shorter, I would've liked to see more depth for the characters.

Once again I was moved to tears by Emily’s writing. I look forward to reading her newest holiday romance ever since I read Always in December three years ago! This one was just as fantastic and I loved it to pieces.

Lexie and Theo were both such flawed yet beautiful characters. Lexie having to learn to grieve her father while coming to terms that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. While Theo is dealing with the grief for the man that helped him find who he is. The development of their relationship was tragically romantic and the intimacy shared while still adversaries made it all the more emotional.

I loved their tender moments while they were warming up to each other. I also loved the closure each character reaches. The relationship Lexie forms with her sister, Rachel, was so heartwarming when all she wants to do is resent her father and sister. Again the character growth is always the main point and it was executed flawlessly.

Happy Pub Day to 𝘼 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙞𝙨𝙝 by Emily Stone! 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮 by this author is probably going to make my list of yearly favorites. While I didn't love this one, I still enjoyed it. But this is important!! DO NOT go into this book if you're in the mood for a light and cutesy romance. I know that's what the cover looks like but the main theme of this book is complicated grief after main character Lexie loses her dad at the beginning of the book. So please skip this one if the death of a parent and/or grief is a trigger for you ❤️
•
Lexie discovers she has inherited half of her estranged father's holiday travel company. They had barely spoke the last ten years so this was the last thing she was expecting. The other half of the company is Theo's, a man who worked for her dad. After a disastrous first meeting, they both find out they have to run the company together for a year before deciding to keep or sell the business. What follows is not only the journey of the new business owners, but Lexie's path of trying to figure out how she feels and can cope with her father's death.
•
𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝:
❄️ a mix of heavy and light moments
🎄 complicated familial relationships
❄️ UK setting + fun trips abroad
🎄 grumpy MMC

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, steamy and heartwarming. I enjoyed this book and will look for more books by this author.

A Winter Wish is a heartfelt read centered around the holidays. Always, in December was one of my favorite holiday books ever so I was so excited to get this arc!!

Lexie’s estranged father passed away and she’s surprised to find out he left her half of his holiday travel company. The other half of the company was left to Theo a young executive who worked for her father.
They have to run the company together for a year before being able to sell. The problem is Lexie and Theo can’t get along. Until their trip to Spain where they realize their connection is impossible to deny. But can they make a relationship work while running a company together?

This book while a romance also includes Lexie’s important journey of grief that she goes through. I enjoy Emily Stones books because they are heartfelt and emotional while also giving romcom vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the arc!!

QUICK GLANCE-
My format- ebook
Other formats 📖Physical (368 pages)🎧Audio (9 hrs 55 min)
Spice: 🌶️🌶️(skip chapters 21 and 26 for closed-door modifications)
Language: moderate🤐🤐
CW: ⚠️grieving the loss of a parent

MY THOUGHTS A Winter Wish is a story of grief, complicated relationships, finding yourself, and forgiveness. It was done beautifully. If you want a feel-good yet deep emotional read, check this one out!

🧲Opposites attract
💻Workplace romance
✈️Traveling
🔥 💗 Enemies to Lovers
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒Complex Family Dynamics
🎄Holiday romance
😂Witty banter

Thank you so much to @emstonewrites @netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

This book was so. freaking. good.

Lexie has a complicated relationship with her dad. He was her idol from her early childhood until he left her mom when she was 8 years old. While she loosely spent time with him and his new family, she felt increasingly pushed out and then when he flaked on her 21st birthday, she cut all contact with him. Now she travels for a living, working as a nanny and ski instructor abroad and makes a habit of ignoring any time her father reaches out. When her mom calls to let her know her dad passed away, she can't decide how she feels about the time she missed with him, especially as he leaves her half of his business and she quickly learns from her new business partners and associates that the father she knew was not the person they knew. With the condition that she and the co-partner need to keep the business afloat for one year, she embarks on a year long mission to unravel her complicated feelings about her dad, her feelings about family, discovering what she really wants out of life and who she wants with her for the ride.

This book was so sweet. It made me want to travel, it made me want to shake both characters, it made me love both MCs and many of the side characters. It was a great travel read.

#arc
#netgalley
#awinterwish

Do not let the cover fool you, this is not just a winter book, nor is it a "Christmas-y" book.Yes, the book starts and ends in the winter but it takes place over a year. Lexie has to return home to take care of the travel agency her (estranged) father left her in his will. She wants to sell it at the end of the year but the co-owner has no interest in that. Also, they fundamentally disagree on what kind of person Lexi's father was.

This is a cute romcom that I enjoyed a lot. Beyond that, there were conversations about difficult parental relationships for three of our characters- one was abandoned, one isn't accepted for whom they love, and one feels they'll never live up to their parents' expectations. It's also a story about learning to chase your bliss and realize that it's okay for what you want in life to change as you grow as a person.

It made me want to see the northern lights, which was a little hard because people in the US saw the northern lights just this past weekend. For those who are into spicy books, this book has one scene that isn't very spicy (which I appreciated as I am not a fan of super-steamy books).

My favorite part of this novel was watching the friendship grow between Lexie and Theo. Both brought so much hurt and pain from past family relationships that it made trusting others difficult and it made falling in love seemingly impossible. Both Lexie and Theo were victims of miscommunication by family too that immediately set them off as not liking each other.

I enjoyed "traveling" to places in Europe I've never been and liked the idea of the travel business Lexie and Theo inherited in which customers could experience the local businesses and cultural celebrations.

I never felt the chemistry between Lexie and Theo. I felt they made better friends than lovers. At times the pacing slowed and felt redundant and the events felt stilted and forced and sometimes just didn't fit. Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lexie was a nanny to Brea and Mikkel and she was kind of a free spirit but she got a call that her Dad had died. Even though he wasn’t with Lexie’s mom anymore or his latest wife and for that matter really didn’t have much communication with her. She finds out that her Dad had left his house to his daughter Rachel from last marriage and 1/2 of his company to her and her father’s coworker Theo. Theo and Lexie didn’t hit it off at first due to Theo being ill informed. It was funny watching the banter between the two.

I received this ARC from Netgalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily.