A Winter Wish is a holiday novel about Lexi and follows Lexi as she deals with the results of her father’s will.

Thank you net galley for this arc.

ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ || A WINTER WISH [thank you to @dellromance and @netgalley for my #gifted copy!]

Title: A Winter Wish by Emily Stone
Genre: Romance
Format: Digital
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ:
Lexie inherits half of her estranged father's holiday travel company, which specializes in global holiday traditions. The other half is left to Theo, her father's attractive but irritable young executive, and they must run the company together for a year before deciding its future. Initially planning to leave after the year, Lexie becomes intrigued by the company's mission and finds undeniable chemistry with Theo during a work trip to Spain. Despite initial judgments and the complications of mixing business with pleasure, their relationship begins to evolve.

ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
After reading and loving “Love, Holly” last year, I was really looking forward to Stone’s holiday novel! However, this one fell a little flat for me. While I loved the characters (both MCs and Ange especially), the premise (inheriting half of a travel company so you can travel for free, come on!), and the setting, something just didn’t hit for me. Plus, what I think was supposed to be the “big reveal” was something I caught from the first mention, so I felt like the climax fell flat.

Some other things I DID really enjoy:
✨ THE BANTER. Honestly, I was highlighting like crazy because I could not get enough of Theo and Lexie’s give-and-take.
✨ I’ll say it again: Ange.
✨ I really enjoyed the complicated representation of grief present here. For the most part, Lexie has written her father off (as he seems to have done the same with her) but as she reminisces about the past, she finds that she has both good and bad memories of her dad. And it’s okay to miss them both.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Just One Taste by Lizzy Dent
Enemies-to-Lovers
Workplace Romance
Strained Parent Relationships
Working Through Grief
Open Door Romance (Mild)

ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟꜱ:
GR: 3.67 ⭐️
# of Pages: 368
Pub Date: October 15, 2024

"A Winter Wish" by Emily Stone is a heartwarming and enchanting story that perfectly captures the magic of the holiday season. The author's beautiful prose and vivid descriptions create a cozy, festive atmosphere that immediately draws you in. The characters are wonderfully crafted, each with their own unique charm and depth, making it easy to connect with their hopes and dreams. The central theme of wishes and the power of hope is explored with tenderness and sincerity, leaving a lasting impression on the reader. The romance is sweet and genuine, unfolding naturally against the backdrop of a picturesque winter wonderland. Emily Stone has crafted a delightful and uplifting tale that is perfect for curling up with on a cold winter's night. "A Winter Wish" is a must-read for anyone looking to experience the warmth and joy of the holiday season through a beautifully told story. Highly recommended!

While Lexie learns of her inheritance she has to reconsider what she wants out of life - being a nomad who has no place to call her home other than the accommodations of her employer or return to the place that her estranged father called home and take her place in his company. As she tries to go back to her nomadic lifestyle she yearns to learn more about the company she easily tried to sell and the people who come along with it.

The real star of this book for me was the company, as an avid traveler I've always dreamed of visiting places when holidays or big events happen and R&L Travel takes that idea and turns its travelers into locals. Stone's descriptions of the places and festivals bring the reader right there to experience it all as Lexie and Theo navigate their partnership.

Thank you, NetGalley, Random House Ballantine, and Emily Stone for this ARC all opinions are my own. Be sure to check out Love, Holly if you enjoyed this book also by Emily Stone!

I didn't enjoy neither the writing, nor the plot, nor the characters. One of those cases, when I am not sure whether it was me or the book, but I was bored and wished to be done with it as soon as possible, there was no funny laugh out loud moments, no captivating banter and the chemistry was not-existent.

This book felt like one of the Hallmark movies: too overused and lacking any substance.

Christmas in July with A Winter Wish

“She’d never lose what she had here. Because these people were her home. And really, it didn’t get much better than that, did it?”

Despite not having a real relationship with her dad in years, Lexie is left half of his travel company when he dies, with the expectation of her running the company for at least one year with Theo, who owns the other half.  This year at the company brings with it snap judgements, several work trips, and lots of self-discovery.

I love Emily’s books.  I love that they are always centered around the holidays, but at their core are so much more.  And this was no exception.  I loved that Lexie and Theo made several assumptions about each other at the beginning, but through working together, they find how similar they really are.  I loved that through the company, Lexie is able to uncover other versions of her dad, most that don’t align with the person she knew, but that open her eyes to the man he was trying to be for her.  With this, family is a major theme, both the family we are born into and the family we find and choose along the way.  I loved that Lexie was able to finally feel at home with the people around her.  And of course, I loved the celebration destinations…makes me want to start traveling more, especially to similar festivals and/or destinations!

A Winter Wish comes out October 15!

Thank you to @netgalley @emstonewrites and @randomhouse for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 out of 5. Emily Stone is my queen of Holiday Books. She is the Emily Henry of the Christmas season, an automatic read, and of course it was the first book I read in the genre this year. This one is a really good book, but it falls a bit short of her prior efforts, and maybe why its ranked a bit lower than those. As any good Emily Stone book, you will be crying at some point in this book, the romance and the growth does come with a side of pain always. I really loved the travel aspect of the book ,not only in their job but all the scouting, it made me want to spend Christmas in Iceland! However are we to believe than in 2024 there is a Physical travel agency staying in business doing custom Holiday travels?. It might be too good to be true, but i suspended my disbelief and went along for the ride. As a side note, Ange is a total kick ass side character and I want all her festive and theme earrings!

I have never read any of Emily Stone's books before, and I was pleasantly surprised by A Winter Wish. Emily does not shy away from difficult topics while sprinkling in a bit of romance to keep readers turning the page. That being said, I requested this book because the summary made me believe this was an enemies-to-lovers romance (my personal favorite trope), and while there definitely was an enemies-to-lovers romance, Lexie and Theo's relationship is not the central story.

Lexie is consumed by wanderlust, never spending more than a few months in the same place. She is working as a nanny in the Alps when she gets a call that her estranged father has passed away. She flies home to attend the funeral and the reading of the will, at which time she learns that she has inherited half of her father's company, R & L Travel. Her initial inclination is to sell the company and be done with her father, but there are conditions to her inheritance. She must work at the company for a year, and if it turns a profit, she may sell her share. She has no desire to stay in Bath for an entire year and work with Theo, the man who seems to grind her every gear, but her best friend, who is a lawyer, can find no way out of this clause, so Lexie begrudgingly finds herself becoming immersed in the business. The more she works at the company her father founded, the more she understands her father's actions and is finally able to begin healing the wounds of her childhood.

I highly suggest picking up this book with the understanding that this book is much more than a romance. I would say that it's a story of grief and difficult parental relationships with a sprinkling of romance.

Read this book if you love:
-Travel
-Holiday traditions
-Enemies to lovers
-Workplace banter
-A grumpy MMC

Trigger Warnings: Death of a parent, cancer, parental abandonment, infidelity

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. I have posted this review on Goodreads and will share on my Bookstagram account @thecozybookgal closer to the publication date.

A Winter Wish by Emily Stone:
Rating: 4 ⭐️s

***Trigger warning: loss of parent (father)

I remember reading Always, in December by Emily Stone and absolutely sobbing. While I loved the book, I also remember thinking, I shouldn’t be crying this hard over a Christmas book! While Stone’s latest Christmas book has some tearjerker elements, it definitely is more of what I consider to be a Christmas/holiday read with a happy ending.

After the death of her estranged father, Lexie has to decide if she wants to continue living her nomadic lifestyle or if she wants to put down roots and fulfill her father’s wishes. She has to decide if stability and even a genuine relationship are worth it all.

I liked Lexie a lot because she seemed real. The chemistry between Theo and her was definitely written well. I definitely enjoyed how it all was wrapped up.

A very cute winter/ christmassy read! (Ignore the fact I read it in July lol) Thank You to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this Arc in exchange for my honest review!

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump and I feel like this book is helping to pull me out of it! A great read if you just want something feel good, especially leading up to the holidays! Reading it in July was a bit random, but it’s just made me more excited for Christmas! Loved that this story explores a lot of complex relationships and one’s relationship with grief.
Will say I noticed some grammar mistakes, but can only think of two off the top of my head.

I have this secret little love of reading ARCs in July that are wintery/Christmasy. This one has a little Christmas in July but not a ton of Christmas spirit, I enjoyed the overall story but felt like I was skimming/bored near the end. 2.5 stars

If it’s written by Emily Stone, I’m reading it! Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Net Galley for this ARC! Grateful for celebrating Christmas in July ❤️

This book is for my hyper-independent girlies with severe wanderlust and an avoidant attachment style 😊

I love my girl Lexie! Her desire for adventure and experiencing new places and things, how could I not love her? Despite her VERY complicated relationship with her dad, I love that he left her a travel company he made for her. It encouraged the part of her that sought out new places and provided an opportunity to build a community that feels like home.

The initial tension between Lexie and Theo!! 😮‍💨🥵 It was enjoyable to watch these two slowly permit themselves to take a chance on one another. It was beautiful to see them open up to one another and be vulnerable. A love story we can all root for!

This book has me looking up flights to everywhere and anywhere. And as someone who is DREAMING of going to Iceland one day, this book has encouraged me to keep that hope alive 🥲

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Lexie is surprised to get a call from her mom about her dad. Since he divorced her mom she's had little contact. She is surprised to learn that she will be working with his business partner. This was an enjoyable holiday read.

Super cute romance story with a prominent theme of grief and how people handle their acceptance in their own way. Initially I thought it was going to be a Christmas read, but it is not the normal Christmas romance where it is based only in December, it is based over a whole year and can be read at any point!

I truly enjoyed this story and definitely recommend reading it, and not just at Christmas time even though that is kind of what the title and cover imply!

I admit, I love reading about Christmas when it's July. As the temperatures soared above 90 in real life, the world of A Winter's Wish was cozy and sparkly and invitingly cool.

The better part of the book actually spans a year, the year after Lexie's absentee father passed away and left her half of his travel company. The other half went to his employee Theo, whom Lexie finds stubborn and frustrating and...quite handsome. The premise is actually brilliant: a travel firm based in celebrating holidays around the world. We touch on some spring and summer holidays - all quirky - but always return to Christmas.

Christmas is complicated for Lexie - once her favorite holiday, she has shied away from celebrating properly ever since her father left her and her mother to start a family with someone else. As she is forced to stay in one place and navigate both the firm and sticky relationships, Lexie begins to understand not only her father, but herself.

There is romance, but the best part of this book is Lexie mending the relationship with her half-sister and strengthening her bonds with old friends and her mom. And as she travels from Iceland to Madrid to Austria, Lexie learns that here's no place like home, after all.

This was such a sweet story. I really loved Lexie’s journey of diving into her feelings and allowing herself to go on quite the journey (literally and figuratively) through the emotions of her relationship with her dad and how his death made her feel.

I also really loved the couple chapters we got from Theo’s POV 🥰

Not to mention her reading her dads letter at the end had me ugly crying 🥲❤️‍🩹

While the book didn’t center around Christmas the whole time, it did start and end there, and a lot of the book focused on Christmas traditions

Overall, it's a very lovely story... With some emotional turmoil. The main focus is probably running from our problems doesn't necessarily solve them...but in a fun light. The characters are very likeable (for the most part)... Some might hold on to the past a little bit too much. I love the idea of R&L travel and would definitely travel with a company like that. I do feel like a few phrases were a bit overused, but doesn't necessarily subtract from the story. The character growth was good with multiple characters and helps demonstrate we are all at different places in our lives. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll swoon and all the other things. Has a focus around the Christmas holiday, so could definitely be a part of your holiday reading list!

Thank you Random House Publishing for my #gifted Netgalleu ebook.

When Lexie learns of the unexpected death of her estranged father she also receives the shock of her life when he leaves his company for her to run with one of his business partners, Theo.

They’re required to run the company together for a year before making any decisions on selling.

What I liked:
Enemies to lovers feel
Slow burn
Heartfelt issues to work through
Travel and experiences
Healing
Forgiveness
Found family
Theo and Lexie’s journey

What I didn’t like:
The cover felt a little misleading to me. It gives the impression it’s a Christmas story, but it had very little “Christmas” in the story.

I’m not a fan of a 3rd act breakup with a complete miscommunication “I wont even hear you out” scenario. However, in this situation it fit with the characters past and although it’s not my favorite - it worked.

Romance Content: One open door scene (not explicit) easy to skip.

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.

A fantastic story of self discovery and forgiveness. I felt everything that Lexie felt as it reminded me of my relationship with my own father. You won't be disappointed.