I was invited by the publisher to review this book. This book had all of my favorites: holidays, opposites attracting, romance, plus an incorporation of a really fun idea for a travel company (how other cultures celebrate holidays). There was a nice dose of character development for Lexie, who's father died and left his business to, and I enjoyed the scenes between Lexie and Theo, an executive at her dad's company. I enjoyed this read; I thought it was fun and had an interesting backdrop with the holidays travel agency.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story about a woman whose estranged father passed and she finds herself with a business inheritance which leads her to reexamine him and her life. Great characters and romance.

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

Emily Stone has a new novel releasing from Random House Publishing group on October 15th called a Winter Wish. Our female main character Lexie has unexpectedly lost her father. She had an estranged relationship with him and thought he didn’t like her for most of her life. However, she inherits half of his travel agency company with Theo a main who owns the other half. The inheritance has a stipulation. Theo and Lexie must work together for one year and the company must turn a profit, if it doesn’t, they are locked in for five years and they cannot walk away or sell the company. Lexie didn’t know the company existed and doesn’t want anything to do with it. Theo helped build the company from the ground up and wants to keep it. The story follows them over the course of the next year as they navigate each others ideas for the company as well as cope with the grief of losing a loved one. This book was billed as a holiday romance, and although the travel agency books holidays around celebrations, there was no Christmas vibes at all. This book was more about found family. Lexie reconnects with a sister, a best friend, and finds family within the employees of the agency. Although there was a hint of romance between Lexie and Theo, the chemistry was lacking and forced. The best part of this book was the travel. We watch our cast of characters travel to a lemon festival in France, a Christmas market in Vienna, a winter cabin in Iceland, and a restored barn turned B&B in Northern Ireland. The excursions sounded fun and something that I would want to do. If you like travel and books about finding yourself then this is for you. Check trigger warnings if you’ve recently lost a loved one or have an estranged relationship with a parent. Thank you random house publishing group and NetGalley for the read!

I love a good December/holiday rom com! I feel a little honkers being in a Christmas mood in the middle of may but this definitely makes me look forward to the end of the year already! Haha! I love the dialogue between Lexie and MC.
This book is such a feel good story that it’s bound to be a hit! I kind of want to read it again already! I hope they turn this one into a movie.

Rating: 4
Vibe: cozy slow-burn
Format: ARC eBook

When Lexie’s estranged father dies, she is shocked to discover that he has left her half of his travel company. However, it comes with one major stipulation: She must work with Theo, to whom he left the other half of the company, for one year before they can decide to sell. She soon realizes that the company’s mission—to see the world through celebration—may have had more to do with her than she ever thought, and, perhaps, her father wasn’t the person she thought he was. And neither is Theo—especially as sparks begin to fly between the two.

I loved the holiday spirit imbued throughout this novel. Christmas and celebration were always at the forefront, regardless of the plot’s time of year. While I read this novel in the summer, I would definitely recommend cozying up with it in front of the fire this winter. Lexie is an extremely well-developed narrator and lead. She is sympathetic, and we understand as readers how her father has wronged her and why she is hesitant to start up a relationship with her half-sister, Rachel, after his death. Strong, silent Theo is equally complicated, with a family that he doesn’t connect well with. Instead, he finds a family in the company and Lexie’s father. Stone does an incredible job of showing how Lexie grapples with all these versions of her father that don’t align with the person she knew and how that impacts her grief and acceptance of his death. Family is ultimately at the core of this novel—the family we’re born with but also the family we choose. I felt like there was a lot of exposition in the beginning that slowed down the novel; while I understand it is intended to be a slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they, I found myself wishing the pace would increase. I definitely read the second half of the novel much more quickly than the first. In terms of satisfying the itch for a romantic comedy read, though, this book (and Stone) definitely delivered.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for granting me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Lexie was little, her and parents would take a trip to someplace new at Christmas. Those trips formed some of her best memories. However, when Lexie was still a child, her father had an affair and left his family to be with the other woman. He made some effort to stay involved with Lexie, but more often than not, he failed to keep his promises/commitments, and Lexie eventually gave up on him. As a young adult, Lexie has maintained her love of travel, taking short-term jobs (nanny, ski instructor, etc.) that allow her to travel and not stay in any one place for more than about six months, a year at most. However, when her father dies, Lexie discovers that her father had started a travel company that arranged custom trips centered around celebrations in the destination city/country and collaborated with local businesses to make the experience more memorable and personal. She also discovered that her father had left her half the company, with the other half going to one of his employees, Theo. Lexie and Theo are expected to run the business together for a year and if the business makes a profit, it can be sold. If it does not make a profit, they have to operate the business for another five years together. Lexie has a lot of unresolved issues/anger with/at her father and wants nothing to do with the company, especially after she and Theo get off to a rocky start. However, over time, Lexie will find herself becoming more involved in the company. Both Lexie and Theo will discover that their assumptions about each other are not entirely correct. And Lexie will realize that her father has created something unique with his travel company, and that it is his effort to make some amends for his prior failings.

“A Winter Wish” is a delightful book by Emily Stone.

Lexie, like many of Stone’s protagonists, is dealing with the loss of her estranged father. Hence, she is shocked when her father left her half of his travel company while the other half goes to loyal employee, Theo. But the company must turn a profit in a year, which sets of Lexie’s motivation. Of course, Lexie has antagonistic feelings toward Theo, though obviously the two are also headed toward romance.

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t connect to Lexie the way I had to Stone’s previous protagonists. There were moments in the story that were quite tender, and I appreciate stories laced with hope, but I wanted to care more than I did. I also thought the book was a bit formalistic.

Three stars.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. My thanks also to the publisher and the author, Emily Stone.

I’ll be honest and say this book wasn’t my cup of tea.

I really enjoyed Stone’s novel Love, Holly, so I was so excited to receive an ARC of her upcoming release. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with her characters.

Advertised as a romance, I felt this was lacking. Theo and Lexie hate each other for the first half of the book. There is a single, regretted kiss, but then nothing really romantic until the last 35%. It felt almost forced to me. I couldn’t feel the chemistry between these two. It was such a push and pull.

Lexie’s character seemed dynamic on paper, but I thought she fell flat. It was almost robotic the things she did. I wanted more from her. Maybe a deeper internal struggle for why she needs to stay away from Theo romantically versus her heart wanting him near.

It was also a sad novel that covered how your family can truly mess you up. I did feel for Lexie (I’ve been in a similar situation).

I think this book would be enjoyable if you’re in the mood for a sad book that goes beyond romance and makes you think about life and how those around us have the power to hurt us in ways that impact us for the rest of our lives. It’s deep, and was maybe a little too deep for me right now.

*An ARC was received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

𝗔 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗵 follows Lexie grappling with being incharge of her late father's travel company, considering they've been estranged for years. Add in Theo, the handsome co-owner who's infinitely distrusting of her intentions.

- ~ -

Cute story. Loved the aspect of travelling through celebration across cultures.

There were loads of commitment issues and temper issues, might I add.
Lexie is likely the author's most sassy character of any of her books (also the spiciest) and I was there for it.

Theo was a sweetheart. I loved his povs and the longing and pining? swoon.

The traveller in me definitely enjoyed the various trips to Madrid, Vienna, Ireland and that one perfect trip to Iceland and it's northern lights!!!

- ~ -

3.92 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun "beach read" (fire read for holiday themed books?). I loved some of the tropes used and thought it was a nice light plot.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "A Winter Wish" and all opinions expressed are my own. "Love, Holly" was my favorite and I also liked "Always, In December". So, this current book was not a favorite, it was okay.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Sadly this one didn’t do much for me. I’ve read this author in the past and liked her, but I couldn’t get into this book. The characters seemed really flat and all her books are starting to be the same.

A Winter Wish by Emily Stone is about a gift from an estranged father and realizing not everything was as it seemed. The theme of redeeming relationships in this story is lovely, and it was an enjoyable read. But I will say that it was not by favorite book by Emily. The main characters felt disconnected to me, but there were a lot of great secondary characters in the book.

Thank you netgalley for an arc of A Winter Wish by Emily Stone

This book is for you if you love Holiday Hallmark movies! It’s just one of those cozy and comfy feel good books that you can sit and read in a day or less.

Emily Stone is overall very well written.

For the most part this story is cute, but many moments it fell flat to me. I wish there was a bit more with the characters themselves, it didn't feel there was much depth with them.

The story has all of the Hallmark Christmas movie vibes.

I wasn’t expecting to open a Christmas book to start out feeling so hopeless. I stopped after chapter 2 (6%).

The writing was fine, the prose was fine, probably a 3-4 stars for the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

This book was cute! I loved the holiday and travel vibes. The characters were loveable. This felt like a hallmark movie in a good way. It was fun!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emily Stone is back with another heartfelt holiday novel. Lexie loses her father and while working through her grief, she finds out her father left her half of his travel company - only to find out she has to co-manage it for a minimum of a year with his sour-tempered executive, Theo. Tensions run high before a work trip to Spain that leaves them both questioning everything.

This book was fun. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't really revolve around Christmas because I was reading it out of season so that made it much more enjoyable for me. The characters were fun and the slight enemies-to-lovers trope was cute. Dreaming of a spicy work trip to Spain now...

A WINTER WISH ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. When Lexies estranged father dies, she is left half of his travel company in his will, although the owner of the other half was her father’s trusted colleague Theo. When Lexie finds out there is a clause, that the company must turn a profit in one years time to sell, she must decide how to proceed. This book was a cute, easy, hallmark style. The reason I’m not rating it higher was because I just felt I wanted more of a “winter” aspect to the book. Also, in the e book the travel agency focuses on adventures I would have loved to hear more of than the going back and forth between the characters. It was just okay, the book left me feeling indifferent. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC