Thanks for the opportunity to read this advanced copy. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Lexi’s journey in this story. Losing a parent is never easy and even harder when you weren’t on good terms. The author did a great job of of portraying her emotions as she tries to keep herself from running for her feelings and staying put and running the company and maybe even finding love. Great read!

I don't usually gravitate towards holiday romances but I thought this one was decent with some emotional punches. Upon her estranged father's death, Lexie learns that he left her half of his holiday travel company. The stipulation is for her to work there for a year, with Theo before she can decide what to do with her share of the company. Theo was her father's mentee and worked closely with him and his death hurt most of the people in the small company. Lexie, on the other hand, seemed a little glib and stand-offish at first.

After going on a trip to Spain with Theo and getting to know each other, sparks start to fly. Throughout the year and as they plan other trips, their slow burn gets turned up. Read this if you love slow burn, enemies to lovers, travel romances.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this eARC. A Winter Wish is out now.

Lexie doesn't know how to feel when her father passes away. She hasn't really spoken to him in almost 10 years and he left her and her mom to start a new family not including her. At the reading of the will she learns that she inherited half of her father's travel company R & L Travel; however, it comes with a few stipulations. She has to work at the company for a year and it has to make a profit that year before she can think to sell it. Lexie currently spends her time traveling from country to country find seasonal jobs along the way and is unsure if she wants to stop that to work at R & L, especially when she meets Theo, the grumpy guy that now owns the other half of R & L.

A Winter Wish was very heavy on grief and I am not sure if this book needed the added romance to it. I enjoyed the other Emily Stone holiday books and was excited about this one as well, but it definitely fell a little short for me. I think the romance part of the story was too forced for me. I am excited for Emily's next holiday book.

Thank you Emily Stone, Random House-Ballantine, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another emotional holiday read from Emily Stone.

The imagery and location settings were fantastic.

I really liked this!!! I absolutely loved the Wish Jar and everything that came with it. Theo bugged me at first but once there was an explanation it made sense and he grew on me. Lexie on the other hand did not. I wasn’t a fan from the beginning and although her character had a lot of growth it wasn’t enough to make me like her.

I just love Emily Stones writing. This one was a lot let emotional than her other books but it still packs a punch

The perfect little palate cleanser of a christmas book. It is also a perfect read for the general winter time and I highly recommend! Very cutesy but also emotional.

I have read several other books by the author, and they are all very emotional books. The author really knows how to write a book that sticks with you and pulls on your heartstrings. The situations are so realistic that it could be your family or friends experiencing it.
Sometimes you wake up and have no idea your life is going to completely change from mundane and totally ordinary to something you're not expecting at all.
This is what happens to our main character Lexie. Having her life thrown into chaos and uncertainty isn't her idea of fun. Oh Lexie, she rides a rising tide of emotions throughout the whole book. I started out feeling sorry for her character but became empathetic towards her, she has a lot more on her plate than the average person. Our main male character, Theo, I didn't like him at first at all. His character is not made out to be likable from the way he treats Lexie to their arguments. A work trip with our main characters forced to go starts to thaw this frosty relationship into a mutual attraction. I loved the dialogue between them when things started clicking, such humor and wit.
With some tough decisions ahead of her will Lexie make the right ones to not only have workplace peace of mind but with family relationships and her brightly burning love life.
Love the close family relationships of healing and coming together. Lovely story!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to @dellromance and @netgalley for the #gifted copy of this book.

Summary: Lexie is not sure how to feel when she finds out her father has passed away mostly because they haven't had much of a relationship in the last 10 years. But when she goes back for his funeral, she discovers that he has left her half of his holiday travel company. The other half has been left to Theo and they must work together for a year before deciding what to do with the company. Theo is less than thrilled to share this title with Lexie and makes everyone aware of it. But when a trip to Spain makes them rethink their first impressions, will they mix business with pleasure?

Dani's Thoughts: After reading Love, Holly last year, I became an instant Emily Stone fan and could not wait to get my hands on this one. I love the overarching messages Stone puts in her books and this one made me think about the relationships around me. Enemies to lovers is always a favorite of mine and these two certainly started in the enemy stage very quickly. But I love that as the walls between them started to melt away they realized how wrong they were in their first judgments.

But this story was so much more than a romance between Theo and Lexie. It was a story of grief, healing from years of hurt, and estranged sisters finally getting the time to grow a relationship that they should have been allowed to cultivate. It also was a story about finding out who you are and who you want to be. Lexie grew a lot throughout this book and it was fun to see how her life changed.

Read if you love:
🎄Christmas Romance
✈️Workplace Romance
💘 Enemies to Lovers
🔥Forced Proximity
🤩Slow Burn
🤣Fun Banter

3.25 🌟
I really wanted to enjoy this book more. The premise was great but the characters were super frustrating. I think the relationships needed to be developed more and some of the conflict was unnecessarily drawn out longer than it should have been. Overall the book was slow and fell flat for me.
I really enjoyed the concept of a travel company focused on celebrating specific holidays in other countries though. If it doesn't already exist, it should.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am a huge fan of Emily Stone and her novels. I love the Christmas/holiday romance novels more than I ever expected to. That said, A Winter Wish was not as wonderful as I expected- the romance portion felt forced to me and honestly not necessary. That said the rest of the book was wonderful and the storyline was intriguing. I loved the characters and most of their development through the novel. I just wish that the romance fit into the story better.

The story follows Lexie, who recently lost her father and her journey of inheritance. Lexie inherits half of her father's Holiday travel company which specializes in traveling and experiencing Christmas and other holiday traditions around the world. While the premise intrigues Lexie, she is not keen on her new business partner and the arrangement her father made. Her father gave the other half of the business to Theo, his best employee.

Theo is not Lexie's ideal business partner at all. While he gets things done and loves the company, he isn't a great partner. Let's just say Lexie and Theo clash in their goals for the company and in running it. A work trip to Spain changes that however and they start to fall for one another. Their chemistry is not sold, especially based on the previous interactions but it does follow the typical e enemies to lovers trope.

I love the novel, aside from the romance portion, so if you can overlook that portion, it's wonderful.

A beautiful story that delves into themes of grief, love, and personal growth. I loved the festive settings and the holiday spirit which give the novel a heartwarming aspect. Lexie and Theo have a complicated relationship and their discovery of themselves, and each other is captivating.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Emily is known for the best emotional holiday reads. Although I loved this one, I found it a bit different than her previous books. I was expecting a bigger heartache but still happy with the ending. I was rooting for both main characters to have their HEA. A great read no matter what time of year it is!

**Thank you to Random House Publishing for this free digital review copy.**

I found this to be a really sweet Christmas story about growth, forgiveness, and discovering what you really want out of life. It starts with a funeral, so from the beginning it’s clear that grief and loss will be a large part of the story, and it’s complicated. People make mistakes, but that doesn’t have to be the end of a relationship. The story was relatively believable and the romance didn’t come across as too cheesy or far-fetched. I appreciated that the entire story (except for one chapter) was from Lexie’s POV but still managed to flesh out Theo and the other characters well enough. There was a sweet found family element to the story, as well, that made for a very cozy holiday read.

3.25 stars

A Winter Wish by Emily Stone is my fourth novel by the author, and every holiday season I look forward to her latest seasonal offering, much like I do Emily Henry’s novels in the spring and summer. Stone’s latest book is probably her first one that feels lighter, or less focused on grief. Not that there aren’t moments of depth—and the instigating event IS Lexie’s estranged father’s death and the reading of his will.

While I enjoyed A Winter Wish, and would probably read almost anything Stone wrote, this one is probably my least favorite of hers. Just like all of Stone’s previous novels, the story is more about our main character’s journey and less about the romance. Most of the time I’m okay with that, but this time it was the romance I was most interested in. And I had a hard time connecting with Lexie, who I found juvenile and selfish at times. She’s a frustrating character in that she’s portrayed as very kind-hearted, making her selfishness toward her mother, father, and half-sister seem uncharacteristic.

There is also a large amount of miscommunication or lack of communication in this one, and it is my least favorite trope. It’s hard to ignore the fact that a simple conversation would solve so many of the conflicts in a story.

What I did like is whenever Lexie and love interest Theo were on the page together. I believed the sparks and I enjoyed their banter. I wanted more time with their story, especially when they travelled together. So, basically I wanted more romance. Is anyone surprised by that?!

The conflict in A Winter Wish, the fact that Lexie and Theo have to run her father’s travel company together for a year, seemed weak to me, as well, and I questioned the legality of it all. But it did give our characters a conflict to spar about, creating the tension I crave in my romances.

A Winter Wish is also light on Christmas. While the story starts and ends at Christmastime, the rest of the book takes place throughout the year, making it one that doesn’t have to be reserved for the holiday season. Even if this wasn’t my favorite of Stone’s, I’d still recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of her previous work!

Usually devour some Emily Stone and feel some major feelings when I read along... but this one was different. This one didn't promote deep feelings and it felt like the story was just forced overall. The relationship, the events, everything just felt off. I also just didn't feel the emotions I normally feel when I read Emily Stone so that's kind of sad. Not one that I would recommend to others as it missed the mark majorly for me.. I wanted my sweet and deep story! Thanks for the opportunity though.

I have loved everything but Emily Stone and this was no exception. I love the travel talk and how the holiday celebrations were tied into the trips

I will always read a holiday book written by Emily Stone! I loved how this book was consistent with her other books in that it offered depth, an emotional impact, and themes that touch on grief and complex families. What sets this apart from her other novels is the romance aspect which felt much stronger and fully developed. By the time the couple got together, I had faith in their HEA! Perfectly cozy book to read during the winter and holiday season!

The Winter Wish is the first novel I read by Emily Stone and it was such a pleasant surprise! I came in to read it without expecting much, and it got me missing Christmas already. I loved how this book portraited (to me, at least) the Christmas vibe in little things like: having compassion for people, forgiving, healing, paying attention to local small businesses during this time of year, family, finding yourself and what you want for your life, and of course, traveling!

So basically without giving too much of the book away, the story revolves around Lexie, who is this adventurous girl that loves bouncing from place to place, and suddenly finds herself co-owning a travel company with Theo. This all happens because of her estranged dad's will, which is kind of messy, but also the perfect setup for some serious drama. At first, these two are like oil and water, but as they work together planning magical holiday trips, things get better in the most slow-burn way.

Lexie and Theo both have to navigate grief and loss in their own way and come to terms into how the person they both knew who put them into this situation is a human being, multilayered and complex. And that having a person into your life who is amazing does not mean that this person doesn't do no wrong or makes mistakes. We all have multiple sides of ourselves and things we wish we could do better. I loved seeing their journey and their baggage around their family drama and how it shaped them into the decisions that they made in this story.

Anyway, overall it was a great and emotional read, with a lot of traveling around Europe and major inspo for future ventures. Found it all very exciting to read about different celebrations around the globe and the idea around their company.

Tropes found here:
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Slow burn
- Travel/holiday romance
- Found family

If you're into romance with a sprinkle of family feels, and that cozy Christmas magic, The Winter Wish will make your heart so happy. I'm glad I picked it up.

In a perfect world, my coffee would always be warm, my pillow always cool, and my holiday romances always written by Emily Stone.

In A Winter Wish, Emily Stone yet again returns to form (she never left form--to be clear). Lexie has never been close to her father so she's especially mixed up when he dies and leaves her half of his travel company, alongside Theo, his young, enterprising business affiliate. Theo is a boor and makes Lexie's life extremely difficult. She just has to get through a year (a stipulation of the will) working with Theo and then they can decide what to do with the company next.

If you've ever read Stone before, you'll recognize her trademark ability to bring real conflict and personal struggle into her stories. A Winter Wish is a deep look at the ways our pasts shape us (for good or bad) and the ways we work through grief. While Theo wasn't my favorite MMC, I loved the story we went through with Lexie. This is a great holiday romance for those looking for a bit more substance.

Unfortunately for me A Winter Wish was a DNF at 50%. It had two things I generally dislike in a romance: a male main character who is just immediately mean to the our female main character and even though we are in the POV of the FMC we don’t really get much about her emotions until they are discussed in dialogue. The main conflict for her is that her absent father has just died and she inherits part of his travel agency business. It’s a very complicated situation and yet the MMC is just so mean right out the gate and blaming her for how the will was written and like she didn’t talk to her father out of spite. I do think there is an interesting dynamic with how she got some of the worst of her father while others got the best but by 50% I was just annoyed. I didn’t want the two main characters together and that just isn’t what you want in a romance plot so DNF was my best option. I do think this could work for some people but it just wasn’t for me.