A Winter Wish is the story of a woman who inherits half of her estranged father’s travel business and has to grapple with her emotions and feelings surrounding that, given their fractured relationship. And she has a wish jar that she brings with her everywhere - a tradition from when she was a kid and her dad still lived with her. Welp. This book hit me wayyyyy too close to home. So close that I wasn’t sure I would even get through it. But I am glad I did. It was emotional and sweet with a charming cast of characters and a sweet romance. I loved the different trips they went on. I loved the dynamics of the employees. I just loved seeing her find herself and learn to let go of the past and move forward. All the warm fuzzies. Even if it made me cry more than once.

Ok, this book does take place during Christmas but it's not a true Christmas romance. It's more like a let's figure out why your crappy father decided to repair his relationship with you after he died. It was good but when you're wanting a Christmas romance, this isn't it. It's a great woman's fiction story of everyone coming to their own relationship/life realization book.

Lexie and Theo are forced to work together when she is left half of her fathers company and the other half has been left to the top executive at the company. The only stipulation in her fathers will is that they have to run the company together for a year before deciding what to do. As they are working together on a trip in Spain, they find that they may like each other more than they thought.

This was a cute story between two enemies who were forced to work together when they didn't want to. The tension was built up great and the work trip to Spain revealed their true feelings for each other. Such a fun, cute read.

book did resonate with me more than I thought it would because of the fact that Lexi's father had unexpectedly died of cancer. She hadn't spoken to her father in years as he left her mom and her for another woman and was not as present of a father as he should have been. My own father died of cancer and also passed away without me having seen him in a couple years. My relationship was better with my father but he also left my family for another woman. With all of this going on I could relate to some of the emotions Lexi felt in this novel. There were some parts when I was a little frustrated with Lexi and her inability to see the other side of things especially when it came to her half sister. I was rooting for her and hoping things would turn out well.

This is the third book I have read by Emily Stone and I always enjoy them. In this novel there was a lot of travel and I loved all of the different settings. The business mentioned in this book is a great idea and I wish it was real so I could travel with them. Overall, I enjoyed the different characters and the romance.

Thank you to Dell Books/Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for this ARC.

A Winter Wish has just a smidge of melancholy, a splash of serendipity and a dollop of emotions, It's the perfect cozy book to curl up with by the fire to get you in the festive spirit. I thought it was just lovely.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for the eARC.

A Winter Wish by Emily Stone was the exact holiday romance I was looking for. Hallmark Channel esque but a little more for me. What a lovely read.

3.5 stars

I had been putting off reading Emily Stone's work, as it's the more emotional type of romance that I don't gravitate towards, but this one wasn't too much of a tearjerker despite the heavier themes of parental abandonment and death. I struggled a bit with the pacing, where it felt like it too a very long time for anything to happen despite the storyline being condensed into one year's time frame.

Lexie has always lived the life of a nomad, never spending more than 6 months in European location and temporary job. When her estranged father Richard passes away and unexpectedly leaves her half of his holiday tour travel company, she finds herself tethered for one year back in England per the will's stipulation with her new co-owner, Theo. The two butt heads immediately, with Lexie wanting to sell the company after their year is up and Theo wanting to make something of Richard's legacy. Lexie has a hard time coming to terms with working with people who had a very different view of the man who abandoned her and her mother for a new wife and family, though over time she discovers that in his own way, he still tried to honor their relationship by building a company based around their holiday traditions. Knowing his death was impending, Richard tried to manipulate Lexie and Theo together, feeling they would balance each other out, but their relationship felt forced and lacked sparks, with Lexie being an emotionally closed off runner. I do enjoy anything with a European travel theme, so it was interesting to read about that aspect of the story, but otherwise this was a very bland romance that tried to pull at your heartstrings but came up short.

A beautiful story of dealing with grief after losing a parent, a parent that hasn’t been in your life for years.

Lexie dealing with the grief of losing her father not just once but twice in her life felt so realistic and I appreciate that from the author. However, she really avoided conflict so much (I get it girl) but it got so annoying, especially at the end.

I liked Lexie and Theo together but we barely got to see them fall in love. It all just happens in a span of a year and I wanted more of that.

Overall, a good holiday read for the season. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Stone has established herself as a dependable and creative author of the Christmas rom com, and A winter wish doesn’t disappoint. When Lexie’s estranged father dies and leaves her half of his successful travel agency, with, of course strings attached, she is confused. To benefit from the value of the company, she must attempt to participate in the business for one year. The catch is, her father left the other half of the company to Theo, a young man who has worked in the company shoulder to shoulder to Lexie’s father. He’s smug and angry and grieving in ways Lexie can’t imagine. In fact, she’s grieving the father she knew before he divorced her mother, and those memories complicate both her ability to accept the gift, and Theo, as she learns more of who her father, Theo—and herself—really are.
There are great settings in lovely cities that will not only make you swoon with romance but want to book tickets with the agency! A Winter Wish was released on October 16, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House/Ballantine for the review copy.

I absolutely devoured this book. So so good. I plan to read again in December.
This one is a bit of a gut punch because she is estranged from her father. So much is processing her grief while dealing with his inheritance.
It’s an enjoyable yet poignant holiday treat. Highly recommend.

An old story wrapped up in new Christmas paper makes for a good holiday romance filled with all the tropes we have come to love!

Lexie's father left her and her mom when she was 7 to start a new family with his mistress and their child. She grew up being let down time and again and stopped talking to him 10 years ago. Now, she works at whatever job lets her keep from setting down roots and convinces herself she's happy like that. Except her dad passed away and left her half of his travel company, a company built around the trips they used to take before he left. Bad enough that she's forced to participate in running the company for a year, she also has to do it with handsome but grouchy Theo, who is quick to let her know he very much dislikes her.

It's a story that would have been solved in a few pages if anyone had just spoken up and said what they were thinking and then listened to the other side of the story. But then we wouldn't have gotten to read about Lexie and Theo slowly opening up to the possibility of more. And it's not just between the main couple; things would have been so much easier for everyone if only there had been the most basic communication. It's almost a warning of how wrong things can go if you bottle things up and don't speak to others about your feelings for them.

Aside from that, Stone does a great job of letting you slowly discover all the facets of the characters as they navigate some complicated dynamics and emotions. I appreciate how much importance is put into accepting that there are always two sides to every story and things might not be as simple as you might think.

It's sweet and romantic and you get to experience pretty much all of the emotions. You'll also walk away with a major desire to travel and experience everything the world has to offer.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Dell for the romantic read!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book has everything readers could hope for in a holiday read: a romance, family drama, a family business in need of some saving, and a wanderlust-inducing setting. I appreciated how this book balanced the deeper themes about family with the enemies-to-lovers plot line. I also enjoyed that it tugged at the heart strings without bringing me to tears (like many of Stone’s books in the past have!).

When Lexie finds out her father has passed she doesn’t really know how to feel. Since he left her and her mom when she was a child, he has been known to cancel plans, or just not show up when he is expected. She is even more shocked when she finds out she has been left half his company. The other half has been left to Theo, an employee at the company. The two must work together and turn a profit the first year in order to be allowed to sell the business. Too bad Theo seems to hate her…

Oh man did my heart hurt for Lexie. I totally understood her feelings toward her father and why she was infuriated by Theo giving her a hard time about their relationship. Emily Stone has such a way of writing grief, and family issues, I just knew that I would need the tissues at some point while reading this one. I really enjoyed following along as Lexi and Theo began to fall for each other, like we all knew they should from the very beginning. As always Stone left me with all the feelings reading this one.

Thank you to @randomhouse for my gifted copy of this book!

This one took me a bit to get into, but it’s a cute holiday read. I love an enemy to lovers trope. It’s a bit of a slow burn. Lexi inherits half of her estranged father’s travel business, and the other half goes to Theo, who she can’t stand at first sight. I received a free copy of A Winter Wish from the author, publisher, and netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4 stars
🌶️🌶️🌶️ - 3 spice level
What to expect:
❄️Holiday Romance
❄️Grumpy x Sunshine
❄️Strangers to Enemies to Lovers
❄️Forced Proximity
❄️Opposites Attract

This was such an emotional, roller coaster of a read. I loved that even though it spanned the entire year, it had a strong winter/holiday aspect to it as well. Lexie, the MFC, and Theo, the MMC, go on this crazy journey from enemies, if you want to call them that, to friends and then so much more along the way. I felt the story was beautifully written and I enjoyed all the details of the places they traveled to through the travel company.. While there were some parts that were a little slow for me, I felt their romance and the story was a great one and I am so glad I was able to read it.

This cover is so gorgeous, and a new holiday book by Emily Stone is always a treat! In A Winter Wish, Lexi gets a call from her mom right before Christmas that her father has died. Even though they haven't spoken in years, her dad left her his travel agency with the stipulation that she run the agency with his very unpleasant employee, Theo. Over the course of a year, Lexi and Theo try to work together, taking two steps forward and one step back. The romance follows the classic enemies to lovers format, but I sadly never felt much connection to these characters. The romance may not have worked for me, but the book does a wonderful job exploring the grief surrounding complicated family relationships. Lexi's growth in relating to her family, especially her half-sister, Rachel, made the book enjoyable for me. I also loved reading the scenes from their agency's group trips throughout Europe. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the librarian preview copy!

Lexie is surprised to learn that she has inherited half of her estranged father’s company after his death. She begins to learn more about him - and herself - the more she spends time with the people who knew a different side of her dad.

I really liked the travel idea and enjoyed Lexie and Theo’s relationship. It was fun to learn more about different cultures and traditions through this book and I felt that Lexie grew a lot! Some Christmas feels, but definitely can be read at any time!

What happens when you find out not only did you father passed away but you also inherited half of said estranged father's travel company? Chaos. Lexie hasn't spoken to her father in years. She finds herself fifty percent owner of a travel company which specializes in travel packages tailored to celebrating festivals around Europe. She used to dream of doing this with her father when she was younger, but then he left his family and started gettng closer to his new family. Not only does Lexie have to learn to run the new company, she has to get along with the other partner. One she has never met. These two find a friendship together as she learns things about her father that she never knew.
This is a heartwarming holiday romance I loved reading and would love to see on screen.

I have really enjoyed Emily Stone’s other novels, so when I heard about A Winter Wish, I immediately added it to my TBR.

Lexie is a free spirit, moving frequently and enjoying a life without being tied down. Then her estranged father passes away and leaves her co-owner of his business. Lexie has to decide if she wants to take on this challenge.

I really enjoyed most of this story. I did feel like giving Lexie a little shake a few times because we have very different personalities and I wanted her to make different decisions. (Stop running away from EVERYTHING!!) The book moved me to tears a few times, and I also smiled through more light-hearted moments. I liked the travel descriptions, but some parts of the plot dragged a little.

Give this one a try if you’re a fan of Stone’s other novels. This one is not quite up there with Always, In December, but it’s a solid read. 3.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read and review this ARC.