Charlotte Lane is a former child star and her one and only role was as the lovable main character for a beloved Christmas movie. When she shoots down the idea for a reboot, the public is outraged, sending Charlotte running to her sister’s home in London for Christmas. During an outing, she runs into Graham, whose English manor home just so happens to be the film site of her movie! Trying to save his family’s estate, Graham’s entire life is centered around Christmas cheer and Charlotte’s movie. The two team up to create holiday film themed art pieces Graham’s family can sell over the holidays, but get more that they expected when they find themselves falling for each other. 🎄

I loved Graham and his commitment to his family and to Charlotte. He was a bit rigid in some things, but Charlotte helped him see the light and he was open to listening. Graham went out of his way to ensure Charlotte didn’t feel taken advantage of by the Christmas movie angle they were working. Which leads me to one of my dislikes… Charlotte constantly talked about how she hated everything Christmas, the movie she was in, holidays, and family, and it was too much. The third act conflict seemed to be blown way out of proportion. I understand this was so Charlotte could have her big character growth moment (and it was a good one, I’ll give it that) but it could have been avoided and addressed much earlier instead of being dragged out for 80% of the book.

Okay, one of the standouts for me were the side characters. Charlotte’s sister, Ava, and her family?! I need a book of just them on a family holiday. Seriously, I loved seeing the demon baby representation because yeah, babies aren’t always cute and sweet but that seems to be all we get in romcoms. So props to Waters for writing a baby that makes people want to tear out their eardrums.🤣🫶🍼👼

There were so many tropes going on here and it’s discussed in the book as the entire plot centers around classic holiday, hallmark-y movie, romcoms, and I loved it! The characters joke about the Meet Cute, the Grand Gesture, the Perfect Kiss in Front of a Christmas Tree, etc. and it just really worked for me and made me smile! 🎄🎅❄️⛄️

This was a fun read and will be great for reading in the lead up to the holidays! Christmas Is All Around features all the trademarks of a classic romcom and isn’t to be missed! Thanks to the publisher for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

A Christmas Rom Com with Banter galore, a must read for your Holiday TBR! 4/4.5

Charlotte Lane is a certified Grinch, with a strong distaste for Christmas and all things holiday cheer! This may have everything to do with her short lived child star moment in a hallmark level cringe film "Christmas, Truly." 20 years later when Charlotte refuses to participate in the sequel, she decides to flee the chaos of the holidays in NYC, to visit her sister in London. Though Christmas, Truly, is never too far away; a fact made evidently clear when Charlotte and the fam visit Eden Priory, a beautiful and once great house that happened to be a filming location from her festively haunted past. Enter Graham Calloway. In efforts to save his generational family home, Graham elicits the help of Charlotte, and commissions some of her artwork to be sold at Eden Priory. A business arrangement, nothing more. But when the two start to spend more time together, can they avoid the Hallmark movie Christmas magic circling around them?

This book was such a fun read! I was lucky enough to be sent a digital ARC before publication in October, but I'll definitely be re-reading during the holiday season! The banter between these two is so funny but also dry! I loved it! She's a grumpy sassy New Yorker and he's a grumpy stoic Englishman. The cultural clashes and sarcasm made for some incredible laugh out loud moments and the dynamic between the two characters was pretty realistic. And that's coming from a sassy New Yorker who happens to be dating a grumpy Englishman!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Cute and fun read with likeable characters. Perfect for lovers of holiday novels and I can never resist a good holiday read. it was a perfect read for in between my fantasy reads. Quick and easy to read with opposites attract trope. Definitely recommend!

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

This was a very cute holiday read! Add it to your TBR if you are looking for a cozy read for the holiday season. I loved seeing the MCs relationship bloom and that they got along with each other’s families. The only (small) issues that I had were the 3rd person POV, the frequent run on sentences, and the no communication at times. Other than that, very cute read!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

I was very excited to read a contemporary Martha Waters! This one has all her usual charm and wit with a semi-sly FMC. It maybe starts a little slow and the ending is a trifle heavy handed on Christmas (intentionally, I think) but I was along for a fun ride in between. I physically smiled while reading it. I hope Waters writes more in any genre-- I'll read them all.

This was such a fun festive read! I adored the setting of London during Christmastime and the descriptions of all the festive activities the characters went to like the lights in Kew Gardens. The banter between Charlotte and Graham was excellent and it was fun that the book was centered around fake "iconic" Christmas movies set in England. Christmas Is All Around is overall a solid Christmas romcom that is the ideal read for under the Christmas tree.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good book. I enjoyed how the characters were opposites. Charlotte wanted to avoid Christmas and the Christmas movie she had filmed, while Graham had it as a major focal point. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Graham and Charlotte develop. There were cute together! I did feel like at times this book dragged on a bit.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this title. While this is a fictionalized story, we really need to let celebrities BE. They are people underneath it all and are NOT the characters they portray in the shows and movies. That being said, this was a cute book. I'm a sucker for a holiday romance and this checked the boxes for me.

christmas in september, i wish. anyway this was cuteish? personally i didn’t connect with the plot very well. i wanted to (and waited) to feel more for the characters than i did, but ultimately i didn’t. charlotte got annoying at times, which is unfortunate. i am glad this book is self aware of all the christmas time tropes though.

About: Charlotte, an artist living in New York, starred in a Christmas movie as a child and now hates anything to do with the holiday season. When she suddenly starts facing backlash from fans after declining to star in a reboot of the film, Charlotte decides to spend December with her sister in London. She is dragged along to many holly jolly festivities and unknowingly attends an event at Eden Priory - a historical home that just so happened to be a filming location for the exact movie that she once starred in. After being left behind by her sister, Charlotte gets to know the family that runs the property, including the handsome son named Graham. She learns about their financial struggles to keep the home operational and volunteers her artistic talents to help source some income for them. She works closely with Graham to revisit other famous locations of holiday movies, which leads to her unpacking her own feelings about the special time of year and her feelings towards Graham himself.



Review:

As a big fan of all the cozy holiday feelings, I was eager to read a book from the other perspective - the added depth of Charlotte’s character having once starred in a famous Christmas film causing her to be a prominent aspect in many people’s holiday enjoyment (while she was constantly trying to outrun it) was fun to follow along with! I loved how Charlotte seemed to be living out her own holiday romcom throughout the whole book - while being so aware that it was happening - and how that helped her reevaluate her own strong feelings towards many aspects of her life. One of my favorite subplots was the general chaos that Charlotte’s sister and family added. I definitely felt a bit reflective of my own enthusiasm for the holidays from a different perspective based on their devoted commitment to all merriment of the season.

Overall, a fun cozy read for December!

Martha Waters has been an auto-buy author for me since reading To Have and To Hoax. Historical romance has always been difficult for me to get into, but Martha Waters got me to love the genre. When I saw that she was publishing a Christmas modern romance, I knew I would have to get my hands on it!

Ever since Charlotte appeared in a beloved Christmas movie as a child, she has detested the holiday. This year, her dislike has been amplified by the fact that news got out that Charlotte refused to participate in a reboot, thereby sparking a frenzy of angry DMs and fans. Charlotte decides to escape the mania by visiting her sister in England for the five weeks leading up to Christmas. Charlotte's sister leans into the Christmas spirit and drags Charlotte to Eden Priory for a tree lighting by highlighting the fact that the home once belonged to the famous artist Christian Calloway. When they drive up to the property, Charlotte cannot shake the deja vu feeling that she has been here before. Once inside, she remembers that she has been here before, as it was the location of an infamous scene from the very Christmas movie that caused her fly halfway around the world.

Charlotte immediately finds a hiding place in the home, hoping to avoid fan recognition (and angry outbursts!), but her solitude is short-lived when Graham enters the space and starts stripping out of his felt reindeer costume. Turns out that Eden Priory is Graham's family home, and it's not doing well financially. When he learns that Charlotte is a graphic designer, he asks if she would be willing to do some custom pieces of Eden Priory and other famous Christmas movie locations to sell in the gift shop. As Charlotte and Graham visit each movie location, Charlotte's Grinch-like heart began to grow - both in her outlook on Christmas and on Graham.

My thoughts:
The setting of this book was absolutely magnificent. I loved visiting the iconic UK spots at Christmas time, and after reading this book, I seriously considered how I could plan a UK Christmas in my future! I also enjoyed the nod to Love, Actually - the movie that Charlotte stars in is called Christmas, Truly, and it similarly follows many characters' storylines around Christmas - I mean, the opening line of the book references being gloomy about the state of the world and finding oneself at Heathrow airport. As a Love, Actually fan, I loved catching all the slight nods to the movie!

When I read multiple books by an author, it's hard not to compare the book to the author's previous works, and, for me, her foray into modern romance just did not hold up. I have come to expect sizzling chemistry from a Martha Waters book, and this book's romance was more on par with a Hallmark movie. I also found Charlotte's anti-Christmas cheer to be a bit much at times - I wanted to shout "We get it! You don't like Christmas!" several times throughout the book.

I have posted a review to GoodReads, and I will share a review on my bookstagram @thecozybookgal closer to the publishing date!

This Christmas time romance is really good! I loved listening to this on my kindle like an audiobook. I loved the setting, characters and the way this book made me laugh! Love that it’s also Christmas theme because I enjoy reading Christmas books even as early as August!

Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters
lighthearted medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0

I enjoyed this modern romance something I haven’t seen done from this author. It had the perfect mix of hallmark vibes, chemistry and banter. I was thankful there was only one steamy scene and it was after 50%. This was so fun to read (even in August).

An absolute delight!! Charlotte has had enough of being accosted by angry fans of "Christmas Truly" and flees to her sister's home in England to avoid any further harassment. The movie, that she starred in as a child, has somewhat of a cult following and the makers are interested in a sequel revolving around the child stars as adults. Charlotte hates any reminder of the movie and Christmas as well.

Once she arrives in England, she finds that her sister's in-laws have rented the flat above theirs until the New Year and has all sorts of Christmas events planned for the entire family. If that is not enough, add what Charlotte considers to be her sister's demon spawn - a baby who is intent on making everyone miserable with her attitude that often results in screaming a top volume.

Things change for Charlotte when a visit to Eden Priory, the home of her favorite artist, turns out to be the setting of the English side of the movie. There she meets the heirs of the original owner and forms a friendship/relationship with Graham Calloway. Graham wants to commission Charlotte to create prints of several other movie-related sites in England - something that could be profitable to both.

But what happens when Charlotte finds out that Graham has lied to her, albeit, through omission? And with only days left before she returns to New York, is there any chance to salvage what has been lost?

I thoroughly loved this book and would definitely give it more than 5 stars if available! I will be on the lookout for more works by Martha Waters!

Charlotte is a child star that became famous from staring in a Christmas movie, and ever since then she has hated Christmas with a passion. 20 years later she gets roasted online for saying no to a remake and she decided to hide out in London where her sister lives.

Graham is the happy go lucky Londoner who is trying to save his family business. He meets Charlotte and hires her to create Christmas motifs and to do a couple celebrity appearances at his business.

As they tour the city looking for inspiration, they slowly, ever so slowly, fall in love.

This was a very cute story and a very quick read. I enjoyed the characters and definitely felt the Christmas cheer.

Tropes You'll Love: Tropes We All Hate In The Book:
. Reverse Black Cat x Golden Retriever . Miscommunication
. Slow Burn . 3rd Act Breakup
. British Men
. Holiday Romance

Charlotte hate hates Christmas from her childhood she just hasn't loved the holiday season. But when she stumbles upon Graham and she spends more time with him she is opening to the idea of liking Christmas once again.

A very cute holiday rom-com that references a fictional version of that Christmas movie we all love, even though we know we probably shouldn’t. I loved that she was a child star, and really enjoyed her sister’s family dynamics. A London setting at the holidays gets me every time!

3.75 stars

A rom-com that also pokes fun at the genre and features some great dialogue. Charlotte is an artist who starred in an iconic Christmas film as a girl. She is under fire on social media for not agreeing to do a reunion flick 20 years later. She decides it would be a good time to get away and goes for an extended visit to her sister in London for a few weeks.

Charlotte loathes the film she was in and pretty much anything Christmas-related. Unfortunately her sister has a new baby and her family is into all the holiday events and activities. Charlotte chooses what and how much she will do but is still not on board.

She does accompany them to a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at an old estate belonging to an artist she likes. She doesn't realize until she gets there that it was one of the locations for her movie. She accidentally meets the estate family who is struggling to maintain the house. She becomes reluctantly involved with Graham, the son who is trying to stave off financial meltdown.

The characters are easy to root for, there is a lot of humor, and the banter between Charlotte and Graham is entertaining. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is one I can say, I appreciate that it was predictable and exactly what I want from a Christmas romance book. I loved that the book was set in England with what I pictured to be a giant castle that was in need of saving. There was a lot of self reflecting from the main character, and I loved that as well. I was smiling as I finished this book and you really couldn't ask for anything more. Thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC of this book!