Member Reviews
Sinopsis en españolCharlotte odia las fiestas. Como ex actriz infantil, protagonizó un clásico moderno de una película navideña, y sus fans no la dejarán seguir adelante. Cuando un artículo que revela que su renuencia anuló los planes para un reinicio, huye a Londres para pasar la cuenta regresiva de cinco semanas para las vacaciones con su hermana. Pero los fantasmas de la Navidad pasada la siguen allí cuando termina en Eden Priory, un lugar de rodaje para la película que nunca ha visitado. Allí, después de ser reconocida por un fan mientras veía las extraordinarias decoraciones navideñas, se quedó atrás accidentalmente, lo que la obligó a aceptar un viaje de regreso a Londres de Graham, el hijo de los propietarios. Su negocio familiar, y los fondos para mantener su casa histórica en funcionamiento, se basa en la alegría de las vacaciones, y Graham sabe que una visita de una estrella de las vacaciones atraería a más visitantes. Ahora ilustradora, Charlotte acepta un encargo que ilustra escenas icónicas de películas navideñas en Londres y sus alrededores. Graham se ofrece a ayudar a acompañarla, siempre y cuando se comprometa con un taller de arte en Eden Priory. Pero a medida que las caóticas vacaciones familiares de Charlotte van mal, comienza a pasar más tiempo explorando lugares con Graham. Puede que no le guste un romance navideño... pero ¿y si tiene uno propio?
Charlotte odia la navidad gracias a que cuando era niña participó en una película navideña la cual se volvió muy famosa y actualmente es obligatoria para esas épocas. Además le recuerda a sus padres, los cuales tienen una relación tóxica.
Su vida va bien hasta que surgen noticias sobre una secuela y que Charlotte se negó a participar, entonces la gente la enpezo a atacar y decidió visitar a su hermana a Inglaterra para dejar que los ánimos se calmen.
Durante su viaje conoce a Graham que por broma del destino es dueño de la casa en donde se grabó la película de Charlotte. Ella intentará alejarse, pero al final terminará ayudándolo con su negocio, el cual tiene que ver con visitas guiadas a la casa.
Martha Waters does it again with this fun loving Christmas romcom. Charlotte is a former child star that hates all things Christmas now commissioned to illustrate a holiday scene while spending time with Graham. It gives me all The Holiday and Love, Actually vibes and it's fantastic.
Thank you Netgalley for an arc of Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters
This is filled with plenty of holiday vibes, despite the fact that Charlotte- and sometimes Graham- is a bit of a grinch around the holidays. Her sister and brother-in-laws family are continually doing very cheesy Christmas activities, that Charlotte is trying to avoid. Her and Graham visit various Christmas movie locations in order to commission art pieces, and when they're discussing the movies filmed there, I was like "wow that sounds terrible- I would totally watch it". Exploring London in December with them was wonderful, and I thought Martha Waters did a good job making you feel the frenzied holiday spirit. This is fun and flirty, but low on angst if that's what you're looking for!
I liked how the characters compared their story to a Christmas Romance story and the plot line followed along as well. It was an interesting look into what child stars have to go through. I liked the both families supported them and were funny.I just did not like that baby.
Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of Christmas is all around.
I have loved all of Martha Waters books and this one is no different. I loved the relationship between Charlotte and Graham. The side characters truly made the story unique and added so much to the plot.
I definitely recommend this book!
london boy by taylor swift is playing 💗
you should definitely add this book to your winter tbr. it’s a great christmas story with engaging plot and characters with deep backgrounds.
main female character is a former actress who is being haunted by her childhood role while male character is actually the owner of the house where she filmed that specific movie.
it was so fun to see characters interact and build bonds. they both have incredible families who have their own plot lines, creating an incredible winter picture. i definitely skipped some scenes because i just couldn’t keep up with charlotte’s hate toward that one role. she mentioned it like million times, and i still can’t understand why she acted so weird, if only 2-5 people ever recognized her (i do understand her and wanting to be know for her art but still she was to focused on acting)
chemistry between main characters was strong and their trips were my favorite parts.
I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This was a fun holiday read! I love the cozy feel and the chemistry.
Martha Waters is an absolute delight! This romp of a read has all of her characteristic charm, banter, and romance in a charming contemporary setting. The balance of poking fun at Christmas movie tropes, while simultaneously having the characters live them out is hugely entertaining. Highly recommend! This is an excellent Christmas romcom, truly!
This is such a cute, funny, and sweet holiday read!! I love holiday romances and this did not disappoint!
The characters are so well written, even the side characters. Ava and Kit were just fantastic and easily became my favorites. Charlotte had a lot going on, but I loved her character so much. She was blunt and honest. I loved her relationship with Graham! Graham was a sweetheart. Their banter was so great.
Overall, such a heartwarming and romantic read! Will definitely be looking into the author’s other books! Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was such a great read! It instantly lifted up my spirits and got me excited for the holidays. The read was charming and witty, without it becoming too cheesy. I enjoyed reading about the different problems the characters faced, to the point where the story felt relatable and enjoyable. Baby Alice was a delight to read but I had a little trouble with the rest of the characters.The plot could have used a little more adventure but it was a great read overall.
This book was read in 3 days.
I truly enjoyed getting to read Christmas is All Around. I love a good Christmas rom com, both book and movie form, so to find a book that had such a fun take on a former Christmas rom-com child actress was great. As much as Charlotte hated it, she really was living in a Christmas meet cute. I found both of the characters really entertaining, like a lot Graham and Charlotte's scenes together had me laughing out loud. The way their relationship was portrayed was really well written. They felt realistic with the actions they took and what they said, which made the story so nice to read. I thought the secondary characters really added to the story.
Overall I thought this was a really cute Christmas romance and can't wait to recommend it to my friends!
A charming holiday romcom set in England. Reading it in July was a blast! I'll reread at Christmas to double the fun. Enjoy!
Hilarious and bantery and so much fun!! Martha Waters' writing is instantly familiar, in a new setting - a contemporary holiday romance, following her historical Regency Vows series. I had a great time reading this one!
Thanks to the publisher for providing me a digital review copy via NetGalley!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.
Christmas Is All Around is a sweet holiday romance that riffs on the idea a child star from a movie - very similar to Love Actually - is sour on Christmas and carrying some trauma from her child star days that can ruin her romance.
Charlotte is the child star in question and while her woes at her child stardom are appropriately called out by her sister and BFF, this part of the book wasn’t as easy to go along with. I also wished the idea of the movie she starred in was expanded, specifically the reboot she didn’t agree to star in ensuing issues it causes which cause her to stay in England longer than planned. Don’t get me wrong, the movie, Christmas, Truly was explored in depth as a plot point with her love interest, Graham. What I was wanting was to better understand Charlotte’s trauma with it and the recent reboot madness that caused her to stay away from her home country. As it stood I wasn’t able to get behind the fallout being so strong that it haunted her into adulthood and caused her to have to stay with her sister.
I enjoyed the chemistry and banter between Charlotte and Graham as well as a lot of funny bits about baby Alice. I just think the premise was so weakly written that I ended up disliking Charlotte and not buying into the climaxes of the book as much.
I throughly enjoyed this book! I love the holidays, so any excuse to read about romances set during that time of year is perfect for me. I was disappointed that there was a third act break up in this book because it’s one of the most overdone and frustrating tropes. I see where the author was going with the trope, but the failure to wrap it up nicely with more fluff and detail after it was resolved left me wanting more.
With its predictability and cheesiness scenarios, I think the book doesn’t deserve as much hype. For Christmas book, it is a cozy and simple read, but is it the best book ever? No.
This was a great book for those of us who can't wait for Christmas season! It felt like a Hallmark movie, which I love, with the romance, setting, and banter. The characters are cute together and were pretty relatable as well.
this book is like a little hallmark movie playing in my head. Overall, i really enjoyed this read. the characters were likable, the storyline was relatable, and i liked how the book didn’t focus on a specific trope.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me this ARC!
Christmas Is All Around was a fast paced book - very reminiscent of HallMark Christmas movies!
This book and the characters would be very loved and supported by an audience in which respects and admires HallMark!
5/5
this was so cutie i was pleasantly surprised! reading a christmas book in july is a bit jarring and i would love to reread closer to holiday season, but it was a quick, easy, and fun read to get lost in while excitedly anticipating christmas season!
This is the perfect book to curl up with on a winter's night. It is cute and fun, with loveable main characters and love developing between the two of them.It was amusing and kept me interested, an absolute delight. Overall, one of my fav holiday books that I can't wait to reread later this year.
A special thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.