Love, love love!

I absolutely adored this book. Everything Rachael LippinCott and Alyson Derrick writes, it’s sweet and wholesome, this was beautifully written with amazing character depth and a fantastic plot! I truly adored this beautiful book.

Make My Wish Come True includes many aspects that I enjoy from romances including fake dating, second chance romance, childhood friends/crush to romantic relationship, being set in a small town and of course sapphic. If you have read romances with these tropes then the general plot and progression of the relationship will be no surprise but enjoyable nonetheless. Arden and Caroline were both likeable characters and I thought they had good development through the story. Lilian however who was Arden's manager is truly a horrible person and even though she was the one who came up with the fake dating idea in the first place, I had a hatred of her throughout the book.

Rachael and Alyson have done it again! Another perfect 5 star YA.
I loved everything about this holiday book from the second chance romance and fake dating tropes to the cast of 3 dimensional side characters.
Definitely pick this one up for your Christmas read, you won’t be disappointed!

i’m a certified grinch and not super into the whole concept of holiday cheer. despite that, i am still a sucker for a christmas romcom. being able to live vicariously through book characters is one of the few ways i find myself in the festive spirit. make my wish come true was not an exception and would have been even more fun to read in and around christmas and hanukkah.

it follows teen hollywood star, arden james, who in order to get a role goes back to her small festive hometown with the hopes of changing her image. part of the plan is to fake a relationship with her childhood best friend and budding journalist, caroline beckett, whom she left behind years prior.

this book has all the elements of a feel good hallmark movie with the added drama of hollywood and the struggles of coming of age as a queer woman. there’s a loveable range of characters and a setting that feels like an additional character itself. it explores how difficult it can be to be your complete self sometimes, with arden’s public vs private persona and caroline’s belief that she is neither jewish nor christian enough. it’s light and fluffy but it doesn’t shy away from those deeper themes. arden’s relationship with her grandmother is also a real highlight of this book for me. i always love to see characters that have such a close bond with a grandparent, as i did with my own.

This book was so precious and would’ve been so perfect to read during Christmas time. This book delved into some serious topics, but for a YA novel, it was able to be successfully blended with warmth and hope too! Big ticks all round and one to definitely add to your tbr!

A cute, YA romance that follows actress Arden James, and childhood best-friend Caroline Beckett. The story follows both POV’s as Arden goes home for Christmas and convinces Caroline to go on 12 fake dates so she can secure a new film role. Caroline agrees as it will help her with her Colombia application, but with their history there’s bound to be complications.

I will admit that I forgot what this was about by the time I got around to reading it so I was skeptical at the start, but I couldn’t put it down once the plot picked up.

The dynamic between the two main characters was really well written and felt natural. Each ‘date’ is just super cute and reveals a part of their history. I loved witnessing their relationship progress while also seeing how they evolved on their own. I was truly rooting for Arden the whole time. If the premise of the book interests you, I definitely think you’ll enjoy it.

Arden James left her small town to make it big in LA - leaving everything and everyone behind without a goodbye. Caroline Beckett was one of those left behind without an explanation and she's done her best to move on with life and support Arden's family as best she can. When Arden rocks back into town with the request for fake-dating 12 times, Caroline can't say no.

She Gets the Girl was very good and I therefore jumped at the chance of an ARC of this novel. Unfortunately, Make My Wish Come True was a letdown. It was very predictable and also similar in nature to Finding my Elf. As a probably demisexual, I can't imagine holding onto the idea of loving someone for four years when they've left you. Caroline is finally moving on for someone else, and Arden just waltzes back in and expects her to jump. And she does!

How many teenagers really relate to a popstar/celebrity relocation to LA? I can tell you that today's teenagers (that I know) couldn't care less, because tiktok and other social media has made it possible to be famous without moving. On the other hand, Caroline's dreams of journalism are achievable, if a bit typical of teenage novels. I think that young lesbians could still love this novel, particularly if they like seasonal reading (and snow).

I think I'm allowed to be picky with the #queer novels that come across my path now because there are so many great ones out there! I don't love Christmas either. That being said, I did recently read another ARC of a Christmas novel (barista/artist/fake-engagement) that I did enjoy. So it's not just that. 3 stars for this novel from me for a protagonist who seems to be missing a backbone and a storyline that's a little too predictable.

A cute and kitschy Christmas small town romance from everyone's favourite sapphic writer wives, Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick. A must read for any Hallmark movie lover or Happily Ever After seeker.

Arden James, actress, must prove with 12 holiday dates that she's a small town gal with a One True Love back home, to win her dream acting role a la How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

This was by far my favourite book by this duo, it's been a while since I watched How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days but this felt like a great take on that plot. The story starts off quickly and the backstory is weaved throughout which worked really well for this story.

I really liked Arden and Caroline as characters (they weren't anything crazy special but they were likeable and well written), the romance developed well and the side character was decent. I really appreciated the way Arden as a teenage star was written, nothing about this book glorified teenage celebrity and in fact, it focused on a lot of very real issues young actors face (while keeping up the generally light-hearted tone.

Sometimes I think YA novels really struggle with writing teenagers as WAY too immature or WAY too old, but in this one, it felt pretty realistic. There were moments of teens being teens but also moments of clarity since these are people about to enter college not 10-year-olds.

I'll probably be nabbing a physical copy of this once it's out as I do think it's worth a purchase! Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for an arc in exchange for an honest review