Jasper returns home for the holidays, planning to close a chapter of her life. But as she reconnects with familiar faces and navigates the dynamics of her small-town roots, she’s forced to reconsider what she wants for the future. Such a heartwarming read blend of romance, humor, and emotional depth!

I loved this book. It was a perfect and unique spin on a standard classic- small town girls returned to small town, nonsense ensures. The added layer of her neurodivergence added such an interesting layer to her character and I loved how the author explored that.

This was just ok for me. I enjoyed the story to finish it but it was not super memorable. The characters were not relatable enough to me. I think I was just the wrong audience. I am sure others would love this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC audiobook of Some Like It Cold. I LOVE that the main character in this story is neurodivergent! Elle McNicoll does a great job with character building. I really enjoyed some characters and really disliked others (as was meant to be). The narrator Charlie Sanderson does a great job differentiating between characters and bringing each character to life. I gave this audiobook 3 stars because there was nothing bad or wrong with the storyline, but also nothing exceptional that will make me remember this book for years to come. I will recommend this book to anyone who wants a honest, down to earth holiday romance book to read or listen to.

I DNF'd at 25%

I appreciated the autism rep and sharing the perspective of masking and people pleasing, and how that can lead to a bit of an identity crisis and not really knowing who you are/what you like. I thought the bucket list before leaving town sounded like it had potential to be a cute story line. What lead to my dnf was the confusion and mixed signals when it came to describing Jasper and how the town views her. There was so much emphasis placed on her being popular and considered to be like a local celebrity, but then there's a dancing scene where she's suddenly being perceived as weird and annoying? It seemed like that was being pushed after the discussion on neurodivergence and that just didn't make sense to me. I also didn't fully understand why Arthur and Jasper had so much animosity toward each other. I wish that back story had been more developed besides, "well, he called me Princess once." It's hard for me to accept enemies-to-lovers without a good backstory.

The audio production was well done. There was sufficient range in character voices that it was easy to follow and if I had liked the story line more, I would have enjoyed the audiobook.

This was a total LOVE. I loved and was invested in all of the small town characters and loved their character arcs. I especially loved that the main character is neurodivergent as is the author!!! The best part may be the dialogue between the narrator and author at the end - don’t skip it!!

Thank you @ellemcnicollofficial for writing such a beautiful and honest Neurodivergent romantic lead and thank you @macmillan.audio for the ALC!

Jasper’s family is small-town royalty but she can’t leave town quickly enough. She comes home for one final holiday season and her older sister’s wedding before she plans to leave for good. While home, she comes across Arthur, an old high school nemesis who is now making a documentary about the town. As they spend time together, they form an unexpected bond.
I loved the small-town vibes in this one and thought Lake Pristine was the perfect setting. The characters and side characters all had so much history and that was reflected really well in the story without seeming like too much. A lot of the plot focused on how Jasper felt misunderstood by her family and their poor reaction to her having autism. I thought this storyline was handled beautifully as Jasper and the people around her came to love and accept her for who she is. This was a sweet teen holiday romance!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

Well this book was a delight! Jasper is a neurodivergent heroine who visits her hometown for the holidays. She accidentally ruins her sister's engagement on her way into town, which sets the tone of all the mishaps and misunderstandings occur in the story.

It was difficult to listen to the listen the bullying that occurred towards Jasper, so be warned for those that consider it a content warning. But Arthur's gently support and the little ways he showed Jasper his changing affections towards her were so endearing. I especially enjoyed Jasper's character arc in the book; especially when she found her voice.

Narration by Charlie Sanderson was wonderful as she was able to transport me to Jasper's world.

Jasper comes home with a load of secrets. Navigating her old friends and her family, she has to keep her goals in mind. I enjoyed the fact that Jasper has autism which gives her relationships an added depth.

A YA Christmas romance for those looking for neurodivergent representation.
❄️
Jasper has been gone to university for eighteen months and now she’s back in her Scottish hometown of Christmas. She’s ready to tell them that she’s dropping out of school to attend design school instead. Her parents are going to be livid, but Jasper is ready to follow her dreams. Jasper realizes her school nemesis is also still in town. Arthur is a budding filmmaker who always had a crush on Jasper and is hoping to finally share his feelings through the short film he’s making about their town during Christmas.
❄️
Told in alternate POVs we really get to see how both the main characters are feeling throughout the book I loved Jasper so much. The stereotypes she (and the author) are fighting about being neurodivergent were so great to see represented in a young adult romance We need more of this @ellemcnicollofficial I wanted to hit Jasper’s sister on multiple occasions 😂 Also, the audio was fantastic!

CW: ableism, emotional abuse, grief, bullying, gaslighting, classism, death of a parent, toxic relationship, panic attack, car accident, fatphobia, sexual harassment

3.5 ⭐️

I think this novel will have an audience that adores it but, it just wasn't an enjoyable read for me since I couldn't connect with the characters, plot, or writing style.

I had trouble sticking with these characters or actually connecting with them. Not sure if the narrator had anything to do with it.

I listened to the audio version of this book and I honestly had a hard time finishing it. The production and narration did a great job, but I struggled to really connect with the characters and follow their storylines

I really enjoyed this book! It follows our FMC, Jasper, who is neurodivergent, returning to her hometown after a long-extended leave. She's welcomed back as the golden girl she is, but underneath it all, she feels like she's not accepted for who she REALLY is, so she has to say her goodbyes and leave for good. I loved so many things about this book: the complicated family dynamics; Christmastime in this quaint little town; the sweet romance with the grumpiest guy!! I fell in love with Jasper, and I think most people will too. I couldn't put her story down! 4.5 stars.

SOME LIKE IT COLD
Elle McNicoll

I have read several books featuring neurodivergent characters. The idea is not a new one. I have, however, never read a book where this aspect is highlighted so often that it detracted from the story.

That is the case here.

The entirety of the plot points in the story were drowned out by this feature and a lot of the storyline was in a sense malformed or otherwise immature. Not well-formed.

I tried to imagine a reader or situation where someone would benefit from a story or character formed this way and I couldn’t find it. Certainly, we can agree that neurodiversity is one aspect of a person and not the entirety of the person and it should be the same for characters in books that we read.

I was begging for something more than this and it was not given.

I’m sorry this one didn’t work for me.

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners, and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for the advanced copies!

SOME LIKE IT COLD…⭐️⭐️

As a huge Gilmore girls fan when I saw this being pitched for that fan base I had to check it out. The small town vibes did not disappoint but at times I felt my mind wandering during my listening sessions.

I’m going to be honest. I’m not a lover of romance reads; they rarely do it for me and I tend to stay away from them. But I saw the cover of this one and read the description and decided to pick it up as a palate cleanser because I’ve been reading plenty of darker, heavier things lately and was looking for a seasonal light read. But this wasn’t it. It’s advertised as being “big hearted” and I also assumed this meant it would be somewhat heartwarming as well, but it certainly wasn’t either.

My biggest issue with this one was just how awful people were for no good reason. Almost every character acted like they’d been sucking on lemons their whole life even though they hated lemons. I tried to figure out why the author chose to make everyone so awful and I couldn’t come up with a great reason. It also made the characters feel rather flat and more like caricatures than real people. It also made it really difficult to keep reading. And then I think there were supposed to be a couple of “heartwarming” moments when characters who were complete jerks had a change of heart, but rather than offer any explanation, they just completely flipped the script and said the opposite of how they’d been acting the first 85% of the book.

The romance was fine, but I was so distracted by the secondary characters’ behavior that I don’t have much to say about it. Despite this being set in December, I also just didn’t get those vibes even with the mentions of a Christmas festival or it periodically being mentioned that it was cold. The setting was also lacking, minimally described, and I don’t think the book ever says where it’s taking place.

If you’re looking for a family drama/coming-of-age with a little romance, then you may enjoy this one. Don’t read this looking for cozy, though. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Unfortunately I was not able to finish this audiobook. I did not find either character engaging enough to continue with the story. Jasper is autistic but has to mask and please everyone around her. I really wanted to love this story because there is not nearly enough autism rep in publishing, especially in young adult novels, and I'd love to see that change. However, as compelling as this aspect of Jasper's character was, it didn't make up for the rest of the story. The other character, Arthur, falls into a common romance storyline -- he sees how wonderful she is but no one else does and he tries to convince her to be what she needs for herself instead of everyone else. In this way, it's a great coming-of-age story -- we love to see Jasper starting to grow into her own and rebel against societal norms and pressures. However, what made me DNF this one was how incredibly rude, insensitive, and demanding everyone around her is (I get that this is true to life--but that didn't make it any less frustrating to read, only more). Arthur felt pretty one dimensional: we can tell he loves Jasper, always has, and that he just wants her to free herself from everyone else. This made it a very slow read since he's the other main character. Moreover, Jasper's sister is, intentionally, unbearable. She is continually awful and is never held responsible for it, especially not by her family. Ultimately this had a lot of potential but fell flat for me and became tedious to read.

This was a fun wintery read. I expected a bit more focus on christmas/holidays but that's okay! I really enjoyed the main character, Jasper- yay for Neurodivergence and Autism rep! Author the romantic interest was okay, too, however the entire rest of the cast sucked. They were all terrible people (ESPECIALLY THE SISTER!) , they treated Jasper horribly and I really hated the conflict resolutions at the end- for me it was way too little too late. I did feel like this book was too long and dragged in places.

This novel started slow, but eventually grew to a heartwarming romance. The importance of an autistic woman lead in a romance novel is needed in this polarizing environment for autistic individuals. The slow start could be an attempt to allow readers to struggle in the confusion many autistic people have in relationship with others (in relationship meaning with another person, friend, family, romantic, etc.).