Q. What do you get when you cross the Christmas season, an animal shelter with lots of very cute dogs, a spunky matchmaking grandmother and two MC's (Sammi and Keegan) who can't see that they're just meant for each other?

A. You get all the feels…..in the best possible way.

Georgia Beers brings us another feel-good installment in the Puppy Love series set around the Juneburg Farms animal shelter and it was an absolute joy to return to this chaotic but lovable organisation. With the shelter struggling for funds due to the cancellation of a significant source of funding, a grand plan is concocted to run a holiday fundraiser including the community electing a 'King' and 'Queen' to represent the shelter at a number of events in the run up to Christmas. This provides the perfect opportunity for Mia Sorenson, the spunky 81 year old grandmother of Sammi to fiddle with the vote results ending in Sammi and Keegan being appointed joint Queens instead. After mostly avoiding each other for the past several months following a disasterous first makeout session, the two MCs are required to spend time together as they represent the shelter at several local community events. Can this time spent together help them to overcome their initial hiccup and get their second chance? You'll just have to read the book and find out.

Thank you to Georgia Beers, NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book. I am providing an honest review and all opinions are my own.

Also posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6980746852

Will also be posted to Amazon Australia once the book goes live.

Thank you to Georgia Beers, NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What a cute read! Who doesn't love a second chance romance AND a no-kill animal shelter!? I loved seeing so many different point of views and the honesty between the two main characters - They set boundaries, made their voices heard and respected other people views and voices as well - loved!

I would have loved to have seen a LITTLE more christmas-y vibes in the book but the winter vibes it was giving off were fire! This book would make for a great transition from spooky season into the holiday season!

This book was practically freaking perfect. Keegan and Sammi started something a year prior, but, Keegan got super spooked and ran away, friend zoning Sammi. But, it's about to be Christmas, and Sammi's grandmother Mia has a plan to make them spend time together. A fundraiser for Junebug Farms animal rescue to raise money. Where (in this case) two Queens will do Christmas-y stuff with dogs to raise money and awareness. The whole book from start to finish was amazing.

The characters were pitch perfect (oh Mia, Mia). All the dogs were so well written and all different too (now I need to find a Cat centric Christmas lesbian romance too). And, the pace of the book was good too. It was like a really good Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movie (like and Under the Christmas Tree or Season of Love). The Christmas shone through, as did family with a capital F, and the romance was awesome too. All around 5 star novel!

I was a bit confused because I thoughts the mains had been friends for ages, tried more and gone back to friends. They hadn’t. This only became to clear to me about 18% in. This may have accounted for me not quite settling in at the start. However a couple of paragraphs later, I find they were friends for a few years.
All that said, I enjoyed the book. It’s a romance, so of course there is a happy ending and I enjoyed the journey to it. I got a wee bit teary eyed, not at the romance but some of the secondary characters aka doggies.
An enjoyable Christmas romance. Although the tendency to put super in, super often as an extra descriptive word was a wee bit distracting! 3.5 up to 4.

If This Christmas doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, I don't know what will. It has all the feels, plus snow, home-made cookies, lots of adorable dogs and cats and fun holidays activities. There's a sweet grandmother, who you can't help but love and a no-kill animal shelter. I know! It's a lot, but it comes together so nicely in typical Georgia Beers fashion and when she introduces you to the MC's Keegan and Sammi, you are going to love them too. You just can't help yourself. So do yourself a favor and buy the book! Merry Christmas and you are welcome!

3.75 rounded up

If you're looking for a low stakes holiday romance with adorable dogs, this is a good pick. I loved all the shelter fundraising scenes, and that's when Keegan and Sammi were at their best. There are some aspects of this book that fell flat for me, but overall it was a cute romance to get into the holiday spirit.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This was a good read! I really enjoyed the plot and the characters. The story was well written and engaging. I would definitely recommend!

I found Sammi and Keegan to be so cute together! I just wish it didn’t take them so long to confess their feelings for each other. I also wanted this story to he longer. I love this writing style and I adore this author. It just would have been more fun to explore the relationship going deeper or having more personal experiences between the two gals. Maybe the story could have extended into more seasons where we see how Beckett changes. I am already looking forward to the next GB release and I do recommend this beautiful tale every holiday romance enthusiast!

Loved the characters as well as the upstate NY and shelter settings. The point of view of Sammi's grandmother Mia seemed a little out of place when the story was about Sammi and Keegan, but maybe the author had to condense the plot line. I overall enjoyed the story and the main characters; definitely a good one to read as it gets cold outside and close to the holidays. Also, there are shelter doggies!!!

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc

A cutesy Christmas cosy read. I enjoyed this one and would recommend if you’re after a light easy to read Christmassy romance

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC.

I always like a friends to lovers, forced proximity trope. Forced proximity is one of my favourites and friends to lovers can be amazing. I enjoyed both Keegan & Sammi, however, something felt distant about their friendship in general. The vibes and chemistry were not there. I understand there was a reason in the prologue for the "falling out" but the relationship was awkward and I couldn't get behind it until the very end. There isn't enough background on their friendship for me to really appreciate their friends to lovers romance.

The entire first half of the book, I wasn't a huge fan of Keegan due to the prologue because she never explained herself. Sammie seemed mature and understood her emotions and it felt like Keegan and her were polar opposites. Toward the end, Keegan does become more relatable but I feel this should be explained earlier on to make her character more valued.

I did enjoy all the characters in general though and the heartwarming messages within the book. I loved how supportive the families were and that this book showcased a shelter. Shelters are especially issues near the holidays (I own 5 fur babies), and I love that this was in the book. I did enjoy the entire ending too, it made me smile and I felt the romance at the end.

Overall, it was a cute read and I did enjoy it.

4.5 Stars

This was a very enjoyable, cozy holiday romance. This Christmas follows Sam and Keegan, friends that attempted a date a year previously, but the moment was too big for Keegan, and she ran. A year later, they are still friends. However, Sam's grandmother, Mia, ever the matchmaker sees an opportunity to reunite the friends through the local animal shelters holiday fundraiser event. Sam and Keegan are powerless against adorable puppies, and holiday cheer as they reconnect.

I love Hallmark holiday romcoms. I know they are the cheesiest movies ever and many are poorly acted and absolutely ridiculous, but I love the happy warm feelings that they invoke. And This Christmas has all the same feelings. As I was describing this book to a friend, they remarked it sounds just like a Hallmark Movie. I liked Sam and Keegan and the adorable dogs. I had not read the Puppy Love Romance series, which this book takes us back to Junebug Farms. I definitely will be reading them soon, but I imagine it will be nice to see those characters again but having not read them, did not affect my reading at all.

All in all, I really love this book. It will join my favorite holiday reads at the end of the year. The only thing that keeps it from a full 5 stars is that while I enjoyed Mai's POV sections, I wished there were more with Sam and Keegan. I would recommend this for fans of of lighthearted holiday romances.

A somewhat typical formula of Christmas story, we have two idiots MCs hopelessly in love with each other but too chickenshit to move forward, couples with adorable fur babies along with feisty matchmaking granny. I said typical but doesn't mean I enjoyed any less. It's a sweet and low angst story with Christmas theme, and hey sometimes you just want to read something like that. This is a perfect book to read in winter times with hot chocolate and cuddles from your fur babies.

🎄🎄🎄/5

Thank you for the ARC! My whole heartedly response is…It was.. okay. It wasn’t a bad read at all, good for the holiday time but this might not be my #1 pick out of all the holiday choices this year.

Why? Maybe it’s my personal take but I wasn’t super into the grandma POV and what not. I knew it was part of the story but it felt a bit too much for me. I think that made it hard for me to be all about their relationship.

It's so nice to visit Junebug Farms again.
But be careful. As soon as you see one of the cute animals and maybe play with them for a bit or just pet them, you'll fall in love! Guaranteed!
Lots of super cute doggos and we meet a few old acquaintances again.
Sammi and Keegan are friends and have a crush on each other .
It all starts off so promisingly, but the story would be told after the first page if it didn't get complicated.
At least that's how it is for Keegan when she breaks away from Sammi's actually wonderful embrace.
Sammi is confused and disappointed when Keegan simply withdraws with an apology after a great evening and incredible kisses and plays the friendzone card.
This is how it goes for the two of them and their story starts eleven months later.
They don't talk about it anymore and both just go on with their lives and occasionally see each other as friends. Friends who are hurt and disappointed and a little jealous when the other is dating someone else…
It's good that there is a wonderful grandmother who makes sure that the two of them get a little help in finding the right path again.
The path to each other.
It's wonderful Christmassy and often sweet and heartwarming!
Everything a beautiful Christmas romance should have. With a happy ending, of course!
Thanks to Georgia Beers, Bold Strokes Books for this ARC!

I really liked the premise of this book, friends to lovers forced to spend time together sounded really cute. But unfortunately, something about the relationship between Sammi and Keegan just didn't work for me. I wasn't really feeling their chemistry and their "friendship" seemed weird and distant. From the description I was thinking they were friends from childhood or best friends for a long time. Instead, they are friends for only a few years and hangout sporadically, have their embarrassing incident, and then text with an occasional hangout into the present time. It just didn't really give me the vibe of mutual longtime pining, angst, and chemistry that I typically prefer in a friends to lovers trope. Also, I didn't really like Keegan's actions in the beginning. She pulls away from Samantha during the prologue scene, and doesn't explain herself at all, just says, "I can't." Then, she proceeds to hardcore friend-zone Sammi and dates someone else out of the blue. She also knows that Sammi is jealous, and it doesn't seem to matter to her much. I didn't get any sense of longing or regret on Keegan's part for the first half of the book. There is a lot that is told and not shown in this book regarding their "friendship", and I think it really detracted from the romance for me. It made it difficult to care about the characters and whether or not they ended up together.

Despite these issues, however, there were still some great things about this book. I really enjoyed how supportive both of their families were, and the fundraiser scenes were still pretty cute. My favorite part of the book was Beckett, and I'm very glad he and Sammi had a happy ending.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite Georgia Beers. I think it's a cute holiday romance but despite the description didn't quite feel like a true friends to lovers trope to me. 3.2/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a good book! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I loved the main characters! They had great chemistry and worked so well together. I loved how the book just flowed. My first by this author but will not be my last!!!

A classic love story by Georgia Beers. This has all the qualities of every Beers novel. I enjoyed this light read.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

I could not put this book down! I truly love the way Georgia Beers writes—her style is always cozy and charming. Keegan and Sammi are perfect for each other, and I love how relatable their story is to anyone who has crushed on their best friend. It was also so special to have a reappearance of Junebug Farms. That series is one of my absolute favorites from Georgia Beers. Everyone loves the way dogs bring people together! It’s very cute the way Junebug Farms is like one big happy family, and the way the story unfolds makes the reader feel like they’re part of this family. I wish this was longer or at least wish a second part was coming! Thank you for the perfect holiday book. I highly recommend it to all of my friends and family.

I liked the set up of the novel. It’s a combination of friends to lovers while incorporating insecurities and heartbreak with Christmas.

The two main characters work off each other well but there are times the book drags even in a shorter book.

Where the story really drags is the POV of the Grandmother. Those parts of the books are unnecessary and takes away from getting to know the main characters.

It’s closer to 3.5 stars but I rounded up for Christmas.

Thanks to NetGallery and the Publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.