First contemporary holiday romance in the books! This one has a touch of mystery, a knives out type of vibe (a family fighting over a fortune), and a great ending! I was 40% in before I believed a romance would happen and it was still a little abrupt, but I still enjoyed it. Christmas romances are always rushed like this!

Absolutely loved this! The banter and tension is so good. Love the enemies to lovers in this. The narrator does a fantastic job. The miscommunication in this is really well done. Usually a trope I’m not a fan of but it does make sense for it to exist here.

This was a cute little holiday romance. Definitely leaned into the enemies early on a little hard and then BAM we're BFFs but that's my only complaint. I loved the plot to romance ratio on this, you kind of had to be piecing the puzzle together alongside Kate which is unique for the reader. Amy was the real MVP at the end- love her! Hayden Bishop did a great job narrating this entire cast of characters too!

So happy to listen to this audio from Emma Tallon, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media!

Fun! The devil on my one shoulder is saying sassy with devious practical jokes and truly evil characters, while the angel is adoring the back story of Cora and William's love story, and Kate's intent to get things right. Eleanor is a hoot and all is balanced out with Jenna, Amy and Matt. Truly enjoyed this not so fluffy magical winter read.

I had high hopes for this book as I loved the title and cover but I found this to be very slow moving and wanted it to move just a bit quicker. I'm not a big fan of comedy romance books anyway but I do love Christmas romance books. Unfortunately I didn't love this one. The narration didn't grab my attention either but I did get used to it after a while. If you love comedy romance books with a hint of Christmas then this would be perfect for you.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this audio book.

Snow Going Back is for the kind of reader who likes their romcoms heavy on the comedy. I am unfortunately not one of those readers. I think the audio format only made the issue worse for me. Unless you’re that kind of audience, I don’t recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, DreamScape Media & Emma Tallon for the chance to review this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this enemies to lovers holiday tale. There were many parts that kept me guessing and I really liked how it all came together at the end. My blood boiled with Kate when Lance was being Lance. I could see this translate really well into a movie.

Narration was really well done. Wasn't distracting and enhanced the story.

Snow going back was funny, cutesy, cozy, and all I want in a Christmas book! The banter, the enemies to lovers vibe, the small town! Ah, I love this book so much! This book has no spice - yay for that! Please read this book this winter! It will have you laughing out loud! 💕

I got to 70% and was genuinely worried because it was going very slowly and there were still so many side plots that hadn't been answered.
I would say we maybe needed to get to the point quicker. I enjoyed the audio and the narrator, bar one thing. The voice of the mother. It was like a cheese grater over my skin- but that's kind of the point.

Tell you what though, the argument that does come is beautiful and scratches the itch you develop. Honestly, fuck Lance. Although, there never seems to be any developing romance that leads to the two main characters ending up having a moment- it felt really awkward. He also had zero personality, about the FMC wasn't exactly enjoyable either.

Then at 90% I still was so confused as to how this was getting wrapped up. We now had a Bond-style villain, some other conspirers, a cancelled wedding- where was this going?!?

I think I enjoyed this for it keeping me guessing and just the general confusion, I knew I needed to know where it was all going but it wouldn't be one I recommend because it definitely has it's issues- does that make sense?

✨Book Review!✨: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/🫑 Snow Going Back by Emma Tallon @my.author.life is a cute holiday romance about Kate, a lawyer from England who gets called to the States to resolve a client's will... But not before she accidentally accepts a surprise proposal from her long term boyfriend. Unsure of how she feels about marriage and settling down, Kate all but sprints out of the country. While in the States, Kate meets Sam, a moody man she gets into a traffic scuffle with before she even arrives to her client's home. Sam keeps showing up, though, and they reluctantly have to accept that they have to deal with being in one another's presence until Kate's work is done. Meanwhile, lines get blurred and Kate's fiance is impatiently waiting to get her down the aisle. Will Kate take the plunge? Or will what she discovers in her client's journals give her a new perspective?

Lots of banter, mystery, and an ending you really won't see coming.. This had me laughing and binging the whole book in one day.

Snow Going Back was a fun
'coming home' type story. When you say Yes to everyone else, you inevitably say No to yourself.
When Kate's boyfriend proposes, she doesn't quite know what to think. She gets wrapped up in what everyone else tells her she wants. Her mom, dad, and even bff all have differing perspectives and roles to play as this pans out.
Upon needing to leave for weeks, urgently for work, who and what will she find?
The story is filled with all kinds of emotion. You will feel all of the things, happy, sad, cringe, furious and a little wtf was she thinking.
Overall it was beautifully written, the characters were well explored and I absolutely loved the best friend of the FMC. Everyone needs a bff like Amy!
Fun, witty and will make you laugh. I highly recommend this one!
Thank you @netgalley for this amazing arc read!

This story surprised me and I enjoyed it more than I initially thought I would!

Kate ends up getting blindsided by her boyfriend's wedding proposal, and he takes her response as a yes. In shock and not knowing what to do, her family kind of steamrollers her into going with the wedding plans. "You're just nervous", "you've never liked surprises", etc... When a work obligation requires Kate to spend a few weeks in Vermont she jumps all over it, leaving the wedding planning to her fiance and her mother.

The story kicked up a notch when she arrived in Vermont and discovered she's sharing her living space with the most difficult man she's ever encountered, her client's nephew Sam. Their pranks and bantering were fantastic and felt like a true enemies-to-lovers trope for me. I wondered at one point how they would ever bridge the enemies part because they despised each other so much. It was done creatively.

Kate was required to determine who the estate and business should be left to as stated in the contract from her client. It required her to interview everyone involved with the business and family and go through old diary entries. The diary entries became an additional POV in the story and were one of my favorite parts. As Kate read Cora's diary entries about found love and making hard decisions, she could unpack her own feelings and determine her course.

I really liked Sam's character. Their bantering was fun and I loved seeing all he had to offer under his shell.

Thank you Netgalley, Emma Tallon, and Dreamscape media for my #gifted ALC. The audio reader did a fantastic job with a British voice for Kate. I would listen to the story again!

Romance Content: Closed-door - just kissing

Snow Going Back is a cute Christmas themed book that finds Kate Hunter getting engaged to her boyfriend Lance. Things turn for the worse when Lance sets the date for the wedding for New Year's Eve which is a few months away. Kate then gets sent to Boston and has to stay there for at least 6 weeks to settle the estate of one of thier clients. Now with the wedding inching closer and closer Kate is have second thoughts about getting married. This was a cute clean enimies to friends book that was honestly also very funny. The book was a good pick you up that will get anyone into the holiday season. I want to thank both NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for letting me have an advanced copy of this audio book.

2.5⭐️ I mean, it wasn't a bad read and it did keep my interest but I felt there were flaws regarding the relationship and romance in general.

The FMC I liked seeing her grow and realize she needs to stick up for herself and go for what she wants instead of what others want. I disliked that the FMC led Lance on throughout the entire book though, when there were multiple things to dislike about him and multiple times that the relationship could have ended earlier. The MMC & FMC had funny banter at times but I didn't enjoy the enemies to lovers, whilst the FMC was still engaged. Just not my thing.

Snow Going Back centers around Kate, a British lawyer who just got proposed to by her boyfriend Lance. Unsure how she feels about this surprise proposal, Kate seizes the opportunity to run away from the situation and goes on a work trip that takes her to a small town in Vermont, where she butts heads with Sam, a grumpy local.

This wasn't exactly the lighthearted Christmas story I was hoping for when I picked it up. I didn't love that there was a good amount of emotional cheating, especially from a character who constantly patted themselves on the back for not physically cheating, as if that is the only type of cheating. I also felt like Kate was not a particularly loveable character and didn't understand why she made most of the choices she made. I did find the subplot around the estate that is the reason Kate is in Vermont in the first place to be by far the most interesting part of the story, and I wish there was more focus on that than the lackluster romance. If it wouldn't for this redeeming plotline I probably would have rated the book even lower.

3 stars

I listened to this audio book in less than 24 hours. And, yes, I'm proud of that. It was great. First time I paused was a few chapters in and the first thing I did was tell my husband "this is everything my hallmark loving heart needs in a Christmas story."

The need to please people runs too strong in me, when this story starts out with the main female character, Kate, struggles with the internal battle to speak her peace or smile and let the others be happy instead, I related. When Kate leaves the day after an engagement that went wrong (for her) for a work trip, I found it believable. When I cannot find peace of mind to speak my truth, I tend to hide until I find the words to politely tell others to back off.

Kate leaves the country the day after her boyfriend proposes, travels to Vermont, where there is snow all over the ground, has a cute-meet with the hunky local man, has an enemy-to-lovers journey with him, while trying to help save the town from ruin. How can this not be made for Hallmark? It literally belongs in a Hallmark movie lineup.

Arriving in the small town in Vermont, Kate feels at home. The way she runs into Sam, not once, but twice within minutes of arrival, is entertaining to the reader. The house where Kate is to stay, also happens to be Sams house, unbeknownst to her. Chaos immediately ensues and will have you laughing at the antics they both employ towards one another. Eventually, they realize that they are on the same side of chaos and some to a sort of truce.

Not sure if it’s because I grew up with a slew of siblings or if I just find awkwardness hilarious, but the portions of the story where the two main characters are enemies -- I laughed out loud. The absurdity of it all seemed all to believable and hilarious.

3.5 stars for this enjoyable and charming Christmas romcom!

Kate, a lawyer who hates surprises and is always trying hard to please others, finds herself accidentally accepting an unexpected marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Lance. Feeling instantly trapped and not sure of how to handle the situation, she is unexpected called to work in Boston. She finds that she has to stay in Vermont for a few weeks leading up to Christmas to handle a legal matter, and is happy that this will give her the opportunity to sort through her feelings and figure things out. She instantly falls in love with the small town in Vermont, until she finds that she has to stay in a house with Sam, who is a mix between a grumpy lumberjack and an Abercrombie model. Needless to say they do not instantly get along, but when Sam saves her from a dangerous situation, she starts realizing that he isn’t as bad as she thought he was. When her fiance Lance shows up for a surprise visit, Kate realizes that she is not sure what, or who she wants…

This really was a cute and heartwarming romcom! I would have given this 4 stars, but I found myself annoyed with Kate throughout the book simply because she accidentally accepted a proposal and wouldn’t tell anyone how she felt and strung Lance along. You will enjoy this if you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and closed door romances.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book!!!
This is the perfect small town romance I needed!!! All with a little Christmas vibe sprinkled in!

Kate has just run away her boyfriend Lance's unexpected proposal (in front of her entire family). She was all to happy to take a last-minute work trip to Boston.
She immediately feels at ease on this trip in the quaint little fairy lit town she’s sent to on behalf of her law firm. That is until she meets Sam, a beautiful lumberjack of a man, standing in the kitchen of her new place. Which also happens to be his home thanks to a work mix-up. Willing to make it work they room together or the length of her stay and things get hairy pretty quickly. From drinking all the milk, turning the hot water off whilst she's showering, and insisting she stay in her room for the entirety of ‘game night' with the boys, Kate thinks Sam is the absolute worst, the feeling is mutual. Follow Kate as she navigate the feelings she’s developing for her new roommate Sam and the feelings she’s not feeling for her fiancé back home. Things absolutely the perfect laugh-out-loud, enemies-to-lovers forced-proximity book holiday book!

Such a lighthearted book while also playing through TOUGH frankly dynamics, relationship troubles, and the anxiety of an over bearing mother.

I absolutely could not put this book down 🩷

tl;dr: Snow Going Back has all the ingredients for a great book, but it focuses so much on telling rather than showing that I struggled to connect with the story and characters. Overall, 3 stars

There’s a lot to like: the characters are engaging and the plot has serious potential. I even laughed out loud a few times. But it’s missing that extra spark — the depth that pulls a reader into the story and makes them care about it.

For example, the main character describes the town she’s visiting as enchanting and unlike anything she’s ever experienced… but as the reader, we don’t see any of this from her actions or written description — we’re simply told. This pattern of telling over showing runs throughout the book, leaving the story feeling flat where it could have been vibrant.

I’d love to see this book re-worked with more focus on character and setting development, because the bones are there and it could be a real winner. As is though, it’s not for me.

Audio: I didn’t love the narrator either, unfortunately! The MC is British but the narrator’s British accent doesn’t sound authentic. The intonation feels off and the subtle nuances that native speakers use are missing.

Narration: The entire book is one POV, so there is one narrator portraying everyone. Not my favorite but okay. What is odd is all the different accents. She’s portraying both American and British men and women, but while the main character is British her internal dialogue is American?

This is one of those stories where it seems like nothing happens yet you enjoy it? Then looking back it’s just all a landslide caused by one characters decision (or indecision) and internal struggles. The second romance portrayed really isn’t fleshed out like it needs to be.