Cute little comeback story, with a touch of snark and humor, pretty interesting.

Allison wants to turn her life around using a property her grandpa left her in Florida, but she's not sure what to do with it yet. Financially, she can take her time to figure it out.
Drew is the contractor who's finally going to hire Allison to renovate the property. Drew's a bit of a complex character and doesn't seem too keen on connecting with Allison.

It's been nice watching Allison and Drew's relationship unfold, with all the side characters from the town getting involved, especially Drew's friends and family. Allison clicked with them right away. It's been fun to read.

This is a sweet story about Winter and Avery's relationship. Overall, an enjoyable read even with the pacing being a bit off.
3.5 stars.


Thanks to the publisher Bella Books and NetGalley.

My favorite thing about reading a new Kat Jackson book is that her writing is not tell-tale. If I hadn't have known, I'd have never known (?????). Her writing style is so polished and different in the word selection, and as we all know, generally anti-trope. Yes, this one is a super slow burn, and it is set in the month of December, but it doesn't feel like a holiday book since it's set in Florida. The dialogue between Allison and Drew feels real, rather than a scripted sitcom, although there's plenty of humor from the supporting cast of Sunset Dunes ladies. Deck The Palms is a great example of how to use main characters in their 40s that feels authentic but still super interesting (and hot!).

Feeling like she made the right call Allison Bradley still finds herself surprised by how much she loves being in Clearwater Beach. It’s only been a few weeks so she’s got time to decide what to do with the house left to her by her grandfather. Saying it needs work would be an understatement and if she does fix it up should she sell it or maybe start her own small business. I mean she did own and operate coffee shops out west but did she want to start over again?
Drew Kingsley was the most popular handy lady/ contractor in the neighborhood. She had great ideas and even better she could build them for you. She’s lived here all her life and most of her family was around Clearwater Beach but the only person holding Drew is her grandmother who resided in the local retirement home ‘Sunset Dunes.
Asked to help the ladies of Sunset Dunes planning the annual Christmas Party. Now Allison has to decide what's to become of her grandfather's old house and how to make Drew fall in love with her. Should be easy enough, right?
ARC via NetGalley/Bella Books

This is a story about Allison who moves from the West Coast to Clearwater Beech Florida. She has inherited an old beach front property from her deceased Grandfather. She rents a small apartment from an older woman, Carol. Carol introduces her to the senior living home where she volunteers. Allison decides to hire a contractor to renovate her old building, Evan though she has no idea what she wanted to do with it.
She hires Drew’s company to do the renovation work.

Drew is a soft butch woman who is a loner. She’s estranged from her family and wants no part of a romantic relationship. She’s suffered from a bad break up.

This was a slow burn romance, which made sense because both women were mature and not looking for love. I have mixed feelings on this book, it touched a bit on some philosophical ideas on relationships but not enough for me. It was very light on emotions that the MCs felt for each other. I liked that Drew “didn’t do casual” and that Allison was very patient in waiting for her.

Overall the writing style of this book was off for me and I had to force myself to finish it.

ARC received from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.

Allison Bradley relocates across the country to Clearwater Beach. She has inherited a property and is looking to open a new business. She chooses Drew Kingley’s renovation and design company to remodel her property. Drew is crusty and grumpy to almost everyone except her beloved Grandmother who lives in a retirement/care facility. Allison also happens to volunteer there thanks to her pushy neighbor. In addition to doing the renovation for Allison, Drew and she get put in charge organizing the upcoming Winter Wonderfest for the seniors.

The two know there are combustible sparks between them. But both have pasts that have them leery of new romance. Drew is especially irritating as her crusty behavior borderlines on rudeness. This is a full novel with solid side characters. Grandma’s friends at the senior center are hilarious in their bawdy talk and exploits. I love how the two planning activities for the seniors slowly open the door to learning about each other.

The pace zips along while the romance is slow burn. I cared about these women and liked that they were in their 40s. They’ve lived life and have both been bruised along the way. And I liked the idea that each has lists or rules to help them navigate their futures. But together they didn’t need those rules anymore.

Three and a half stars.

This is a very unusual story. It’s a slow burn romance of two middle aged women not looking for love but finding it anyway. They have wonderful chemistry and snappy banter. I think for me is was the side stories that lost their way a tad. Having an aged care facility festive event for Drew and Allison to get together and plan was a nice touch. However the conflict Drew had with her family didn’t really go anywhere and I thought more time might have been spent on Drew and Allison’s actual relationship rather than a quick epilogue.

The constant reference to “the designer” storyline was never fully resolved for my liking and I am not sure Allison’s List was a good storyline. For the most part I enjoyed the story and the characters. It had its moments. A pleasant enough story to while away the hours.

Deck the Palms is a slow-burn sapphic romance featuring charming main characters and a delightful group of supportive older women. I appreciated how this Christmas romance balances the festive spirit without overwhelming holiday cheer. Instead, it focuses on a character-driven story where the protagonists experience remarkable personal growth. The humor provides a light touch to offset some of the heavier themes, making this an ideal holiday read that will leave you smiling and swooning.

Allison has moved to Clearwater to try to get away from her past and to deal with a inheritance.

Drew Kingsley, a local, has no interest in dating, despite a attempt to set them up. But her company is working on a job for Allison.
AND the seniors ladies have drafted them to organize the Christmas party.

VERY slow burn. This is one of those books where you wanna bang the heroines heads together and make them talk it out.

Also, the arc with Drew's family felt oddly like a waste of time. It doesn't seem to GO anywhere and just takes up pages.

3 out of 5 stars. Okay, but not great.

This is a slow burn romance with a side serving of 'oh, is it Christmas?' - which is perfect if you don't want to indulge in a long drawn out pre Christmas fest yourself.
It is such a slow burn that there were times when I thought that maybe Drew was a red herring and someone else was going to pop up for the love interest. But that just made it better - and her avoidance tactics amused me. It seemed more of a reluctant romance at times.
Allison relocates to the beach as she needs a reset to her life, and an inherited property gives her the means to start a new business. Drew is a contractor who bids for the job - the property needs a major overhaul. They are also thrown together when they both have ties to the Dunes, a seniors community living place and are volunteered to sort out the activities for their Winter Wonderfest. Allison also has The List which she consults regularly at the beginning. Drew also has rules - like no relationships etc.
It's a fun red, there are regular appearances from sassy residents of the Dunes who have lived and still know how to have fun.
It does of course have an epilogue.
This is set 6 moths after the main story. They are both happy as the other is their 'home'. Allison has ditched the List.

Read this if you want just a smattering of festive cheer in good story.

Another well written characters driven book by, this time by pairing two MC equally reluctant to get into a relationship, with good reason too as we learnt later on. The attraction between them were undeniable, sparks fly when they engaged in sharp but amusing banter, I laughed multiple times when Allison burst out cuss words because Drew was just so infuriating to her. A slow burn but not an unpleasant one, rather we readers get to embark a journey together with them, to learn how their past experience influenced heavily and prevent them to further initiated any meaningful conversation, especially Drew the grumpy curmudgeon. Personally, I agreed with the pacing of the book because there’s no way a HEA is possible until they both learn to worked through their issues and insecurities and open up to one another. Also I love those sultry and sassy grannies, I laughed too loudly whenever any scene they were in.

This entertaining story revolved around remodeling a property and planning a winter festival for a retirement community.

Allison Bradley, age 42, was the first main character we met. She relocated from Portland, Oregon to Clearwater Beach, FL to accept a property she inherited from her grandfather. She contracted with Drew Kingsley, owner of Southern Magnolia Designers to design her space.
If there were to be a romance between the two older ladies, we learned that Drew, age 44, was untouchable. A salty ice block. And if Allison were to ever consider getting involved with a woman again (she still wasn’t sold on the idea that she wanted to), she had learned she needed someone the opposite of icy. Following the progression of the romance was a very overly-slow burn!

In addition to collaborating on Allison’s design, the two ladies both had ties to the retirement home, Sunset Dunes. Allison’s grandfather had been a resident before his death and Drew’s grandmother, June was a current resident. Our two mains became volunteers in planning the annual Winter Wonderfest. The planning also involved the gossipy but funny residents, most notably Blanche and Dorothy.

There was a lot of humor around the planning, some funny and some I felt too slapsticky for my taste. Some of the planned events were amusing. My favorite was how the sassy older ladies took the name of one game, Candy Cane Hook ’Em, insisting on calling it Candy Cane Hookers!

My thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

This was the perfect ‘not too christmassy’ holiday romance where the main characters were both super sweet, relatable and endearing without being thrown together simply by the “magic of the season”.

This is a slow burn story where both characters have their reasons for taking things slow and thinking through their actions, which I found very refreshing and much more relatable than many holiday themed romance stories. I loved both characters and both of them together, and wish we got to see more of them once they were officially together! Would definitely recommend this book!

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley.

For the first time in her life, Allison Bradley feels like she’s on the right path. She’s left the west coast and as the holidays approach, she’s settling into her new home in Clearwater Beach. A warm winter has never sounded so good, and she is absolutely not going to date anyone while she builds the next phase of her life.

Dating is the last thing on Drew Kingsley’s mind. In fact, she’s sworn it off for good. She’d much rather focus on her business—something she can control—and her grandmother, the one person she trusts will love her unconditionally. Despite being thrown together by the meddling work of little old ladies, Allison and Drew do not want to like each other. But as the magic of the holidays surrounds them, even they will be forced to see that the walls they’ve built to protect themselves might be better taken down to let good love in.

I really enjoyed watching Allison and Drew, their resistance to the attraction at first, and their journey of growing individually and together. Fun 🌶️ too! One thing I liked about this is that it wasn't overly Christmassy. Sometimes there's too much Christmas in holiday books. For me, this was the perfect amount. 4⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

This is a cute, romantic, low angst read that revolves around Christmas, but isn't the focus. It's more about love and the festive side of the holiday season which adds a nice magical touch to the story.

The MCS are arranging a holiday party for the elderly which is incredibly sweet and makes me think of all the ones out there that don't have loved ones, especially at the holiday. Neither Allison nor Drew are looking for a relationship, but the thrown together over and over again by old ladies.

This is a very, very slow build into a relationship which I think took too long and ended too quickly before we could really see them as a couple.
It's more of a journey of working through through things before they get into a relationship, but it was very hot once they finally got together and almost worth the wait.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is an adorably cute, romantic, and lovely read that doesn't overdo Christmas as a theme. Instead, this is more about the sentiments of the festive season and the love that abounds at this time of year.

Neither Allison nor Drew are looking for a relationship, but they keep getting thrown together by some meddling old ladies.

The plot is simple, but if you're looking for an instant relationship and the overused and formulaic third-act breakup, this book is not for you.

This is a journey of working through real-life insecurities and the organic aligning of two people to form a healthy relationship.

Sprinkled on top of this is the spice, and Allison and Drew are certainly hot together and very much worth the build-up.


*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review*

I like how Kat Jackson works through her own stuff with her books as well. I feel like it helps me connect to the writing, there is some real feeling in the writing.
While the title is very Christmassy I didn’t find the book to be about Christmas. Sure, our mains are organising some winter wonderland party for the elderly, but that’s about the extent of the winter festivities. Props for that, also for making it a winter wonderland fest and not Christmas.
If I were to fault this book, it would be about the time I get with our mains as a couple. While reading it, it’s inevitable they get together, it just takes SO LONG! I would have liked some more time with them as a couple and working through their issues together and apart, growing as a couple.

Anyway, it’s a good read. If you are picking it for all the Christmas vibes, think again. You could stay for some good characters, both mains and secondary characters, all well developed, and a heartwarming story. Oh! And women in their forties! Yes! We need some age diversity in these books and not just have certain ages represented in age gap.

Allison inherits a former sandwich shop property in Clearwater Beach and moves cross county to renovate the property and start a new business of her choosing. Allison needs a contractor to lead the renovation and Drew’s company is awarded the project. Both Allison and Drew are closed off people who are bitter about past relationships. Allison keeps “The List” about things and mistakes that she will never repeat. Drew is even skeptical about calling Allison “a friend” as they begin to eventually get to know each other.

This bitterness and distrust is the basis for their fragile interactions. However, Drew routinely visits her grandmother, June, at a care facility where Allison volunteers. June and two of her friends, Dorothy and Blanche, see the potential for a relationship between Drew and Allison. So they have them coordinate a Winter Wonderland event for the facility residents. Drew and Allison are forced to spend time together and slowly begin to learn about each other . This helps with the distrust and to ease the bitterness.

This slow burn romance was well written with Kat Jackson’s prose and vivid descriptions. The end result is two people learning how to trust and love again. 4 stars

I received an ARC from Bella Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this fun book

always love a story with a toolbelt in it.... and this one had it all

drew and allison a slow melt for drew but for allison it was instant attraction

allison was looking for a new start and a new business venture.... she had been left property and was now deciding what to do with it.... and with an idea in mind she needed a contractor....

enter drew... not the best at social engagements and having to look around the place and put in a quote wasnt her forte as the person who did this was away.... drew was more hands

a slow build but a great storyline theres more to drew that needs answering but for now this was a great read

Deck the Palms by Kat Jackson is a funny, romantic, and swoon-worthy novel that showcases the author's remarkable range. Known for her emotionally intense and often somber narratives, Jackson outdoes herself in this delightful departure from her usual fare -- No Academia and No sadness! Not only are the main characters, Allison Bradley and Drew Kingsley, irresistibly charming and witty, but the ensemble cast surrounding them amplifies the humor and sizzle of the story.

Speaking of sizzle, can we talk about *that* scene? OMG! I am a little mad that there was only one, and that we had to wait until chapter 28 for it!

In all seriousness, Jackson's writing remains as beautiful and evocative as ever; not sacrificing her signature style to infuse humor into the narrative. Instead, she masterfully balances internal insecurities with laughter, creating moments that will resonate deeply with fans of her emotionally intelligent, psychoanalyzed, character-driven storytelling. I'm so thankful she chose to explore the lighter, more lighthearted side of human experience in this novel.

This is the perfect novel to read if you're looking for a holiday read that doesn't have snow, a 3rd act breakup, or miscommunication. This book has quickly risen to the top of my recommendation list.