Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this last Wednesday of October? Things here are monotonous. I’m still stuck in the hurry up and wait portion of various things and I’m so fucking tired of remaining patient. Being politely professional when people are just jerking me around. Passive aggression is only amusing for so long. Anyway, on an unrelated note, anyone want to find somewhere to scream into the void with me? No? I guess singing along to loud music will have to do. But you’re not here to listen to me complain. It’s the last Wednesday of the month, so you know what that means… book review time! I don’t know what I was thinking, but somehow I ended up with another cozy romance. The Best Christmas Ever by Sarah Morgan was released yesterday (the 27th) by MIRA Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
The Best Christmas Ever follows Mabel, Brooke, and Izzy as they navigate the difficulties of the Christmas season. It’s the worst snowstorm to be seen in recent history. Mabel is hunkered down with her cats in her home in the middle of nowhere. Brooke is trying to get her husband and two kids to her parents. And Izzy is finishing up one last job before saying goodbye to her business acquaintance and returning to her empty apartment. Fate has different ideas when the storm strands them all at Mabel’s house for the foreseeable future. Will they remain awkward strangers or will they help each other overcome their issues all while entertaining two children?
Plot: standard. Everyone (well, the women) has their own reasons to dread Christmas. Circumstances lead to them being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way out. By some miracle they have everything they need (food, a generator, decorations, etc.) to make themselves the perfect Christmas with little to no discomfort except Izzy having to share a room with the perfect man. But what about their inner turmoil? Don’t worry. Everything is so perfect that one or two conversations heals years of drama and trauma and everyone else involved in the different events magically goes along with everything and peace is found by all. It’s definitely one of those perfect books. Everything is easily wrapped up once they just talk about it. Smothering parents accept that they put too much pressure on Brooke and her husband and instantly change their ways. Mabel’s issues are fixed with an email. Izzy’s issues get better because of a dude. You know… because that’s how life works. Easy peasy. It’s all too tidy and effortless for me.
Characters: same complaint. Everyone is perfectly flawed. The dudes are just perfect. Like creepily perfect. Definitely an idealized version of a man. The children are angels and don’t have any meltdowns. It’s weird. And the three women already understand what their issues are. They’re perfectly self-aware. They just need each other to support each other while they try to fix everything that wasn’t really their faults. Think Hallmark Christmas special when you imagine the characters. I’m not saying they’re bad, just flat. They’re very much cookie cutter characters with a decent icing job. Cute, but not substantial.
Writing: fine. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly engaging. The only thing that was weird was that the American characters didn’t have any problem with the British terminology. A lot of the Americans actually used British terminology (not just Brooke and her family). It was odd.
Ultimately, The Best Christmas Ever wasn’t for me. It was fine, but everything was too easy and perfect for me. Some people enjoy that. A lot do, actually. I’m not one of them.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. I wasn’t happy with it, but if you’re into Hallmark movies, you’ll probably enjoy it.
