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Monday, November 13, 2023

A Wish for Christmas by Courtney Cole - Book Review

Publication Date: 14th Nov 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christmas 

4.2 Stars 

One Liner: Beautiful and heartwarming 


Nora and Jack are drifting apart after a decade of marriage. Even their 205-pound mastiff, Elliot, doesn’t seem to keep them together. With busy careers and no time for anything else, the couple finds it hard to remember why they have been in love with each other since their school days. 

A chance meeting with a mysterious old man (kinda like Santa), all thanks to Elliot’s escapades, gives them something to think about. When the man asks them to wish on a snow globe, the couple’s lives may change in a way no one expected. 

Nora and Jack are now Noel and Jonah, still successful in their careers but leading single and separate lives. However, they continue to come face to face, and as their friendship grows into something more, they have to decide what to do with their lives. 

The story comes in the first-person POV of Noel and Jonah, with the first chapter in the third-person POV about Nora and Jack. 

My Thoughts: 

This is about second chances, love, family, relationships, and healing. The story starts in the city (NYC) but moves to a cute small town, Winter Falls. 

Set in December, we see quite a bit of snow, cold, dampness, chill, festive decorations, cooking, baking, food, etc. The city and the town are easy to visualize.

The pacing is wonderful. It doesn’t even feel like reading 360+ pages. The story continues to move and has bits of chat messages and emails inserted to add to the mix. This is pretty much a Hallmark-type book, so don’t expect any intense drama or complex situations. 

Despite dealing with some heavy themes like dementia, death of loved ones, etc., the book achieves the right intensity and has many light moments between different characters.

 Elliot is such a darling, you’d want to take him home (never mind that he drools all over). Moxie is another highlight of the book. I could have read an entire book with just these two. 

Jace and his mother, Izzy, Noel’s parents, and a few other characters like Avery, Emily, etc., add more flavors to the plot and are good supporting characters. Not all of them get the same space, but they shine in their roles. 

There seem to be minor discrepancies in the timeline, but nothing major to distract from the central plot (however, you should go with the flow). 

The ending is, of course, HEA, but a bit different from what I expected. I like it enough, but there isn’t that crucial moment that should have been there based on the blurb. 

To summarize, A Wish for Christmas is a heartwarming and cozy Christmas read with a super adorable dog. Read the book for Elliot! 

And oh, this is a clean romance. 

Thank you, NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #AWishforChristmas

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