I didn’t have any expectations going in and overall I enjoyed it. It could’ve been better but it could also have been a lot worse. This was the last galley/ARC of my year and it was an endearing quick read. I received a copy from the publisher in return for my honest response; no compensation was received.
I tried to stay away from romance novels for so long but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed wallowing in them this past year. When I saw Christmas Kitsch I internally debated for quite a bit of time on whether I would read it and finally broke down and got it. I was hesitant because I always thought the super-specific holiday reads (i.e. Debbie Macomber) were super hokey even though I’d never read them. And I finally requested a copy while trekking through War and Peace, I figured a nice light fun read would be a great follow-up!
My favorite line from the novel was clearly,
“If someone offers you love, you don’t really count calories.”
Duh! No questions asked. And this quote also showed what Rusty really needed to learn in order to open up to Oliver’s love.
I think what I appreciated most of this novel is that even though it was a rough coming out story it wasn’t negative and wasn’t a fall-in-love immediately sort out everything and live happily ever after story. There were quite a few trials and tribulations, of which most were self-imposed by Rusty and that made this a different take. The internal struggles were well written and I enjoyed the slow thawing of emotions from Rusty and others. And yes I did tear up at the novel’s resolution.
Recommendation: There were no negatives about the book other than my getting grumpy with certain characters, but let’s face it that’s pretty standard with me these days. I even enjoyed the happily ever after epilogue recap.
Opening Line: “It was sort of a shock.”
Closing Line: “The two of us had gotten really good at planning in the last five years—that one sounded like a winner.” (Whited out.)
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