You Make It Feel Like Christmas
Author: Sophie Sullivan
Reviewer: Ang
Rating: A
What I’m Talking About:
You Make it Feel Like Christmas is like enjoying the perfect cup of cocoa with a ginger bread cookie on the side…. Sweet and spicy.
The setting is perfection! The characters are completely likable and the struggles are relatable. Nick and Maisie are both complex characters fighting with some very real emotional baggage as they are dropped down the chimney into a sweet second chance. That said if you are looking for a light hearted Christmas rom-com this likely won’t satisfy that itchy. Parts of the book can feel heavy given the weightiness of the topics it tackles like anxiety, family struggles and figuring out who you are without what you’ve always been. Is it worth a read? 100%! But be prepared for more Lifetime feels rather than Hallmark. Truthfully the spice alone would keep it off Hallmark, but it’s not so spicy that it would be sent Showtime.
As I said in the beginning, it is a perfect cup of cocoa: sweet, rich, with depth, paired with a lovely gingerbread cookie for spice. If you’re looking for Christmas with a little more than just fluff, you’ll likely enjoy this book. If second chances and learning to accept yourself are your jam, you’ll likely enjoy this book. And if found family and new beginnings are your cup of cocoa you’ll also likely enjoy this book. But fluff seekers may want to skip it.
My Rating: A Loved It
Ang
About the Book:
All bets are off when a single-minded photographer and a professional hockey player are forced to spend a week together on his sister’s Christmas tree farm, perfect for fans of Jenny Holiday and Maggie Knox.
Maisie Smart doesn’t look back. Not on the choice she made to be a photographer, and not on the one-night stand she had six months ago. But sleeping with a professional hockey player who bolted the morning after is a whole new level of embarrassing. Now she’s about to spend the week at Tickle Tree Farms with her family this Christmas—and then the universe throws a Grinch in her festive plans.
Nick King is a mess. After a significant injury benches him, he has more time to dwell on his anxieties and the one-night stand he can’t get out of his head. With the holidays around the corner, he figures visiting his sister and nephew at their Christmas tree farm will be a good way to sort himself out. That’s impossible when he learns Maisie is there, still beautiful and justifiably angry about the way he left. But Christmas is the time for second chances, and the forced proximity may help Nick and Maisie unwrap feelings neither of them can walk away from twice.
Release Date: September 23, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Rom-com, Sports, Holiday
Format(s): paperback (320 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Publisher/ NetGalley