This book was a fun story with just the right amount of fun and romance to keep me listening. It was full of interesting cultural lessons how how Christmas is celebrated in other countries, and i certainly would love to spend a Christmas in Columbia - the candle ceremony sounds magical.

I liked the characters and was happy with the outcome of their stories. Bea was rather funny and i loved her sass!

The narrator was great at the different accents and characters, from sassy Bea to stiff Gordon.

An enjoyable listen to get you in the Christmas mood.

This was a simple but enjoyable listen of two very different people who have had traumatic pasts come together to record and promote a Christmas song. Christmas is not the main theme of the book but that doesn’t matter as it is still a lovely, romantic story with the addition of Columbia’s culture and the main character having a disability it makes it different from the usual chick lit stories. It was a good listen whilst out walking the dogs and it would make a great Christmas movie.

I couldn’t finish this book because I really didn’t enjoy the way the narrator performed the accent of the lead man. I didn’t find the set up as festive as I had hoped.

This book follows the charting of a number one Christmas song by two artists - a girl who had been in a bad accident with her mother and brother and a boy from Columbia who has a child and who is a bit of a womaniser. I did not care for any of the characters in the book, so I didn't care for the overall story. I wouldn't call it a Christmas story. Much of the story takes place in Miami and Columbia. There is a little bit of Christmas in London in the last two or three chapters. I found the main male character to be very creepy and harassing.

This book was a fun, easy listen and I would definitely recommend for something festive but not completely centred around festivities. I thought it was a brilliant take on the life of artists and the buzz of a hit number one really felt real. Great book!

Great festive story perfect for the cosy Christmas holidays. Comforting stuff.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my feedback.

This one was not for me. A bit too odd and not enough festive. It needed a bit more hallmark Christmas sparkle fir me.

I enjoyed this festive read. The narrator was easy to listen to and I liked that it wasn't completely christmasy. It was the typical Christmas novel and I found it a refreshing listen.

This book is perfect for Christmas, but also perfect for a summer holiday read. Set in the summer (and at Christmas) but based on a Christmas song, it covers all bases.

Cara doesn’t do sexy and she only does ‘Happy Christmas’ under duress. She is, after all, a serious musician, and her stubborn streak is born from her struggle to recover from a serious injury.

Javi lives for escapist fun - in his music, and in his life - especially since he’s always failed at life’s more serious challenges, including marriage and fatherhood.

Javi and Cara are forced to record a Christmas single together, but neither of them have plans to spend any more time with each other than they absolutely have to. With Christmas traditions that couldn’t be more different, and outlooks on life that are worlds apart, the chemistry just shouldn’t work. But the magic of Christmas can bring even opposites together…

This book has so much magic it is simply enchanting. Romantic, funny, great chemistry between the two main love interests and strong additional characters. Set in different countries, the author manages to capture the beautiful bits of each county wonderfully.

I listened to it on an audio book and the narrator was excellent, very good at the different voices and accents, I didn't even mind her male character voice.

I would recommend this as a great romantic read.5 stars from me.

I really enjoyed this story. It is not just a Christmas story, although Christmas does play a role in it, but also a love story of two very different characters, British Cara and Colombian Javi, each with their own history, baggage and issues which makes the story more interesting in my opinion.

The trip to Colombia was also interesting as my ex is Colombian and some of the cultural and family traditions were familiar.

Overall a good read/listen with a little more depth than your average love story.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books UK for the chance to listen to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In spite of the title and the cover, this is not just your usual Christmas book, I would say it is only marginally one.
Christmas is not the main theme around which the plot and the characters evolve. This makes it much more interesting IMO.
The main characters deal with real challenges, have emotional baggage as well as psychological and physical ones.
It's a story about overcoming a difficult past through trust and eventually love.
This book is beautifully written and the narrator did a great job, using different voices and accents to impersonate the various characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books Audio for providing me with an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Surprisingly, this is a Christmas book that's not steeped in Christmas (and all its festivities!). Nor is it a fluffy romance with light, slightly bemused endearing characters. The lead characters, Cara and Javi have tons of baggage, which makes for an interesting read and wasn't what I expected. Leonie Mack created characters with genuine challenges - physical, psychological and emotional - imbuing them with real depth in the process. Which, I think pushes the genre forward, crisscrossing between fantasy/aspirational (who didn't want to be a pop star?) and the messiness of reality and falling in love.

I thought the narrator did an excellent job in using their voice to differentiate between characters, their Spanish was convincing and brought the two cultures and characters to life.

Even though you’d think this book would be full on about Christmas - I mean it’s mentioned in the title and the cover is pretty festive - the story actually isn’t that Christmassy.. This was great for reading at any time during the year as you didn’t have to be in a festive mood to read it.

Even though it does look at the chances of being number 1 for Christmas, I would say this is very much in the background. The main focus of this story is the relationship between Cara and Javi, and how they end up travelling the world together to promote the Christmas record that their record label has made them produce.

This was such a lovely book, full of highs and lows and made my morning jogs fly by! My only criticism is that I now really want to hear the song even though I know it doesn’t exist!

I wont be giving feedback as I didnt realise it was an audio bookxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My Christmas Number One - Leonie Mack
Narrated by Gloria Sanders

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Boldwood Books UK Audioand Netgalley.

Cara doesn’t do sexy and she only does ‘Happy Christmas’ under duress. She is, after all, a serious musician, and her stubborn streak is born from her struggle to recover from a serious injury.

Javi lives for escapist fun - in his music, and in his life - especially since he’s always failed at life’s more serious challenges, including marriage and fatherhood.

Javi and Cara are forced to record a Christmas single together, but neither of them have plans to spend any more time with each other than they absolutely have to. With Christmas traditions that couldn’t be more different, and outlooks on life that are worlds apart, the chemistry just shouldn’t work. But the magic of Christmas can bring even opposites together…

I struggled a bit with the start of this book, I thought it got off to a slow start so I wasn’t convinced I would enjoy it. However, I am glad I stuck with it! Progressing through this book gives the reader more insight into the characters and their past which helped me feel more invested in the book, wishing for a happy ending.

The characters of Cara and Javi are very relatable and have such good chemistry. I enjoyed the description of how Christmas is enjoyed in Colombia, and the traditions that are observed around the holidays.

Rating 4/5

A lovely romantic Christmas tale, one that is special and inclusive - marrying cultures and disability.
A delightful escape!

Thank you to Netgalley and Leonie Mack for the advanced review copy of My Christmas Number One. I couldn’t seem to get into the story for this one I have to admit - perhaps it was the audiobook option and I might have been better off reading the book.

This book had it all, music, culture and that feeling you only get at Christmas. An enjoyable read, with a sweet story and nice characters, it wasn't really my cup of tea as far as stories go, and not something I would usually pick for myself but a nice little surprise of a book.

This story however had it all, and the narrator, did such a superb little job, singing, dancing and a trip over the world, well, she had her work cut out, but did such a superb job. The book had a lot to give and it sure packed it in, and there where times when I didn't think that everything would come together as nicely as it did, but I feel that Leonie Mack, did a superb job in shaping this book to be an all singing, all dancing piece with a lot to give and an absurd amount of love and romance thrown in. I have to hold my hands up and say, I loved it, even when I thought I wouldn't.

Ten out of ten, for Leonie Mack.

With thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for bringing this book to my attention and sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I listened to this on audiobook and I absolutely loved it. I found the romance between the main characters to be charming as it slowly blossomed throughout the novel.

Characters were well developed and it was wonderful hearing about the Colombian culture.

I enjoyed how the author wove serious topics into the story that brings awareness to mental health, disability and grief, as well as family issues.

The narrator did a brilliant job on the separate voices for the characters. My favourite being the the daughter, such sass!

Such a pretty story for Christmas time xx

📖 📕 review 📖 📕

My Christmas number one.

What the book says.


There’s nothing quite like a Christmas love story, to get you in the mood for celebrating…

Cara doesn’t do sexy and she only does ‘Happy Christmas’ under duress. She is, after all, a serious musician, and her stubborn streak is born from her struggle to recover from a serious injury.

Javi lives for escapist fun - in his music, and in his life - especially since he’s always failed at life’s more serious challenges, including marriage and fatherhood.

Javi and Cara are forced to record a Christmas single together, but neither of them have plans to spend any more time with each other than they absolutely have to. With Christmas traditions that couldn’t be more different, and outlooks on life that are worlds apart, the chemistry just shouldn’t work. But the magic of Christmas can bring even opposites together…

This was a good feel good book and I loved lurking sll the different country and nationality traits and ways of living.
At the beginning I did start off not liking the male main character but I warmed to him.
This wax a bit predictable but It was a good easy read.

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