What a lovely story! With some well known tropes such as fake dating, rich girl/poor girl, this story warmed my heart so much. It took me a little while to warm to Haf but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story. With plenty of representation and diversity this book will leave you laughing and grinning from ear to ear.

If you're looking for a heartwarming and charming queer Christmas rom-com that will leave you feeling uplifted and satisfied, then Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones is the book for you! This delightful holiday read promises to transport you to a cozy little town and fill you with the spirit of the season.

The synopsis promises a fun-filled adventure that will keep you entertained from start to finish. It tells the story of Haf, who agrees to pretend to be Christopher's girlfriend for Christmas after a kiss under the mistletoe with a stranger leads to a public display of affection in front of his ex-girlfriend. What follows is a hilarious and heartwarming tale of mistaken identity and unexpected romance.

The characters in this book are incredibly relatable and lovable. Haf is a strong and independent woman who is trying to move on from a difficult year, while Christopher is charming and kind-hearted. The addition of Kit, Christopher's mysterious and magnetic sister, adds a layer of complexity and intrigue to the story that will keep you turning the pages.

The humor in this book is witty and clever, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that will make you feel good. The author has created a world that is filled with festive joy and holiday cheer, making it the perfect read to get you in the spirit of the season.

Overall, Make You Mine This Christmas is a must-read for anyone looking for a delightful and heartwarming Christmas story. It is a perfect blend of humor, romance, and holiday cheer that will leave you feeling uplifted and satisfied. Don't miss out on this wonderful holiday read!

Such a cute and cosy little Christmas read!

I absolutely loved this one!

It gave me hallmark movie vibes! I loved the characters and the story so much!

Unfortunately not one I could get into. That is probably also a me problem because I dont enjoy christmas stories that much……

What I thought was going to be a typical , cute & predictable piece of chic lit turned out to be a real roller coaster of a book. It is a live story - just not the one I was expecting it to be. It’s funny, warm, well written and enjoyable.

A brilliant read and one I really enjoyed. The characters are loveable and varied, the plot is one that is engaging and medium paced. I found myself completely drawn into the story and enjoyed the writing style.

What an absolute roller coaster. What could possibly go wrong for Haf when she agrees to be Christopher’s fake girlfriend for Christmas. Be prepared to laugh and cry through this whole roller coaster. In the end it’s a lovely heart warming story about real love and friendship.

Okay so I've been meaning to write this review for a while and I kept getting sidetracked by more great books. And I know it's February and Christmas is so over but I needed to let you know about this great read.

I'll confess this was the first book I've read that had a queer leading lady. She's also overweight which is not usual for a leading lady either and her best friend Ambrose is gender fluid and written purposely so that the reader makes up their own mind how to picture them. I know how I pictured them but I won't influence you one way or the other, as the author never does. Ambrose is simply Ambrose but such a wonderful character. Their humour is second to none and their reactions to Haf's predicament are brilliant. I love the Twitter polls, hilarious.

Haf is sweet, she's had a really rough year with her work and love life and now she's looking to spend Christmas alone as her usual destination at her parent's house is out of the equation as they are off on holiday for the season. She ends up gatecrashing a party with Haf and meets the lovely Christopher. What starts as a bit of friendly banter suddenly ends up being coerced into a mistletoe kiss by his ex-girlfriend. The next day they suddenly find she's outed them as a couple to his family. Haf agrees to help her new friend with the deception to save him from embarrassment at the hands of his family and friends and agrees to pose as his girlfriend for the holidays. Shouldn't be a problem.

Until she meets Christopher's sister, Kit. First met by accident and has an instant attraction to her but has no idea who she is, she is then introduced to Kit and suddenly the holidays don't seem quite as straightforward as before. Haf lurches from one awkward situation after another with hilarious results.

I really identified with Haf, although I confess I have never fake-dated anyone in my life. Christopher was the sweetest guy you could ever meet and I really hope he gets a happy ever after somewhere, he really deserves it (although I have a feeling he will, given the events that unfold). Kit was wonderful, a great combination of sweet and snark, dealing with a disability in a humourous and yet practical way. And of course, I've already mentioned my love of Ambrose, I want their story in more detail please, Ms Huxley-Jones.

All in all, I couldn't find fault with this fabulous story. Don't wait until next Christmas to read this, get the tinsel back out and have a late Christmas night in.

A sapphic romance that feels genuinely authentic and where LGBT+ characters are engaging and centre place rather than written as one dimensional sidekicks.

The romance sparkles in the narrative and will satisfy any romcom lover. But the relationship between Haf and her best friend, Ambrose, is also delightful and engaging.

The comedy aspect is perfectly pitched, which is not always the case in this genre. The reindeer scene is not to be missed.

Very funny, sweet, and joyous. This is one of the best Christmas romcoms out there. Just wear your worst Christmas jumper when you read it so that you can join in the fun.

A wonderful festive queer romcom featuring such great representation and inclusivity, with disabled characters, LGBTQ+ characters and more. Perfect for those Hallmark festive feels with plenty of laugh out loud moments and loveable characters.

This is quite possibly, one of my favourite books of all time!! And the fact the main character has the same name as me is just an incredible bonus, this is the first book where a character has the same slightly unique Welsh name as me.
This book was just heaps and heaps of fun to read, I really wish i had a physical copy to hold onto, the physical publication date feels so far away. This book deserves so much hype and more, it is incredible. A swoon-worthy meet cute in a bookshop! Yearning! Fake dating! Sharing a bed (albeit with the wrong one)! Forced proximity!! It just has EVERYTHING! How can one author squish so many incredible tropes into one book and create a masterpiece?? I just love it.
I honestly can't really form a coherent review for this book. It is just the most perfect romcom.

Fab book starring disaster bisexuals and lovely meet cutes, plus posh people at Christmas. I loved it!

Is this the perfect, cheesy, funny, cosy, messy, fake-dating sapphic Christmas romance of your dreams? Yes. It. Is! I need this to be a movie, so I can watch it ten times a year and still not get bored by it, because it's just that damn funny and lovely and good.

Haf meets Christopher at a party, they end up accidentally kissing in front of Christopher's ex-girlfriend and her new beau, one thing leads to another and suddenly Haf finds herself posing as Christopher's fake girlfriend during his family's Christmas festivities. And that wouldn't be a problem, except that Haf falls fast and hard for Christopher's sister Kit.

The plot veers into the realm of utterly ridiculous a few times, but pulls itself back onto the rails eventually every single time. The main character and love interest are a true delight, the secondary characters are a bunch of eccentric menaces, but they all just perfectly fit the story.

This one is definitely going into the "I need something cute and gay to cheer me up" rotation of books.

Although I think of myself as an absolute Grinch, this book has truly warmed its way to my cold dead heart and brought me some of that mythical holiday cheer. What a treat and a delight Lizzie Huxley-Jones has given us all. This was light and romantic and so easy to dive into and not want to get out of without even realising. I loved every second of it.

When Haf gatecrashes a party little does she know that her life would change forever.
This story is based on friendship, family loyalty, the upper-class tight knit community and commitment.
When Haf hatched a plan with Christopher to be a fake couple, little did she realise that she'd fall in love with his sister.
Should she confess to her feelings and the lie, then lose everything?

A queer Christmas rom-com. The perfect cosy Christmas read, a thoroughly modern day love story filled with terrible schemes, inappropriate Christmas jumpers and utter chaos. Just I was looking for, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Studio and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

It's the golden rule of pretending to be someone's girlfriend: don't fall for their sister.

After a year from hell, Haf is ready to blow off steam at a Christmas party: a kind stranger, a few too many drinks and suddenly she's kissing Christopher under the mistletoe - in front of his ex-girlfriend.

The next day the news is out that they're apparently a couple, madly in love and coming to Oxlea to spend the festive season with Christopher's family. But Haf doesn't have better holiday plans and to save her new friend from embarrassment, she agrees to pretend to be Christopher's girlfriend for Christmas.

It has the makings of a hilarious anecdote they'll be telling for years. Until Haf meets Christopher's sister: the mysterious, magnetic and utterly irresistible Kit. Maybe love was waiting for Haf in this quiet little town all along . . .

My Opinion

For me this book was missing something, it was an okay read but it really didn't grab me. The first few chapters were appealing and then I just felt like the plot was too drawn out. A nice story that just wasn't for me.

Rating 3/5

The perfect book to get the chaotic bisexual in your life for the holidays. It is filled with chaos, hijinks and mixed up as well as a good helping of cosy comfort, Christmas cheer and food descriptions which will have you drooling.

I just have nothing but praise for this book. I loved every second that I spent reading it and though I'm very late reviewing it since it came out in October, I'm really glad I waited until December to read it so that I could really enjoy the seasonal charm. It has taken it's place as my favourite Christmas book and I am already planning a reread for next year!

If all of that hasn't got you in the mood for this book, I will say that there is a baby reindeer involved and he is very cute and just as chaotic as the rest of the characters, so you have that to look forward to!

A Christmas f/f ‘disaster-bi’ romcom, and one of the MCs lives in York?! You better believe I smashed request on Netgalley for this one; like, several times. And it turned out to be a delightful holiday confection: endearingly silly, amped up on hijinks, and full of genuinely sweet and heart-squeezy moments. Plus it’s funny!

We meet Haf Hughes at a decidedly low moment, just as her parents break the news that they’re leaving her alone for Christmas and jetting off to Madeira. Exhausted from her crappy low-paid exploitative job and still reeling from a painful breakup, she’s feeling extremely sorry for herself. So, when her flatmate Ambrose (an absolute legend of a secondary character) takes her to gate crash a party and she accidentally starts fake-dating a handsome banker called Christopher Calloway, who can blame her?? When the fake-dating escalates to being invited home to his parents house for Christmas… I mean, maybe that’s a step further than most people would take it? But. Haf instantly likes Christopher - although not in *that* way - and she wants to help him avoid an embarrassing Christmas being paraded in front of his own ex, Laurel. Plus, why be alone in York with M&S party food when you could be living it up in the Cotswolds at an upper middle-class shindig? What harm can it do? He can fake-dump her in January and all will be well. Enter Christopher’s sexy architect sister, Kit, stage right to muck up best laid plans.

What follows is a glorious mash-up of the plots of Imagine Me and You and While You Were Sleeping (undeniably two of the best films EVER made). While Haf and Kit try to resist an instant tummy-tingling chemistry, Haf and Christopher act out all the required Calloway Christmas traditions as a couple. There’s the Christmas Eve-Eve village fete, the annual local ball, and the big day itself… Haf - the most adorable chaos monkey I’ve read in a while - tries her absolute best to play her role, but what can she do when shenanigans are attracted to her like a magnet? It’s all destined to end in tears before the crescendo to the happy ending.

There was so much I appreciated about this story! There was great bi rep, as well as fat, neurodiverse and disability rep. It did a fab job with the chemistry between Kit and Haf, and made their insta-love feel at least half believable to me. It also delivered some truly daft set-piece scenes on just the right side of delightful. And it gave me all those snow-touched, twinkly-light, Christmas-music in the background vibes of an over the top holiday movie. I was bouncing about gleefully the whole time. But what I liked the most was that Make You Mine for Christmas was really good - REALLY GOOD - at platonic love. I actually enjoyed reading about Haf and Christopher’s growing friendship (and the other friendships of the novel) as much as I did Haf’s sapphic longing for Kit. Lizzie Huxley-Jones really captured the power of instantly connecting with someone, and the closeness of friend-attraction. I was actually thrilled to see Ambrose and Laurel and Christopher there at the end for the HEA moment, when I usually hate love declarations with an audience.

Highly recommended if you’re looking for a fun irrepressible holiday read over the next week. I’m hoping the author is going to write more in the series - I need to know more about the mysterious Bryn!!

This book has been sitting on my netgalley shelf sometime and as the countdown to Christmas commenced it was time to tackle it. I was expecting a cosy Christmas read and whilst in many ways it was, it was so much more. This is a progressive read with a diverse cast of characters. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC, I really enjoyed this.