Member Reviews
I really enjoyed this book because it made me laugh and because I thought the characters were really sweet.
A joyous fake dating Christmas rom-com involving a disastrous gingerbread house, an inappropriate Christmas jumper, a baby Reindeer and one badly behaved Goose.
A lovely story with likeable characters, Ambrose, the loyal friend, Laurel and Christopher with hearts of gold.
Kit and Haf we’re the perfect match.
I loved Esther, Otto and the tender moments they shared.
Thank you Hodder and Stoughton for the invitation in return for an honest review and NetGalley.
A fake romance to make Christmas easier for the family is not a new storyline but the added twist of where the true romance lies certainly is. Add to this the laugh out loud humour and you are set on a winning story. A really good Christmas read
Loved this so much, couldn't put it down, it's funny, heartwarming and the queer Christmas UK written, rom com that we've been waiting for. The main character Haf is a Welsh plus size neurodiverse bisexual who agrees to fake date Christopher, a guy she meets at a party and then falls for his sister Kit who has a disability. The story mostly takes place at Christopher and Kit's family home, which includes their very sweet dogs, Haf is also supported by her non binary flatmate Ambrose. The story is funny, engaging and very well told. A delightful, delightful book.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oh this book gave my queer heart so much joy, I adored it.
It's a fun, festive, heartwarming read that surrounds you with fabulous characters.
I was so happy to see elements of myself represented in such a positive way.
This book needs to be a Christmas film asap.
This was the perfect weekend read whilst travelling last week!
Light hearted, with non-binary, bisexual, fat/plus size, neurodiversity & disability representation, this was a hallmark Christmas movie, set in Oxlea & York! (Which coincidentally I was in York when reading this).
Hav was a sweet, plus size, unlucky in love FMC, who finds herself under the mistletoe for a second; and meeting the love of her life not long after, in a train station… but it’s a little too late for that…
Fake dating, with some miscommunication, a rogue reindeer and the most underrated background character of all time? (Looking at you, Bryn) This is a cozy winter read.
Haf is Christopher's pretend girlfriend, but after meeting his sister, would she rather be Her's? What will happen to him? A totally different story, really enjoyable and hard to put down.
Had a solid good time reading this, but it also wasn’t the best Christmas book I’ve ever read. Something about the parents bugged me big time.
When Haf and Chris meet a Christmas Party, it's like fate.
It's not love at first sight, or a festive romance, but something else entirely. They were both looking for something and they might just be able to help each other find it. By the end of the night, they're kissing under the mistletoe in front of Chris' ex-girlfriend, and Haf is finally enjoying a night with a new friend after the worst year of her life and facing her first Christmas alone. But when the news spreads about their supposed relationship, Haf finds herself heading off to spend Christmas with Chris' family as his new pretend girlfriend.
But Haf isn't worried - she's not going to run a perfect plan by falling in love with her fake boyfriend. But then, she meets his sister Kit in a small bookstore avalanche and knows that the one thing on her Christmas List is something she can't have.
"It's not often I get to see a meet-cute in here. Making eyes over the queer books? That's the kind of meet-cute you dream of, the kind of queer stories we deserve.'
Full of hilariously bad decisions, chaotic timing and lots of heart, this story takes all the familiar and much-loved tropes of your favourite hallmark stories and romcoms and rewraps them with a unique flair, creating something cosy and recognisable but so refreshingly fun. The entire journey is a whirlwind of chaos, mishaps and mistletoe, with plenty of cheek humour thrown in for good measure. I blushed, I cringed, I laughed and I cried about the absolute madness and awkward hilarity of every single situation we found ourselves in.
This story is a real slow-burner - think cosy log fires in the snow. It takes it time to let us feel every single thing and leave us feeling all gooey and warm. Each character opens up to us more every chapter, allowing us to really get to know them and watch them grow. I absolutely loved that despite this being a delightfully cheesy queer romance, there's plenty of focus on the beautiful platonic relationships in this book, like the one between Haf and Chris.
With so many festive vibes it feels like you've been hit with a tinsel canon, this is full of rude Christmas jumpers, naughty baby reindeers, snowball fights and of course, gallons of mulled wine.
Now, as much as story itself was just brilliant, one of the things that made this book an easy five-stars for me was the beautiful diversity of people in the pages without any tokenism or stereotypes. As a plus-sized, queer, neurodivergent, disabled cane user, I was able to see love interests in a book that were just like me, without the painful toxic positivity or having no personality outside of their disability. I'll be honest, I cried happy tears and it let me connect with a story in ways I haven't been able to do in such a long time.
This was such a cute book - a fake romance with a twist! It had ,me laughing and rooting for our main character Haf.
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a copy of “ Make You Mine This Christmas “ for an honest review.
A lovely , heartwarming festive romance to get you feeling in the Christmas mood.
Light , frothy and easy to engage with.
IF YOU ONLY READ ONE CHRISTMAS BOOK THIS YEAR, MAKE IT THIS ONE BECAUSE IT IS PERFECT.
This book was the big queer rom com I have been waiting literal years for and to quote Mary Poppins, Practically Perfect In Every Way. I said to a friend that this book is mad as a box of frogs but I absolutely loved it! I want to know when we are getting the movie, because why not?
This was so British, so Bisexual and so bloody brilliant and the representation in this book was fantastic, I am own voices for Bisexual and Chronically ill .... and did I mention how much I loved this book? I would give it a 5000 star! I have literally just finished and want to go back to the beginning and start again
A fun Christmas Romance that will make you laugh out loud.
Great characters everything you need for a Christmas read.
This was a really refreshing Christmas book - it was very inclusive and the story was lovely and festive. However there were some parts of the tale where I had my head in my hands as it felt a little cliched especially the bit towards the end when everyone jumped in the car to beat Haf to the train station in London. I did find myself thinking "really?" which is why I marked it as a three out of five stars.
All in all though a nice festive story to curl up on the sofa with.
Oh how I do enjoy a good festive themed book. This proved to be a great one to delve into. I very quickly warmed to Haf. She ends up creating a fake relationship and pretending to have a boyfriend. Christopher is of course in on it as well. But how complicated will this get. Turns out very, when Haf meets Kit.
Utterly enjoyable from start to finish.
A really great rom com. So much to like about this story absolutely loved all the characters with all their quirks and differences .Haf was hilarious and when she pretends to be Christopher's girlfriend over Christmas there is much hilarity some misunderstandings and plenty of holiday magic but she finds herself drawn to his sister and things start to get interesting. It was nice having characters with disabilities and who aren't the perfect size. and there were plenty of laugh aloud moments to enjoy
This book is SO CUTE and SO GAY and so diverse even beyond the queer spectrum, it warms me to the very bones of my shrivelled little heart. Buy this for all your gay friends this christmas, folks -- that's the kind of content we refresh the Neflix queue in December, looking for the kind of Hallmark that scratches the itch for us queers.
It was absolutely lovely through and through, and I'll be looking forward for more from this author.
Thanks to #Netgalley for an arc of this book.
A Rom .com with a difference. Set at Christmas and featuring a diverse set of characters including a charming, silly, clumsy.protagonist it will appeal to readers who want a light and easy comforting story.
This is a very funny, entertaining and uplifting festive story with a twist. I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very modern and different to other festive romance books that I have read.
As someone who has chronic health problems it is always good to read about protagonists who have health problems and disabilities. This is a very welcome and refreshing theme.
This is such a lovely and enjoyable read. Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.
The fake dating trope has never been my favourite premise for a story, but the twist implied in the blurb for this one intrigued me immensely. Haf Hughes is looking forward to spending Christmas with her parents in North Wales, but she has to change her plans at the last minute, when they announce they’ll be holidaying abroad this year, just the two of them. Wanting to take her mind off the prospect of being alone in York for the festive season, Haf gatecrashes a university party with her housemate and finds herself kissing one of the invited guests, Christopher, under the mistletoe. The pair are disturbed by Haf’s new acquaintance’s ex-girlfriend, who assumes that Haf is her replacement. Things spiral, and suddenly Haf has been invited to spend a family Christmas with a man she barely knows.
While waiting to change trains in London, Haf flirts with a woman in a bookshop, only to later discover that this is Christopher’s sister, Kit, who is also returning to the family home for Christmas. Meanwhile, Haf is rapidly learning that Christopher’s idea of a quiet few days with his parents is a lot more elaborate than she had anticipated. And that’s before she finds out that his ex-girlfriend hosts an annual ball at her family home, to which they’re all invited. Needless to say, Haf doesn’t own a ball dress and wouldn’t have had time to improvise something, even with advance warning. Help comes from an unexpected source, however, and Haf is later able to repay that favour with tonnes of interest as she offers new perspectives on the lives of her new friends.
Throughout all this, and multiple other misadventures, the attraction between Haf and Kit continues to grow, even as Haf also realises that she wants to keep Christopher as a friend, and even his ex-girlfriend has hidden depths. It all gets very confusing as Haf tries to keep everyone happy – including Christopher and Kit’s parents, but at least she’s in regular contact with her loyal housemate, Ambrose.
Ambrose was probably my favourite character of the lot. They were delightfully snarky, even as they dished out sage wisdom, and it was fantastic to see them forming friendships with some of the other characters along the way. I really hope they get a book of their own at some point. Having said that, I was very taken with the various minor characters who wound their ways in and out of Haf’s journeys, developing very distinct personalities in their brief appearances, and all contributing to the various Happy Ever Afters.
I also appreciated seeing all the various family and local area Christmas traditions through Haf’s eyes and the way she joined in enthusiastically, even when perplexed by what the point to them was. Any time there was a near-disaster, Haf was right in the middle of it, both as a catalyst and as the means by which the day was eventually saved. All in all, this book was a fabulous start to this year’s holiday reading, and I hope to see more in the same vein from the author.