All Wrapped Up by Ally Bunbury

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

Blurb

Holly always seems to make the wrong decisions: her career in London is going nowhere, and she's ended up engaged to a man she doesn't love.

Which is why she decides that's all going to change - starting with calling off her engagement, six weeks before their Christmas Eve wedding.

Then Holly sees an ad for what could be her dream job: helping to declutter a remote country house back home in Ireland. It's her chance to avoid all talk of weddings and the trappings of her least favourite time of year.

But when Holly arrives at the beautiful but neglected Knockboden, she discovers that Serena Harpur, the glamorous owner, is planning on renting it out as a romantic honeymoon destination in a bid to avoid financial ruin.

With Serena's handsome but moody son hanging around, dead set against his mother's plan, Holly begins to wonder if she's made yet another bad decision.

Then Serena gets a phone call that looks set to change the fate of Knockboden. Will Holly realise that maybe she has found herself in exactly the right place, at the right time of year, for the first time ever?

My Opinion

All Wrapped Up has been on my want to read list for a very long time. Holly has run away from her engagement and ends up working in a run-down Knockboden – a house in need of a serious cash injection. For me this was a relatively easy book to read. A lovely book to read over the festive season.

Rating 4/5

What a beautiful story!
Even though the multiple PoV got a little confusing at times, it certainly helped get perspective from multiple people.
Really enjoyed the family feel, even though most was not related, but choose to be there for one and other when times needed it

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
This book has all the ingredients for a cosy, romantic, festive read but it failed to hit the mark for me. Serena's character was extremely unlikeable: appointing a new employee when she can't pay those she already has and wasting money given to her to support the house she's living in. Holly was working at the house for a few weeks, supposedly helping to clear it but there are still piles of clutter and filth everywhere, what was she doing with her time? And how she could fail to tell her mother the wedding was off - in part because poor Giles found her intimidating in bed! - I found it ridiculous. The continuity seemed awry, e.g. a wedding dress was days late arriving so everyone would be on the lookout for it but when it arrived it got pushed away and forgotten? This book wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be and it hasn't convinced me to read anything else by this author.

Holly wants to escape her life and so cancels her engagement and takes a job in Ireland, helping to declutter a neglected old Manor House.

This was predictable . I didn’t really like the main character, Holly. The idea of a Hollywood reality show moving to a decrepit house in the middle of Ireland was unbelievable, and I didn’t like the additional characters that this brought. I liked the dogs….

I feel that this could have been more, but wasn’t. I can’t quite put my finger on what was missed (because I’m not an author or editor), but this book seemed way off the mark for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review.

Another good read
Perfect book to curl up with and to get lost in
Will have you hooked from the first page
Thanks NetGalley

I always enjoy a festive read. Loved the characters and the plot is good and fun. Loved this and would read more from the author.

Holly having doubt to marry her fiancé and generally her life. She did something drastic, i.e. leaving all behind and take up a position near Wicklow Mountains. She met with the owner, Serena Harpur who are struggling to stay afloat and she know her son, Tyrone is getting impatience with her trouble. Her home is in need of repair and Tyrone is urging her to sell the house. But she has her foot firmly on the ground and instead hire Holly to help her declutter. Holly is overwhelmed with the task and an unexpected phone call changed the situation for them. The story plot is rather slow at the beginning but then it became more exciting midway of the story. Overall it is a sweet and charming story.

Loved this wonderful book - Ally Bunbury is just a marvel and when you read one of her books you just can’t wait for the her next offering . All Wrapped Up certainly doesn’t disappoint it is such a beautiful read. Highly recommend and have already bought copies for family and friends.

Beautifully written, compelling and thought provoking, I was drawn by the cover and blurb, not one I would normally read but I’m glad I did, im recommending this to my book club as I’d love to chat about this to others, thanks to net galley for the advanced copy.

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.

When Holly takes her job that gets her home to Ireland it’s for the wrong reasons. She’s running away from a doomed romance and a Christmas wedding she doesn’t want. She’s called off her engagement but can’t bring herself to tell her parents. The run down house she offers to help get ready to turn into a honeymoon destination is in desperate need of some tlc but the glamorous but aging owner, Serena Harpur, is held back by her mistrustful brooding son, Tyrone. Holly needs to sprinkle some love all around if she can. When all seems lost comes an offer they can’t refuse; hilarity ensues when the social media couple from hell arrive.
This book has a combination of a charming location, a woman who needs to move on with her life and a man who has decluttered his too far. It’s rather a sweet story and also adds laughs about what monsters are created by social media with a side about growing old and lonely. The setting might be ultra modern but its themes are timeless. It’s definitely a cosy read at Christmas and beyond.

Whilst there were lots of elements of this book that I enjoyed especially the main concept, I’m afraid I found it hard to warm to the main characters and became a bit irritated with them. A good Christmas read but not for me I’m afraid

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. Although I generally love Christmas novels, and this had an interesting concept, unfortunately I struggled to engage with this one and get invested in the story and characters.

This was a brilliant story that I really loved. It was so much fun and very interesting. I love the way the story had me laughing out oud at times. I thought the storyline was rather unique. It was great that it was hard to work out what was going to happen next. I definitely wanted the Manor to be saved. I definitely became emotionally involved in the story. I loved the pace of this story, which made it hard to put down. I just loved how entertaining the story was it made for a brilliant page turner. I really loved Holly's characters she was so much fun and relatable. I definitely recommend reading this book as it's so much fun.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating a very Interesting and enjoyable read.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/all-wrapped-up-by-ally-bunbury-hachette-books-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

This book definitely got me into the Christmas spirit!

All Wrapped Up is the ultimate comfort read - perfect to blitz when you’re snuggled up under a blanket with a hot chocolate.

Like most Christmas reads, it was fluffier than a Christmas jumper but definitely enjoyable and definitely festive!

This book definitely got me into the festive spirit and when i finished it I was definitely in a very Christmassy mood!

All Wrapped Up is the ultimate easy, comfort read and was perfect for reading when snuggled under a warm blanket.

I loved all of the characters and really enjoyed getting to know them all and getting involved in their stories.

This was a perfect, Christmassy, light-hearted, fun read and I thoroughly enjoyed it…….

When Holly realises she is about to get married to a man she isn’t even in love with she ditches her life in London and heads home to Ireland. However, she can’t face admitting the truth of her situation to her family so instead she takes a job at Knockboden, a rundown Manor House, to declutter. It seems like the perfect distraction, that is except for Serena the owner who hasn’t paid her yet and has dreams of grandeur, and her son who comes to visit from New York who doesn’t buy in to any of Serena’s plans. However, could things be about to change when Hollywood call wanting to stage a reality tv show wedding at Knockboden??

A lovely easy Christmas read which like most romance books was totally predictable. It didn’t set my heart on fire and I didn’t become particularly invested but if you’re after a nice festive easy read you can’t go wrong here.

After ending her engagement Holly takes a job decluttering a country home in Ireland. However, things don't go to plan and when an American TV show comes to town to film a Christmas special, Holly gets more than she bargained for.

An easy Christmas read.

This was actually so much more lovely than I was anticipating. It started slow but the concept was good and the cliche of the girl ends engagement, moves country to a dilapidated house, does up and falls in love was definitely the biggest part of the plot. But #instalove #javia and Serena helped make the story special and it didn’t feel like another of those cheesy Christmas stories out everywhere. Well no, it definitely still was a cheesy Christmas story but it was nice still and all the feels in the last week before Christmas. I’m pleased holly got her happily ever after.

I feel like I have to give an honest opinion and unfortunately this one wasn’t for me. The concept is really good, Hollywood tv show comes to a small town in Ireland to film their winter special. The hotel is falling apart, chaos on top of chaos and Holly who’s new to the staff does her best to give it a makeover. Like every Christmas movie ever, I mean that in the best way because I love those. It just didn’t come together for me.

I would describe it as slightly messy. There are so many characters, it’s overwhelming. And the multiple POVs doesn’t help the situation. It would have been helpful to have a clearer structure starting off each chapter with who’s pov will be featured as an example.

This lead to my feeling disconnected to the characters, especially the FMC Holly. All in all this wasn’t for me but I’ve also seen many positive reviews and I hope the book does really well.