A very charming tale of Summer who hates Christmas. This romance was very funny and had me laughing out loud.
A jolly Christmas read that I reckon everyone will enjoy!

Summer hates Christmas, Summer loves Summer, the beach and living through her customer’s vacations (that she happens to book as she owns a travel agency). Summer hates her next store neighbor Noel. She hates him because he just opened a Christmas Store and the last thing she needs is to be reminded how much of a Grinch she is. Noel doesn’t understand why Summer is always angry and tries to get closer to her.

What Noel doesn’t know is that Summer’s life is not as happy and vibrant as she tries to portray it. She goes home to a mom that hasn’t been out of their house in years and experiences social anxiety. Little by little he starts destroying the walls that Summer has built and helps her get out of a life without light into one where love can conquer anything.

The beginning of the book was a little slow and even though I understood why Rachel Dove chose that name for the book I wished that part would have been developed deeper. I loved the love story between Summer and Noel and I would had wanted Jean and Jim’s story to be explored a little bit more.

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

The title says it all with Christmas being a terrible event for Summer. Whilst it reminds her of events best forgotten, for Noel Pritchett, Christmas is his business. What isn’t clear is why Summer detests the day but Noel is determined to uncover the reason. He also knows he is falling in love with her.
I must admit to finding the many POVs a bit distracting and it took away from the main premise of the book. I did also find Summer a less likeable character and couldn’t quite believe the change from disliking Noel to her attraction to him. Overall, an interesting read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a cute story about two shop owners, Summer owns a traveling agent business, and right next to her Noah has started his Christmas shop business. That makes Summer furious. She doesn't think that a Christmas shop fits in her small town and by the way, she hates Christmas.
🌲
This was a heartwarming, cosy and a relatable story where we get to follow a lot of characters and their struggles with life. At times Summer's behaviour was very childish and her actions very immature for being a grown up woman. I felt like I understood Noah much better than I could relate to Summer. I also think that the story itself lacked depth and the book was not about as much as the title itself describes. It was an okey read, a book that was easy to read for the moment without much thought.

I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately it was a letdown. The premise seemed intriguing and the tropes were right up my alley, but I was disappointed overall. The characters fall flat and the dialogue is dull. I felt no chemistry between the leads, and I struggled to finish this book.

I love a great seasonal read but this one is so poorly written it is almost an insult to the genre. Don’t waste your time; there are much better books out there

If you are in the mood for an enemies-to-lovers, grumpy X sunshine story this is the one for you 😉.
This is the story of Noel and Summer two opposites. Summer love the Summer the walks on the beach, the sun, and the simple pleasures it holds but SHE HATES CHRISTMAS. On the other side, Noel is a Winter person he adores Christmas and loves everything about it.
Our story takes place in England, Bridlington where Summer has a travel agency and loves her work but she is trapped in her own life unable to travel and live like her customers due to her mother's issues. So when Noel the cherry Christmas-loving person opens next door a pop-up shop called Forever Festive she couldn't be more angry coz he is the reminder of everything she lost and all the misery that her family has been living in since her father left them.
However, the tension and spark are hard to ignore and Noel is determined to break her shell and know more about her.
I started this book thinking it was a fluffy rom-com but oh baby it was way more deep and emotional. It tangles with heavy subjects like depression, trauma, and other issues. As well as, focusing on the importance of therapy and living, working, loving, opening up to people, and accepting help when needed.
Noel and Summer couldn't be more cuter and I adored how their relationship progressed. 
Highly recommended and I loved it so much
Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of #SummerHatesChristmas in exchange for my honest review @netgalley.

Xoxo💋

I was really excited to when I received this arc because I really enjoyed Ten Dates by RacheL Dove, but unfortunately this one didn’t do it for me.
I found that Summer wasn’t the most likeable character. I was hoping that she would redeem herself eventually, but her attitude and the way she treated Noel really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that she has issues with Christmas because of her Dad, but the hitting and immaturity felt a bit much. Especially with someone her age! I know that if I were Noel I wouldn’t have given her so many chances!
Overall I liked the premise of this book but ultimately it fell flat for me. The cover is really cute though!
Thank you to Boldwood Books & NetGalley for this arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Summer Hates Christmas explores the enemies to lovers, with slightly jarring interactions between our MC and FMC. It also explores lost/reunited family, and extreme family conflicts.

I would have enjoyed some more light hearted, funny scenes with Noel and Summer.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Summer hasn’t led a very exciting life. Each day she goes to work at her travel agency and books vacations to fabulous places for everyone else, but not herself.

She’s living with her Mom, who since her Dad left hasn’t left the house for anything, so when Summer isn’t working, she’s taking care of the other jobs.

When she finds out that a new shop is opening next door, she’s not at all happy to realise that Noel is going to be selling Christmas related goods. The thing Summer hates more than anything is Christmas.

From the first time she meets Noel, she dislikes him, but Noel is attracted to her. Slowly they begin to spend time together and fall in love.

But she’s finding it hard, as she’s got other responsibilities, looking after her mother and things at home.

She thinks that as Noel will be leaving after Christmas, there’s not much point being in a relationship.

We read about how Summer and Noel’s relationship progressed as well as how she changed and her Mom started to move on from what happened previously.

I recommend this book.

What a great book, very entertaining and funny. I enjoyed every page and couldn't put it down once I started it. Reading a book about Christmas in August didn't bother me at all. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Oh boy...
Listen, this Summer, the FMC, is a pain in the soul!!! I don't care if you have daddy issues but if you're violent to others I dislike you. This books starts with her being horrible to someone else just because that person loves Christmas (Noel, the MMC)!!!! Imagine that!!!!! She literally screams, throws things, it's offensive, rude... I disliked her since the beginning and I seriously tried to hive her a chance but it got worse!!!! And if the way she is complaining every second about everything, that includes her mom.
This was supposed to be a grumpy sunshine romantic comedy but she isn't grumpy she is just a horrible person who is in a big need for therapy and there was nothing funny/comical in it unless you enjoy abuse.
I should have DNFd earlier into the book but I didn't and I regret it badly.

I'm thankful for the arc I received from Boldwood through netgalley. And I'm really sorry for the bad review I'm leaving here, I really would have loved to enjoy this book!

Will share on Instagram the pub day and synopsis but not my actual opinion on it.

I really enjoyed Ten Dates, so I was thoroughly looking forward to Summer Hates Christmas.

I very, very rarely DNF for Netgalley, but I threw in the towel at 84% - far later than I should. I simply couldn’t stomach the amount of violence between the characters - the slapping, hitting, throwing things. The fact that Noel stays attracted to Summer despite a barrage of emotional, verbal and physical abuse is beyond me, and not something I feel should be celebrated.

There was not one redeeming character in this novel and, in fact, it is the only book I have deleted permanently from my kindle. With a heavy edit of the casual violence there may have been something in this novel, but as it stands it is sadly not for me.

I feel awful writing this as I usually try to be very fair and balanced in my reviews, but I could not this time.

Summer and Noel navigating small town British life... I love Rachel Dove's writing but unfortunately this was a miss for me.
In typical Rachel style, there's a lot going on, twists and turns, lots of characters, drama, angst, multiple story lines, heart and care. But, in this short novel, there wasn't enough time or space for me to really connect with the characters and there's too much happening for any resolution that isn’t a bit pat.

Noel is a delight (spray tan anyone?) but Summer's mood swings didn’t appeal to me and I almost thought he could do better. All the subplots are heartfelt but needed to be fleshed out. Great for die-hard fans.

Thank you NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel Dove for the ARC.

Summer hates Christmas and doesn’t understand why people go through all the trouble with decorations, singing, and stocking up on holiday foods and drinks. Instead, she would rather be relaxing in the sun, on the beach with a refreshing cocktail.🍸

What she doesn’t expect is that Noel just got a lease next door to her traveling agent business and he owns a Christmas shop.

“This, Summer Hastings, is war!”
“Get ready for Christmas, baby!”

And was it was😂. I could not stop laughing at the things the two did to get back at each other.

Summer needed a reality check a few times for her behavior though. Her actions were at times very childish for being a grown woman but I understood that it was part of her character and I’m glad she did change.

Summer’s mom hasn’t been the same since losing her husband. She stays in the house and never goes out. Drives summer crazy with multiple daily phone calls while she’s at work.

I felt like all the characters and events in this story were very relatable. We find out why Summer doesn’t like Christmas, and how losing a partner can do a lot of damage to one’s mental health.

The story ends with a HEA and I was very happy with how it ended. This was a fun, swoon-worthy Christmas book. I enjoyed how it was different from the whole hallmark vibe.

Thank you, Rachel Dove, Boldwoods Books, and Netgalley for the EARC! As always, my review is my opinion and thoughts. This review will be shared on my Instagram (@Alexandriavwilliams_) shortly.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you know me, you know that I love Christmas, so when opportunity arose to read a Christmas book when we are at the point of summer where its getting kind of old and London has decided it is time for rain and gloom? I was so down.

Summer hates Christmas follows summer… who loves summer, and Noel… who loves Christmas. The pair have neighbouring stores, summer runs a travel agency and noel a Christmas shop, can you see where this is going?

Although the premise of this book was nothing new, I didn’t necessarily have an issue with it so long as it was done well, and unfortunately for me, it wasn’t.

Summer hates Christmas because of daddy issues from what I gathered- I couldn’t make it all the way through this book so I never did actually find out- and so she takes it very personally when a Christmas store opens next to her, making very professional moves such as: shouting at the shop owner, calling him names like a literal four year old, and kicking around the baskets outside his store- all of which was VERY mature and classy and REALLY left us rooting for her.

Noel, despite being harassed by this strange woman, decides he has a crush on her. Let me tell you that there is no reason for this- none whatsoever- they keep arguing and then randomly he asks her on a date, and she says yes. This date is possibly the most poorly written date I have read, we do not actually listen to the conversation, summer just tells us they talked and it was great, and then all of a sudden we are on a second date and these two are head over heels and sending ‘omg I cant wait to kiss u again hehe’ texts to each other. This is where I had to stop.

Alongside the summer x noel plot, we also have a side plot which is Summers mother being a social recluse because of her divorce. Summer bitches about her mum from the first page, about how she won’t leave the house or help her. In order to deal with this, summer forces her mum to place an order for some meat (dont ask me), and this then leads to her mum suddenly snapping out of depression, suddenly she is playing music through the house, cleaning, gardening and cooking breakfasts. Honestly, if the author could not be arsed to write a convincing mental health arc, she should have just left it.

There is then a THIRD side plot with this random old lady inviting her neighbour over to eat dinner every night, honestly I could not have cared less about this.

Wait, there is a FOURTH side plot with some random little girl going to work in the Christmas shop, I stopped reading the book on her first day at work, which is around halfway through the book.

This book was such a let down, considering the premise of grinch and Christmas lover is absolutely nothing unique, I would have hoped that more effort would have gone into better writing. Besides from the fact that the characters and the plot were messy and annoying, the actual writing style was so poor. It felt like walking through mud reading the sentences because they were just so clunky, the writing was like the ‘before’ you get in an English class that you then have to edit and improve on.

Unfortunately, this book was a huge miss for me. As I mentioned, this trope is very very common and so it has been done far better, meaning there is literally no need to read this book, which is in dire need of some extensive editing. I tried to continue reading thinking that maybe the writing would pick up, but the poor writing combined with the unbearable plot and characters just made this a no for me unfortunately.

This was a lovely story, a proper enemies to lovers with Summer and Noel finding their own
way to be together, The Grinch and Mr. Christmas I loved every minute

The cover was adorable, the premise was intriguing, and the title made me laugh out loud. I love Christmas so I was excited to read a (hopefully) grumpy/sunshine trope with a great setting. Unfortunately, the hype did not live up to my hopes. I struggled to connect with the characters, especially Summer. She was an utterly obstinate, irritating character. I did not detect any chemistry between her and Noah and I disliked her hatred of Christmas. The drama with her parents and half sister did not hit the mark either.

Great premise though I am more of a Noel when it comes to the holiday season than Summer! I feel the main character of Summer missed the mark. She just seemed like an immature, mean person instead of just "grumpy" and poor Noel was a scapegoat for all her anger.

Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC.

Thank you to Boldwood Books & NetGalley for a copy of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a sweet and emotional story. At first, I thought it would only be an enemies to lovers romance (which it is), but there are so many other themes. Familial relationships, finding your voice, and healing after trauma.

Summer lives a very mundane life. Everyday she reports to work at her travel agency, to book everyone else fabulous vacations abroad while she is stuck at home. She lives with her Mom, who turned into a recluse after Summers Dad left home. Her Mom will not leave the house, answer the phone, or even get the mail; so Summer spends most of her time not at work doing everything for her Mom. When a new shop opens next door, Summer is horrified to meet Noel; a real life Christmas Elf. He has opened a shop selling everything Christmas related, and there is nothing more Summer hates more than Christmas.

From the first time they met, Summer can’t stand this man, but for some reason Noel finds himself attracted to Summer. As they two inevitably begin to spend more time together, they find themselves falling in love. But Summer finds it difficult to manage this new relationship, when she has so many responsibilities at home, taking care of her Mother. And anyways, Noel is leaving at the end of the year; so what’s the point of being together? Summer and Nate’s story was real and raw. We got to see their relationship develop and flourish, but also see Summer grow as a person, as well as her and her Mom healing from the past.

The end of this story was seriously sooo so good, it could not have been better. If you’re looking for a sweet and emotional Christmas time read with an HEA, this is the one!