Christmas Is All Around is an adorable Christmas novel. The characters are cute, the small town feel is there, and it's like a Hallmark movie on the page.

This book made my laugh out loud. I loved the characters, and loved the way it was a take-off of Christmas films. In spite of that, it was still full of heart and passion and I was rooting for the characters all the way through. I hadn't read any books by Martha Waters before this, but will definitely be reading more now.

This charming holiday rom-com offers a refreshing take on finding Christmas spirit. Charlotte, a former child star weary of her iconic holiday movie, is a relatable and witty protagonist. Her initial Grinch-like attitude provides plenty of humorous moments, especially when contrasted with the over-the-top holiday enthusiasm surrounding her. Graham, the earnest and slightly exasperated son trying to save his family's estate, is equally endearing. Their banter is sharp and their developing connection feels genuine.

The writing style is light and engaging, perfect for curling up with during the festive season. The author paints vivid pictures of London's holiday charm and the enchanting Eden Priory, making you feel like you're right there amidst the twinkling lights and festive decorations. While the plot follows familiar rom-com beats, the unique premise of a former child star grappling with her holiday past adds a fresh layer.

The supporting characters, including Charlotte's chaotic family, add to the comedic elements and create a warm, if slightly overwhelming, holiday atmosphere. The exploration of how perspective can shift your feelings about even the most dreaded things is a lovely underlying theme. While some plot points might feel a tad predictable, the delightful characters and engaging writing make this a thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming holiday read

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this e-ARC!

This was a quick, enjoyable read but sadly I did find myself getting a little bit bored at parts. I liked the early dynamic between the two love interest but found myself less invested with their relationship as the story went on.

I was a bit late to this festive read but really enjoyed it! Made me nostalgic for Christmas. A really cute, easy read. Thanks netgalley and the publisher

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. This was a entertaining and festive read. I liked the characters and was invested in their story.

I was curious to try this, but I quickly realized this wasn't going to work for me. Something in the writing didn't pull me in at all. I decided it would be best to DNF.

This was super cute and perfect for the festive season! It was funny, witty, light-hearted and a refreshing Christmas read!

I enjoyed that our main character doesn't enjoy the holidays due to the movie she was in as a child and I honestly loved watching her development throughout. I really liked the romance and I liked how they treated each other like mature adults. Yes there was a little bit of misunderstanding but it was dealt with really well and how it allowed each character to grow.

This was my first Martha Waters book and I can assure you it will not be my last. I definitely recommend this one!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Martha Waters, and it certainly won't be the last, I always tend to lean towards light-hearted and cheerful stories now, especially at this time of year, with Christmas around the corner I don't want anything heavy so this was just what I was looking for!
Christmas All Around is a typical British rom-com, full of crazy antics and eclectic characters, wonderfully festive cheesiness, and lots and lots of love and laughter, it's not heavy, it's light-hearted and such good fun, and will certainly eave you with a smile on your face and feel smug that this year you're ready for Christmas, a defined Christmassy winner!

This is so wonderfully festive and just a joy to read. This was my first Martha Waters book but I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. It’s funny and charming and has that meta style of being about Christmas movies while feeling exactly like a quintessential Christmas, one you could easily imagine playing out on screen. It had a great cast of characters, bringing humour and perspective to the MCs’ journeys. The third act conflict did feel a little weak but all in all a very enjoyable read for the season.

I really enjoyed this. but I have to say it didn’t provide me with that addictive quality that Martha’s historical fictions do.

For a book that was supposedly less than 250 pages long, Christmas is All Around really dragged. My initial disappointment with this book came when I realised it was categorised wrong on NetGalley and it isn’t in fact a graphic novel. I’ve never read a Christmas graphic novel before so I was really excited when this popped up. But never mind, seeing that it was fairly short made up for it. Unfortunately it wasn’t the quick read I was hoping for.

Christmas Is All Around would have been much more Christmassy if every single festive event wasn’t skirted over. Every time it was a case of “we’re going to do this Christmas-related thing that would probably make for an entertaining section of this book” which would then skip straight to “so that thing happened, here’s absolutely no detail about it but you get to hear more of Charlotte complaining about how much she hates Christmas”. This whining got old very quickly and made Charlotte quite unlikable. Her attitude towards Christmas could have been excused but this extended towards her family and honestly, she was just plain mean sometimes. She constantly referred to her niece with horrible names or descriptions. I get that she doesn’t want kids herself, I feel you there, but I’m not a child hater or judge people that do want children.

Charlotte likes to remind the reader that she’s not ‘the artist type that is a burden to their friends and family’ but she seemed to have conflict with everyone in her life. She may not have been a burden financially but she clearly had a lot of unresolved issues that, in the grand scheme of the book, were there just to spice things up a bit. Don’t even get me started on how horrible she is to Graham and he just takes it the whole time. I did like him, but that’s because he had no flaws and as a by-product of that, no personality.

I’m also so over the ‘the main character hates Christmas and this makes them think they’re better than everyone else’ trope that appears far too often in festive romances. At first I found it refreshing when it was the female character that felt that way, but not anymore. It’s overused and takes the joy out of what could be lovely books.

Ok, no more complaining about Charlotte, I don’t want this review to be purely negative.

The parts that I did like will take no time at all to talk about, so I will be using them to close this review. London at Christmas is always wonderful to hear about. I used to visit London at Christmas when I was younger so a few parts of this felt nostalgic, but as I mentioned at the start, all festive events are skirted over. I also really loved the supporting cast of characters. They had a lot of personality and made Christmas Is All Around a much more readable experience. Ava, Charlotte’s sister, was definitely my favourite. She was no nonsense but also hilarious. I’d much rather read a story about her and her husband Kit.

Overall, Christmas Is All Around was unfortunately, disappointment after disappointment for me. The story drags on for much longer than needed and an unlikable main character really sours the whole experience.

Such a quick and easy, but above all enjoyable festive book.

It has so many of the good tropes of a hallmark Christmas movie, that in fact I think it would make a charming festive film of its own.

We have a demonic baby, there are a troop of period costumed carol singers, there are references to Christmas films, there are multiple Christmas light turn ons and festive activities.

But Charlotte is our main character and she isn't particularly a fan of Christmas, as especially of Christmas films, despite having been in one when she was a child. And yet Christmas, Truly is haunting her well into her 20s, and thanks to one article and the internet, she is being vilified for not wanting anything to do with a reboot, twenty years on.

So Charlotte decides to spend December with her sister in London, to have a break from the craziness, only to end up meeting Graham, at a Christmas event, as his home, which just happens to be where some of the scenes from her film were filmed!

I really warmed to all of the characters, and it was such a lovely and Christmassy story to read. What a delight it was.

This is the first book I've read from the author and if she choses to write more contemporary festive books it certainly won't be the last. Definitely a Christmas story to enjoy.

Thank you to Headline Eternal and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This one certainly delivered! A cozy christmas romance, exactly what I expected of it.
Loved the writing and everything about it really!

Super cute story set in England, with the backdrop of a fancy English historical house and christmas movies. Perfect pace as well!

I really enjoyed Waters’ historical series, so was keen to try her modern romcom and I wasn’t disappointed. Her banter and dialogue is great here too. The story lightly mocks Christmas movies,- the heroine also having been in one as a child and now a Christmas grouch – and I was totally entertained by that. Lots of Christmas fun.

This was so much fun, I adored the characters and the wonderful festive feel of the story, Will be the perfect Christmassy story to read by the fire this season

A book set in London at Christmas? I don't think there's anything better

3.5 stars
Christmas is all around is everything you want from a Christmas read! It ticks all the tropes, and is the perfect cosy read. It took me a little while to get into the story but from around 50% through I felt more in the rhythm. I’d definitely recommend this for someone looking for an easy festive read.

Charlotte goes to visit her sister for Christmas. Her sister's in-laws are renting the place above them, and they are obsessed with Christmas. They want to ensure that baby Alice has a great Christmas full of Christmas activities. charlotte is also known as the little girl in a popular Christmas movie. When she returns to the house in the movie, she runs into Graham, who is hiding and taking off a reindeer costume. They start hanging out and he helps her expand her artistic skills. They sight see, they do Christmasy things. they have a fight about betrayal, and of course find their way back to each other. A cute Christmas book.

Charlotte hates the holidays. She also starred in a Christmas movie when she was a child, the fans of which cannot let her move on especially when its discovered she might've single-handedly stopped the possibility of a reboot. She flees to London for some peace as she spends time with her sister and ends up unknowingly visiting one of the scenes the movie was shot at all those years ago. Accidentally left behind by her sister, she's forced to hitch a ride home with Graham, the son of the owners.

This soon developed into a friendship of sorts especially as Graham commissioned art pieces of famous holiday scenes shot in London. She was glad that he wasn't interested in her expertise solely because of her association with the estate.

I loved their camaraderie. Their banter and discussion of Christmas movies and the Hallmark movie genre had me in stitches 😂 Being a Grinch, it was hilarious for her to see similarities in her current life with holiday romances.

Graham was this sweet and sexy presence that kept her entertained and grounded. It was easy to fall for him which made it hard to resist considering past hurts and them living an ocean apart. He also had emotional hurdles that he needed to overcome whilst also trying to keep his family estate functioning.

Charlotte definitely had her head up her butt with the third act conflict. Her disdain for the movie clouded her judgement but her loved ones gave her the swift kick she needed to snap out of it. I loved how the resolution played out.

This was a treat of a holiday romance. Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. It's out now!

Rating: 4.5⭐
Steam level: 3.5🌶️ One moderate open door scene

Charlotte Lane hates the holidays. As a former child star of a Christmas movie, her mission in life has been to ignore Christmas and resent anything Christmas movie related but when circumstances throw her deeply into Christmas, she finds some hard truths that may change her thinking.


I enjoyed this book; it's cleverly written against an almost checklist of the features of a Christmas film, and the characters even delve into this towards the end! The characters are likeable and real, whilst the plotline is a little whimsical and Hollywood. It's a nice escapist Christmas read with enough real human bits to make it approachable! As a Brit, I also enjoyed the that this story is set in England, lots of festive reads of this nature tale place stateside.

By the end, I could've gone on reading about he characters for a long time, I enjoyed the dynamics between them all and its put me firmly in afestive mood!