This is a cute, clean holiday romance.
Written in a typical Hallmark movie way, it is a fun quick read. Unfortunately, it just fell a bit flat for me, every time I read “snowperson” it took me out of the story.
I liked the dual POV and the idea of Noelville which I would absolutely want to attend if it existed in the real life.

3.5/5

“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” is a very quick, adorable and fun novella where two different authors find themselves in a Christmas themed town when they both hate this holiday. Although I read it outside of the Christmas season, it felt like reading it during the holiday season. The setting and portrayal of the typical characteristics of Christmas gave it the magical touch it needed.

The utilization of a dual point of view in this book effectively helps to maintain a casual and gentle tone, providing us with likable characters. While the plot was somewhat predictable (like a very well-loved Hallmark movie), the story embraced this element and used it successfully, serving the intended atmospheric and Christmasy reading experience rather than elaborated plots and developments. I would highly recommend this book to romance readers, as it can easily be consumed in one sitting.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas follows Will and Eve to Noelville as they compete for the senior writing position for the travel site they work for. They both are Christmas cynics and have to overdone their distaste for the season in order to pull off the article.

I think this was such a cute and quick holiday read full of magic and love! All of Eve and Will’s activities are either very funny due to their lack of holiday spirit or joyous as they learn to love Christmas. It was such a delight to follow them as they grew more in love with both the festivities and each other.

The beginning was a bit clunky and hard to get into as we established ourselves in Noelville. I would’ve loved some closure with the friends we met along the way since the ending mostly focused on our protagonists. Other than that, it was pretty sweet and smooth sailing to the end of the book.

For fans of work place rivals, Hallmark movies, or anyone who needs a Christmas read!

Rival writers being forced to coexist in their version of hell.... please tell me less. This book was so much fun and I adored both Eve and Will. I whizzed through this one and loved it so much.

Such a sweet holiday read. Loved it while getting cozy with a mug of tea. Eve reminds me of some family members of mine so I giggled and loved this even more!

I am shocked that the reviews are slightly lower on Goodreads. This was one of my favorite Christmas reads of the year, and I read over 30 Christmas books! As a die hard Hallmark fan, I found myself laughing multiple times and loved the hidden nods to the movies. I wished this book went on longer and can't wait to check out other books by this author.

This book is such a lovely Christmas book to read and get you in the festive mood. I lay on the sofa with the Christmas tree lights on reading this in one night! would definitely recommend.

This book was such a fun read! It had me chuckling all the way through, with the rivalry between Eve and Will making for some really entertaining moments. I loved how their skepticism toward Christmas gradually melted away in such a charming, unexpected way. The setting of Noelville felt like the perfect cozy holiday backdrop, and I couldn't help but root for these two as they went from rivals to something much more. It's a heartwarming reminder that sometimes, the best Christmas magic happens when you least expect it. Definitely a great pick if you're looking for a lighthearted, festive romance!

What a cute, fun Christmas romance! The setting was adorable, and I want to visit Noelville myself! The “penemies” to lovers trope was a fun setup!

This was a short read and I was thankful for that, as I usually love Christmas type books like this but for some reason, I just couldn't get into it
The characters were not great for me, they just both hated Christmas and were so blah in my opinion.
The cheesy holiday (Hallmark style) was just not a win for this book, usually, it works great but not in this book
I am a mood reader so that could be an issue for my opinions on this book, the only thing i suggest is to read the book yourself f you think you might like it because we are all so different and so many like what others don't.
I am so sorry that my review could not be better but it was just so hard to get through this book, I started it early in the month and had to stop and come back to it multiple times to try to read it. :(

That was just delightful! Eve and Will are both writers for a travel website and are competing for a coveted spot as senior editor. This has them on a train to Noelville for a week long holiday experience. Its a town only reachable by train that is 100% Christmas.
Not so surprisingly, neither have much holiday spirit going into this week, but as they spend time together, they realize there is more than just an annoying coworker vibe.
The banter was fantastic and I chuckled throughout the story. Romance was very light, only eluded to, which fit the story well.
Thank you fit the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Julianna Keyes is a cute Hallmarkesque Christmas book.

A Christmas Train to a Christmas Town with two competing writers who don't like Christmas. If you like Hallmark movies this may be a book for you.
Personally there was just too many different romantic tropes (although the writer did reference this in a way through her characters) for me.

I love stories similar to holiday Hallmark movies, so this was a very enjoyable read over my holiday break. The two characters have great chemistry and would even go great together on screen!

I was surprised that Keyes had written a clean romance. It felt lacking in areas, almost like a writing exercise for the author rather than a passion project.

3.5 ⭐️

The perfect little Christmas novella during the holiday season! I loved getting to fall into the world of Will & Eve as they went from rival writers who both hate Christmas to lovers with great banter! If you love enemies to lovers, all the holiday activities & a short but sweet read, you will love Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am giving this book two stars because I decided that I won't DNF-it, despite wanting to do so after the half-way point of the book. Overall, the book felt like I am watching two puppets go through a Christmas-themed resort that I can only hear about but never quite see, or feel, or sense, and the puppeteer is rushing through the story. With all of my respect to everyone involved in this book, I think the story may have worked in a different format, simply not as a novella, although some parts of it were not quite my cup of teа. The book is supposed to be enemies-to-lovers, I couldn't quite understand why they are enemies though. Rivals, sure, enemies, though? Why they disliked each other, I truly do not know. To sum everything up, this book was too rushed for me to enjoy it and I don't think I would recommend it to anyone because of that.

Really cute holiday romance with cozy vibes and no spice. A little predictable, as all romances are, but that did not make it any less enjoyable. Perfect for anyone who loves Hallmark Christmas movies. This review was posted on Goodreads and Amazon as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book.

4/5 ⭐️

This was a very cute Christmas novella. It follows two colleagues who are duped into a trip to a Christmas themed town together for a travel writing job in order to compete for a promotion. This enemies to lovers romantic comedy has forced proximity and tons of Christmas cheer.

It starts off a bit slow and almost feels like the MCs are checking off boxes on a list while they’re in the town…which maybe they are I guess if they’re trying to hit the hot spots in the town? Their boss wants them to get the classic Christmas movie experience and it seems like they might when they run into people from their pasts. My only complaints are the pacing issues I’d mentioned and that I wish there was some resolution with them.

This was a very cute story. Sticky sweet, dripping with fluff. Just so much will they…won’t they? It’s not spicy at all, but you’re not missing it. I rarely say that.

Thank you to Julianna Keyes, the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was EXACTLY what I've been looking for in a Christmas story! From page one Keyes transports the reader to a cozy, MAGICAL (iykyk ;)) little Christmas village that is dripping in childhood nostalgia and vibes. Keyes has a way of making every setting come to life that gives you all the warm fuzzies when reading this quick novella. I wish it were a full length book! Looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!

🎄 workplace rivals to lovers
🎄 small town vibes
🎄oozing in christmas nostalgia and magic
🎄quick read (just over 100 pages)