Novella Review: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Julianna Keyes, 2024
New Release! I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I've been reviewing a bunch of retellings this year, and this very nearly qualifies. It starts with a writer on a Christmas Train, after all.

Only in reality, it's more a funny subversion of Hallmark tropes with a happily-ever-after.

Eve and Will are travel writers, and their boss somehow sent them both to cover Christmas in this special holiday resort town. Whoever writes the best article gets a pending promotion. (This is a set-up that makes no sense. Not because of the promotion, but because you wouldn't write about a special (probably prohibitively expensive) Christmas experience in a travel magazine AFTER the holiday.)

The problem is that both Eve and Will are Christmas cynics, but their boss isn't at all. They know she's going to want the schmaltzy, feel-good story, and they both struggle to write it.

Complicating matters, through the sheer perversity of the universe both Eve and Will have former love interests who live and work in Noelville. So either Eve or Will would be the star of a more traditional plot - fall in love, embrace the magic of Christmas, etc.

Except that any little embers sparked by those former flames are immediately quenched by their bizarre, unyielding cheer and enthusiasm for all things Christmas. Eve and Will start spending time together just to get away from the others. We find out that Eve's family moved around a lot, so she never had traditional holidays, while Will's went all out, but only for appearances and no heart.

Of course by the end they get together (and their boss is extremely smug), and they also discover that the important holiday magic was just being together. Not in Noelville.

I thought the story was fine. The banter was funny; the romantic writing effective. The thing that upgrades this from fine to pretty enjoyable for me was the fact that it can be read as a gentle subversion of some of the standard rom-com tropes. Both big city writers realize that they are better with each other, living their career-focused, big city lives where they both understand the pace, than trying to change for the quintessential small-town guy or gal.

This novel felt like a typical Christmas hallmark movie and I loved it. I loved the premise and the way this novel played out. If you've seen hallmark movies there's no shockers, you get exactly what you expect and I love that with these novels. I loved the writing and I was swept away with the cosy story.

A quick fun read of two journalists sent to review a Christmas village and end up being charmed by the efforts of the town, and finding each other as planned by their boss. Very cute.

This was my first experience reading something by this author. It is a delightful holiday romance that blends humor with heart. The story centers on two jaded travel writers, Eve and Will, who are sent to cover a Christmas event in Noelville. Both are cynical about the season, but their witty banter and shared disdain for everything jolly make for an entertaining dynamic. As they grudgingly navigate the festive cheer, the book offers a charming twist on the typical holiday romance formula. The chemistry between the Eve and Will is palpable, and the blend of snarky humor with genuine moments of vulnerability creates a refreshing, feel-good read. The perfect read if you're looking for a cozy holiday rom-coms with a little extra bite!

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This was adorable. I love when a book reminds me of a hallmark movie. Will definitely be a rereading next Christmas. Super cute and great characters

Perfect easy Christmas romantic read! Great character growth throughout the story. Will be looking out for more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Spoiler: I asked for a Hallmark movie vibe, and I absolutely got it.

Both protagonists being authors, rivals and hating Christmas? Yes, absolutely, I am here for it. In classic Hallmark fashion, they had to write about the magic of Christmas from the most Christmassy place on earth. And their boss was into it, trying to get them together. It was literally all I could ask for from a novella.

They knew each other so well, exactly because they are enemies and they "hate" each other. The banter and the low-key jealousy are so much fun. It was the perfect book to get me into the Christmas mood, so cosy and it really made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions.

I appreciated the fast pace, avoiding big conflicts between the two characters (it wasn't needed considering that they were starting as enemies), and the narration that kept things snappy and didn't let the Christmas magic overstay its welcome. All in all, a very pleasant read. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Christmassy story with plenty witty banter.

Eve and Will, two travel writers, are attracted to each other, but in denial about it, and both dislike Christmas. They are sent on a once in a lifetime holiday to Noelville, to write a Christmas story about the true meaning of Christmas.

This novella is a really easy pleasant read. I loved the witty banter and sarcasm between Eve and Will, and the realisation of what makes Christmas magical, whilst all of the time their romance was slowly developing.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for letting me read a copy of this book in return for my honest review

I absolutely adored this short book. I really wish it was longer. If a Hallmark movie could be a book, this would be it! It was a lovely little story that delivered on a beautiful Christmas story. The dialogue wasn’t cheesy, it was exactly what I wanted to read.
If you are looking for a sweet short Christmas book to get you into the holiday spirit, pick this up!!
I will definitely look for more to read from Julianna Keyes’ books.

Will and Eve are two travel writers sent to Noelville. It is an entire town dedicated to Christmas all year round. The two writers are tasked to write a piece and the one with the better piece will become a senior writer. Will and Eve are enemies and have trouble finding the magic of Christmas.

This was a quick read with some great banter and jealousy! If you are looking for a cute and simple holiday romance this is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the copy of this book.

Eve and Will are rival travel writers sent to the Christmas town of Noelville to write the perfect article to become senior writes.
Both of them are not the biggest fans of Christmas but they are motivated to try and see why a stay in Noelville is the perfect Christmas Vacation. They are thrown into lots of activities that test their Christmas spirit and relationship with each other.

I enjoyed this Novella but I felt it was missing something that kept me as captivated as other books from Julianna Keyes. It is a quick Christmas Romance in a small magical town that any Christmas lover wished existed.

This was a pretty good book for the part that I read, but I sadly didn't finish it before Christmas and I didn't want to continue reading afterwards. I'm very sorry for not finishing it and posting a review but I just got too busy.

The sweetest, clean, fun, Christmasy book! Definitely want to add it to your read pile every season! Endearing characters and the cutest little story! Loved it!

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.