Title: Christmas People
Author: Iva-Marie Palmer
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Some people are Christmas people, but Jill Jacobs is most certainly not. She hasn’t been ever since her hometown love broke her heart on Christmas Day three years ago. After that, Jill moved to L.A. to pursue her dream of becoming a screenwriter. She hasn’t been home in years to avoid her ex, but this winter she finds herself back in drab, suburban Illinois for the holidays.
After one very hazy night, Jill wakes up to a hometown that’s filled with jolly neighbors, covered in pristine white snow, and shimmering with the smell of nutmeg. She realizes that this is more than just a bad hangover… she’s stuck in a Heartfelt movie. One set in her town, starring real people from her life, including her family, her high school crush (uber perfect, owns a bakery, and definitely a Christmas Person), and of course, her ex —handsome as ever and now exclusively clad in plaid flannel.
The only way out of this bizarro world is to complete the plot of the movie, including a holiday bake off and a cookie-sweet love story. To get home in time for Christmas, Jill must act out a picture-perfect holiday romance with the one that got away, all while her ex watches on. Fa la la la freaking la….
Jill seems like one of those people who thinks she’s being funny but she’s actually being mean. There was a lot of moping around and feeling sorry for herself, which I’m not a fan of, and she had no problem using or manipulating people. I’m also not a fan of that, so it was a close call for me to keep reading. It ended up being an okay read, but I found it to be pretty predictable.
Iva-Marie Palmer lives in California. Christmas People is her first adult novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | St. Martin’s Griffin in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 