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FESTIVE READS: Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones


Genre: Christmas | Romance | Comedy | LGBT+

Release Date: 13th October 2022

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

When Haf and Chris meet a Christmas Party, it's like fate. 

It's not love at first sight, or a festive romance, but something else entirely. They were both looking for something and they might just be able to help each other find it. By the end of the night, they're kissing under the mistletoe in front of Chris' ex-girlfriend, and Haf is finally enjoying a night with a new friend after the worst year of her life and facing her first Christmas alone. But when the news spreads about their supposed relationship, Haf finds herself heading off to spend Christmas with Chris' family as his new pretend girlfriend. 

But Haf isn't worried - she's not going to run a perfect plan by falling in love with her fake boyfriend. But then, she meets his sister Kit in a small bookstore avalanche and knows that the one thing on her Christmas List is something she can't have. 

"It's not often I get to see a meet-cute in here. Making eyes over the queer books? That's the kind of meet-cute you dream of, the kind of queer stories we deserve.'

Full of hilariously bad decisions, chaotic timing and lots of heart, this story takes all the familiar and much-loved tropes of your favourite hallmark stories and romcoms and rewraps them with a unique flair, creating something cosy and recognisable but so refreshingly fun. The entire journey is a whirlwind of chaos, mishaps and mistletoe, with plenty of cheek humour thrown in for good measure. I blushed, I cringed, I laughed and I cried about the absolute madness and awkward hilarity of every single situation we found ourselves in.

This story is a real slow-burner - think cosy log fires in the snow. It takes it time to let us feel every single thing and leave us feeling all gooey and warm. Each character opens up to us more every chapter, allowing us to really get to know them and watch them grow. I absolutely loved that despite this being a delightfully cheesy queer romance, there's plenty of focus on the beautiful platonic relationships in this book, like the one between Haf and Chris. 

With so many festive vibes it feels like you've been hit with a tinsel canon, this is full of rude Christmas jumpers, naughty baby reindeers, snowball fights and of course, gallons of mulled wine.

Now, as much as story itself was just brilliant, one of the things that made this book an easy five-stars for me was the beautiful diversity of people in the pages without any tokenism or stereotypes. As a plus-sized, queer, neurodivergent, disabled cane user, I was able to see love interests in a book that were just like me, without the painful toxic positivity or having no personality outside of their disability. I'll be honest, I cried happy tears and it let me connect with a story in ways I haven't been able to do in such a long time.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review. 



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