Monica Adams Skips Christmas
by Krista Harper
My Rating: 3 stars
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: New Adult
Type of romance: FF
Blurb:
Nineteen-year-old engineering student Monica Adams is excited to be back home in the Windy City for Christmas, even if she’s planning to tell her parents she’s dropping out of college. But when her longtime boyfriend unexpectedly dumps her, her elderly grandfather moves in, and her parents are too busy working to notice she’s home, Monica decides she’s skipping the holidays this year. It isn’t until she begins spending time with her neighbor Paige that things take a turn towards yuletide glee.Eighteen-year-old Paige Yoshida is an art student, local bookseller and self-proclaimed Christmas fanatic. She’s also lived upstairs from Monica since they were kids and may have had a secret crush on her during high school.
As the countdown to Christmas continues, Monica and Paige find themselves unexpectedly spending more and more time together. Will the two take a chance on love this holiday season, or will they ignore their building chemistry and keep things strictly friends?
Book One in the Wicker Park Books Series.
What to Expect:
2HR Short Read
Friends-to-Lovers
Grumpy vs Sunshine
Sweet, Feel Good Holiday Nostalgia
Guaranteed Happily Ever AfterRepresentation:
Sapphic Romance
Bi-Sexual MC
Lesbian Love Interest
Polish Immigrant & Japanese Characters
My Review
I received a free copy through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.
Monica Adams Skips Christmas caught my eye when I saw it on Netgalley and I am glad I got approved for a copy. It’s a fun and sweet Christmas novella with a well done romance, clear Christmas vibes and some other topics that got touched upon.
Monica Adams Skips Christmas is told from Monica’s point of view. When she’s returning home for Christmas she dreads having to tell her parents she’s quitting college, then her boyfriend breaks up with her and leaves her stranded at the train station, when she finally gets home she realizes her grandfather has taken her old bedroom.
I was immediately impressed with how many topics the book addressed and the way it made Monica’s life feel real with everything doing on. It felt well done, but with the shorter length of the book I felt like it was a bit to much. And I would’ve liked a slightly longer read so the topics could be delved in a bit more and everything had a bit more time to develop.
I thought Monica’s struggles with what to study and do with the rest of her life felt realistic and I liked how this was part of the story, although I would’ve liked to see what she does decide to do/ study. Then there was her grandfather who is confused at times and wanders outside at times, but her parents don’t seem to listen. It was sad to see her grandfather in that state, but I liked reading about the bond he and Monica shared. There is a bit of family expectations and struggles going on and touches upon the struggles of her family who immigrated from Poland and the pressure and expectations they put upon their daughters. Besides that Monica has to deal with her boyfriend who broke up and her feelings regarding the matter and her new budding romance with her neighbor Paige.
I liked the romance between Monica and Paige, especially those first few times they spend together and grow closer. I liked the way Monica wasn’t afraid to apologize after being a bit stand-offish to Paige when she just arrives home. I liked how Monica confided in Paige about her boyfriend breaking up and her decision to quit school. It was fun to read about them spending time together. There was a clear connection there and I enjoyed reading about them. I thought the last part went a bit too quickly and I didn’t really like how Monica didn’t go and explain things when something happened to cause miscommunication between them. I liked their romance and wanted to see more of them.
The Christmas vibes were clearly present and I enjoyed reading this one so close to Christmas. Monica loves the season, but is struggling to find her Christmas spirit this year. I liked seeing how she eventually found some joy this Christmas season after all.
To summarize: I enjoyed Monica Adams Skips Christmas. It’s an easy read with plenty of sweet and fun moments, a well done romance, plenty of Christmas spirit as well as touching upon some difficult topics like deciding what to study, family troubles and her grandfather being confused. While I liked and was impressed with the variety of topics the book tackles, I thought the book tried to address a bit too much in such a short read and felt the ending felt a bit off due to that as I wanted to delve a bit more into these topics and see how everything played out. The romance was well done and I liked seeing Monica and Paige spend time together, things do progress a bit fast in the second half and I wasn’t a fan of the miscommunication issue, but appreciated how things got resolved. The Christmas vibes were well done and I liked seeing Monica find some joy this season after struggling to find her Christmas spirit.
This sounds cute Lola. I do like a grumpy/sunshine romance.
Me too, I think it’s a great trope and it was done well here.
Miscommunication always annoys me too. But I realize it’s used a lot in the stories I love, and if they resolve it in a good way, like you said they do, then I’m okay with it. Great review!
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