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Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > The Holiday Ex-Files
The Holiday Ex-Files
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Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s review
bookshelves: contemporary-romance, whatever, squeaky-clean-romance, christmas
Nov 15, 2021
bookshelves: contemporary-romance, whatever, squeaky-clean-romance, christmas
So. Much. Cheese.
I just couldn't with this book. The heroine, burned by a cheater ex-husband, was oblivious to what was smacking her in the face (I think it was the above cheese fish*) and the hero was unrealistically patient and way too coy about his desire to start a relationship with his best friend's ex-wife. Or maybe it was ex-best friend?
The setup: Cami comes home early one day and catches her husband in the act with another woman under their Christmas tree (part of the reason she now can't stand Christmas). She photoshops their wedding pictures to crop him out and then posts them online. It's such a hit that she's now made a business out of doing it for other women, along with cautionary blog posts about never getting involved with men. Stay single!! Too bad for Cami that Noah Cullen is waiting to upend those plans.
I winced every time the the heroine had an inner debate with her giddy (but also wiser!) alter ego, Miss Sparkly, about the merits of falling in love, #NotAllMen, the joy of Christmas, living life to its fullest, etc. I never want to see the word "sparkly" again.
It's a very cutesy and squeaky clean contemporary romance, so if that's your jam and you adore cuteness in your chick lit, have at it! I breezed through it as quickly as possible (okay, skimmed is probably the better word for the last half) and returned it to Kindle Unlimited as soon as I finished.
* aka Guineafowl pufferfish (the yellow variant, obvs.)
I just couldn't with this book. The heroine, burned by a cheater ex-husband, was oblivious to what was smacking her in the face (I think it was the above cheese fish*) and the hero was unrealistically patient and way too coy about his desire to start a relationship with his best friend's ex-wife. Or maybe it was ex-best friend?
The setup: Cami comes home early one day and catches her husband in the act with another woman under their Christmas tree (part of the reason she now can't stand Christmas). She photoshops their wedding pictures to crop him out and then posts them online. It's such a hit that she's now made a business out of doing it for other women, along with cautionary blog posts about never getting involved with men. Stay single!! Too bad for Cami that Noah Cullen is waiting to upend those plans.
I winced every time the the heroine had an inner debate with her giddy (but also wiser!) alter ego, Miss Sparkly, about the merits of falling in love, #NotAllMen, the joy of Christmas, living life to its fullest, etc. I never want to see the word "sparkly" again.
It's a very cutesy and squeaky clean contemporary romance, so if that's your jam and you adore cuteness in your chick lit, have at it! I breezed through it as quickly as possible (okay, skimmed is probably the better word for the last half) and returned it to Kindle Unlimited as soon as I finished.
* aka Guineafowl pufferfish (the yellow variant, obvs.)
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Reading Progress
November 13, 2021
–
Started Reading
November 13, 2021
–
Finished Reading
November 15, 2021
– Shelved
November 15, 2021
– Shelved as:
contemporary-romance
November 15, 2021
– Shelved as:
whatever
November 15, 2021
– Shelved as:
squeaky-clean-romance
November 17, 2021
– Shelved as:
christmas
Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)
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Ian
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Nov 15, 2021 09:28AM
Hilarious! And now I know about the Guineafowl Pufferfish. A truely multi-taskish review!
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Ian wrote: "Hilarious! And now I know about the Guineafowl Pufferfish. A truely multi-taskish review!"At least this read wasn't a complete waste of time!
Tandie wrote: "Sparky! ✨"NOOOOOoooooo!
Same - really disappointed but I dnf
Jennifer Peel’s romance novels are very hit and miss for me. There are a few I’ve really enjoyed in a beach book kind of way, though.
I should think that sap, dry needles and pointy branches would all argue for finding some other place to get funky. Enjoyed the review.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "I should think that sap, dry needles and pointy branches would all argue for finding some other place to get funky. Enjoyed the review."Maybe they were swept away by the idea of unwrapping a new
That fish should be the cover the novel. It really encapsulates how I felt about this book upon finishing and is such a mood. Great review, and I completely agree about the cheese!
Celeste wrote: "That fish should be the cover the novel. It really encapsulates how I felt about this book upon finishing and is such a mood. Great review, and I completely agree about the cheese!"Thanks! It would’ve been your run-of-the-mill “meh” romance read for me, but the Miss Sparkly bits dropped it at least one full star. I couldn’t stand them!
Bought the paperback on Amazon and was considering returning, but I unfortunately liked a quote at the beginning of the book and highlighted it!
Jackie wrote: "Bought the paperback on Amazon and was considering returning, but I unfortunately liked a quote at the beginning of the book and highlighted it!"Oops! I don't know if you've read many of Jennifer Peel's rom com books, but they're always squeaky clean romances. It's not great writing, but most of the ones I've read, I've liked better than this particular one. Her books can be fun when you want a quick, easy, guilt-free romance.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Bought the paperback on Amazon and was considering returning, but I unfortunately liked a quote at the beginning of the book and highlighted it!"Oops! I don't know if you've read m..."
This was my first Jennifer Peel book so had no idea what I was getting myself into haha! Thanks for sharing that info, as now I know to only grab some of her earlier books when looking for a lighter rom com!
