Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Books I Wish Had More/Less [Insert Your Concept Here] In Them. You could do more/less romance, more/less world building, less info dumping, more/fewer pages, more character development, fewer characters, fewer descriptions, more suspense, etc. In honor of Christmas In July, I’ve decided to go with books I wish had more Christmas in them! The books I’m listing below are all Christmas novels that are marketed as such, but they weren’t festive enough for me and I was left feeling disappointed that I didn’t get what the cover/title/synopsis promised me. When I read a Christmas book, I want to smell the cookies baking and hear the carols playing. Some of these books were DNFs for me and some I really enjoyed but not as Christmas books.
1. Love in the Scottish Winter Highlands by Beatrice Bradshaw
I loved this book, but the synopsis makes it sound like Christmas would be a larger theme than it is. This book kind of breezes right through, placing a larger focus on the fall months. I enjoyed the Christmas parts I got, but for such a short book it spans quite a few months and December is right in the middle. I was disappointed when December ended and we moved in to January and February.
2. An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow
This book was actually a lot deeper and more heavy than I was expecting when I looked and the beautiful cover. I was picturing steamy Hallmark, but this was more of a drama than a romance for me. Everyone is working through a lot of stuff. I honestly can’t remember much Christmas at all.
3. The Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr
4. Christmas Every Day by Beth Moran
Considering the title, you’d think this would be very Christmassy, but there had been no mention of Christmas yet by the time I DNFed!
5. A Match Made in Venice by Leonie Mack
Despite what the cover would indicate, this is not a Christmas book. It’s a winter read, which is fine, but it would have been nice to know! I feel tricked and a little annoyed I spent my limited holiday reading time on this. There were a few passages that described Venetian traditions surrounding Christmas and New Year’s, and the flooding of the city, which I loved, but I wish there had been more!
6. Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall
All drama, very little Christmas.
7. The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
All the magic from Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares was gone. This wasn’t festive or happy, and I ended up DNFing because it was making me sad!
I’ve spent way too much time on this list when I’d rather be watching the Olympics, so I’m cutting this short today!
I can’t wait to see what topic you chose to do this week, and will be doing my best to run around the Linky and see what everyone is talking about!
I’d love recs for Christmas books you loved!
Are you watching the Olympics at all?
I hear you on a cover or title promising something only for the book to NOT be that. It’s always a letdown. I haven’t watched a single Olympic event. Unusual, but I’ve found I haven’t missed it. ;)
I like a book to deliver on it’s Christmas promise too!
Miss Kane’s Christmas by Caroline Mickelson is a good Christmas short story that I’ve read a couple of times.
We occasionally go onto the Channel showing the Olympics, but it doesn’t show everything and with being busy out and about entertaining my eldest son we have maybe watched about 5 minutes 😂
Have a great week!
It seems like if Christmas is in the title, the book should always remind you of what time of year it is! I’d be disappointed too. I’ve read a few novellas that had holiday themes and even they did good at showing you what time of year it was. Sorry these Christmas novels weren’t very Christmasy!
I think when I first saw the topic I misinterpreted the more. I somehow read it as just “more” and not adding something to it, like more Christmas themes! But I still made it work, it’s just books I wanted “more” of something from! Lol.
Here’s my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
We just bought a subscription to Peacock so we can watch the Olympics and will cancel it when it is over. I highly recommend A Christmas in Dixie by Kaci Lane, it is hilarious and has all the Christmas vibes. I also enjoyed A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh and This and Every Christmas by Jaycee Weaver. I have read a ton of Christmas books, but like you, most of them were kind of meh.
I completely agree! I don’t read a ton of Christmas-themed books, but when I do pick up a “Christmas book” I want there to be lots of Christmas in it!
I get frustrated when I am expecting festive, Christmas stories and it really is only set at that time of year, but could be set anytime based on the story. Great list, Jana.
I recommend A Cliche Christmas by Nicole Deese. SO good!
I get what you mean about some Christmas stories…they are marketed as such, but the festiveness just isn’t present. It can be disappointing!