You might remember my post from earlier this month, which featured Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle. This book is chock full of humor, heart, and festive holiday spirit. It’s unbelievably whimsical, and I cannot believe it came out of Sarah Hogle’s mind. She’s so creative and such a great writer! Hall and Bettie will forever live in the part of my mind where it’s always Christmas. Bettie is a little grumpy and spoiled and couldn’t care much for Christmas. But then she accidentally summons the Spirit of Christmas himself, Hall, and they fall in love (of course). They both learn so much from each other, and end up being the missing puzzle pieces in each other’s lives. It’s a chaotic, heartwarming, pine-scented breeze of a journey towards love and I adored every sentence of it. Today Sarah Hogle is back on my blog, with some exclusive bonus content for Just Like Magic! Bettie and Hall have both written letters to Santa, and Sarah is sharing them with us today! If these letters don’t make you even more excited to read Just Like Magic (or make you fall even more in love with these characters), then I don’t know what will!
Bettie’s Letter to Santa
Claus:
First of all, the whole coal thing is cruel and unusual. Do you hate the environment? Do you want babies breathing in nitrates (or whatever’s in pollution)? That is certainly the impression you give when you fill monogrammed alpaca fur stockings with COAL. Why don’t you just light an endangered forest on fire! This horrific tradition of withholding gifts when people do not succumb to your impossible-to-achieve “be nice” standards is nothing more than glorified revenge. I expected better from you. By the way, have you met most people? Not everyone deserves to be treated nicely. Anyway, you can atone for your offenses against me and my ruined stocking (I’ll be awaiting a replacement–you can trim it with rubies and emeralds or whatever precious gems you’ve got on hand) by gifting me a few of the basics. This Christmas, I would like the below to be fulfilled/delivered. You can find the link to the candle in the linktree in my IG bio.
1. “This Candle Smells Like Dame Judi Dench’s Tonsil Stones” $815.00. Manufacturer’s warning: This item is non-heat-safe. Wick is decorative only: exposure to flame may cause hallucinations.
2. I want you to fill the Alexander McQueen on Rodeo Drive with eighteen inches of week-old motel coffee.
3. Twenty million dollars. Find a way to make sure I don’t have to pay any tax on it.
4. I would like my own island off the coast of southern California. I’m not picky, but there’d better be plumbing available, electricity, etc. as well as a fully-furnished home, guest home, and personal shopping plaza. It’s the least you could do. Please see my Pinterest board for decor inspiration, or leave extra money in the microwave and I’ll save you some time by doing it myself. Consider it a Christmas present from me to you.
5. Kindly relocate any coal you plan to send my way this year to my sister Athena’s and brother Felix’s stockings, in a loose, powdered form.
Cheers,
BH
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Hall’s Letter to Santa
Dear Santa,
Hello! How are you doing? I hope the weather’s been to your liking up at the North Pole, and that the elves and reindeer have been keeping lovely company. It is an honor to finally be writing to you, via a sleepwalking gentleman in Bristol. I’m a Holiday Spirit, which means I do not have my own hands to write with or stationery to write on, so I don’t have many options beside persuading people to write on my behalf, while they are unconscious and more susceptible to magical influence. I hope you do not mind that his penmanship seems to be rather sloppy.
It feels ungrateful to ask for anything, because my life is perfect. Or, at least, it is nearly perfect. (I am quite happy with my purpose as a Holiday Spirit!) The one and only thing I would maybe like, if you don’t mind, if you have the time (no worries if not!) is to be corporeal. Only temporarily, of course. I am not complaining at all about the state of my being, which is invisible gas, because I’m aware I’m lucky to be sentient at all, and to have the extreme fortune to spread joy all over the world. It is an enviable position. However, I confess that after observing humans for…a very long time…I’ve been more and more curious lately about what certain sensations might feel like, as a human, and this curiosity has inflicted a fair bit of distraction. I think that if I could just have a physical form for a little bit, perhaps twenty-four hours (although I’d be happy with any amount you could provide), to ride a train, drink hot chocolate and finally find out what it tastes like, pick an apple from a tree, smell a book, roller skate, take a walk down a country lane, drive a mail truck, rearrange the kitchen sets at IKEA to make them not quite so matchy, call in to a radio station for advice, test the weight of an anchor (I feel like I could pick one up if I gave it a go), pet a fox, walk toward a bird and watch it fly away, put together a large salad, create a checking account, experience a kiss, and feel the crunch of autumn leaves under my shoes, I would satisfy my curiosity so that I would no longer think about such things. I’m sure I would not enjoy being a human, anyway. Who would want to be hungry all the time? And to eat a variety of sugary holiday treats all day long, if they wished to? Not me. I love being invisible gas. But just for this Christmas, only for the littlest bit, I’d deeply appreciate the opportunity to…not be.
I hope you can help, but if not, I completely understand. You’re under a lot of pressure this time of year. (And please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you!!)
All my best,
Gratefully,
With love,
You’re doing a wonderful job,
Hall
Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle
Published by Putnam on October 4, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance — Christmas
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From the author of Twice Shy comes a sprightly Christmas novel, a rollicking romp through the absurdity of family holidays and the hope of new love.
Bettie Hughes once knew the comfort of luxury, flaunting a ridiculous collection of designer shoes and a stealthy addiction to CBD oils. That is, until her parents snipped her purse strings. Long obsessed with her public image, Bettie boasts an extravagant lifestyle on social media. But the reality is: Bettie is broke and squatting in Colorado, and her family has no idea.
Christmas, with its pressure to meet familial expectations, is looming when a drunk Bettie plays a vinyl record of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” backwards and accidentally conjures Hall, an unexpectedly charming Holiday Spirit in the form of a man. Once the shock wears off, Bettie knows she’s stumbled upon the greatest gift: a chance to make all her holiday wishes come true, plus a ready-made fiancé.
But as the wiles of magic lose their charm, Bettie finds herself set off-kilter by Hall’s sweet gestures. Suddenly, Bettie is finding her heart merry and light. But the happier she gets, the shorter Hall’s time on earth grows. Can Bettie channel the Christmas spirit and learn to live with goodwill toward all men? Or will her selfish ways come back as soon as the holidays are over?
These letters are so perfect, right? Have you read Just Like Magic yet?
If not, there’s still time before the holiday season ends!
Maybe ask Santa to bring you a copy? I’m pretty sure he wants to anyway.
Banner photo by Artboard Studio on Unsplash
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