🌟✨🎄 “All’s Fair in Love and Christmas” (2023) 🎄✨🌟 – Book Review

MY REVIEW 

 

Paperback: 256 Pages
Publisher: Bethany House (September 5, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0764242059
ISBN-13: 978-0764242052
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information 

 

 

“Two workplace rivals. One festive competition. And a romance that upends it all.
 
 Every December two things are guaranteed for graphic designer Mackenzie Graham--Christmas celebrations and the annual promotion at her workplace. Those two things are by no means mutually exclusive. In fact, the better an employee is at harnessing the Christmas spirit, the more likely they'll win the new job. With her social anxiety, Mackenzie never thought she'd be a contender in her company's holiday competition, so how exactly has she found herself dueling her workplace crush with wrapping paper tubes and using tinsel as her weapon of choice for a much-needed raise?
 
 Jeremy Fletcher's life is meticulously planned out, including how to win this year's promotion at work. Not only will the new position fulfill some of his career goals, but as a single guardian to his twin niece and nephew, he needs the salary increase to support his family. Jeremy has barely noticed Mackenzie Graham around the office, but now that she's his rival, he can't stop thinking about her. Her quirkiness intrigues him, and he's afraid that if he can't get his head on straight, the promotion isn't the only thing he'll end up losing to Mackenzie.” 

 

Thank you in advance to the publisher, Bethany House (a division of Baker Books), for providing a complimentary review copy through Interviews & Reviews. A positive review was not required, and all words are my own.

 

This is the first book I’ve read by the author, and I selected it because I LOVE Christmas reads. I’m the type who’ll read them ALL year – yes, every single month of the year. Whether they’re romance or romantic-suspense, Christmas is my holiday, much like Mackenzie’s. 

 

And, reading a cutesy Christmas romance in the middle of summer, is just what I need to remember that cooler temps are on the way. 

 

To be honest – cartoonish, or rather, illustrated covers are not my favorite. No offense to those who prefer them, draw them, or want them – but, to me, they’re a bit juvenile. Fine for children and young adult (YA) reads – not so much for an adult read (no, I am not referring to “dirty” books). 

 

However, the cover didn’t stop me from wanting this. 

 

This is a standalone read, so readers don’t have to worry about reading anything prior or after this one. 

 

This has an eclectic cast of characters. Mainly: 

 

🎨 Mackenzie

💻 Jeremy

👩🏻 Keri (Mackenize’s roommate and friend)

👩🏻‍🦱 Sofiya (the boss)

 

There are other background characters who do take up quite a bit of room in the book (co-workers, people at the nursing center). But, despite the amount of characters, there are only two (2) POVs – Mackenzie (first person) and Jeremy (third person); in other words – mixed POV. This might be confusing to some readers. Some readers have expressed it can be hard to immerse in the story with that. I did have some issues and prefer either first person for all POVs or third person POVs, not both types. 

 

Even though this seems like a cutesy read – there are elements that can be a bit “heavy”, causing it to be bogged down. These elements can be quite triggering or upsetting for some readers. 

 

It is interesting to note, that at the time I requested this book, I was in the hospital battling sepsis. At one point in this book, Mackenzie’s mother has a UTI and sepsis. 

 

This story will eventually lead up to a workplace romance, which can be a bit controversial in some cases depending on the workplace. Having personally seen the unfortunate fallout from a workplace romance, reading about them is a bit tenuous. 

 

Another tenuous subject is the main character (Mackenzie) having a parent who has early-onset Alzheimer’s (people under 65). While I assumed this was a light romantic-comedy read, it did become a bit overwhelming. 

 

It is heart-breaking and quite realistic, especially during a scene in which Mackenzie visits her mom on a bad day and the woman has no memory of her daughter. Anyone going through it or having gone through it, might be a bit standoffish towards this storyline.  

 

Monzon begins this with Mackenzie being grateful for her boss (Sofiya) giving her a 3-day warning for a staff meeting. As is a usual practice – promotions are tied in with the Christmas holiday. Basically, whoever shows the biggest Christmas spirit, gets the promotion.

 

Mackenzie is also interested in Jeremy, someone she’s worked with for two (2) years, but can’t talk to him since she’s socially awkward. 

 

She needs the promotion to pay for her mother’s care in a nursing home due to the rising costs of care. Jeremy needs it for the twins in his care – his 11-year-old niece and nephew (Natalie and Nathan).  

 

Jeremy likes Mackenzie and is trying to coax her out of her shell. He notices she goes out of her way to make Christmas memorable for her co-workers. This is driven by her mother’s situation. Mackenzie realizes memories are a precious thing. Still, as much as they are competing for the promotion, he wants to get to know her better.

 

One thing Mackenzie notices – Jeremy wishes her good luck during the competition which is moving at an odd pace, with neither one of them ahead of the other. 

 

The story goes in multiple directions. In addition to the Christmas promotion competition, Mackenzie’s struggles with her mom’s health and her own social anxiety. There’s also a budding romance fostered by several people.

 

There are several “pop” culture references – mostly movies or TV, one reference is to an “R”-rated Christmas movie (real one according to Nathan) – Die Hard. While I like the movie quite a bit (I’ll admit that I like it far too much), I don’t think it belonged being mentioned in this book – especially since this seemingly falls under Christian fiction. Most of the references are targeted to Gen-X (1965-1980), or Millennials (1981-1996). Though some older folks might get them as well. 

 

As far as other references, I especially enjoyed the Harry Potter reference too. As of note, both Die Hard and Harry Potter featured the late Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors (had a sweet crush on him). So, I absolutely adored those references. And, for me, Christmas isn’t complete without the movies. Yes, I loved Snape – still do (always). And, Gruber is one of the BEST “villains” to date. YES – Die Hard is a Christmas movie. 

 

One interesting note, Nathan is 11 making a reference to the movie; I was 12 when the movie came out, though I didn’t see it until I was 14 when it was on HBO. 

 

That said … 

 

The competition for a promotion storyline was cute, but I felt it was a bit unprofessional. One should be chosen for a promotion based on merit and talent – especially in a design company, rather than winning a competition. Sofiya’s eventual solution was a much better idea. I do like how she referred to some of her employees as her children in a loving way; and wanting what was best for them not only in their careers, but their love lives.

 

The main characters – Jeremy and Mackenzie – were both sweet, each quite realistic and certainly relatable. I did love how Mackenzie’s mother used “Christmas-Around-The World” to sample and experience different cultures’ Christmas. It was educational and something a homeschooling family might consider. 

 

Jeremy seemed to struggle as a single-parent caregiver to the twins, and Mackenzie was struggling just to be her. 

 

To be incredibly honest, this felt a bit scattered. It was as if it was trying too hard to appease a bunch of different genres all at the same time. The characters were a bit hard to keep track of as well.

 

There was also one character who bordered on sexual harassment. Some readers might not like the comments made by the character.  

 

Overall, this is a rather enjoyable and sweet read, but didn’t wow me as much as I was looking forward to. It wasn’t a bad book by any means, but it wasn’t a stellar read either. 

 

I think I struggled so much with it because of the story arc with Mackenzie’s mom among other situations. It was just TOO realistic for me. As of note, I am a single caregiver to my mom, and it is not easy work. While she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s, there is a certain amount of memory loss which is a bit stressful. And, she also has other mental health issues. 

 

A very relatable moment is one where Mackenzie muses about putting up a kidney on the black market to cover expenses. I too have considered it due to the overwhelming debt my mother and I have been in. That is also a slightly controversial issue. So, the realism – for me – disrupts the “feel-good” attempts in this book. 

 

This does have that Hallmark movie vibe to it, so it might be enjoyable for fans of Hallmark Christmas movies. While it is categorized as a Christmas fiction book, this has a bit of romance to it. It is more like a frenemies to more, slow-burn read. The romance for the main characters doesn’t really get acknowledged until about the 95% mark. So, it is very close to the end. There are a few other couples who get together though, but not much is made about it – just mere references. 

 

As this is distributed by a primarily Christian publisher, there are some references to faith and God. Given this is a Christmas book, the references are not too overwhelming, but quite noticeable. 

 

 

 

RATING:  

 

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads  

  

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub  

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html; update: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html) 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

 

A Carol Award finalist and Selah award winner, Sarah Monzon is a stay-at-home mom who makes up imaginary friends to have adult conversations with (otherwise known as writing novels). As a navy chaplain's wife, she resides wherever the military happens to station her family and enjoys exploring the beauty of the world around her. Learn more at www.sarahmonzonwrites.com.

 

 

She can be found on the following social media accounts: 

 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/sarahmonzonwrites 

 

Instagram: http://instagram/sarahmonzonwrites   

 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/monzonwrites   

 

 

 

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