Title: Santa Maybe
Author: Mary Jayne Baker
Publisher: Aria
Genre: Christmas, Romance
Pages: 365
My Rating:
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Santa Maybe
Elodie Martin is the owner of a local toy store. Every year, they make a Christmas grotto in their store to make some extra money. Normally, her grandad plays Santa but after a stroke, it is better to slow down for him. So Elodie is organizing an audition and only one person comes to the audition. Nick needs the extra money. He lives with his mother in his childhood home and they don’t have a lot of money. Elodie and Nick become friends pretty quickly, but Nick is falling for Elodie.
Callum Ashley is the owner of the local department store. He is well-known, rich and a player. Elodie can’t stand Callum. Callum on the other hand is interested in Elodie and wants to be with her. He makes a plan to win her heart.
Review
This book definitely has a Christmas vibe. It is all about Santa and Christmas time. It brought me into the Christmas spirit already. If you’re looking for a romance novel with Christmas vibes, this might be the book you’re looking for.
But of course, there are other aspects that are important too, like the storyline, writing style and the chemistry between the characters. The last book I read was ‘The Holiday swap‘, which was a great book. I really liked that one. But that one was less Christmassy than this one. But I liked the story in ‘The holiday swap’ more. I liked the story less, unfortunately.
I think it was good to create two guys who were interested in Elodie. Because now I wasn’t sure who would end up with Elodie. Although I had a feeling who it would be, you never know if there will be a plot twist or not. I am not sure if the writer wanted us to like this Callum character or not. You could read from his perspective too and how much he likes Elodie. But I never felt like he was meaning it or not. He was always talking like Elodie was a prize he could win. He literally said that. Which made him not very likeable. But in the end, I got the feeling that I actually had to like this Callum person.
Nick was okay, but a bit annoying too. He was so insecure. He was constantly talking about how he could never stand a chance again Callum because Callum is rich and handsome. Saying this one or two times is fine. But every time, I read from his perspective. The author mentioned this. If someone would say this every day to me, I would start rolling my eyes after a few times. This is exactly what I did when Nick was complaining and insecure again. Which made him not likeable either. So I was rooting for no one. I mean, I liked Elodie and Nick together at the start, but suddenly it got boring and annoying.
If I am not shipping the two main characters, I am done with the book. I mean, it is a romance book. And if the main characters are annoying too, I am done too. At one point, I wanted to stop reading. But I never do that because I paid for the e-book. But no, this book was not my cup of tea.
The setting and the Christmas vibes this book had, were great. But it was not enough for me personally. I also need to like the characters. But of course, this is my personal opinion. That does not mean, you won’t like this book either.