About the Book
-
Author:
- Abiola Bello
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Contemporary
- YA Romance
Cover Story: Too Much Breathing Room
BFF Charms: Yay x2
Talky Talk: Hallmark Christmas
Bonus Factors: Body Neutrality, Book Love
Anti-Bonus Factor: Mean Girls
Relationship Status: Customer for Life
Content Warning: There are mentions of binging/eating disorders and the death of a parent in Love in Winter Wonderland that might be triggering for some reasons.
Cover Story: Too Much Breathing Room
I hate to knock any cover with books on it, given my obvious love of books, but this the worst laid out bookstore I’ve ever seen. The depictions of the main characters, Trey and Ariel, are great, but the rest of the cover leaves something to be desired.
The Deal:
Ariel Spencer needs a job to pay for a place in a prestigious art school. Trey Anderson needs to rescue his family’s bookstore from ruin before Christmas Day. They can help each other out, and the fact that Ariel has had a crush on Trey for ages—and there’s something about Ariel that intrigues Trey, although he has a longtime girlfriend—won’t cause problems at all.
Or so they try to reassure themselves …
BFF Charm: Yay x2
Ariel is a quirky, artistic young woman with a heart of gold. She has ulterior motives in wanting to work at Trey’s family’s bookshop, but it very quickly becomes something more. She’s had hardships in her life—struggles with self-confidence/body image that led to an eating disorder and the recent death of her father—but she’s overcome or is working hard to overcome them both. She’s a very cool girl who’s going places, and I would give her a BFF charm in an instant.
Trey is the most popular guy at school, dating the most popular girl. He’s someone I normally might not like, but he’s a genuinely nice guy who cares a lot about his family and their bookshop. He’s got a level head on his shoulders, too, and isn’t afraid to make hard decisions about situations that just aren’t working for him. I probably wouldn’t be in the same circles as him, but he’d certainly say hi in the hallway if we were friendly.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Ariel thought her crush on Trey was in the distant past … until they started working together. She knows they have chemistry, but she tries to keep herself in check because of the little fact that he has a girlfriend. Trey, too, isn’t the kind of guy who cheats. But the electricity they feel when they tough is definitely not electricity.
Talky Talk: Hallmark Christmas
I love me a Hallmark Christmas movie in all their cheesy glory. Love in Winter Wonderland is a YA version of one of those movies, but, thankfully, with a more compelling (and, uh, more diverse) cast of characters. The book is set in London, so it took me a bit to get used to some of the language (particularly the fact that Ariel and Trey are in “college,” but it’s like senior year in high school in the U.S.), but for the most part it felt really true to life.
Bonus Factor: Body Neutrality
Ariel’s had her struggles with her larger body her whole life, but has made her peace with it, and feels good in it, for the most part. She backslides due to some horrible bullies at her school, but quickly recovers, and doesn’t beat herself up too much about it. I envy her confidence.
Bonus Factor: Book Love
It’s a dream of mine to someday own a bookstore, and it would be awesome to pass it on to my kiddo. But I realize, with great sadness, that physical books are a dying medium, so that might be a dream I need to keep a dream unless I win the lottery (which I’d have to start playing …) and don’t need to worry about keeping it in the black. I adore how much passion Trey has for his family store, and love the idea of the community banding together to support it, too.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Mean Girls
Trey’s girlfriend Blair is a total Regina George. I do not understand why Trey’s with he. (And, thankfully, he wises up by the end of the book.)
Relationship Status: Customer for Life
We had a fun time together, Book, and while I’m not sure we’re destined for a romantic relationship, I’ll certainly become a patron for life.
Literary Matchmaking
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan’s Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares is another novel about book love that takes place at Christmas.
Amanda Sellet’s By the Book also features a love story between a popular guy and a quirky girl who loves books.
Emily Henry’s Book Lovers also feels like a Hallmark movie, but better. (And there are book lovers in it, natch.)
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Soho Teen, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Love in Winter Wonderland is available now.
