Clare Lydon

Loved this sapphic tale of an indie folk singer and a music industry exec finding love in an idyllic country village - on a Chrlstmas Tree Farm at Christmas time, no less! A wonderful, sweet and sexy holiday read.

❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥🔥

Tori Hammond is approaching her second Christmas in a row without a girlfriend, but she's not going to let that happen again. With a month until the holiday - her favorite day of the year - she signs up with a dating app and works hard to find someone, with the support of her best friend and roommate Holly. Much to her surprise, after a disastrous blind date, Tori chances upon the love-of-her-life from high school after a rather messy split and ten years apart. And then it's as if fate has show more decided that since they have met once, they will keep meeting, as they run into each other over and over again the following days. Nicola isn't exactly right for Tori - she's engaged to be married at New Year's, for one thing - but none of the other dates are working out, either, and that first love is a strong pull.

Unfortunately, the story is thoroughly mediocre. There's not a lot of emotion anywhere, lots of flat characters, and the prose itself is tedious and mechanical. It's very up on pop culture of 2015 with specific celebrities or name brands mentioned very often, which is something I dislike. It feels dated even while those references are still current - perhaps because it takes it out of the fantasy romance for me? but it could just be clumsy prose, which there is a lot of. (Is "hence" a Londoner dialect word? because it shows up a lot in odd places that I feel bad for criticizing if it's a legitimate dialect difference, and the prose is decidedly English rather than American or somewhere in between.)

Tori is awful to her friends and honestly I didn't like her much or want her to find a happily ever after, because I never had enough of an emotional connection to root for her. Even the elements that should have softened or rounded out her character to create that connection were too stiff or perfunctory to really work. Nicola was telegraphed a hundred ways to Sunday as being an inappropriate love interest and maybe even not a good person, but she also didn't have any attractive qualities, so it was confusing about why Tori kept getting drawn to her, beyond the nostalgic crush. Many of the revelations about her were also never followed up on, making her feel even more of a cardboard-villain. The actual love interest was equally bland - at least, I thought she was the most interesting character in the book, but she never got to show much of her personality outside of supporting Tori and reacting to Tori. I have no idea what kind of person she is, except that she's tall (apparently being butch in appearance is a personality trait?) and likes football and beer, but I want to know more about her. When the story started hinting that she would be the final HEA, it was so contrary to what had previously been said that I just couldn't feel the spark or any investment, and I sort of hoped those clumsy hints and foreshadowings were red herrings for a different love interest. Also, the sex scenes were not at all sexy. I ended up skipping ahead in my kindle without even skimming them to find the end, like I normally would, because even skimming the sex paragraphs was off-putting.

Frankly, I would say this is not a particularly good example of f/f romance, except I haven't read very many. This is one of the first real (not fanfiction) novels I've read, so I don't feel I can say - maybe they do tend to be completely mediocre, and this is a good one. It's not terrible, and I think with improved prose and pacing, even the unlikable Tori would be sympathetic, and from Amazon reviews it's clear that many readers do like her and the story. Plus, it's a Christmas theme, and lots of people go for that. show less

A solid, fun and cute second chance holiday romance. The characters were relatable and oh so meant to be. The plot was full of travel mishaps and unexpected romance. It just…wasn’t for me unfortunately. I wanted to give it a chance despite my usual avoidance of the “can’t get where they need to go” plot because it has great ratings and sounded so sweet. But after the third setback I think it just got a bit too predictable for me and my anxiety went through the roof. Despite my show more personal lack of enthusiasm I do recommend this book. I think my rating is 100% a personal thing and has nothing to do with the excellent writing and sapphic holiday romance :) show less

It was a fine read. Not the greatest romance in the world but it definitely established the characters and the chemistry fairly well(given it being not too long). The one thing that prevents me from loving the story is my own thought process regarding the issue the story focuses on. Caitlin ends her relationship for her career, and the idea is she comes to realize this was a mistake because she should have tried to make it work with her girlfriend even if she had to move. The problem I have show more is she was still going to get on the plane and leave, the only reason she didn't was because she wasn't getting the job. The true test of her change in priorities never occurs.

She only brings up trying the relationship out again after she no longer has the new york job. There is also the fact that they were together for three years before the breakup and she was living nearby for two months after the breakup. The fact that they were together for so long before the breakup seems to suggest that Caitlin REALLY puts their relationship second. The two months after gave her time to think but she still did nothing about it. The only reason she went to Dot was because her flight happened to be cancelled. Maybe I'm too cynical but I don't know that I would take her back given the circumstances. I'm biased because I had someone walk away before, and I try to imagine how I would react with that person but I just can't see it.

It doesn't help that I don't think the story built up a bedrock of trust that Dot could reasonably be expected to take her back. Given Dots character, I don't totally buy into it. I don't think its a bad story or anything, and the pacing and establishment of ideas is well done. The issue is just buying into the concept because my standard for what is a forgivable offense in relationships is just different. Still worth a read. show less