Christmas Cravings

By: Emma Hamilton
Published Year: 2015
Publisher: Bastei Entertainment
Pages: 80

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*I received this book in exchange for my honest review

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): How could everything that seemed so right suddenly have gone so wrong for Mia? Snow is on the ground and Christmas lights twinkle in the German Christmas market. The warm, spiced wine is just right, but there's still one key ingredient missing from her romantic dream. Will Mia's Christmas turn out to be sugar and spice and all things nice - or a deflated soufflé of loneliness and regret? 




                                                       First Impressions

I saw the cover and summary and thought it sounded like a cute little Christmas story. I love reading Christmas stories around this time of year, so I was happy to review this book.

                                                       What I thought

I had no idea that this was a novella that was a part of a series. That definitely threw me off a little, but I figured I would be able to enjoy it anyway.

Being completely honest, this is one of the poorest written stories I have ever read. The characters have no depth, the plot lines are unoriginal and poorly executed, and there is nothing Christmassy about this so called Christmas story.

This is a short story that follows Mia and Tom during the Christmas time. The story starts with the two characters not talking to each other. Mia is in Germany with her friend Lizzie because she was so upset about things going wrong with Tom.

The first part of the book is flashbacks of the early parts of Mia and Tom’s relationship and why they are not currently speaking. The flashbacks are so poorly executed that I can’t believe this was published. It literally works like “Lizzie was talking to Mia and Mia’s eyes glazed over *flashback*” and then “Lizzie called to Mia. ‘Mia! Where did you go? I lost you there for a minute.’ And Mia pulled herself back into the moment.” No one in real life stars off into the distance in the middle of a conversation to have a flashback.

Also, the reason that they aren’t talking is so ridiculous and immature that I can’t have any sympathy for either of the characters. It then is resolved so simply that I just wanted to shake them and say “SEE????? YOU’RE SO STUPID!” In addition to that, they move on as if nothing happened. The only Christmas part of this book is that they happen to get together with their family at Christmas. Otherwise this could have happened over any other time of year.

Everything about this book is predictable and has already been done. And he gives her a puppy for Christmas! A puppy!! Everyone knows you don’t surprise someone with a puppy! Especially since she lives in the city. Seriously! When is she going to do with a puppy that she has no room or time for?

This story is not only poorly written, but it’s 100% unnecessary. The only good thing about this story is that it has recipes in the back. I’m excited to look through them and see if there’s anything that I would want to make. Even though I have never read the books in this series, I have no desire to every pick one up. Even if I was a fan, I can’t see how this would benefit any story. I’m just glad this was a short story and I didn’t waste more than an hour of my time on it.