***I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Rosie Curtis and HarperCollins.***

3.5 stars

We Met in December, by Rosie Curtis, is a year long story of 5 people living together, focused on Alex and Jess. They have a connection on the night they meet but Alex strikes up a relationship with another of their housemates while Jess is on vacation. Jess focuses on her new job—both she and Alex are in the midst of a life upheaval—and Alex and Jess become friends. Over the next 12 months, both Alex and Jess have to do some figuring out and decide what they want out of life.

I liked Jess and Alex very much. They’re both kind, thoughtful people with good intentions. Their initial connection was great, but then it sort of fizzles out. Jess seems little bothered by Alex’s relationship with Emma. The same could be said about Alex later in the book when the tables are turned. Even if either is actually bothered, they’re both so busy with school and career that they have little down time to dwell on it. I loved their wandering walks, but I wish I’d felt more chemistry. I definitely felt they cared about one another, but until the very end, I didn’t exactly get a sense of longing or fate or heat between them.

I liked all the housemates a lot and thought they added a sense of belonging to the story. As far as actual family, we get glimpses Jess’s mom and grandmother, as well as Alex’s mom and sister. We also meet Jess’s 2 best friends. I was pleased that she good friends close by, but the family’s and friends’ storylines were like a sidestep to the main plot that at times overshadowed it since the pace of things between our MCs was extremely slow.

I think for me to have loved this story I would have needed more emotion. I felt like we only scratched the surface emotion-wise with most of the characters, even Alex and Jess. There was also a lot of description. At times it seemed like I knew the streets of London better than the character’s desires.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book.
It was really well written and the main characters are very likeable. The setting is quite detailed and it's the nicest description I've read about London to date. The side characters are realistically written, as well as the financial and employment situations in the novel.
The romance side however, reminded me of One Day in December which was slightly frustrating as the main characters wouldn't communicate and ended up becoming involved with other people. I do realise this is meant to prolong the HEA and extend the plot. Luckily Alex and Jess are nice enough that the reader ends up satisfied.
3.5 stars

I really wanted to love this book, the blurb really grabbed me and I was so excited.
I should start by saying that I'm not a fan of first person narrative. A book really has to be something to keep me interested if it's written in first person. I was willing to give this book a go anyway because I loved the idea of it. I just couldn't get on with how wordy it was, every si gle minute thing that the MC did was explained in excruciating detail and I just think it went a bit over the top.
I'd definitely give this author another go but not if it was in first person again.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very sweet, well written story. I really like how Alex and Jess got to know each other with their walks around London. It was very cute. I liked the changing POV chapters which meant we got insight to both characters. Loved Nana Beth and felt there was a nice mix of characters. Overall a nice festive read.

Every time I start a new book I hope it will take me on an adventure that will stay with me long after I finish that last page.
Books that usually do stay are the ones that shake my emotions and have scenes that I remember long time after.
This is why I tend to read women’s fiction and romance so often. There is something about finding a character we, as readers, can emphatize with and root for her/his happy ending.

We Met in December is one of those books that will stay with me, maybe forever.

It was lovely and sweet, but also very realistic.
Without lying, after I turned the last page, I thought to myself “This book is perfection”.

It contains my favourite trope: two people who were meant for each other, finding their way to be with each other.

There are several characters in the book, and I have to admit I liked all of them. Not most of them, but all of them.
The main characters Jess and Alex are narrators of the story, which is written in first person, following their POV.

Side characters were also very realistic and likeable, and even though this is Jess and Alex’ story, I would love to be able to read more about others, maybe in some other books, if Rosie Curtis ever decides to write them.
I would especially like to know more about Rob.

I have read many books that place in London, but I do not remember that any of them captured the beauty of this magnificent city so wonderfully.
It was like London was another character in the book, and it was so easy to imagine all the places Jess and Alex visited while he was showing her around.

To some point, We Met in December reminds me of my favourite book Anna and the French Kiss, only for adults, set in London and without (emotional) cheating part.

This book talks about love, but it also talks about finding your place, embracing adulthood and doing what your heart is telling you to do with your life.

In the end, I just want to praise book cover designs. The UK is simple and beautiful (and it kind of reminds me of the cover of One Day in December) and the US is really cute and heartwarming (I like the US one a bit better).

Rosie Curtis wrote We Met in December for the first time under this pen name, but she has already published several novels under name Rachael Lucas.
I haven’t read anything she has written before, but now I want to.

We Met in December is one of the sweetest, cutest, loveliest romances that I have read and a new favourite of mine, so I highly recommend it to everyone!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

5 Stars! This was such a cute holiday romance and perfect for fans of Love Actually! We Met in December was a great romance with very likable characters. The story developed realistically and really drew you in. I could really relate to Jess and loved reading the relationship develop between her and Alex. We Met in December has really wonderful supporting characters as well. This was my first introduction to Rosie Curtis and I look forward to reading more of her work. This book has me getting so excited for the holidays. I highly recommend this one!

We Met in December, Rosie Curtis

Genre: Romance, Women's Fiction

Women's Fiction – ah no, not again, why do we keep adding this outdated category. Who says men won't read this? Men write romance, men read romance.....

So, this was a fun read, full of characters and situations that happen in real life. I felt I knew Jess and the gang, they were a typical mix of characters we see everywhere. With their own issues, their own preferences, doing different occupations. House sharing isn't just the preserve of students, but how many people have to manage to afford to live where they want. Even so this house share is special, where they are all paying much below market rent, and house owner has chosen them all carefully.

I love the way Alex and Jess have a spark at that first meeting, but so felt for her when she came back to see Emma slipping out of Alex' room in the early hours. Theirs is a strange relationship, no one other than Jess seems aware of it, and Alex spends lots of his free time out and around London with Jess.
I loved the descriptions of where they went, it made a huge part of the book enjoyable, I felt I was there with them. Alex confides in Jess about his part relationship, how close he got to marrying, and how he's concentrating on his career, where he's changed from lawyer to nursing.
I so wanted them to get together but for various reasons, despite the fact everyone can see they are so suited they seem to keep missing, and then there's that old fear, do you risk a good friendship for a relationship that may not work out?
Its not a romance where the couple are together early on, and they story charts the development of the relationship, its more a story of a good friendship, where we're rooting for one of them to take the plunge, where we can see they'd be perfect together, but where nothing actually develops for most of the novel.

Its a perfect summer read, for those days like yesterday when I read it, where its way too hot for reading anything intense, where what I wanted was an easy to read, relaxing, feelgood story.

Stars: Four, perfect beach or holiday read, one to relax with and enjoy.

ARC via netgalley

Alex and Jess are both starting their lives over in London. Alex has recently changed careers from corporate lawyer to nurse, wanting to make a difference in the world, and his engagement has just ended. Jess has moved away from her grandmother who raised her to take her dream job at a publishing house. Each renting a room from a mutual friend, they quickly bond over long walks through the city. With a no couples in rule in the house, they spend the year trying to ignore their feelings.

This was such a cute story. I adored London as the setting and it gave me a bit of wanderlust. Jess is a fantastic character, so relatable, I was cracking up while reading the Pilates class description. My heart hurt for her after bumping into Emma, and deciding that she just needed to figure out her feelings and move on. And Alex, I hate to say it, but I wanted to hate him a little in the beginning, and then a little more when James came into the picture. His statements about grief were dead on and made me miss the one's I've lost. I really didn't expect to feel so many emotions while reading this book. It was sweet, and little swoony, with some frustration, heartbreak, and a lot of a slow burn. I appreciated that this story felt real, the characters, their incomes, jobs, friendships, dating woes, overall this was a GREAT story. Highly recommend.

We Met in December by Rosie Curtis a five-star read that will light you up like a Christmas tree. This blew me away, the emotions running through this story will have your heart in your mouth and then your stomach. All of the housemates play a part in the story, and at times I did want to shake one or two, telling them to grow up and admit how they felt, or just shake them and tell them to move out… Becky was a great all-round cheerleader for everyone, getting the party started when she needed to, as sometimes you can just be too much of a grown up. Rob is the more stable, dependable one making sure everyone eats properly (sourdough to melt your heart), there is also Emma, but I honestly don’t know what I feel about her even now a few days after I finished the story so Im’ma just gonna leave my words about her. Then we have Alex and Jess who are the main players of the story, its this pair that tell us the story, they show us the story not only from this amazing house, but from the city of London, with hints Bournemouth and Kent as well. It’s this pair that we follow through the ups and downs of their year, we follow them as they wander through London, Jess getting lost and Alex showing her the way, in more ways than one. This was such a great and compelling read, as it wasn’t that they meet, they fell in love and then live happily ever after, this was much more real, they meet, they like each other and then life happens, you get drunk make stupid mistakes and life goes on getting in the way. As a fellow lover of the great Richard Curtis and a good romcom I loved Jess, she just warmed me to the depth of my cold dark heart.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

Loved loved this book.A wonderful story full of romance holiday spirit.Will be gifting to friends.#netgalley#avonbooksuk,

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet and light-hearted read, although with overtones of heavier themes (death of a parent, breakup of a relationship) about two roommates who both embark on new career paths in London. I loved the changes in perspective, hearing from them in turn, and felt both were very well characterized. An unexpected bonus was seeing and exploring London through their eyes. The only thing I wish had been different was that they had worked out the dynamic earlier, rather than having them come together at the very end and having an epilogue of a year later.

Synopsis :
What if you couldn’t get away from the one who got away?

Unlucky in love Jess is following her dream and moving to London. It’s December, and she’s taking a room in a crumbling Notting Hill house‐share with four strangers. On her first night Jess meets Alex, the guy sharing her floor. They don’t kiss under the mistletoe, but as far as Jess is concerned, the connection is instant. She lets herself imagine how their relationship will grow over the following year.

But when Jess returns from a Christmas holiday, she finds Alex has started dating someone else – beautiful Emma, who lives on the floor above them. Now Jess faces a year of bumping into (hell, sharing a bathroom with) the man of her dreams… and the woman of his.

Jess is determined to move on and survive the next twelve months… but love has a way of hampering even the best laid plans…

Set over the course of one life‐changing year, this is the most uplifting and moving love story of 2019.

‘Bridget Jones meets Love Actually – the PERFECT Christmas story and I loved, loved, loved it’ Cathy Bramley

‘Like putting on your favourite Christmas jumper: cosy, heartwarming and gorgeously romantic’ Holly Martin

‘A perfect festive hug of a book. It’s packed with brilliant characters, beautiful settings, warm humour and a love story guaranteed to steal your heart. I absolutely adored this clever, wonderful story. Get ready to meet your new favourite author!’ Miranda Dickinson

‘Just what everyone needs right now – a gorgeously warm and uplifting story full of romance’ Alex Brown





I actually got approved for the US version too! thanks!

A thrilling and heartfelt story; draws you in very quickly and doesn't let go. Excellent character development. Highly recommended!