2.5/5 Stars.

This story was a pretty good contender for a Hallmark Christmas film. It has all of the feel good parts and was cozy enough to want to sit under the covers with a warm cup of hot cocoa while you read it. However, cozy doesn't always mean that it stood out, or that it would make the cut.

Our story starts with our main female character (Angie) moving home after a bad break up with her ex-boyfriend. She quickly meets our main male character (Nick) and after a second meeting between the two of them, there is an "insta-love" feeling between the two of them. Sometimes I can take this in novels when it is done well (if I feel chemistry between the two love interests), but in this case, it just felt forced. Angie and Nick really hadn't spent too much time together and very few dates before they fell in love. This just felt unrealistic to me. 

Another part that felt a little unbelievable was when Angie saw a homeless woman at the mall that she was working at and instantly became friends with her and developed such strong feelings that the plot of the book centered around her helping with a gift wrapping station that would see all of its proceeds go to the shelter the woman was staying in. I feel like I would have believed this to be a true occurance, if Angie was more of a humanitarian. However, the character that was built was an event planner/party organizer and her personality just didn't fit with what the author was trying to do here.

I also felt like the drama with Nick's father was a bit forced as well. We are lead to believe that Nick's father wants Nick to marry another woman whom Nick had never met in order to secure some deal. We later find out that the only reason why he wanted Nick to marry this other woman (and instead tried to scare Angie away by saying Nick was engaged to her) was so Nick would stay working with him at his company. This just doesn't feel like a valid enough reason to ruin a relationship that Nick told his father he wanted. My question here would be, why would it matter if Nick married Angie? It doesn't mean Nick would leave the company because of it.

After much too much misunderstanding and miscommunication between Nick and Angie, they finally end up together on the last page. An epilogue with how their future is going would have worked out really well here. 

Overall, this story was okay for me. However, there were too many plot points that just didn't add up or made me roll my eyes and I like a corny, unbelievable story sometimes too. 

Adult and up.

A fabulous holiday read, hallmark in word form! Great writing style, engaging characters and enjoyable plot. A really festive and fun read that topped off my 2019 perfectly!

Such a fun movie type holiday read! I love the fate/chance encounter troupe and this did not disappoint!  Angie and Nick were an adorable couple and gives hope for second chances!

The holiday cheer, romance, friendships, family and feel good vibes combined with my warm blanket and hot chocolate gave me all the Christmas feels!

If you love Hallmark Christmas movies you will most definitely want to read this book!

This was, overall, a nice holiday read. It read like a holiday Christmas movie, and as a reader, I could easily picture everything happening in my head. Duncan had a great writing style, and she kept me interested the whole way through!

This was the best Christmas book I read for 2019! Angie was relatable and I felt connected to her story the entire time. It had Christmas elements but it didn’t feel cheesy or like a typical story.

Many thanks to HQ Digital and Katelyn Duncan for the opportunity to read and review this book.  A delightful festive read for the romantic readers out there. Angie has returned to her home town after a messy breakup and the last thing she expects to happen is to fall in love with the local business man Nick . After a series of misunderstandings can Abgie find her happy ending.  A light hearted read full of festivities

Wrapped Up For Christmas is one of those books that you read and can automatically see it being turned into a Christmas movie. It has the flow of a story that allows you to easily picture everything that’s happening in your head, and that’s a credit to Katlyn Duncan. 

After losing her boyfriend, job and apartment in the same week, Angie decides to return home to her family New England for Christmas while she sorts out her life. She knows only a few key things: her trip home is temporary, she needs to get a job, and she’s never going to date a co-worker/employer again. While trying to get herself sorted, she has an embarrassing chance encounter with Nick, whom eventually she begins to see in a romantic light. But Nick has secrets of his own and this threatens his budding relationship with Angie.

Set against the backdrop of a mall/shopping centre at Christmas time, this book honestly reminded me of my time working retail at Christmas. (Which is not a bad thing, but just something I hadn’t thought about for years.) I think what I liked most about this book was the atmosphere that it has - it definitely feels like a Christmas book, with the Christmas wrapping, and holiday events described.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really connect with Angie’s character - and as she’s the one we’re supposed to sympathise with the most, this was a bit problematic. She was a little too ‘all-over-the-place’ for me, especially as an adult, and a lot of the time I spent wondering when she was going to step up and own her life. Likewise, in regards to Nick, I was entirely frustrated by the miscommunication/lack of communication tropes used to dramatise his relationship with Angie.

I did like a lot of the smaller moments in the book - the fragile relationship between Nick, his father and his brother being one, which is something that a lot of people have to deal with during the holiday season. I also liked Angie’s idea of a wrapping station at the mall to raise money for a local shelter, and the story that followed with that endeavour.

Overall, it was an easy, Christmas read that was likeable, but just not something I fell in love with.

Gifted to me from Netgalley, Wrapped Up for Christmas, by Kaitlyn Duncan, was the absolute perfect Christmas read. Angie, finds herself moving back home after losing her job and boyfriend. In her hometown she reconnects with old friends and new friends. As she gets wrapped up with the holiday and her new job.. all kinds of things change for her. This is my first book by Kaitlyn Duncan and it won’t be my last. This book had all the holiday feels and things can work out for the better. This was a four star read for me.

Wrapped Up For Christmas is a novel about a woman named Angie, who returns home for the holidays after a difficult breakup and job loss. Needing temporary work she takes a job at the mall. Along the way she meets Nick, and although she is hesitant to start a new relationship, they become close. They have their challenges of course, but this story is well written without becoming another typical cheesy Christmas story. My only complaint is that it seemed to wrap up too quickly at the end. 4/5 stars.

When the holiday season hits, I'm ready for a chick lit title with a dash of holiday romance. This one fits the bill wonderfully. And it reminds us that when a door closes, another one will open. It just might not be the one we expect.

This book, was the perfect feel-good Christmas story. It was like reading a cozy Hallmark Christmas movie. 
I really loved the story, the friendships, the atmosphere, the families and the romance. 

This was my first book by Katlyn Duncan and I can definitely see myself picking up something else from her in the future

A new author for me. This was a feel good Christmas story. If you're a fan of the Hallmark channel movies, this will be right up your alley. Not a favorite as I found the beginning a bit slow, but generally a good read.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher for my honest opinions.

This was a lovely book to read around Christmas time. There was a good story line and it kept me wanting to know what happens. It was a happy book and shout be read.

Starting off the holiday season with a broken heart, no job and moving back across the country to live with your Mom does not bring seasons greetings to your heart and Angie Martinelli does not know where her life will go from this point.  In comes Nick Bower, the ultimate workaholic for his Dads company and he is dealing with his own family drama.  A spilt coffee at the local coffee shop and maybe they can find there way to some happy holidays along with an amazing charity project to help the local shelter which is what Christmas really is about, giving to others and celebrating with those you love! 

This book was definitely filled with the spirit of Christmas and had a great feel good factor! Reading how Angie jumped right in to her new job and found a way to do something to help others was uplifting and brought the Christmas spirit up a level! Enjoyable and fun holiday read!

I did enjoy sitting down to the read the book. The storyline is however quite predictable throughout

Wrapped Up for Christmas was just the story I needed to put me in the holiday mood. This spirit-filled story had equal parts romance, (props for keeping it clean) and a fun holiday story that provided an engaging story line. I know it has been said before but this book reads like a movie. I love the way Katlyn Duncan wrote the story as if it were a movie because I could visually relate to the words on the pages - it truly brought life to this story. The only reason for 4-stars versus 5-stars was the predictability of the story and some parts of the plot seemed to distract from the story of Angie and Nick. While I enjoyed the parts about Reece and the baby, it seemed to take away from the holiday/romance elements.

Overall this book was good. The start seems quite drawn out though the story itself is good. Perseverance is key when reading this book.  Didn't quite get me in the spirit for Christmas so can be read any time of year in my opinion.

After Angie loses her boyfriend and her job, she has no choice but to back to her hometown and nurse her broken heart within the comfort of her childhood home whilst looking for a new job and new life. To keep herself busy Angie finds herself working at the mall that she worked at as a teenager helping Christmas shoppers with any last minute shopping woes they may have. It is here where she meets Nick who she is instantly attracted to but the secrets he chooses to keep may backfire on their relationship. 

This book was cute and adorable. I enjoyed the Christmas spirit and loved that it took place in the mall for the majority of the book. Unfortunately, this book harboured two of the tropes that I dislike the most in romance novels: insta-love and fallout due to miscommunication.   

Angie and Nick barely knew each other before falling so fast in love and then breaking up just as fast. The break up was depicted with such great anguish you would think these two characters had been together for five odd years. I could feel the spark between the two characters but it was not nearly fleshed out enough for me to believe the magnitude of their love for each other. 

All the obstacles that occurred between these two was due to miscommunication. I truly despise this trope and wish it was banned from all romance novels. It portrayed the characters as juvenile and immature making for an eye-roll of story at some parts, which is disappointing because I truly enjoyed the minimal flirt and spark that these two had with each other.

Wrapped Up For Christmas is a charming, feel good, Christmas romance. A book about second chances and family, about serving others, and how sometimes the hardest things in life lead us to the right paths. This was the perfect book to curl up with in front of the fire on a snowy night. It’s a cozy read that will definitely put you in the Christmas spirit! Thank you the the publisher for the free review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Another Christmas win!!!
I love the “moving back home” stories, maybe because I can relate (apart from the finding the love of my life aspect haha.) I think there is something special about where we grew up and sometimes it takes moving away and experiencing life to realize that! I love that this book feels real. The life events and emotions in it are very realistic in my opinion, and this is a story that could very well happen in real life. I felt the characters easy to connect with and relatable. Being set at Christmas time was a bonus because I love Christmas and all of the events and happenings that help one get in the Christmas spirit! Would definitely read this author again!!!