No one wants to be alone for Christmas. So what do you do when you don't want to be alone, but you don't want a relationship? You place an ad on an online dating site advertising just that.

You'll meet a few frogs, but door #3 just might be Prince Charming, or Mr. Right.

I loved the concept of this story, and read it in one sitting. Unfortunately, it needs a major edit for both grammar and punctuation, as the errors are a distraction.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital copy of this title to review from Net Galley.

#NotJustforChristmas#NetGalley

As Christmas draws near thirty five year old social worker Ava Green, finds herself desperate to not be alone at her favourite time of year. Following the break up of her engagement earlier in the year, Ava has spent ten months on a mission to get over her ex. With the support of her two closest girlfriends Tasha and Marie, Ava makes a bold move that surprises her girlfriends in order to find a companion for the festive season. Ava’s path crosses with tall dark and handsome Detective Jerome Samuels, an older man and a divorcee in search of love, the sad thing is Ava can't stand him. Once their paths cross after a few bumps along the way there’s no turning back, these two characters are caught up in a whirlwind of sensual and heart warming romance, once they settle their differences. A love affair that Detective Jerome Samuels hopes is not just for Christmas, he’s on a mission to claim his lady Ava.
This was an ok story. The plot was fairly basic. The characters were ok. It was a quick holiday read to try to put readers in that spirit. I hadn’t read this author before, so there weren’t any expectations.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Not Just for Christmas is an entertaining and well written romance. Very good plot and characters. I recommend this book. I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

A cutr Christmas story about 2 people who dont like each other but both looking for someone to spent the Holiday with,'Ava writes a advert and detective Samuels answers ,they seem to hit it of in the email so they decide to meet.
They find they know each other and doesnt really like each other but their is somthing drawing together.
Will they or won't they.
Good romance.
Voluntarily reviewed

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of Not just for Christmas by Kim Knight. Although this is tagged as book 2 in the Romance in the City series, it can can be read on its own, and as a Christmas novella it was cute. Ava is a social worker who doesn’t want to be alone for Christmas. Jerome, a divorced detective who Ava works with, ends up answering Ava’s call for a Christmas romance, but can it continue into the new year? Cute story, but wish it had more.

I found this a sweet novella. It was fun and not too serious.
A light, quick read to get you in the Christmas spirit.
It wasn't brilliant, but wasn't terrible either.
It seemed a bit disjointed in places and felt like there were bits missing.

I did however like the overall plot and storyline, if not so much the writing.

I felt it was about time to read something with a Christmas theme and saw this bright festive cover, read the blurb and knew I wanted to read it. I have seen three different covers for this novella book but have to admit I love this one with the red bauble the most!

The main female character is Ava Green who is a social worker. Ava has recently split up with her fiancé when she found him cheating on her! As Christmas is fast approaching, Ava becomes sad and down hearted about the thought of spending Christmas alone. On an evening out with her two female best friends they come up with a plan to find Ava someone to spend Christmas with. Marie & Tasha help her create an advert and draw up a contract for a “no-strings” Christmas fling.

Whilst Ava is waiting for replies to her advert, she finds herself looking for potential Christmas fling material around her at work. There isn’t really anyone she would want to spend the time with. She notices the rather handsome Detective who she sometimes works with her on her child protection, social work cases. The detective has all the characteristics that Ava likes, he is tall, dark and he can be quite sharp and surly, so no he isn’t suitable boyfriend or boyfriend just for Christmas material at all.

Ava does get answers to her adverts but they don’t work out and she is just about to resign herself to having Christmas alone when she gets another potential Christmas “friend”. This time she takes it slower, not suggesting meeting up, she wants to know more about this guy she may decide to spend Christmas with. At the same time as all this something strange seems to have come over Detective Samuels at work, he has suddenly become Mr Happy Sunshine, not his usual moody, cynical self at all. He actually has a bit of a chat with her now. Ava doesn’t understand the sudden change in his attitude. Ava soon puts the Detective to the back of her mind as her new email “just for Christmas” boyfriend sends her beautiful flowers to her work place, then chocolates. Ava is impressed he really seems to know how to spoil a woman.

So, who does Ava end up with at Christmas? Alone? With a just for Christmas boyfriend? or a maybe more permanent boyfriend?

I really liked the character of Ava, she secretly still wants all the romance of a relationship, but feels like there isn’t enough time to build that type of relationship before Christmas, so she has decided she will compromise and make a simple contract for a “no strings boyfriend for Christmas” she is willing to do all the work of making the Christmas Dinner so long as she doesn’t have to eat it alone.

I also loved the characters of Detective Samuels, who initially comes across as being a serious, all work man, not interested in romance, and happy to be in his own company and alone. Then as we learn more about him, his situation is explained, and you see past the tough exterior façade that he presents when at work.

I really enjoyed this Christmas themed novella. It was a different kind of romance. When Ava gives up on getting a normal boyfriend in time for the festive season, she comes up with the quirky idea of have a “no strings, boyfriend for Christmas”. Her two best friends not only support her idea, they help her draw up a legally binding contract containing what she does and doesn’t want along with how far she wishes the romance to go.

This was a sweet, romantic with a festive feel too. I guess the moral within this novella could be never give up on what you really want. Or perhaps be prepared to approach things from a different angle if one way of finding love isn’t working.

To sum up, I really did enjoy reading this feel good, festive romance. Would be interested in checking out more by this author.

Although I would like more and this is a short novella, It was a cute and enjoyable story about trying to find someone to spend the holiday with.

I received a copy of the book for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Was allowed a chance to review what I consider a novella via NetGalley.

It was short and ok. The shop-around-the-corner aspect and London during the holidays (as depicted in holiday rom-coms) makes this feel super familiar. At this point as we near the end of 2019, reading about a story that kicks off 2015 feels awfully dated. Of course all's fine and well by the end. This brief story had no time for dramas or hiccups to stall the eventual HEA. What I felt was missing was the 12/20 event this story kept referencing. Would've liked to have read that portion and more about how this couple cemented their relationship.

Another disappointing Christmas read. The premise was far-fetched, but I played along with two colleagues that happen to be looking for love via a newspaper ad at the same time. First issue, the lack of punctuation! It made for an unpleasant read, with constant re-reading to understand what the author had written. Then the timeline was say off, which was another annoyance. Jerome says that the best thing that came out of his marriage is his son, Junior. Junior is 20 years old, yet the Jerome divorced five years ago, after a 10 year marriage. The math doesn't add up.

What tipped it down to two stars was this gem "...personality and common interests that have me sprung!"

Hoping this was just a quick draft written for a holiday novella, and that there will be some changes made.

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC for a fair and honest review.

She doesn't want to be alone over Christmas so she places and advert and starts to get to know this intriguing man Little does she know that it is Jerome Samuels a detective she has clashed with before as her job as a social worker. She is damaged by a past relationship and he swore never again after a marriage that ended in divorce as they get to know one another by email how will they react when they finally meet and see who they have been falling for.

2.5 stars

Not Just for Christmas is my first book by Kim Knight and I totally hate to say it, I didn't love it or really like it even. So, there I am searching for some books to review and I came across this one. I like reading seasonal books and as the Indian summer is just dragging on along over here in coastal North Carolina, I was trying to get into a more cooler-vibe, hence Christmas-y type books. And I was excited about this book. I saw it didn't have a ton of reviews and wanted to help out plus most of the reviews were pretty positive. The author is from the UK, bonus! Alas, that's pretty much where my excitement left the building.

Not Just for Christmas follows around Ava, a 35-year-old social worker that has a pretty heavy job working in child protective services. The book opens on a pretty heavy scene where she is making the choice to take a toddler away from a pretty messed up situation. Then... we are subjected to a whole lot of TELLING, telling of background, telling of foreground, telling of feelings, telling of blah, blah, blah. There's a guy, who we are told is pretty arrogant and alpha-y but we aren't really showed that. And then her friends, which all their interaction is a bit awkward, to me. The conversations (and this could totally be me- I'm American and the author if from the UK, and it might just be that my conversational speech is different) felt or read weirdly, maybe a little awkward, sometimes stilted.

The story happens over several weeks possibly months. The character view changes alternately and does offer a dual perspective, which is nice in a romance. However, I feel Jerome's perspective might have been introduced too soon or maybe just a bit differently. I also didn't really get much of a feeling for Jerome's feelings or when or how they shifted towards Ava, a co-worker to Ava, love interest.

The story is a fade-to-black in the bedroom, or, uh... kitchen floor (as it were) aspect times. I know some people really look for a fade-to-black as things can be a bit graphic. But, honestly, I was looking forward to it in the attempts that it might redeem the rest of the book.

I can't say I've ever been a fan of the "I'm leaving you because it's the best for you" trope nor do I like this cousin of "I'm leaving/ignoring you because I like you too much and I'm scared but a stilted-awkward conversation with some significant-to-me character will change my mind" trope either. The whole separation was discussed in a paragraph and left a very anticlimactic feel of just going on and on. The topic was supposed to be being scared to try your heart again, and it was just lost and glazed over.

I can't be too mad at the book, it was a decent story, and in reality, if I were to ever try to write something... well, let's just say, it would be not even worth printing...

As I said, it was a decent story about finding love after you've been battered and bruised by it before. The end gets a bit strong with the cheese factor but in the end, you are left with an HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this generously provided ARC!

I loved the idea of a holiday romance novella in the UK with people of color, but the execution didn't work for me. Dialogue felt off, and the story didn't flow well in general. I liked seeing the point of view of both the heroine and the hero, but I didn't understand their impressions of each other. In particular, the heroine's initial feelings about the hero didn't seem to have any basis in reality even though he understood her reactions, and that confused me as well. I feel like maybe an editor could go through this book and help the author smooth out transitions and general readability. I still really like the idea of the story.

An entertaining short Christmas read.
Ava doesn't want to be alone for Christmas, so sets out to find someone to spend it with. What she doesn't know is that her colleague Detective Jerome Samuels has replied to her advert. Soon they are getting along well by email, something that never happened in real life. What will happen when she finds out his real identity?