A fun and light read for the holidays with some funny parts and a cosy setting. But it somehow felt both long and too quick at the same time? The romance itself happened pretty quickly and felt like it came out of the blue, but the story itself felt pretty long. The side characters were also pretty stereotypical and were almost forced into the story to be stock characters. But perhaps my most flawed character was the male MC himself who seemed to have reverse character development, where he got really annoying and unsupportive by the end. It's still a decent Christmas read if you're looking for something light during the holidays.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC.

This small town holiday romance was sweet, a little on the spicy side, humorous and endearing. It was the epitome of a Christmas Hallmark movie and has all the Christmas tropes, themes and reasons why we love Christmas time in the very first chapter.

I had a really hard time with this book. The writing wasn’t my favorite, and the characters weren’t very likable or relatable. Overall, it wasn’t for me.

A Christmas vision to be sure, but I wasn’t able to get into the Novel and set it down midway. In part to the issues with chemistry between Gus and Sutton but more than likely due to my own personal issues and challenges this holiday season. My apologies to NetGalley and the publishers.

Confessions of a Christmasholic is funny, unorthodox, and completely bizarre (in a good way).

After I finished this book, I had to let it marinate in my head before I could put my thoughts into a semi-coherent state.

Gus is a smokin’ hot single dad who secretly hates Christmas but hides the guise under false smiles and holiday cheer while continuing to run the local Christmas shop started by his wife before her passing. He continues the work because that’s what the town expects of him, despite his unhappiness.

Sutton is on holiday alone traveling across Europe. Her friend was supposed to be traveling with Sutton but she bailed on her. Her friend also left Sutton destitute when she asked to borrow money from Sutton and made excuses on why she can’t pay Sutton back. So now Sutton is penniless in a small town somewhere in England, and completely drunk.

When Sutton stumbles upon a home with a fully decorated lawn of Christmas, she’s had just about enough of this holiday and starts going to town tearing up this person’s decorations. In her drunken rampage through the holiday lights, she hears a guy talking to, and punching a Santa inflatable. Wanting a shot at the title, Sutton makes her presence known by tripping before she can get to Santa, and the hot guy. Hilarity definitely ensues.

The story is wild, the characters are loveable and endearing, and the plot is entertaining. If you need a pick-me-up to get you through the holidays, Confessions of a Christmasholic has got what you need!

Perfect for the holiday season although not quite a fit for me as I couldn't connect with the main character. I’d still suggest it for a Christmas romance read.

Enjoyable Christmas story with mild spice. I appreciated the plot addition of how difficult it is to end relationships with friends when you’ve outgrown the relationship. Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A cute, spicy, Christmas read with great characters! Loved it. Perfect for the holiday season. 5 stars.

I started this out thinking it would be a sweet, funny Christmas rom-com. However, I couldn’t connect with the main character, her situation, or her approach to the world. This might be a fun escape during the holidays for some, but unfortunately wasn’t a fit for me.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I can’t believe it took me a week to finish this book. A 300-page romance book should only take me 4 days max to finish. You know, I see the vision, I see what the author was trying to do, it was just lacking… everything. The most dissapointing part was Gus and Sutton’s chemistry. It was almost nonexistent. Which was sad because they had so much potential. Their relationship felt rushed and it came out of nowhere. Like all of the sudden they’re hot for each other. Where did that come from??? The pacing wasn’t much better either. It only picked up around 60% of the book. I’ve been wanting to DNF it but I refuse to DNF a book.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a cute Christmas book in theory, but Sutton was so dumb and unlikeable, I couldn’t enjoy it. Layla is trash and for some reason she can’t get that. Gus is a great male lead, but Sutton needed to either just be the nanny or just be a house guest. It made the premise stupid because she didn’t even like kids, so why in the world would she want to nanny!?

I started off getting confused reading this book. I feel like it jumped around a lot and wasn’t the easy to read Christmas book that I was looking for. It did have a good story overall but was slow to get there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to honestly review .

I like the idea of this book because it’s a female grinch Sutton and a single dad Gus who loves Christmas but at the heart of the story it is more Sutton becomes the nanny after an incident. The story was a cute Christmas story I didn’t have a connection with the book like I thought that I was going to.

A great Christmas read. I would totally recommend Confessions of a Christmasholic you will not regret it.

I have a love-hate relationship with Joss Wood's Confessions of a Christmasholic, a story about a down-on-her-luck traveler who finds herself virtually penniless and homeless amidst a charming Christmas village. It is there that she meets a local grumpy widower dubbed Mr. Christmas, who only pretends to love the holiday to honor his late wife's memory. There are some things that really worked with this novel, and others that really didn't, making this a mixed bag of a read that I enjoyed for the most part, but can't quite say that I loved.

Sutton Alsop has landed broke and broken in a small English village thanks to her best friend who stood her up for their 30th birthday trip of a lifetime, leaving Sutton to foot the bill. After paying for both her and her friend's share of the trip, Sutton is left without a penny to her name. Stranded with no way of getting home until her friend pays her back, Sutton plans on squatting in a home in a quaint Christmas village when she runs into Mr. Christmas, aka Gus, a Grinch of a man who bedecks his home in swaths of Christmas lights only because the town expects him to carry on his late wife's love of the holiday. Taking pity on Sutton, Gus invites her to stay with him and his twins for the holiday. As Sutton and Gus grow closer as Christmas inches nearer, they find themselves falling for each other. Can Sutton warm this Grinch's heart in time for Christmas?

Admittedly, I do not read a lot of romances, aside from the occasional rom-com, because I find them to be cheesy and unrealistic. However, I do make the exception for romances set during Christmas because usually the joy of the holiday can off-set any overbearing romantic storylines. Confessions of a Christmasholic has all of the tropes that you would expect in a traditional steamy romance - there's definitely a heavy dose of insta-love, and a preoccupation with sex - however, it also has a pretty decent plot, even if it is a bit underdeveloped. The storyline kept me interested as I turned the pages amidst eye rolls over the overtly sexual and dramatic behavior of the two main characters.

What I didn't like about this novel was the love interest, Gus. I frankly found him to be toxic to both Sutton and his twins. He traverses through the novel constantly being irritated by his kids, snapping at them and acting like they are a hindrance to the life we really wishes he were living. I worry about the future version of the twins, having grown up in a clearly hostile household. As for Sutton, his relationship with her is just about sex, yet he sets her up time and again to be indebted to him without a substantial partnership between the two. I worry about Sutton, as well, who is doing too much too fast with a guy whose personality and temperament is questionable.

After a rough night of drinking her problems away, Sutton finds herself broke, cold and face first in front of the largest Christmas display she has ever seen. The home belongs to Gus, aka Mr. Christmas, who is also a single good-looking dad. Chemistry runs rampant between these two characters and makes for a good and spicy Christmas rom com!

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for providing me an E-ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the cutest story. I got into it and listened to the Spotify playlist while reading on Kindle with my Christmas tree in the background -- would highly recommend with a glass of wine. I am not a normal romance reader, but maybe I should be because I just previously listened to a 28-hour high fantasy audiobook and found this delightful as a follow-up?

<I>Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Fun cute holiday read! It made me laugh and smile plenty!!
There was a lot of repetitive context that I didn’t feel needed to be repeated time and again. That’s about the only thing that took away from the relationship building. I wish there was more back and forth convo.

Would definitely recommend to someone looking for a cozy Christmas romance.

I am normally a sucker for Christmas books and felt so bad that this year I haven't had the chance to read any until this one, which was more than I expected.

Besides a "classical" love story, where she's broke and meets the charming man who supposedly loves Christmas, this book is also spicy.

In three words, I would describe this book as heart-warming, silly, and sexy which deserves a chance if you are into Christmas books.

Lastly, I would like to thank Joss Wood - the author, Harper Collins UK - the publisher and NetGalley for offering me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was perfect little read to get into the festive spirit for Christmas, This may be my new holiday romcom of choice which I will read each year.