I must admit I picked this book mainly for the cover – lol. But honestly, isn’t it cute, and pretty, and makes you want it to be December 1st? I’ll get more into it later, but the way the author uses the Advents Calendar is genius. I’ll be doing one like this next year.

25 Days ’til Christmas – Poppy Alexander

25 Days ’til Christmas by Poppy Alexander

A contemporary, emotional, but ultimately feel-good, festive up-lit novel for fans of Jenny Colgan, Debbie Johnson, and Holly Martin.

Kate Potter used to love Christmas. A few years ago she would have been wrapping her presents in September and baking mince pies on Halloween, counting down to the countdown to Christmas. But a few years ago, everything was different. That was before Kate’s husband went away with the army and didn’t come home. Now she can hardly stand December at all.

Kate’s lonely. She doesn’t think she’s ready for romance, but she needs more than this, and her son Jack needs a Christmas to remember. What Kate needs is a Christmas miracle, and if there isn’t one on its way, she’ll just have to make her own.

So begins Kate’s advent countdown to the best Christmas ever.

She has it all planned out, but you can’t plan for the unexpected, and when the path of the loneliest woman in town crosses with that of the loneliest man, she just might find a way to save Christmas for all of them… 

Audiobook generously provided in exchange for an honest review.

my thoughts

25 Days ’til Christmas – Poppy Alexander

So, when I picked up this book, thanks to the cover, I expected the book to be light and fluffy. Clearly I didn’t read the blurb. Anyway, the novel was surprisingly emotional, mostly because of the topics that the story focused on. It’s definitely not the fluffy Christmas/holiday romance some might expect, it’s actually gritty and dark at times.

As was mentioned in the blurb, which I read just now – sigh, this book is an “ultimately feel-good” novel. But the path to that “ultimately feel-good” ending was emotional, and at times heart-breaking.

The romance itself was slow burn and not really the focus of the story. But the possibility of a love match gave me a warm feeling throughout the entire story, because if someone deserved a HEA, Kate and Daniel certainly did.

Now, neither Kate nor Daniel were characters I LOVED, but they were ok. Even though I wouldn’t wish Kate’s burdens on anyone, because she had many, she wasn’t as strong of a character as I liked. She did the best she could do, but there were just too many things stacked against her, and not all of her decisions sat well with me. And although Daniel was too beta for me to be really invested in him, his personality was just too bland to be interesting, he was nevertheless very kind and gentle. And in his reserved way and with help from friends he charmingly courted Kate to a HEA.

The only complaint I have is that this novel touched on too many topics/issues. I felt overwhelmed at times, that’s probably how Kate felt, but still, I rather not feel that way reading a book. Both Kate and Daniel, lost someone they dearly loved, and for both the grief was still palpable. Additional, Kate had to handle some school administrative decisions that would have a real impact on her son’s life. Including financial woes, sexual harassment, and an uncertainty about her future, it all was a bit much. I would have liked one or two topics explored in depths instead of the avalanche of issues. The Christmas miracle, mentioned in the blurb, was certainly needed.

Now, apart from all that, I had no issue completing the audiobook. I think all in all it didn’t take me longer than 4-5 days.

BUT the one thing I will take away from this book is the way Kate fixed up her son’s Advents Calendar. Instead of sweets, she put notes into each window about daily excursions, or Christmasish things to do for each of the 24/25 days of the Advent Calendar. I’m going to plan on doing one exactly like that next year. It will take some planning and researching but I absolutely LOVED the idea. An amazing way of exploring all things Christmas, and enjoying the days leading towards the holiday in a festive way. It will make for an memorable December.

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3.5 stars

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25 Days ’til Christmas – Poppy Alexander