This is a charming Christmas-themed romance set in the beauty of small-town Quebec that weaves bits of Quebecois culture into a story about a big city, movie-makin' woman who meets her match in the small-town, plaid-wearing, bearded Christmas tree farmer who likes his small-town just the way it is, merci beaucoup.
Zoey has come to the tiny hamlet in Quebec that holds fond memories for her to scout locations for the Christmas-themed Hallmark-esque movie that she will be directing. But local resident Benoît refuses to grant Zoey the permit she needs to film in his town. Naturallement.
I adore visiting Quebec, so the setting and Quebecois culture was the extra gooey cheese on a bowl of French Onion Soup for me. I also loved the slow-burn tension between Zoey and Ben in the first half of the book, but things lagged a bit for me later when a lot of page time is devoted to their InstaLove connection and the couple weathering a precarious situation.
With small-town/big city and sunshine/grumpy tropes and a great cast of characters, this was a delightfully predictable holiday romance where Quebec culture and the inhabitants of the small town steal the show.
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Author: Chantel Guertin
Genre: RomCom, Christmas, Canadian
Type and Source: Trade Paperback from public library
Publisher: DoubleDay Canada
First Published: Oct 31, 2023
Book Description from GoodReads: A charming and rollicking holiday rom-com about a big-city film director who must convince the dreamy, yet grumpy, mayor of a small town to give her the permit to shoot her Christmas movie in his idyllic hometown. Perfect for fans of Hallmark holiday movies, and readers of Maggie Knox's All I Want for Christmas and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne.
Will magic happen under the mistletoe?
All year long, Zoey Andrews lives and breathes Christmas--not just because she loves everything about the festive season, but because, as the director of countless Christmas movies, she's perpetually (and happily) surrounded by 24/7 holiday cheer. And this year Christmas has come early: After years of making other people's movies, Zoey finally has the chance to make her own. There's just one thing standing in her way of that: Benoît Deschamps, the sexy, bearded, grouchy and utterly frustrating, plaid shacket-wearing tree-farm-owner-slash-mayor who refuses to grant Zoey the permit to film in Chelsea, the cozy and snowy Quebec hamlet at the center of her screenplay.
With just four days left before Christmas, Zoey must change Ben's mind, but not before an unscripted ice storm leaves them stranded in the middle of nowhere, with nothing--no food, no phone, no electricity--except . . . each other.
Will Ben's chilly resolve shatter Zoey's Christmas movie wish? Or will Zoey be able to melt through his stubbornness--and maybe even his heart?
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