All's Fair in Love and Christmas - Book Review

Aren't Christmas romcoms the best? Anyone looking for a hilarious Christmas romance should definitely put All's Fair in Love and Christmas by Sarah Monzon on their holiday TBR. In this slow burn office romance, Christmas fun abounds and is sure to delight all Christmas lovers. If you're looking for a cheery holiday romance, then this is for you!

Plot Summary

Graphic designer Mackenzie Graham's goal in life is to shrink back and stay invisible. She never thought she'd be considered for the promotion that always comes around at Christmas time. The position always seems to be given to the employee who has the most Christmas spirit, but she has no intention of participating in the competition. Yet she somehow finds herself in the middle of a Christmas war duking it out with the man she's loved from afar for the past two years.

Jeremy Fletcher has his life mapped out for the next twenty years and a plan to get the promotion. His plans, however, do not include a shy Christmas enthusiast who wins their boss's approval without even trying. Before this he never noticed Mackenzie. Now he can't get her out of his head. Will this Christmas elf make him step out of his schedule and into a relationship he never planned on?

Personal Thoughts

This was such a fun, lighthearted read. Mackenzie's quiet, quirky manner made her one of the sweetest, nicest heroines in literary history. Without even trying she made everyone feel special. I loved how she tried to recreate everyone's holiday traditions. Jeremy was a bit rigid, but he loosened up and eventually didn't put so much importance on his plans. All of the Christmas festivities were wonderful and put me in a holiday mood, especially The Nutcracker ballet performance 😂

Monzon touches on social anxiety in this book and shows Mackenzie battling with this difficulty in her life. I loved watching her overcome her anxiety and open up over the course of the story. By the end she had markedly changed and it was wonderful to watch her progress.

Jeremy and Mackenzie's romance could certainly be termed a slow burn. I was wondering if they would ever get together and when Jeremy would get the clue. When they finally figured it out I was dancing. At first I wasn't sure how much I would like the pairing, but Jeremy ended up being a sweet, thoughtful guy and Mackenzie learned to be bolder in the relationship. Overall, just a sweet, festive romance.

Notes

Steam Level: 💋💋💋

Ramblings Inspired by the Book

If there's anything Jeremy loves, it's his plans. Nothing can happen outside of them. He has life figured out and knows that this is the best way to go. Until someone - aka Mackenzie - enters his life and makes him want to ditch his plans. But stubborn man that he is, he refuses. Mackenzie can be just a friend. He isn't ready to date; his niece and nephew need him right now. It's not in the plan!

It takes a friend of his to remind him that sometimes, our plans are too narrow and small. Only God has plans for us that are perfect and sure to prosper us, and give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). What may be outside of our plans may be well within God's plans. Jeremy had to make the choice of whether he would cling tight to his plans and miss out on the gift before him - a relationship with Mackenzie - or drop his plans and accept the best Christmas present God could give him.

How many times do we have a plan and insist on sticking to it? We so often forget that our ideas for the future may not line up with God's plans. Intellectually we know that His are better, but it's easy to forget that as we schedule our lives. But what if our best blessings lay outside of our plans? What if it takes laying down our plans to embrace God's gifts to us?

For Jeremy, he had to give up his agenda in order to have Mackenzie. What would we receive if we let go of our plans, particularly around Christmastime? Perhaps our greatest gifts lie outside our rigid schedules. Maybe it's time to loosen up and see what God has provided for us that lay in reach outside of our plans.

For those of you who have read All's Fair in Love and Christmas, what did you think of it? For those who have not read it, would you? Tell me in the comments below!