William Reid is nothing special, except for his billion-dollar acting career and his, you know, face. (Apparently, it’s a good one.) Winning ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ was nice, but this Christmas, he has more important goals in mind… like finally winning over his best friend’s little sister, the super-smart and kinda-scary Abbie Farrell.
When a blizzard leaves Will and Abbie alone at Grandma Farrell’s house (if bunking with 27 pets counts as ‘alone’), it’s the perfect opportunity to pull off a Christmas miracle. Convincing clever, frosty Abbie to give Will a chance will take more than mistletoe, but hiding his lifelong crush on her is no longer an option.
Title : Wrapped Up In You
Author : Talia Hibbert
Format : eBook (overdrive)
Page Count : 127
Genre : contemporary romance
Publisher : Kobo Originals
Release Date : November 16, 2020
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★ .5
Hollis’ 3.5 star review
What a perfectly timed addition to my library’s Recently Added section. Even better it was available for immediate reading which I did. Immediately. And in one sitting. Which was kind of a no brainer as it was a short little novella full of holiday cheer, angst, and romance.
I’ll admit, this time, Hibbert’s male love interest won the game. The show. My heart. A Chris Evan’s-ish kind of character, William grew up next door to Abbie but upon reaching young adulthood went to Hollywood to became an actor. And he became quite successful, actually. He is a bit of a himbo and honestly that just adds to his appeal. An appeal that was already a lot considering his intense and enduring, but patient, love for Abbie.
Abbie meanwhile has been through some stuff. She’s also not the biggest fan of Christmas. So when her longtime friend, who she’s harboured complex but impossible feelings for, suddenly reveals all on Christmas? What’s a girl to do but deny deny deny.
Anyway, I won’t go into any more detail, not that it’s hard to follow along where things go next, but. For such a short story, this was eMOTIONAL. There was a gorgeous scene between Abbie and her twin brother that just.. ugh, things got blurry. But also every confession, every hard-won exchange of feelings between the two leads, all the realness and trauma and patience was just.. gah.
I wish I could’ve had this in long novel form but even in it’s shorter span it was still delightful. I do think, though, it would have a higher rating from me had some of the issues been.. well, more of an issue, to warrant the angst. Or at least had more time to breathe? I don’t know quite how to describe it. But also, Will’s childhood? That little bit of exposition? Oh my god, I desperately want it.
Nevertheless, Hibbert rarely stumbles and this certainly isn’t one of them. Definitely a must for the season.
A Take from Two Cities 