From the author of The Reunion, a cozy rom-com about a writer who decamps to a Vermont lodge for work but finds herself distracted by the charming ski instructor next door.Alix Morgan just got her big break as the ghostwriter of a memoir by Sebastian Green, a former member of the boy band True North. And when he offers her a penthouse at a luxurious resort in Vermont, she jumps at the chance to work far away from her noisy, cramped apartment. Her career as an entertainment journalist has been building toward this dream job—after all, she used to cover True North and was one of the last people to interview former front man Jett Beckett before he disappeared. As she combs through her client’s voice memos, the specter of the missing lead singer remains, and fans are desperate to know the full story. But Alix also has time for some fun at this glamorous resort, where she begins ski lessons with a handsome instructor named Tyler. As Alix and Tyler fall in love on the slopes, Alix’s work takes a complicated turn—and the mystery of True North’s downfall may be hers to solve.
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- The setting - there really is something about a wintery, New England ski lodge that is so charming
- The whole plot and backstory of the boy band True North. A very obvious reference to One Direction in name, but the characters do not feel like caricatures or rip-offs of the 1D boyz
- The side characters (for the most part). They were full fleshed out characters with unique personalities and relationships to the Leads
- Both main characters were charming. The FMC (Alix) felt very grounded and sure of herself while the MMC (Tyler) was intriguing and adorable
- The inserts of previous articles, text exchanges, etc. They added backstory without exposition weighing down the prose of the chapters and helped flesh out the world/bit of a bubble that these characters existed in
- The pacing. Usually pacing is really tricky, but I think this book was really successful in pacing its beats. I never felt like it was unbelievable how long secrets were kept, because they weren’t hidden for that long. These characters communicated
Loathed:
- The sister, Lauren. She was supposed to be, I believe, in her early 20s, but acted like she was 13 and it was *infuriating*. I know this is the point, and I knew she was going to be a huge pain, but, I’m sorry, some of her actions were just too much for me and they legitimately made me angry, ha
- How many times she broke her DNA after saying in the beginning that she couldn’t. I feel like that would absolutely blow up in her face if she did that, but such is the fantasy of fiction
- The formatting of the texting font. It was really hard to differentiate between the texting and regular prose, since the “texts” were integrated directly into the prose and the “texts” were simply a smaller font size. But I found it bizarre that Alix’s text’s font size was slightly bigger? Than whoever she was texting? It was an odd choice
Longed For:
- This is a bit nitpicky, but I would have loved just a *bit* more delving into the two leads getting to know each other and build that relationship. It was by no means an insta-love/lust situation (thankfully), but I thought that he fell for her just a *smidge* fast
- A strong start. The first 3-5 chapters were just kind of throwing you in, which can be fine, but these dragged a bit from nothing really (sorry) interesting happening until Alix met Tyler and we learned more about True North, Sebastian, etc.
- Kind of an extension of the last point, but this book needed just a *tiny* boost of energy & urgency in some of the moments. The last Act had this the most, for sure, but the first two acts just kind of felt like everyone was just existing and meandering at points.
- More details and exploring of the lodge! I wanted the lodge to be more of a character than it was. We still got to learn a bit about it, but I wanted to really feel like I knew it and understood it, if that makes sense. It all felt quite cursory
Will I read the next one? : Probably. I’m adding The Reunion to my TBR, most likely going to listen to it on audio when I get around to it
*Thank you to Atria Books & NetGalley for providing this ARC!
0 A snowy, sugary romance
The ghostwriter for a celebrity memoir takes up her subject's offer of a work retreat at a luxe mountain resort where she falls for the resident ski instructor.
This was a cute romance with a pitch perfect snowy setting, but there's not much more to it than that.
The big twist is one you can see coming from a million miles away... in large part because without it, the romance itself is boring. The pop music trappings of the protagonist's work as an entertainment journalist are more interesting.
There's not much depth or development. Relationships are what they are because the author said so. The leads fall in love quickly and easily because they're the leads. A subplot featuring a selfish and immature sibling is foam-at-the-mouth-inducing until it's magically resolved because there had to be a resolution.
If your romance tastes lean toward simple escapism and suspension of disbelief, this is a nice seasonal addition that will make you want to dunk soft pretzels into hot cocoa.
3.5 stars rounded up
Thank you to publisher Atria Books for my advance copy, provided in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available January 7, 2025... and I have a hunch it may be available through Book of the Month Club
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