Author: Lizzie Shane
Publisher: Hallmark Publishing
Year: 2019
Genre(s): Romance, contemporary, holiday
Part of a Series: No
Rating:
Why I Read It: Once Upon a Time Holiday Box
Summary: Jenny has no direction in her life. When she meets Prince Dominic of San Noelle, though, she feels a connection but knows nothing will ever become of it. She makes a wish and a mysterious duchess grants it. Jenny then wakes up as Princess Jennifer, Dominic’s wife. As she gets to spend time in San Noelle, she starts to find a purpose for her life and experience life with Dominic. But with the wish due to expire once Christmas ends, can she find a way to make her wish a reality?
Review: Confession – I love to watch the Hallmark Christmas movies. Though if anyone has created a Bingo for them, I would love to play this year. Because they are pretty formulaic. But we all keep watching them every year, so it’s clearly a formula that works.
Anyway, this book is pretty much a Hallmark Christmas movie in written form. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if it did end up being a movie this season. We should keep an eye out for it.
Now, I hesitated to call it a romance. To remind everyone, the definition of romance is that the relationship between the two main characters push the story forward. And that’s not really what happens here. It doesn’t take away from it but when the summary seems to make it seem like the story is all about Jenny’s fairytale romance, it feels a bit like a let down in the end.
Because this isn’t a story about Jenny and Dom. This is a story about Jenny with a side appearance from Dom. Which is fine. I enjoyed Jenny’s story and her fish-out-of-water experience. She did grow over the course of the story as she found her purpose and the courage to pursue it. And she was an active participant in her story – she stopped letting things happen to her and started to control her story. And I appreciated it.
However, I think there were places where we could’ve gotten more romance. It would’ve been easier to root for them if we saw them more together. In a Hallmark movie, there would’ve been a montage and relationship growth conveyed by visual images and how the actors acted. With a novel, all the author has is her words. And I think that while Shane laid the foundation of the romance, I also feel she could’ve done a lot more with it.
The book does highlight strong female friendships. Jenny is supported by Margo and Andrea, both of whom genuinely care for Jenny. And thankfully Andrea, who is a dear friend of Dom and the woman everyone expects him to marry, is not a rival for Jenny. So it was wonderful to read those relationships and I definitely enjoyed them.
Bottom line: A fun holiday read though a bit disappointing on the romance side.
Sex: None
Moonlight Musing
What’s your favorite Hallmark trope?
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