“Christmas Eve Love Story” by Ginny Baird

Title: Christmas Eve Love Story
Author: Ginny Baird
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Year: 2024    
Genre(s): romance
Part of a Series: No

Why I read it: Advent Calendar read

Summary: After a terrible Christmas Eve, Annie Jones wakes up to find it’s Christmas Eve all over again. She gets twelve tries to get Christmas Eve right and in the process, finds community and the chance at love with the security guard at work, Braden.

Rating: 

Review: I originally rated this five stars on Goodreads and Storygraph but after sitting on it for a few months, I’ve decided to downgrade it to four moons here. It’s still a good book but I think there was still a few issues I first overlooked after finishing it.

For example, as you can probably tell by the summary, the story deals with a Groundhog Day-esque plot. I felt that Annie figured it out and accepted it a little too easily. She also realized what she had to do a little too easily as well and started to change things quickly. I think we needed at least one day where it plays out similarly to what we saw except for maybe one detail (Santa helping with the display, maybe) for her to really accept it.

Otherwise, I did enjoy the Groundhog Day’s plot. I liked how Braden would write notes on his phone and they managed to remain despite the reset. It was a good way to advance his relationship with Annie without forcing her to start over with him again and again.

I also liked how Annie slowly connected and built a community around her in her apartment building. I think Baird could’ve leaned a little more into the importance of creating connections but what we got was still very well done. It was a powerful message.

I also liked how Baird built the romance between Annie and Braden. She again focused on the connection they were able to forge even with the day constantly resetting. The beginning felt a little too high school for my tastes but she quickly overcame out, which pleased me.

Overall, it was a good book with a few minor issues but nothing that the story doesn’t overcome in the end.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a cute and light-hearted Christmas read, you might want to give this a try.

Sex: None.

Moonlight Musing

Do you know your neighbors?