Angie
Proceed With Caution:
This book contains unintended drug use, mention of parental death, and multiple roofie "jokes".
The Basics:
Christmas Cliche is narrated by Allie Parker, who use to love Christmas, particularly spending the holiday with her cousin in West Virginia. Now, Allie hates Christmas after her spoiled, bratty, reality star sisters ruined it for her after their father's death. While planning this year's Christmas Eve party, Allie has had enough and takes off for West Virginia with her best friend. Unfortunately, this holiday getaway was not though out at all and everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
My Thoughts:
I knew I had to read Christmas Cliche as soon as I read the blurb. I saw "hot mountain man" and it sounded like it was going to utilize my favorite trope, stranded together! Yes, the plot is extremely cliche with the Grinch type character being surrounded by Christmas and having a change of heart, but isn't that all we need out of a holiday romance?
Christmas Cliche is super cute! Allie is known as The Grinch in the tabloids, but she isn't really at all. She just misses their old family traditions from her father's side. Christmas among the Hollywood elite just isn't the same, especially when it's staged for the family reality show. But being trapped at a bed and breakfast that is dripping with holiday cheer shows Allie that traditions can change. It's more about who you're spending the time with rather than what you're actually doing. A+ Cliche!
There was one thing that absolutely drove me nuts in Christmas Cliche. It's not even anything major, and has no effect on the plot on at all, but it irked me to no end. It's very clear that the author, editor, and anyone else involved in the production of this book has never been to Disney World. When Allie calls her cousin to let her know that she's in town, Jaime tells her that she's in Disney World. First, we're told that she hates it, which was a huge red flag, because that's impossible. Then she says a kid threw up on her on Magic Mountain. Magic Mountain is not a Disney ride. It's a Six Flag park. How did that slip through?
As for something that did effect the actual plot and story, Millie was extremely annoying. She's clearly suppose to be the comedic relief, but she wasn't funny. She's too over-the-top and everything that comes out of her mouth felt forced for a laugh. She is beyond the stereotypical stupid rich girl who knows nothing outside of LA. She thinks it's "so cute" to have one toilet in the bathroom and that it's not attached to the bedroom. She thinks everyone has a "driver" that they get drugs from. It's all way too much. I think I would have rather her been a snob than a ditz. But I know this kind of humor works for plenty of readers; I'm not one of them.
Despite sounding like a grinchy Scrooge, I did really enjoy Christmas Cliche. It really is just jam-packed with every Hallmark movie cliche in existence, minus the magical ones, but they all work together to make something quite delightful.
