My New Crush Gave to Me

by Shani Petroff

[readingwithwrin]

3.75

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso book tours for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

"Okay, you stop that this second. I'm not letting you be all bah humbug. You just need some Christmas Magic."

Charlie is kind of a scrooge this year, her mom has started working a new shift, she has no date for the big party and all of her usual Christmas traditions keep getting pushed aside or fall apart. The only thing she feels like she really has control over is her school work and the school paper. So with some help from her best friend Morgan, she decides she is going to turn things around and get the guy she has a crush on to go with her to the party.

"It's exactly like this: you don't like what someone says and you walk away. There's no real discussion. You make up your mind, and it doesn't matter what the other person thinks."

This book is a nice contemporary Christmas book. It's actually for the YA age range and the characters actually act like teenagers! Plus side this is also a mostly clean book.

I did struggle with this book, mainly because I couldn't like Charlie not only is she extremely controlling but if she doesn't like what you say she just walks away or ignores you and does what she wants anyway. This is extremely frustrating to those around her and makes the other people on the paper not like her too much. This also causes a bit of a problem when it comes to finding help for the perfect Christmas gifts for the persons he has a crush on. With a little bribery though Morgan is able to help her find someone to help and this is one thing's start getting interesting.

"It was an actual winter wonderland. I didn't know neighborhoods like this even existed."

Charlie is introduced into a world she had never been a part of. She sees what other family traditions are like and she gets to experience them. She also learns how to let go of some of the control and has fun for a change. She gets taken to some really amazing places and I'm not going to lie I'm kind of jealous. (Where can I find a person that does this type of stuff for me?)

As for the romance, I could tell really quickly what was going to happen, but I did find it fun to see how long it took her to realize what everyone else already knew. I am happy with the ending and I'm glad she does finally realize certain things about herself.

"My wish had come true."

One thing I do want to mention is this book was a good reminder for me to take a break this holiday season and actually have fun and not worry so much about stuff or making sure everything is perfect. Because at the end of the day that's not what it's about. It's about spending time with your family and taking in all that's happening around you.

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