By iamsandykay on December 23, 2025 ( Leave a comment )

Book Review – Christmas People

Christmas People
by Iva-Marie Palmer

Note: Links in this post go to Bookshop.org where I earn a small commission at no cost to you.
Bookshop.com supports local independent books store across the United States.

Book Description:

Some people are Christmas people, but Jill Jacobs is most certainly not. She hasn’t been ever since her hometown love broke her heart on Christmas Day three years ago. After that, Jill moved to L.A. to pursue her dream of becoming a screenwriter. She hasn’t been home in years to avoid her ex, but this winter she finds herself back in drab, suburban Illinois for the holidays.

After one very hazy night, Jill wakes up to a hometown that’s filled with jolly neighbors, covered in pristine white snow, and shimmering with the smell of nutmeg. She realizes that this is more than just a bad hangover… she’s stuck in a Heartfelt movie. One set in her town, starring real people from her life, including her family, her high school crush (uber perfect, owns a bakery, and definitely a Christmas Person), and of course, her ex —handsome as ever and now exclusively clad in plaid flannel.

The only way out of this bizarro world is to complete the plot of the movie, including a holiday bake off and a cookie-sweet love story. To get home in time for Christmas, Jill must act out a picture-perfect holiday romance with the one that got away, all while her ex watches on. Fa la la la freaking la…

My Take:

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin
in exchange for my honest review.

SK Book Review - Christmas People by Iva Marie Palmer

Designed to be like those holiday movies on that channel, but this was SO SLOW to get going.

The book synopsis tells exactly what type of story we are going to get. You know the type. The interchangeable lead character goes home to their hometown and faces choices about their future. You know the type – very prominent at Christmas on a particular channel. I knew this going in. I was expecting it. I do not watch a ton of these movies during the holiday season, but went in with an open mind. The first 60% of the book was so slow and dragged on. We KNOW what was going to happen, we just couldn’t get there! THEN the last part of the book had all the resolutions and happy-ever-afters smushed into a handful of chapters.

While a little cheesy and very predictable (on brand for the plot), this story WAS very adorable and cute.

Knowing what we were expecting [positive] meant that we kind of knew what the individual characters were going to be like. The Female Main Character (FMC) was irritating and insufferable, but we knew she was going to figure it all out. She was a little slow on the uptake, though, which continued to frustrate throughout the book. The Male Main Character (MMC) was pretty superficial (as a written character, not as the person he was supposed to be) and forgettable. The pay-off was in the happy ever after and you still got that slightly giddy feeling that you get at the end of these stories, even though you knew what was going to happen.

The Final Verdict

My rating: 3.5 stars

Would I recommend? Yes

Cute for what it was, but took a long time to get going.