Have you ever read a book and something just didn’t jive while you were reading it? That’s what happened while I was reading The Summer of Christmas.
The storyline was super cute – a heartbroken screenwriter, Ivy Green, writes a mostly autobiographical movie script about how her long-time boyfriend breaks up with her at Christmastime.
However, when that script gets picked up to be made into a movie and is filming in her hometown, where her ex still lives, love triangles ensue.
I really live the kitschy Christmas in July vibes in the story, and the small town feel and the found family in the movie crew. But the writing was a tough to read. Once I realized the authors were screenwriters and this is their debut novel, a lot of the weirdness in the writing made sense. It was definitely written more like a script than a novel.
Not that it is a pass for the writers, because this was still really awkward to read. There were lots of chapters that flipped back and forth between Ivy and Nick with transitions like, “Back on the boat” and “back on the movie set.”
This would definitely have been a cute Hallmark Christmas movie – something the authors’ style of writing would fit better.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
Leann Reads Books 