When you hate something just so much…

Synopsis

Summer Hastings hates Christmas. She loves sunshine, the beach and running her travel agency, sending people off to their dream destinations – even if she doesn’t get to see the world for herself. For Summer, Christmas is nothing but a reminder of all the things that have gone horribly wrong in her life, so when handsome Noel Pritchett moves his pop-up Christmas shop in the store next to hers, Summer is livid.

Noel loves Christmas…and he also has a sneaking suspicion that he might be falling in love with Summer, if only he could break through the armour she has surrounded herself with. Just why does Summer hate Christmas so much? And can Noel be the one to prove to her that life can be sweet all year round?

My review

Summer Hastings loves running her travel agency. She loves dreaming away about sunny beaches, cocktails and getting all the Vitamin D.
There is one thing that Summer hates… and that is Christmas. For her Christmas cannot be over fast enough.
So when there is a brand new pop – up shop next to her, she can feel her hate only increase. Because Noel Pritchett’s shop has just  *everything*  that is even slightly related to Christmas.
While Summer’s hate – feelings also expand to Noel, Noel cannot stop feeling attracted to Summer. But what Noel doesn’t know is that there is a reason for Summer’s hate of the most wonderful time of the year. A reason that go years back, and affected her life more than he could ever imagine. 

First of all, the title already put a smile on my face. There are only three words in it, yet those three words put perfectly into words how different the main characters are.
And then of course the main characters’ names too, Summer and Noel, could it be any more clearer!😊 

While most of the book is a hilarious story, there are also a few bits that made me reflect about how life can take a turn… 

We all have things we don’t like, even holidays we like less compared to others. Yet seeing Summer’s real hate towards Christmas is a dead giveaway that something happened in her past around this great festive holiday that made her hate Christmas as much as she does. And seeing how she is living alone with her mother, well, the reason is quickly found.  

The way Summer keeps looking after her mother makes it clear that Summer is a wonderful character. She is a dutiful daughter, but she also enjoys seeing the happiness on her customers’ faces when another holiday is booked.
However, we also see how limited her life is. Not only the constant calls of her mother, but also carrying the burden of looking after the house, not having a moment for herself. She dreams of amazing vacations, but she will never be able to go anywhere. 

And that saddened me, because lovely Summer deserves to discover the world, see the places for real instead of only seeing pictures of them.
And I absolutely understood her where she has reached her boiling point, gently forcing her mother to get out. 

Now, when we see Summer’s mother Angie doing exactly that, I found it a bit strange, as it appears to go all way to easily. So I was in a kind happy to see Angie’s relapse. The relapse was in a terrible way, and I absolutely don’t agree with her Angie’s behaviour, but that only shows that it isn’t that easy to overcome a certain situation. 

Enemies – to – lovers is a trope that I absolutely adore, and Summer and Noel are the epitome of it. These two couldn’t be more different. Noel has seen the world, loves Christmas and is so easy – going, while Summer is… just not.
Yet these two together warmed my heart. Because even if Summer makes her dislike more than clear, Noel is not one to give up.  

We see that Noel, even without knowing exactly what is going on, just gets Summer. He is persistent in befriending Summer, and slowly succeeds in it too! 

Noel’s enthusiasm is exactly what Summer needs and even if she doesn’t realize it immediately, what she wants.   

With the arrival of Avril in the book, there is a twist that isn’t exactly a real twist, as I had figured out who she was really early in the book. But even if the revelation didn’t come as a shock to me, it is what this story needed, to get all the pieces of the puzzle fall together. 

One thing I perhaps would have loved, is to have more of Jean in the book. Jean is Summer’s friend and shows her invaluable worth in so many different occasions. I was very happy to see how this lady at age but not showing it at all, is having her spot in the lights too. if only we could have seen her and her new neighbour a bit more! 

This book for sure lifted my spirits, as it made me laugh over so many things. From a spray – tan to a skateboarding elf, or a Grinch declaring love.
But the author also shows us the hardships of lives, of how one’s behaviour can affect everyone around them.
Yet that by finding the right incentive, the wrong person that may turn out to be the right person, it can be the start of a life we all have been dreaming about.