*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity. This review is being posted as part of the Make You Mine This Christmas blog tour organised by Hodder & Stoughton.
Title: Make You Mine This Christmas
Author: Lizzie Huxley-Jones
Genre: LGBTQIA+ Romance / Holiday Romance
Trigger warnings: -
Rating: ★★★★
It's the golden
rule of pretending to be someone's girlfriend: don't fall for their
sister.
After a
year from hell, Haf is ready to blow off steam at a Christmas party: a kind
stranger, a few too many drinks and suddenly she's kissing Christopher under
the mistletoe - in front of his ex-girlfriend.
The next
day the news is out that they're apparently a couple, madly in love and coming
to Oxlea to spend the festive season with Christopher's family. But Haf doesn't
have better holiday plans and to save her new friend from embarrassment, she
agrees to pretend to be Christopher's girlfriend for Christmas.
It has the
makings of a hilarious anecdote they'll be telling for years. Until Haf meets
Christopher's sister: the mysterious, magnetic and utterly irresistible Kit.
Maybe love was waiting for Haf in this quiet little town all along ...
Make You Mine
This Christmas is the latest heartwarming novel from author Lizzie Huxley-Jones
and the must-read queer rom-com of this festive season.
The plot is packed
full of all of your favourite romance tropes set against the backdrop of a
snowy UK Christmas. Although a fake dating plot is at the forefront of the story,
we also have a fantastic queer meet cute in a bookshop and the forbidden love
trope is explored through Haf’s attraction to her fake boyfriend’s sister Kit. Lizzie
Huxley-Jones has a really engaging writing style which you can just sink into
like a big hug and I read the entire book in one sitting. I just couldn’t get enough!
I loved how much
representation we had within the story and this is really something which I
think sets Make You Mine This Christmas apart from other books. This includes
neurodivergent, disability and chronic pain rep, a curvy and body-positive FMC
and a range of LGBTQIA+ representation including characters who were non-binary,
bisexual and lesbian.
This book is
perfect if you want a really Christmas-heavy read packed full of festive cheer to
cosy up with this holiday season. It really gave off Hallmark-movie vibes with
everything from questionable Christmas jumpers and handmade decorations to kisses
under the mistletoe and a cosy community Christmas fair with real (albeit unpredictable)
reindeer.
One of the things
which stood out within the story was how loveable and relatable all of the characters
were. Haf was a truly fantastic protagonist and, as someone who was diagnosed
as autistic in adulthood, I loved that she was written as an autistic character
whose autism had been missed but probably explained a lot of the aspects of her
character. This representation is so important and really made me feel seen so
I want to thank Lizzie Huxley-Jones for including this in the story. Haf’s
fake-boyfriend Christopher was a total sweetheart and, whilst being mindful of
avoiding spoilers where possible, I loved the journey his character went on
towards starting to advocate more for his wants and dreams rather than feeling like
he has to confirm to the expectations set of him. I honestly don’t know where
to begin with talking about how much I loved Kit’s character. I fell in love
with her the minute we met her in the bookshop and this love only grew the more
we got to know her. Her relationship with her brother felt like a really
authentic sibling relationship and, as I’ve already said, I thought her
disability and linked chronic pain were really well portrayed and some of the
best disabled representation I’ve seen in any book. The romantic and sexual
tension between Haf and Kit was well-written, as were the (spoiler alert)
romantic and spicier scenes when we got to them. If anything, one thing I would
have liked in way of improving the narrative was if we’d had even more stolen
romantic moments between Haf and Kit to build up their romance gradually.
Although it’s a slow burn prior to their first kiss, after that it feels like
we go from 0-100 and I would have liked a few more stolen kisses here and there
to increase the tension even further by the time we get to the spicier moments.
We also have a
fantastic cast of supporting characters and I loved every single one of them,
from Laurel the fake boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend to the queer meet-cute obsessed
bookseller and the ever-present Bryn. Ambrose, Haf’s flatmate and best friend, had
to be my favourite though and they made me laugh out loud almost every chapter
with their witty remarks and hilarious use of twitter polls. I loved that
although Ambrose was non-binary, they weren’t defined by their gender identity and
aside from use of they/them pronouns throughout the narrative, their gender
identity was only referenced briefly and the focus was more on their other character
traits.
Overall, Make You
Mine This Christmas is a charming festive sapphic romance packed full of
Christmas spirit, witty characters, laugh-out-loud moments, cute romantic scenes
and truly incredible disabled and LGBTQIA+ representation. It’s a must-read this
Christmas.
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