Book: The Christmas Getaway by Debbie Mason
Reviewed by Rie
Rating: 4/5
Thank you to NetGalley and Debbie Mason for the opportunity to listen to an audiobook ARC of The Christmas Getaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
That was cute. That was pretty much my immediate reaction when I finished The Christmas Getaway, and honestly, I think “cozy” is probably the best word for the whole experience.
I love a good Christmas romance, and the idea of one set in the Scottish Highlands sounded especially fun. I went in expecting a Christmas meet-cute, and while I wouldn’t say the book surprised me, it definitely gave me the kind of cute, feel-good romance I was hoping for.
It did take me a little while to get into the story, but I think that was more of a me thing than anything wrong with the book. Once I really settled in, I found myself enjoying it more and more, especially as Charlotte’s story started unfolding. I loved watching her slowly win people over, and there was something really charming about the way one little lie managed to turn into a truth by the end. Will anyone ever know exactly how that happened? Who knows.
Charlotte was easily one of my favorite parts of the book. I loved that she was a writer and a librarian, obviously loved books, and had such a big heart for Matilda. Ewan, Matilda, and the Dowager Duchess all brought something different to the story, too, and I genuinely enjoyed all of their relationships. Even when the Dowager Duchess frustrated me a little, we worked through it.
And then there’s the romance. I love a good fake-dating story, and this one absolutely delivered. The chemistry between Charlotte and Ewan was there even when Ewan was doing his best to fight it, and their banter was probably one of my favorite parts. Add in grumpy/sunshine and single dad, and you have a combination that was very easy for me to enjoy.
There was one point where I initially thought, “Isn’t this a little soon?” But then I remembered these are grown adults with functioning eyeballs. They’re allowed to find each other attractive without that immediately turning into some huge declaration of love. The relationship itself developed naturally, and I thought the amount of romance was just right for the story.
The Scottish Highlands setting also added something really fun to the experience. I’ve never been there, so I can’t exactly say whether the descriptions were perfectly accurate, but I definitely got that feeling of being somewhere completely different and discovering all the little things that make the place special. Sheep in the road. A castle. An actual castle. Where I live, we don’t exactly have those sitting around, so I was very much along for the ride.
I also caught a few little Beauty and the Beast nods sprinkled throughout the story, beyond the obvious home library connection. I wouldn’t call this a retelling at all, but I thought those little touches were really cute.
The audiobook was another definite win. Stewart Crank and Alex Raby did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life, and once I was invested in the story, they made it very easy to stay immersed. There were plenty of moments that made me laugh and swoon, including one particular ghost-in-Charlotte’s-bedroom situation that I found absolutely hilarious.
My one real complaint is that I wanted MORE CHRISTMAS. There were certainly Christmas moments, and I knew I was reading a Christmas romance, but I never quite reached that full-on Christmas feeling I was hoping for. I wanted bells jingling. I wanted to be completely drowning in Christmas spirit. I wanted to feel like I needed a blanket, a Christmas tree, and a warm fire while listening to it. Instead, I got a cozy romance that happened to take place around Christmas. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just kept me from giving this the extra push into five-star territory.
Overall, The Christmas Getaway was a fun, cozy romance with characters I genuinely enjoyed, a fake-dating setup that made me smile, a charming Scottish Highlands backdrop, and enough romance to keep me happily invested. It didn’t quite give me the Christmas immersion I was craving, but it still left me with exactly the feeling I wanted from a cozy holiday read: happy, warm, and content.