The Perfect Christmas Village: An absolutely feel-good festive treat to curl up with this Christmas 2023

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Overall, this was a mixed read for me and I don't feel this should be in the romance category, more like holiday fiction. It's perfectly titled too because they did indeed need everything to be perfect. The perfect Christmas village is also the perfect Christmas novel. Combines a little bit of mystery, a lot of homey warm villagers, romance, and of course the perfect winter holiday. Another Hallmark movie to be!

Thanks to the author, Rachel's Random Resources, Aria & Aries and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

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The Perfect Christmas Village was exactly the heart warming Christmas filled story I had hoped for.

With a father involved in the property business who seems to find her a constant disappointment, it means a great deal to Blythe to be recognised as Estate Agent of the Year in the village of Holly Cross – even if it means selling a house that’s not even on the market, and hoping everything can be put right later. The house belonged to her friend Murray, recently passed away – and the (at first) delighted buyer is Sam, who had been a particularly difficult client to please until she showed him the house of his dreams. Blythe doesn’t like it when a fellow agent records more sales than her. She is determined to be the Real Estate Agent of the Month and, in a desperate attempt, manages to sell a house to Sam Ashton (by hiding certain truths). While Sam loves the house, he doesn’t like Christmas. I really enjoyed the main characters of Blythe and Sam, there was more than meets the eye to both of them. All the other characters in the village were great too, they were lovable and all adding something different to the community dynamic. And let’s not forget Turpin the mischief maker. Basically, there are a few good holiday moments herein, but on the whole, it was a meh experience for me. I’d rather read Jaimie Admans, who does a much better job at handling holiday romances in vivid settings. Holly Cross felt very pale in comparison to the stunning locations Admans envisages in her novels. Blythe is possibly my favourite character from Bella’s writing. Her determination to be the best in her field was at odds with her kindness and willingness to help others. She certainly went out of her way to welcome city boy, Sam to the village.This book felt different to a typical Christmas story because it takes place over several months. With summer temperatures, it is difficult to imagine prepping for Christmas decorations, but the residents of Holly Cross think differently. Christmas has put the little village of Holly Cross on the map and the local community take decorating the village incredibly seriously. And it’s expected that any new-comers will jump on board too. Blythe is a real estate agent and competing for the top spot and she needs one more sale to grab the title. So she kind of sells Sam a house in her neighborhood under false pretenses. Sam hates everything Christmas and he just bought a house across the street from the epicenter of the most Christina’s village in England. Now Blythe has to work hard to make things right with Sam, while trying to persuade him not to be the Grinch.

Whether Blythe who sold him the house, can somehow make him change his mind though is another matter. The book is centered around the joy of Christmas and the importance of family, friends, and community spirit. The rom is almost invisible. Sam and Blythe are at loggerheads with each other, until they suddenly aren’t. There’s no mention of attraction, there’s no friendship that slowly warms up to something deeper, there’s no “sparks flew” meet-up. No build-up at all! Basically, it is like a Sophie Kinsella novel, where the idiotic self-centred heroine can do what she wants without any concern for others, and the good guy still falls in love with her. So unfair and unrealistic! This is definitely a grumpy - sunshine sort of a book with Blythe being the sunshine and Sam being the Christmas hating new person in the village, despite moving to a place that is this year competing to to win the Most Perfect Christmas Village crown.Murray had also almost befriended a stray and very feral cat called Turpin, which Blythe had carried on feeding after his death, so she and Sam agree that the arrangement should continue, although things blow hot and cold between the two of them every time they meet, as everything about the village seems set to wind Sam up, making him wish he had never set eyes on either the place or the over-eager estate agent he finds himself falling for. When Sam does finally open up to Blythe about the reasons for his complete aversion to Christmas, she decides that this is going to be the year all that changes and Sam becomes a fully paid up member of the season of goodwill. However, we all know what happens to those best laid and well intentioned plans, don't we? So when everything contrives against the village celebrations this year, even Sam finds himself willingly playing his part to make the event the best it can possibly be for everyone. Sams arrival might cost the town their chance to win Most Perfect Christmas village and everyone expects Blythe to fix things but Christmas might not be the only things that Sam falls in love with this year. This is full of festive charm and the joys of the season, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every word. Definitely one to put on your Christmas reading TBR this year.

Sam's arrival puts Holly Cross's chance to win the title of Britain's Most Perfect Christmas Village now in jeopardy, and the villagers are soon up in arms. Meanwhile, Sam is in his own personal hell surrounded by fairy lights and everyone is looking to Blythe to fix things. Turpin is the highlight of the book. He is a semi-feral cat who wipes to take a swipe at anyone or anything he doesn’t like. All scenes with Turpin are my favorite (and he did save the book). The story really made you feel as if you were spending Christmas in a cosy village and it had a lot of funny scenes that had me laughing out loud on thr couch. Moreover, as a small-town holiday story, I expected to find some genuine Christmassy moments in the plot as well. But there’s no sign of carolling or anyone going to church, or doing anything else that’s truly connected to Christmas, except for one scene about a Christmas day family lunch. Instead, the whole story focusses only on those elements of Christmas that even I detest – the over-the-top decorations, the needless competitions to have the best decorated house/village, the frivolous expenses for purchasing huge quantities of non-recyclable décor, the cutting off of live trees, the larger-than-life gifts,… All nothing but crass commercialisation with no connection to the solemnity of the occasion. As a matter of fact, she has a "show down" scene with Sweeney that is quite excellent and her second meeting with Macfarlane at a market is moving and sweet. Throughout, her scenes with Maesa Nicholson, playing her granddaughter are very well done and, at times, nicely humorous. Nicholson is an impressive young actress.The town is all abuzz with trying to decorate everything in hopes of winning the award for the Perfect Christmas Village. All residents usually participate, but this year, there is a new resident that is a bit of a gump. That makes the story special, to see if the Christmas spirit can change him. I do love the setting and the enthusiasm they have for Christmas. There’s quite a lot of competitiveness and almost military-style planning to set up the annual event. The stakes are higher this time due to the contest.