Review: How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn

How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn
Narrator: Vanessa Edwin, J.F. Harding, Robert Hatchet, Emma Wilder, Shane East
Published by Bloom Books, Hot Lanta Publishing LLC on 2024-10-15
Length: 482 pages
Length: 13 hours and 26 minutes
Listening Speed: 2x
Reviewing Audiobook, Kindle from Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2024 Audiobook Challenge

A new winter holiday, enemies-to-lovers romance, from the undeniably funny and always spicy, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Meghan Quinn.

Living in a year around Christmas town has it's drawbacks. The caroling, the decorations, the insanely cheery spirit, it never disappears. It's why I like to hibernate away in my cave--I mean house--keeping a healthy distance from the holly jolly spirits.

And all was going according to plan until my nemesis, Storee Taylor, moved in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Without blinking, she turned my simple world into a real nightmare-before-Christmas, especially when she decided to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest - which she was determined to win.

Well guess what? Over my cold-hearted body.

There was no way I was going to let her win, not after the history we'd shared.

So despite my promise to myself of never participating in the sickening Christmas season, I entered the competition as well. That's right, I planned on beating Storee at her own game by pretending this grump’s heart grew three sizes this season.

And it was working until feelings between us started heating up.
We pretended to date.
We kissed.
And well, sparks flew from there.

Which led to one explosive night involving Christmas lights, the competition, and a ladder. Don't let me convince you who stole Christmas, I think you need to find out for yourself . . .

This book was so much fun! How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn is a holiday romance about two frenemies who are competing for the town title of Christmas Kringle. Storee Taylor is staying with her great-aunt Cindy through the holidays after she fell and broke her hip. Cole Black is Cindy’s neighbor, the town’s Grinch, and at one time Storee’s friend. However in the decade since she’s been to Kringletown, Cole has changed, and their friendly rapport is gone. When Cole learns Cindy has entered the town’s contest in honor of Aunt Cindy, he’s determined to keep her from winning and enters himself.

I really enjoyed this one. I loved how Quinn incorporated a narrator who would interject in typical Seussian fashion. It added a touch of whimsy to the story. And all the characters? I loved them too, and not just our two main characters, but all the side characters as well. Quinn created an entire town full of memorable people. Aunt Cindy is my favorite with Atlas being a close second.

Storee spent every Christmas at her Aunt Cindy’s house growing up until her senior year of high school. That Christmas was a disaster and goes down in Storee’s life as “most embarrassing.” Then with her parents buying into a tropical time share, her family quit going to Kringletown to spend the holidays. Storee doesn’t realize how much she has missed this tradition until she arrives at Aunt Cindy’s with her sister. She also doesn’t realize how much she’s missed Cole Black.

Cole’s life took a sharp detour the last Christmas Storee spent in Kringletown. His parents are gone, and now it is just him. He’s closed himself off to the world and especially the Christmas season that reminds him of all he’s lost. But with Storee’s arrival, everything changes. It pushes Cole out of the box he’s built himself into. The competition allows him to remember the best parts about his family and realize that maybe he isn’t such a grump afterall. And maybe, just maybe, his anger at Storee is misplaced.

Overall, I really enjoyed How My Neighbor Stole Christmas. The competition added a fun spin in the story as Storee and Cole competed to win. The romance was sweet and believable while also being on the spicy side. The town itself was as much a character as the people in the story. If you like small town, holiday romances, I highly recommend this one.

Audiobook Note: I opted to listen to this one at my normal 2x speed and loved every minute of it. There are multiple narrators for the different characters and it is told in duet which is a first for me. It brought the story to life. Highly recommend it if you enjoying listening.

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