You Make It Feel Like Christmas

By Sophie Sullivan
** Publication Date 23 September 2025 **
​4 stars


I am a confessed hockey-aholic. Why have I not read a hockey romance before this one? Good question, but better late than never.


Maisie is a photographer. Not just any photographer, but a very well respected one, who is booked out a year in advance for events. She has an older brother, Jacob, and an older sister, Natalie. Both are married. Jacob is a lawyer. Natalie a veterinarian. And Natalie is pregnant with their first child. 


This year the whole family is headed to a Christmas tree farm for the holidays. The farm belongs to Jacob’s husband’s close friend Ellie. Ellie was recently divorced and moved to the farm to both live and work. She has a 4 year old named Asher.


Maisie is looking forward to the holidays with her family, but is also dreading that she will be with her parents, who feel she’s never achieved her full potential. Little does she know that Ellie has an older brother, Nick, who Maisie has met before. In fact, not only met before, but someone Maisie felt was possibly her future. 


With all of this going on, Maisie doesn’t know how she’s going to handle this holiday with her family, her extended family, and now these new friends, one of whom ghosted her. Just a tad bit of tension for the holidays! 


I’ve been reading a bunch of dark, mystery or horror novels, and this was like a breath of fresh air. I absolutely loved Maisie. Loved Nick. Loved their backstory. Each one of them definitely has baggage, but then, who doesn’t. Each one of these characters feels like a real person. Everything about this novel just charmed me to the core. I am not a crier, but I definitely teared up at sections of this. The mom with her passive-aggressive attitude towards Maisie’s life choices. Maisie’s worry over Nick. It was a romance novel, but with a lot of reality tossed in. There is just so much to love about it. 


Look, romance novels are what they are. You either love them or hate them. Personally, I think that this novel was the perfect amount of spice, romance, and real life. It was fun. It was endearing. I would definitely recommend it.