The Christmas Wager Book Review | By Holly Cassidy
If you’re looking for a book that reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie, I would highly recommend The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy. It’s an enemies to lovers romance that features feisty dialogue, competition, and games. Plenty of games. To find out more about this fun Christmas book, keep reading for my full The Christmas Wager book review. It’s definitely a book you will want to check out this holiday season.
And if you enjoyed today’s post, you can read more of my Christmas reviews here.
What is The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy About?
A delightful enemies-to-lovers holiday rom com set in the quaint mountain town of Maple Falls, Colorado, about a city girl and a small-town boy who compete in the town’s annual holiday games in order to win the right price for a charming, local Christmas shop, perfect for fans of The Hating Game and The Twelve Dates of Christmas.
One rivalry. Eight days until Christmas. Let the holiday games begin.
When L.A.-based real estate developer Bella Ross arrives in the sleepy mountain town of Maple Falls, she has one mission: to acquire the local failing Christmas shop, Always Noelle, securing the promotion of her dreams. Nothing can get in her way. Except the shop owner’s stubborn grandson, Jesse Harrison.
Both refuse to budge, until an unlikely wager is struck: Bella and Jesse will compete in the Maple Falls Holiday Games, an annual tradition of eccentric feats of strength and skills. Winner decides the selling price. They’ll give each other a run for their money, but as the competition heats up, Bella and Jesse’s icy feelings toward each other begin to thaw. It’ll take a Christmas miracle for them to admit there’s a spark, but what if it’s just another game? (from Amazon.com)
Who is Author Holly Cassidy?
Holly Cassidy is the pen name for internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon. She is also the author of The Christmas Countdown, which was published in 2024.
What I Loved About this Book:
- Jesse’s Grandpa Clarence
- The setting of Maple Falls
- Clarence’s Christmas shop, Always Noelle
- Bella’s determination
- Jesse’s dog
My Initial Thoughts
When Bella first showed up in Maple Falls, I was skeptical. She was so confident that she would be able to make a deal with Clarence to buy his shop, and then she would be on her way, back to Los Angeles. I was horrified at first that she tried to lowball him. She seemed so corporate minded, willing to do anything she could to make a deal. It made me feel bad for Clarence.
But I softened to her after a couple of chapters. It was clear that she was struggling to find her place at her company, and that she was just trying to make her boss happy. This wound up being a delightfully witty romcom that made me laugh. The Maple Falls Holiday games were very entertaining and made this possibly my new favorite holiday romcom. Possibly.
Bella and Jesse
The main couple in this story is Bella and Jesse. Bella works in real estate, and is on a business trip from Los Angeles. Although she takes notice of the quaint town of Maple Falls, she doesn’t pay too much attention. She has her eye on the prize, which is convincing Jesse’s grandfather to sell his business to the real estate company that she works for. But Clarence has other ideas, and that’s where Jesse comes in.
Jesse is a busy guy. He works many carpentry jobs around the area, watches over his grandfather, and participates in town activities like The Maple Falls Holiday games. His ex girlfriend (and childhood sweetheart) also lives in town, and she’s ready to give things another try. But he isn’t sure that he’s able to forgive her for her past transgressions.
The two take an instant disliking to each other. Jesse is sure that Bella is going to trick his grandfather and take advantage of him. Meanwhile, Bella just wants to make the sale and return back home in time for Christmas. The verbal sparring is intense at first, but it isn’t long before they make a breakthrough and star to talk to each other like real people.
The Christmas Wager wound up being a delightful enemies-to-lovers holiday rom-com. Readers that love a Christmas romance will love this tale filled with sweet moments and holiday antics.
So Many Fun Elements
There are a lot of elements that I loved about this story, which can be seen listed above. One of the most important parts of holiday romances are that they put you in the holiday spirit. But there are also a lot of smaller elements that go into making a cute story.
For instance, I love when there’s wise grandparent character in a book. Clarence and Bella had some sweet conversations that led to heartfelt moments. And I loved Jesse’s dog, who immediately warmed up to Bella. Dogs are such a good judge of character, aren’t they?
The Maple Falls Holiday Games
This is the element that gave this book the small-town charm of a hallmark movie. It’s a series of games that teams of four can participate in, in order to win the competition. Jesse is known as the King of Christmas because he always wins. And Bella is determined to take him down.
I felt that this was a really cool plot point to add to this story. During the different games in the competition, we were introduced to a bunch of interesting and charming characters. I especially enjoyed the women on Bella’s team. One of my favorite scenes was when Bella was so nervous at the singing night, and Jesse tried to comfort her. It warmed my heart!
Always Noelle sounded like a Beautiful Store
And it really upset me that Clarence had to sell it! I had my fingers crossed the whole book that he would decide to keep the business and pass it on to Jesse. And well… I’m not going to spoil the book for you so you’ll just have to read it and find out
There’s a Christmas story in Rehoboth Beach that I like to go to when I’m at the beach, and I like to imagine that Always Noelle is kind of like that. It’s filled with so many pretty ornaments and decorations. At Halloween they even set up a spooky Halloween section of the story.
In Conclusion
The Christmas Wager was such a sweet story. As far as cozy rom coms go, it might be one of my new favorites. Jesse and Bella started out hating each other in this rivals-to-lovers story, but by the end they had completely changed their tune.
Maple Falls was a lovely and quaint small town to read about. I loved reading about all of the different competitions they participated in for the Holiday Games. It added some much needed humor to this romantic Christmas story. If you’re looking for an uplifting story with holiday cheer, look no further. The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy is a book you’ll want to curl up with on a cold winter day.
