REVIEW: A Winter Wish by Emily Stone

In A Winter Wish by Emily Stone, Lexie can’t remember a time when she wanted to settle down in one place long term. She chalks it up to the vacations she and her parents took every Christmas when she was very young, traveling to a different festive location each year. Now in her late twenties, Lexie takes temporary jobs across Europe until she feels the urge to move on to her next adventure. And while some friends scoff at her, saying she’s running from being a “true adult”, it’s what feels right. At least for now. Because when Lexie gets a phone call that her estranged father passed away, going home to England brings new responsibilities she was not expecting. Having to run her father’s travel business with Theo, a man she’s never met and who seems to dislike her on sight, certainly wasn’t in her plans.

“I know it’s scary, but if you never open up enough to give someone the chance to let you down, it also means you aren’t opening up enough to give them the chance to be there for you.”

Lexie finds out that she now owns half of her father Richard’s business, and the other half has been left to Theo. And for some reason Richard expected her to give it a go for a year before deciding to keep or sell the company. Theo is not happy about, well, anything to do with it or her. But just when Lexie is ready to walk away and leave it all behind, she realizes that maybe she is a good fit for a holiday travel business after all. I mean, she’s already been to many of the locations they specialize in. As she gets to know R & L Travel better, Lexie also starts to see that she and Theo got off on the wrong foot–and that there’s more to why he pushed back at her at first. Their working relationship soon becomes filled with tangled emotions of the serious, romantic kind. Something Lexie avoids. And before long it has her ready to run again.

“Why are you being nice to me?” she mumbled, her voice hitching on a sob. She felt his arm tighten briefly around her.
“Because there was never a reason not to be. It just took me far too long to realize that.”

A WINTER WISH had all the raw emotions and complex backstories I’ve come to expect from Emily Stone’s sentimental novels without being overly heartrending. But it’s the enemies(ish) to lovers romance and the impressive trips taken across Europe and the UK that will cement this story in readers’ minds for some time to come.

‘There was something cathartic about writing a wish down and putting it in the jar–like she was letting the wish go, setting it free.’

Emily Stone’s holiday books are always so full of heart and carry just enough of the season’s meaning for it to hit home. A WINTER WISH was certainly no exception. What was a teensy bit different from her other novels, though, was how multiple holidays–not just Christmas–were explored as Lexie and Theo tried to co-partner her estranged father’s travel company. I will mention right away that Lexie was pretty much a nomad who ran when things got too serious or tense. (Jobs *and* relationships) So, that part might be frustrating for some readers. However, when her background with her father is fully explained, Lexie’s skittishness became understandable to me.

Theo was a tough character to figure out at first. I wasn’t sure why he had such animosity toward Lexie–aside from of course having to run the company with her when she had no working knowledge of what they did. He seemed harsh and cold. But Theo, much like Lexie, was attempting to overcome his own tough childhood, seeking to change the patterns he created after he first left home. Thankfully he proved to be a solid, caring, very loyal guy who wanted to fulfill Lexie’s father Richard’s wishes for the holiday travel business while giving back to the community. I truly embraced Theo once his friendship and mentorship with Richard was explained. And I rooted him on to help Lexie make some of the wishes she put in her wish jar at Christmas, year after year, come true.

A solid and varied secondary cast rounded out A WINTER WISH, expanding Lexie and Theo’s world with caring people, laughs, and new happy memories to hold onto. What more can you hope for in a holiday romance, right?

QOTD: Are you a travel fan? If so, what locations are on your bucket list?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: October 15th, 2024 | Dell |

When an unexpected inheritance forces two total opposites to work together, Lexie must decide if Theo is going to push her out—or pull her in for the kiss of a lifetime—in this heartwarming holiday novel from the author of Always, in December and One Last Gift

When Lexie learns of her father’s death, she doesn’t know how to feel; they’ve barely spoken in the last ten years. And she’s even more confused when she discovers he’s left her half of his holiday travel company, a successful niche business specializing in trips that explore the holiday traditions of cultures all over the world.

Meanwhile, the other half of the company has been left to her father’s handsome but bad-tempered young executive, Theo. And the will stipulates that the two of them must find a way to run the company together for a year before they decide its fate.

Lexie intends to leave once the year is over, even though, as a wanderer herself, she finds the company’s mission more compelling than she first thought. And a work trip to sizzling Spain reveals a chemistry between Lexie and Theo that is impossible to deny.

There may have been some snap judgments made about each other. But mixing business and pleasure isn’t always a good idea.