Book Review: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Joanna Bolouri

Title: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Author: Joanna Bolouri
Published: 20/10/2016, Quercus
Pages: 416
Source: Netgalley
Format: Ebook
Rating: 4/5
A hilarious and heartwarming Christmas comedy. Perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Tracy Bloom and Chrissie Manby.

Thirty-eight year olf Emily has a satisfying job, fab friends, an amazing car and, most importantly, a wonderful flat, exactly 411 miles away from the judgemental, batshit crazy, interfering family she reluctantly sees twice a year. In fact, the only minor stress in her life is her twenty-something neighbor Evan and his penchant for flirting, loud music and even louder sex... but he's nothing she can't handle.

Emily also has a boyfriend called Robert and it's going really well. So well, in fact, that this year Emily is hoping to take him home for Christmas to meet her family. Finally she won't be subject to five days of nosy questions from her parents and pity looks from her younger married siblings.

But when Robert breaks up with her a week before Christmas, Emily is gutted. How on earth is she going to face her family now? Enlisting the help of party boy Evan (in exchange for one month's rent and the use of her convertible) Emily is determined to take Robert home for Christmas come hell or high water, even if it isn't the real Robert...

If you read one Christmassy read this year, it has to be The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. This is a wonderfully hilarious read all about family. This book is perfect for anyone looking for a quick, fun-filled, easy read.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is set mainly in Melrose, a small town in the Scottish borders. I honestly could not contain my excitement when I realised this book would be full of Scottish characters! I rarely get the chance to read Scottish books so this was definitely a plus.

Emily is such a fantastically relatable main character and I loved her. She's a Scottish bookworm who loved wine (not sure if I'm describing me or her haha!). Sure she does moan quite a bit, but her life isn't going her way and her love life has taken a nose dive. She's entitled to moan in my opinion. Plus, her moaning kind of fits in with her Scottishness, I think.

I adored Evan. He's genuinely quite a nice, easy going guy. Plus, it helps that he's good looking. There's definitely more to him than meets the eye and I love that Emily was wrong about him. I also loved the slightly awkward relationship he has with Emily - they practice hugging!

Emily's family is fantastic and anyone could seriously relate to having a family like hers. From the nit-picking mum to the easy-going dad, the snobby sister to the lazy brother. This family is honestly comedy at its finest and I could tell that it was going to be a wild Christmas.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is a slightly predictable read. I mean it's kind of obvious what was going to happen. But, it's just so funny and feel-good that I honestly did not care one bit. And the ending was fantastically perfect and just the cutest.

I don't think the plot was the fastest, but this book is such an easy read that it's very quick to read. The plot, although, crazy, definitely made sense and I did think this was relatable in a way. Who doesn't dread taking a partner home to meet the parents (or even telling them about a relationship ending)? There were a few twists along the way and these just added to the humorous nature of the story.

I would definitely recommend The Most Wonderful Time of the Year to fans of contemporary chick-lit, especially those looking for a fun, Christmas read. It is one of the funniest books I've read and is just so relatable. I'm definitely adding Joanna Bolouri's other books to my TBR now.

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