Jingle All The Way By Debbie Macomber Review

About:
Genre: Romance, Holiday
Format: Physical Book
Recommended By/Why I’m Reading It: I wanted to read a fun Christmas book!
Date Started: 12/5/20
Date Ended: 12/5/20
Rating: 4/5

Analysis
Would I recommend it? Yes!
If so, to whom? I would recommend this to anyone who wants a quick and easy read. It’s lighthearted with a lot imagery of the Amazon.
Themes or characters that resonated with me: I’ve been in Everly’s shoes and I love the “Workaholic woman gets stranded somewhere random” type of theme. It’s so relatable reading about a character who loves control, to be out of control a bit.
Emotions, thoughts, or memories it brought up in me: I had a feeling this author wrote stories that gives warm and fuzzy feelings. I knew her books were turned into Hallmark movies so I was curious to see if her books gave more detail at the end. In the movies the HEA is always too quick and I never get the closure I typically get in books with epilogues. I’m glad I read! Now I want to find the books that match the Hallmark movies.
Opinion about the author or writing style: You can tell Debbie is a seasoned writer. The story and the pacing was great!

Notes & Highlights
- The fact that Everly, the main character was put in a situation where she was not the best in or equipped (literally & figuratively), but still held on and kept going had me appreciate this strong female character. I’m not familiar with this author’s work so I thought it was going the route where Everly is complaining the whole book or something to that effect.
-With that being said, I felt so protective over Everly when the captain felt annoyed with her. I thought she handled everything with grace, and if it were me I would only wish to be like Everly. I would have gotten lost forever and not so calm about taking an impromptu cruise without preparing…maybe I do need to try this? haha
-Asher was such a great hero! He understood her predicament and was so patient with her. The bite scene gave me chills as I’ve been stung by many things and luckily have not had a reaction like Everly. I was keeling over with laughter when she insisted she was tough because of her upbringing. Her on medicine reminded me of those wisdom teeth videos.
-This story would honestly fall under a Winter book read rather than a Christmas read in my humble opinion. There is a nice part at the end where they talk about Christmas, but it’s more background if anything. I still think it’s great overall and it didn’t distract me but I was confused by the marketing and cover of the book. I did see afterwards that Target has a more fitting cover. Without reading the summary, I thought the book was going to have a dog as one of the main characters or a cute sidekick, a white Christmas, and cute lighthearted Christmas scenes throughout. I think I still would have picked this up if they showed a tropical forest or a cruise ship or something to that effect. Maybe that’s just the PR in me speaking. Again, this is not huge deal, I am just curious of why this amazing story was published with that cover. If cover art is important to you I would recommend the Target version linked below.

My Biggest Takeaway
-The fact that we meet Everly when’s she’s at a point in her life where she’s technically “made it” career wise made me happy. Most stories end when the main character makes partner/is successful but she’s there already.
-I also read afterwards that this book was inspired by the author’s personal experience on a cruise. I’ve never been on a cruise, but now I want to. Hopefully soon! This was a great start to my Christmas reads!

Official Blurb
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Love can transform even the best-laid plans in this heartfelt Christmas novel from the queen of Christmas stories, Debbie Macomber.

Trapped in the middle of five siblings, Everly Lancaster always had big dreams. Now a top real-estate executive, Everly finds her work is her life, leaving no space for anything (or anyone) else. Sensing her stress, Everly’s boss insists she take December off. At first, a month away seems crazy—how will the company survive without her? But Everly’s mother convinces her otherwise. She deserves a vacation—plus, when she returns, she’ll have no excuse to skip family Christmas like she did last year.

But after her vengeful assistant books a guided cruise in the Amazon instead of the luxury beach vacation she expected, Everly is horrified to realize that she’s about to spend the next two weeks trapped—with no Wi-Fi!—in the rain forest. Not even Asher Adams, the ship’s charming naturalist, can convince Everly that the trip will be unforgettable. Slowly but surely, she realizes he is right: the sights are spectacular. And with each passing day, Everly’s relationship with Asher deepens, forcing her to take a long, hard look at her priorities.

Everly and Asher begin to see magic in the possibility of a life together. But as the cruise nears its end, and Everly’s family Christmas approaches, both must decide if love is worth the risk. A merry surprise may be in store in Debbie Macomber’s newest holiday delight.