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Trey Anderson is popular and has thousands of followers on social media. He’s been dating a gorgeous, popular girl at his school for a couple of years. His life is pretty good; he’s just worried now about his family’s bookstore, Wonderland. It’s been in the family for a few generations and is particularly important to the community because it’s Black-owned.
But Wonderland is struggling, especially since a big chain bookstore has opened nearby. Trey’s parents may be forced to sell their beloved shop.
Ariel Spencer is a girl at Trey’s school who hopes to attend a prestigious art program, but she needs money. She has an opportunity to start saving when she visits Wonderland just as Trey’s father gets injured. She is hired to step in and help.
Ariel doesn’t know the shop is on the brink of being sold; she just knows it isn’t busy enough. She has some ideas about what the Andersons can do to stay relevant and attract more business. She and Trey work together to do all they can for the store.
The two teens haven’t really run in the same circles, but they get along as they work together. Indeed, they are becoming friends, and each feels something for the other. But Trey’s still dating Brooke, who has never shown much interest in his family store, and he doesn’t want to betray her or their time together. And Ariel is sure the popular Trey couldn’t be interested in her more than as a friend.
This book-centric teen romance is set at Christmas in a London suburb. It’s cute, and all the things the characters do to save the bookstore are fun. But it just didn’t grab me. Some of it was probably that I wasn’t interested in reading a love story where the male love interest was still dating someone else for most of the book. Some of it was that the plot was ground already well trod (community pulls together to save struggling bookstore!). For me, the characters and details weren’t so charming, fun, delightful, etc., that I could get past the well-used trope. But those looking for a cute Black-focused story set at Christmastime should enjoy it.
Rated: High. Profanity includes 11 uses of strong language, around 50 instances of moderate profanity, about 45 uses of mild language, and 10 instances of the name of Deity in vain. There are a few uses of British profanity. Sexual content includes kissing, references to teens having sex and to girls wearing lingerie, but not many details past kissing. Teens drink frequently.
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*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
