Review: Baby It's Cold Outside by Kerry Barrett

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

For better or much, much worse...
Esme and Jamie have finally got their perfect wedding day planned. Beautiful snowy landscape – check. Amazing venue – check. Stunning dress – check.
But when an avalanche seals off their gorgeous mountain hometown from the outside world, their dream day starts to look more like a nightmare. Especially when Jamie’s ex turns up on their doorstep with a surprise neither of them expected!
Esme’s magical powers can solve a lot of problems, but it looks like their big day is doomed! Is Esme and Jamie’s wedding simply not meant to be, or can they still make it down the aisle, against all the odds?

MY TAKE:
I haven't read the other books in this series, so when I saw the blurb for this book, my first thought was "Oh, is Esme like Elsa in Frozen?"

In Baby It's Cold Outside, Esme and Jamie are finally getting married. However, Jamie's ex suddenly appears with a young boy in tow whom she claims is Jamie's son. Before things can get properly sorted out, an avalanche occurs, closing off the road that leads in and out of their town. This means that not only is Jamie's ex and son trapped with them, but a lot of their wedding supplies and suppliers won't be able to come. Can everything be fixed in time?

As it turns out, Esme and her family are witches and not an ice princess like Queen Elsa. On hindsight, not that surprising since the blurb does say "magical powers" and not "ice powers." So the whole book bears more of a resemblance to Bewitched than the beloved Disney movie. Not that I'm disappointed, though, as I enjoyed the book.

There were plenty of plot twists and spanners thrown in the works, but the book never felt dark or heavy. There was something about it, or maybe the characters, that made you feel like there really was nothing to worry about. It's clearly tailor-made for moments when you just want some light reading with a happy ending.

It's kind of funny, though, since the idea of your future spouse's ex popping up with a surprise child isn't exactly something that will inspire laughter in anyone. Esme's handling of the situation, as well as her feelings about everything, however, seemed realistic. Yes, some might say she had her selfish moments, but I felt that they were all within reason. That's probably why I liked Esme rather than was annoyed by her.

Esme's family was interesting as well. The family dynamics were fun to watch, and reading about all the things they did made me seriously consider moving to a small town for a little while just to see if it's as fun as they make it seem.

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina UK for the e-ARC.

THE GOOD:

1. Esme's reactions were realistic.
2. The secondary characters were all pretty likable.
3. It makes living in a small town seem like a must-try experience. 

THE BAD:

1. There are a lot of characters so you might get confused sometimes as to who those characters are. 

READ IT IF:

1. You come from or are part of a non-traditional family.
2. You like winter and everything associated with it.
3. You like stories featuring tight-knit families.

RATING:


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