Thank you Ballantine and PRH audio for review copies!

I have enjoyed Emily Stone's past books but A Winter Wish didn't quite land for me as well as others have; this is still a fun winter read and I recommend it for readers who like grumpy/grump themes and enemies to lovers, as well as Hallmark type holiday movies (nothing wrong with loving those things).

For readers who chafe at miscommunication tropes, this one has a few of them and that, along with one other theme, are what reduced my enjoyment. The miscommunication felt prolonged and overly drawn out and I kind of felt a "hurry up and resolve" feeling emerge while I read/listened to the book. I also did not care for the "the will obligates you to work here for a year or longer" theme- it might just be me but this felt super controlling from a father who had no rights to ask for that kind of commitment from a child (no one should use a will to mandate some's life) and then the whole way that story unfolded, even into later parts of the book with letters from the father, never landed for me, I felt it was manipulative and hurtful, especially as it seemed to make it harder for the MC Lexie to process her own feelings. On the other hand, the plot worked for helping Lexie process her childhood, to go on a journey of self-discovery, I get that and respect it but I truly think that the goals for Lexie's character could have been achieved and explored in similar ways without the direct mandate of her deceased father.