Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆🍆🍆 /5

Thank you to KD Elizabeth for gifting me a copy of The Christmas Cadeau. This was a sweet holiday novella, set in Montreal, Canada. This is the prequel in The Bright Series, and is a quick 78 pages so perfect to read in one sitting in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate.

Max is head over heels for his girlfriend, Laure, and he’s going to propose. But he’s so nervous about the damn proposal that he’s been acting off for weeks. So much so that Laure thinks he wants to break up with her.

The book is told from alternating points of view, so you get to know each character, what they are thinking and see where the communication breakdowns are happening. I will say, these two are pretty adorable, but will they be able to get on the same page before things go totally awry?

The ending got me right in the feels and was just the sweetest thing…and well, you’ll just have to read it for yourself.

This book also introduces one of the main characters from the next book and I’m already completely intrigued! You can check out the second book, The Season Bright here.

Synopsis:

MAXIME

What’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done? Proposing to my girlfriend. And I haven’t even done it yet. I can nail a boardroom presentation, no problem. But proposing to the woman I love is a high-stakes, emotionally-charged situation. You better believe I’m not going to do anything to mess this up.

Maybe it’s the Québecois in my French Canadian self, but I want Laure to have a perfect proposal. And that means proposing in front of her family during their famous Christmas party.

But I’m an introvert.
Laying my soul bare in front of a room full of people? Essentially my worst nightmare.

I would have proposed already, but Laure loves the grand gesture. She loves her family, so she’ll definitely want her loved ones in attendance. I have to wait.

But my girlfriend isn’t stupid. She knows something’s up.
And if Laure asks me yet again about my growing jitters, I’m not sure I can keep my secret any longer...

LAURE

I met my soulmate in a bathroom. A men’s bathroom. One overly spicy lunch an hour before an important meeting quite literally changed my life forever.

Were there any available stalls in the women’s restroom? No. So yeah, I ducked into the men’s. No one’s ever in there. I'd be in and out before anyone could notice.

Except someone walked in.
And, oh, he was so gorgeous.

Four months later we moved in together. Two years later I can’t imagine living without him. He’s the love of my life. So why are we breaking up?

Maxime has grown so silent and distant. We’ve stopped having sex. We barely talk. Whenever I ask what’s wrong, I just get a bunch of half-baked excuses. I know he wants to end it.

But if Max breaks up with me before Christmas, will I be able to hold it together for my family’s party?

The Christmas Cadeau has NO cheating and a happily ever after!