About The Book
Title: Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal
Author: Meghan Quinn
Series: Kringletown Christmas #2
Pages: 464
Genre: Christmas Romance
Rating: ★★★
Links
Nothing says I love you like trespassing, public humiliation, and a town-wide Christmas spectacle to win your crush back.
Atlas "Max" Maxheimer did not sign up for this. One minute, he's anxiously trying to keep his family's Christmas tree farm from imploding. The next? He's passed out in the snow after getting clocked by a suspiciously strong bottle of soda.
Enter Betty: new in town, full of holiday cheer, and helping her uncle open a rival tree farm next door. Max is convinced she's out to destroy everything Evergreen Farm stands for. Betty thinks Max might be one sleigh short of a winter parade.
Cue the holiday chaos.
Between blizzards, blown reputations, wildly misguided romantic plots, and one stolen ornament with a seriously tragic backstory, this small-town war turns into something far messier―and much more delicious―than either of them expected.
My Review
The story follows Atlas and his love interest as they find themselves snowed in at Atlas’s childhood home over the holidays. With his parents away, the setup promises chaos, forced proximity, and plenty of holiday hijinks. The book leans heavily into Home Alone references, continuing the series theme of classic Christmas movie nods. Unfortunately, while the callbacks were fun in theory, they did not land as well here as they did in the first book. I expected more sabotage and mischief inspired by the movie, but there was very little of it, which made the premise feel underused.
One of my biggest issues was the narrator. It worked in the first book because The Grinch has a narrator, but Home Alone does not, so it felt unnecessary and distracting this time around. I also struggled with the main characters. They were so similar in personality that it became annoying, and their dynamic did not feel realistic or balanced.
That said, the spicy scenes absolutely delivered. The moment when they get caught by Atlas’s parents, complete with the popcorn garland trailing across the floor, was a highlight and easily the most entertaining part of the book.
The narrator’s tone toward the end made it seem like this might be the last installment in the Christmas series, which would be disappointing. While this one did not fully work for me, I still enjoyed the holiday vibes overall and hope Meghan Quinn continues writing festive romances. I liked this book, even if I did not love it.
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All reviews are always my opinion. I do not get paid to review books or give good reviews. There will be times where books are provided for my honest review. I will always indicate whether a book was provided to me for review.
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