Disappointing.

I am a Tessa Bailey fan in general, but gosh, the quality of her stories really has dropped recently. Wreck the Halls really reads as something she churned out from the holidays, or maybe pieced together a non-holiday romance in order to satiate the holiday-loving readers.

Wreck the Halls follows Melody and Beat (I know, I know. The names.) as they try to reunite their parents who were in a band together years ago. Mel hates being in the limelight, but Beat is the opposite; charming and self-confident. Of course, Mel fell for him ages ago when they were teenagers, which is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to romance novels. Why is it that it’s always women who are infantilized, so they basically think and act about who they were as sixteen-year-olds all the time? It’s absolutely frustrating to read about a woman who is pining after a man she hasn’t seen or interacted with in DECADES, but he’s charming, so of course she would fall for him again. It’s a personal annoyance, but man, did it take me out of the book.

The other thing I hated about this novel was its focus, or rather lack thereof when it came to the holiday theme. If you like to pick up holiday-themed romances to read in November and December or just any time of the year, you will not be pleased with this book. There’s basically NO mention of Christmas, nor does it take up a large section of the novel. Honestly, with a few little edits, this could be a romance novel that takes place at any time of year. It’s a joke. I picked this up because I wanted to read a Christmas romance, but this fell so flat I did not care for it.

Also, Melody and Beat made my eyes roll so hard just based on name alone. Ridiculous.

Title: Wreck the Halls
Author: Tessa Bailey
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
ISBN: 9780063308305

Three Descriptors: Upbeat, Opposites Attract, Not really Christmas

Read Alikes:
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox
In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae
A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy