Review: I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas

Title: I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas
Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 26, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ballet and babysitting bring two teens together in this very merry holiday rom-com from the author of the acclaimed Bookish Boyfriends series

Noelle Partridge is known for three things: being the best ballet dancer, babysitter, and person with the most Christmas spirit in her small town. But lately she’s bored by the lessons at her dance school, and her friends and father are more bah humbug than Hallmark movie marathon. So when her favorite babysitting clients ask her to accompany them on a ski trip over winter break, she packs her bags for the slopes. It helps that they’re offering double her rate—she’ll need the money for Beacon, an elite ballet academy that’s granted her an audition. 

Noelle is ready to “Deck the Halls” and have fa la la la fun, until Wyatt, the older half-brother of her babysitting charges, decides to surprise his family for the holiday. He’s one of the best dancers at Beacon, and makes Noelle’s head spin faster than pirouettes. Unfortunately, she also manages to step on his toes—spoiling his surprise and complicating his secret plans. After a few missteps, Noelle and Wyatt begin to thaw toward each other and bond over the big decisions looming in each of their lives. With enough Christmas magic, Noelle might just start the New Year with lots of babysitting cash in her pocket and a chance with the pas de deux partner of her dreams.

Review:

Fourteen-year-old Noelle is a ballet dancer, a babysitter, and obsessed with Christmas. When her favourite babysitting clients, the Kahales, ask her to go away with them to Vermont for Christmas, she agrees. It’s the perfect excuse to avoid her father, who has been busy with work and ignoring Noelle lately. Noelle gets a huge surprise when the older half-brother of the kids who she babysits arrives. She’s never met Wyatt, but she’s had a crush on him since she saw his photos and videos of him dancing. Their relationship is off to a rocky start, when Wyatt’s younger siblings like Noelle more than him, but they soon realize they can bond over their similar family issues. Noelle and Wyatt have more in common than they thought, and they may be just what the other needs.

This is a perfect holiday romance! It was hard to remember that Noelle was only fourteen-years-old in this story. There wasn’t anything adult themed in the book, but it was so relatable and fun. Noelle and Wyatt had a slow build romance, but that made it more rewarding when they finally figured out their feelings for each other.

Though the main characters were young teenagers, Noelle still had to deal with some mature issues. She was still recovering from the death of her mother six years earlier, which was always a difficult memory at the holidays. She wanted to attend a dance boarding school, but didn’t know how to speak to her father since they had a fight and weren’t speaking. Noelle was also experiencing her first love, and the complications that came with liking the son of her employer. Though these were some potentially difficult topics, they were handled really well and the story still had a light tone.

I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas is a fun young adult holiday romance!

Thank you Amulet Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Have you read I’m Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas? What did you think of it?