Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

My review

4/5 stars

This was a quick, fun, festive read with a hidden depth that I wasn't expecting. I won't lie, I picked this up based on the title and cover alone, and it somewhat caught me off guard.

Stella's story was very endearing. Someone who has had a tough period in her life looking for a chance to restart things, bumps into someone who offers to give her the job she's always dreamed of just before Christmas. I thought her exploration of her new situation felt vulnerable, honest and somewhat charming.

Her relationship with Aiden was both a source of great enjoyment and some frustration. Aiden, himself, was refreshingly optimistic (normally the man is the grump in the grumpy-sunshine trope) and relatable for his strained family relationships, but the intensity of his interactions was jarring at times. Some of what he said to Stella was inherently sweet and lovely, but some of it felt a bit much given the short amount of time they'd known each other.

I also found the spicier parts of their romance somewhat unnecessary. I am no prude, and have no issue with steamy scenes in books, but I am not a fan of gratuitous sex in any context. Given that the book was only 250 pages, dedicating at least 5 whole chapters to sex can't really feel anything other than gratuitous in my opinion. The timing of the scenes within the plot was great, but they didn't need to last for 20 pages (or more) each. This is the main reason I didn't give the book 5 stars.

On the whole, this was a sweet, easy-to-read festive story that I ate through in one day and enjoyed immensely, it just fell a little short of the perfection it could have been.

Book blurb

Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin. I'm standing alone in front of the famous Vivant department store, when a charming man named Aiden asks my opinion of the décor.

It's a tragedy in tinsel, I say, unable to lie. He asks for a better idea with a twinkle in his eye. Did I know he owned the place? No. He put me on the spot. Now I'm working for that man, trying to ignore that he's hot. But as a down on her luck girl with a difficult past, I know an opportunity when I see one - and I have to make it last.

I'll put my heart and soul into dressing his holiday windows. I'll work without stopping. And when we lose the battle with temptation, I'll try and remember I'm just window shopping.

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You can buy the book here now. It was published by Piatkus.

For more on the author, you can head to her website, follow her on Instagram, or check out her Goodreads page.