"Make My Wish Come True" by Fiona Harper

Juliet has always strived to be the perfect mother and that especially goes at Christmastime.  Homemade baked goods for the teachers, a nicely decorated house, and a festive feast for family and friends, she does it all.  But since her marriage broke down two years ago, Christmas has become much more difficult for her.  So this year she is turning to her sister Gemma for help.

Gemma, the favourite daughter, the free-spirit, the one with the glamourous job, the one who avoids responsibility, isn’t looking forward to another Christmas at home.  So when she visits her sister before the holiday, she announces that she is jetting off to the Caribbean for some alone time.

When Juliet realizes that her sister is abandoning her once again, she snaps.  And there is only one way that Gemma can fix this.  She offers to swap Christmases - she’ll stay home with the kids and Juliet can head off for some fun in the sun.  

Throw in a hunky next-door neighbour and a sexy Italian also on vacation and the women may get more than they bargained for.  Will this be a Christmas to remember or one to forget?

Make My Wish Come True by Fiona Harper is a festive take on the life swap novel, with two very different sisters and two very different Christmases.  

I loved the juxtaposition of the two different locations for Christmas.  Growing up, I spent most of my Christmases in a warm climate and now I spend them here in the Great White North.  So it was nice to see a book include both and go back and forth.  Just when you’re feeling a little too chilly, you can warm up on the beach!

I really enjoyed this book, and for once I found two characters who are supposed to square off against each other that I ended up liking.  I tend to side with the free-spirit (the complete opposite of myself) and I thought at the beginning I wouldn’t like Juliet, but I was pleasantly surprised. I think this is because Harper writes a great back-story for the women and gives just enough to make you understand the women and why they are the way they are.  That makes a difference between disliking the characters and disliking their behaviour.

A book that involves a life swap may not seem like anything new, and while it isn’t, this book doesn’t have that feel.  It doesn’t feel like just another book.  It is enjoyable and realistic.  I enjoyed how the children were portrayed.  They weren’t bratty or too perfect, and they experienced what real children do.  The love interests were surprising to me and really had me guessing.  I did not expect for things to turn out the way they did.  

A festive story about two very different sisters going through life not really understanding the other, Make My Wish Come True is a lovely and heart-warming read.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley.  The opinions expressed above are my own.