Make My Wish Come True (Review)

Information:

• Authors: Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
• Genre: Romance
• Page Count: 320
• Year Published: 2024

Read This if You Like: 

• The holiday season 
• Queer Romance
• Celebrity and Normal person romances
• Friends to (semi) enemies to lovers
• Fake dating
• Dual POV

Synopsis:

Arden James and Caroline Beckett used to be best friends in the Christmas obsessed town of Barnwhich, before Arden left and they stopped speaking to each other. 4 years later, and the 2 girls are now on totally different life paths- Arden lives in Hollywood, where she  is one of the most popular teenage actresses, and constantly gets recognized for her reckless behavior, while Caroline is still in Barnwhich, aiming for a spot in Columbia University’s journalism program and helping Barnwhich prepare for Christmas. So Caroline is shocked to see Arden back in Branwhich, asking Caroline to pretend to be her girlfriend on 12 holiday-themed dates in order to repair Arden’s reputation, in exchange for Caroline achieving her dream of writing an article in a prestigious magazine. At first, the girls keep proving that it’s all fake- but maybe after a while their feelings towards each other will start to reappear. 

Review/Opinions:

Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick, both in their works as solo writers and coauthors, are overall my favorite authors for YA romance, and I’ve read almost every book in their combined bibliography. So when I found out they were working together on a Christmas-themed sapphic romance, it quickly became my most anticipated book this year- even though normally, I don’t understand the hype behind Christmas romances because they are only relevant for a few months every year. This book had the exact vibe of a Hallmark or Netflix Christmas romcom- a predictable setup and character arcs with adequate writing and plot, but still cute and makes for good entertainment. 

Alyson and Rachael have a strength for writing cute teenage sapphic couples, and this one is no exception. Arden and Caroline are the standard “opposites attract” couple, an example of not only a fairly popular trope among raiders but also the trope that these two authors use for almost every book they’ve written. The timeline of the romance is pretty predictable- the two girls start as rivals, they “fake date”, and slowly fall in love as they achieve their respective goals. Personally, I was against such a generic plot- and I am a tiny bit disappointed based on the author’s potential- but this book is primarily marketed as a fluffy Christmas romance, so it does what it has to do. Arden and Caroline are a cute couple, who learn how to rekindle their romance after their time apart, while also having a decent-sized rivalry at the start to engage the reader. Plus, the small dates that the two girls have are quite wholesome to read through.

The book also has some large themes that make their way into the story. Alongside the themes of reviving a friendship after it failed, Arden and Caroline have realistic arcs that help motivate their characters. Arden in particular goes through major growth, recognizing the hardships of celebrity life and what it’s like to return to a “normal life”- even though that theme won’t relate much to readers, it’s a theme that fits the vibe of the book and doesn’t make the story too dark, yet I was still disappointed, as Rachael and Alyson both are known for having deeper, more emotional themes that drive their other novels, so this felt severely weaker than the other stories that they wrote. I did, however, enjoy how the book wasn’t entirely Christmas focused- despite being focused on Christmas-themed dates, there was also significant inclusion of Hanukkah and Jewish traditions, with Caroline being Jewish and allowing Arden to experience these events, as well as themes of being Jewish in primarily Christmas-celebrating settings. 

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

The thing I disliked the most about this book is the ending. For starters, it has a romance trope I will hate until the end of time- a dragged out “breakup” of the main couple that gets resolved at the very end of the book with no epilogue.  The story’s last sentence leaves a small sense of uncertainty as it doesn’t really confirm if Arden and Caroline have fully committed to a romance with each other – we don’t even see if Caroline made it into her journalism program, despite this being a major driving force for her character. Alongside this, the last few chapters take place in just a few hours, but there is so much going on and it feels rushed.  But my least favorite part? A side character (who I will leave unnamed to avoid more spoilers),  who at the start was somewhat petty but overall tolerable went full villain mode- and not in a good way. This is another thing that I believe happened simply because of the vibes of the story and not wanting to be too dark- but the way this character acted at this part was super unrealistic and cringeworthy. 

Alyson and Rachael’s next book was recently revealed, and it’s once again a Christmas story that takes place in the same town as this one, but instead of being a standalone novel, the book is instead a holiday-themed sequel novella to their most popular work, She Gets the Girl. I have mixed feelings on this- based on Make My Wish Come True, this has the potential to go for the same fluffy holiday story approach- meaning it will be cute but once again be lacking in the depth that makes me appreciate these authors so much. But since the new book is based on previously developed characters in a more emotional book that I found to be a much better read, it’s possible that it will have more substance on top of the Christmas joy and therefore continue to support what I love about these authors so much. Guess I’ll just have to wait until September 2025 and see what happens.

Despite this being one of the books I was most excited to read in 2024, it ended up being my least favorite book from these author’s combined collection of works, as it lacked the emotional impact and unique story that motivates my love for Rachael and Alyson’s books, and it wasn’t benefited from its lackluster ending.  If you want to see the true potential of these authors, I would advise you to read one of their different, and stronger, works, such as She Gets the Girl or Rachael’s solo novel The Lucky List . (I reviewed both of those, so make sure to check them out!) But if you’re looking for a fluffy romance novel with a cute couple to infuse some holiday spirit, I will definitely recommend this as a wholesome Christmas read.