I had to pick up Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey on the hope that it lived up to the holiday romance banger that came out last year! While it was pretty spicy and definitely heartwarming, it didn’t live up to my expectations but was still a good, solid holiday romance and the audiobook was an experience!
First, I do want to say I think reading this as an audiobook definitely gave me an experience that I think reading would not have. MMC narrator Sam Rushton was WILD. My coworker, who co-read the book with me, and I were losing it over his voice and accent. It was such a crazy juxtaposition to have the good ole boy southern accent talking so dirty. We lost our minds at the office in a constant state of paranoia that our earbuds would not connect and random coworkers would be treating to the savagery he was spewing. I absolutely think if you want to pick this up, audiobook is the only way to experience this.
Storywise, it had a decent amount of character development considering this is a holiday romance which typically only gives us 4 weeks max to meet characters, have them fall in love, have a possibly angsty temporary separation, then get back together in time for new year. Stella’s prison stint was a little unbelievable for me, simply because of real life knowledge on what someone in her position would have actually been sentenced to, but that’s a me issue. Aiden was feral for Stella from the beginning and hot damn that man, you would not imagine how much a freak he is if you were to look at him. God damn. They were sexy together and his being self aware and respectful while still being a horndog was refreshing. Also loved that Stella wasn’t a complete idiot toward the end because that had been my biggest fear.
Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey is a holiday romance that I think is a good one to pick up. It is fairly well rounded for its subgenre with fleshed out characters, fun sparks between leads, spice and cheer and a satisfying ending. If you want some grumpy x sunshine and he falls first and harder, this will be an absolute delight for you!
