Today, the paperback version of Christmas Shopaholic is out! In honor of this event, I give to you my previous review:

*Review copied from my previous blog www.momwithbooks.wordpress.org – Originally posted August 16, 2019*

Long live Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood)!

First off, I have to state that I am honored, ecstatic and a little emotional that the first book review on my new blog is none other than a Shopaholic novel by the brilliant Sophie Kinsella. I am one of the biggest Sophie Kinsella fans. I have followed her journey through each Shopaholic story, every stand-alone novel (Remember Me is still my favorite), her foray into Young Adult, coming back to adult, dipping into early reader (that I read with my daughter), all of the darker Madeline Wickham novels and always returning to Becky and her shopaholic ways.

Imagine my joy, when I received an email saying I was approved for a galley of her latest novel, Christmas Shopaholic, due to be published in October,2019. I could not read this one fast enough.

My love for the Shopaholic series stems from the beginning. If you look at any “Classic Chick-Lit” lists, back when chick lit was popular (or despised depending on who you were), you would always find the first two books of the series:

1. Confessions of a Shopaholic: The classic! The first! The one that started it all! The one they based most of the movie on (which I also loved btw)! We meet Becky, her friends, her family and her shopping problem. Bills that she just ignores, hoping they will go away by themselves. *5 stars*
2. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan: SPOILER ALERT – READ NO FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO DIVE INTO THIS SERIES! Becky and her boyfriend, none other than Luke Brandon (who we meet in the first novel) move to New York! She begins to make a name for herself in New York, and a new Shopaholic hole that only Becky can get into. *5 stars*
3. Shopaholic Ties the Knot: Do you not see where this is going? SPOILER ALERT – Luke and Becky are getting married! You can imagine how much shopping one needs to do for a wedding. Her best friend is getting married as well, and we meet Luke’s mother (for better or worse). Before Becky realizes it, she begins to plan two weddings – one for her family and one that Luke’s mother is dictating for their “society” friends. *5 stars*
4. Shopaholic and Sister – errrrrr….well…this is not one of my favorites. My loyalty to Kinsella helps drive me forward. In this story we find out that Becky has a secret half-sister she never knew about. Turns out, her sister is the complete opposite of her! But Becky is determined to win Jess over! *3 stars*
5. Shopaholic and Baby – I have to laugh, because I find myself growing up with Becky. When I became pregnant a couple of years after this book came out, I pulled it off the shelf and re-read it with a new set of eyes. It starts out a little along the lines of Shopaholic and Sister, but returned back to its roots towards the end of the book. Spoiler alert – they are having a baby! *3.5 stars*
6. Mini Shopaholic – Yikes. Becky’s baby is born, we fast forward a bit and find that Becky has herself a stubborn little shopaholic of a toddler. Couple that with having to live with her parents, and a financial crisis causing everyone to have to live on a budget (can a Shopaholic do that?!) and here we have Becky returning to her classic self. *4 stars*
7. Shopaholic to the Stars – Now we find ourselves moving back to the US – only this time in Hollywood. Luke is handling PR for an actress, and Becky is trying to make it as a personal stylist to the stars. Again, another Becky classic! *4 stars*
8. Shopaholic to the Rescue – I remember having to wait a long time (it felt like forever) for this one to be released. Becky’s father and her best friend’s husband have gone missing from LA. In order to find them, we find everyone travelling to Las Vegas. Becky also finds out about her best friend’s friendship with her enemy, and here we have another classic Becky book. *4 stars*

And that leads us to Book 9 – Christmas Shopaholic.

Becky finds out that her parents are not only moving away for some time to live in a “hipster” neighborhood, but they will not be hosting Christmas this year. It is time for Becky to do so! Becky’s half sister, Jess, is staying in her parent’s house while they are away, so she is invited as well. And you can’t have Christmas without Janice and her husband. Suze, of course, is also invited with her family. And Becky needs to buckle down and shop smart. Is that even possible with a shopaholic?

Planning for Christmas would be easy, except Becky suspects something is wrong with Jess’ marriage, her rock-God ex-boyfriend has appeared out of nowhere wanting to be friends with Becky again (but…why?), a fellow mom at school is struggling with her personal life where Becky wants to help, and Luke’s perfect present would be so easy to get, if she can just get admission to a men’s only club.

I loved reading this adventure. Becky’s world feels like home to me, and this time around I found myself laughing literally out loud. That wasn’t good for me, as I was sneakily reading it while I was supposed to be working because I couldn’t put it down. This is another classic Becky book that has made me feel festive in August. I cannot wait for Christmas this year, where I hope life will be like a Hallmark movie. *5 stars*