Now that we are well and truly into December and that Christmas is right around the corner, I thought it was about time to indulge in a festive, holiday themed book. It’s a phrase that is said every year, but I can’t believe how quick this year has gone! 

To think this possibly maybe the last book review of 2023. I say maybe because there’s always the chance I could see another book I want to squeeze in before the end of 2023 and I know I’m getting a kindle for Christmas *screams with excitement*, so it would be very rude if I didn’t read as soon as I got it, right? 

Tessa Bailey is an author I am very familiar with having read It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line and Sinker, both of which I throughly enjoyed - as well as other books of hers that are on my TBR list. Initially, I was intrigued to read Window Shopping, also by Tessa Bailey, but that quickly became signed to the letter W for my A-Z Reading Challenge. Then, I stumbled upon Wreck The Halls by Tessa which fitted the Christmas theme, so I was sold. 

Wreck The Halls follows Beat and Melody, the children of world wide famous band, The Steel Birds, in their attempt to reunite their mother’s band, who separated following a hateful breakup. 

Beat and Melody are first introduced to one another during an interaction when they are sixteen during an interview. Despite growing up with the impression that Beat is the product of the enemy, Melody is shocked of his kind and caring nature, the polar opposite to what had been drilled into her by her own mother. Not just an attractive face, Melody learns that Beat is fully understanding and sympathetic to the scrutiny she has received in the public eye for her looks, as opposed to him. After their interaction, Beat offers his number to Melody as they share the same history of living in the shadows of their famous mothers and the hardships that follow as a result. Only the pair never contact each other following their first interaction. 

The story skips to present day, 15 years later, where Beat is about to enter his surprise 30th birthday party - only Beat is held back from entering, as he received a phone call from an unknown number, which turns out to be his blackmailer. The blackmailer is demanding more money than the previous time and threatens to out his family secret if they don’t receive the money on Christmas Day, which leaves Beat out of options. After not having the money himself, Beat remembers an email he received from a producer, asking him to participate in an interview to do with his mother’s band, alongside fellow band members daughter, Melody. Beat realises this is the only way he will be able to pay off the blackmailer this time, so contacts the producer. 

Melody and Beat reunite after 14 years in a meeting with producer, Danielle who wants to reunite Beat and Melody’s mother’s band, The Steel Birds in a live reality show on Christmas Day. Despite being the one initially interested, Beat is apprehensive of the details of the live reality show, but is convinced by Melody. The reality tv show involves following Beat and Melody in their attempt to reunite their mother’s band. 

After agreeing to participate in the reunion of their mother’s rock band, the pair spend time together preparing for their confessionals, in which Beat begins realising the feelings he has for Melody and has done since the time they first met at 16. 

Together, the pair have their first interview for the reality show, in which they are asked a series of questions relating to the band that their mothers were apart of - questions centred around the last show of The Steel Birds and the breakup, which occurred whilst their mothers were pregnant. During the interview, Danielle asks about why they broke up and hints to the potential third act that resulted in the bands breakup - a male character. In the interview, Danielle details how the band released an album before embarking on a tour, whilst pregnant, which would result in a breakup. Melody states that everything was good between Melody’s mother Trina and Beat’s mother, Octavia until one day it wasn’t. 

After the interview, Beat and Melody attend a charity gala for his mother’s foundation with the attendance of the camera crew filming for the show. Melody is unable to hide the feelings she has had for Beat since they first met at 16 and forgets that they’re being filmed live to a huge audience - who begin trending the hashtag ‘Melodyisasimp’. Producer Danielle takes action and informs Melody of her actions that are being broadcasted, which makes her aware of why Beat’s actions changed so suddenly - he was aware of the publics comments on them, so therefore toned down his own actions and feelings towards Melody. After Melody is informed, she changes her behaviour towards Beat by withdrawing to avoid adding more fuel to the public’s opinion, but not without Beat noticing. This leads to an awkward conversation between Beat and Melody, to which she accidentally reveals her crush to Beat. The pair then have a conversation off camera and off mic about Melody’s feelings towards Beat, but just as Beat is explaining his reasons for why it can’t go anywhere, the pair are interrupted by the arrival of Beat’s mother, Octavia who makes a grand entrance on a throne. 

At the charity gala’s, it is tradition for Octavia to grant a wish, being in the form of her singing - only this time, it is cut short by the crowd chanting for a Steel Birds reunion. During this, Octavia and Melody meet for the first time, where Octavia states that a reunion will not happen. This prompts Melody to lie and say that it was her own mother, Trina who is requesting the reunion. This lie ends up persuading Octavia, who then agrees to a reunion. 

The day of the reunion arrives, Melody and Beat take to the stage to reintroduce their mothers. Afterwards Melody attempts to speak with Beat, but he continues walking off stage and out of the studio. The Steel Birds take to the stage, where Trina and Octavia reveal to the crowd the reason for their breakup - their drummer Fletcher. This prompts him to be booed off stage, but not before Octavia confronts him about his blackmail. 

Melody is torn between watching her mother reunite with her band member and going after Beat. Trina and Octavia pay tribute to the pair, displaying a montage of them which shows the development of their feelings for one another. This makes Melody realise her mistake in not trusting Beat, so she decides to go find him. 

Melody begins searching the streets of New York with the help of the fans who are invested in their relationship. After searching for ages, Melody begins to loose hope, but finds Beat sitting on a step and rushes to him. The pair rejoice and forgive one another. 

The story ends with Beat pulling out an engagement ring for Melody, in which she accepts. 

Something I always forget about Tessa Bailey’s writing style is that it’s written from a third person point of view. I read It Happened One Summer and Hook, Line and Sinker last year, so I can’t fully remember what my thoughts were about the third person POV. I do remember I liked the storyline of them both. 

I do prefer books written in first person with POV from both characters, but I didn’t not enjoy this book because it was in third person. I enjoyed it, because despite it being in a third person perspective, I was still able to understand the characters’ feelings and notice when Beat started having feelings for Melody. I was able to understand the inner thoughts of the characters, which is something I think is essential for a story. 

Although I didn’t not like third person writing style, I don’t think I was able to make an emotional connection to the story and the characters. When I read, I like to feel apart of the story and I think that is only successfully done when written in first person. I feel like I wasn’t emotionally invested in the story, so reading this book felt more like a chore than anything. That’s not to say I was anywhere near DNFing, I just wasn’t feeling it - I felt a bit meh. 

As always, I liked the side characters being the police officers as they were funny and the comments they made were important to the storyline. It made the whole reality show concept become two dimensional, rather than being just what Melody and Beat experienced. 

When Melody was introduced I immediately pictured her as Zoey Deschanel, I think it could be because she was described as having a fringe and glasses and I’ve been binge watching New Girl recently. Her personality and appearance really gave the Jess aesthetic. I really liked how Melody was described in the book and the personality she was given. I liked that she wasn’t just a door mat, she had character and personality - she was funny and snarky. 

When the third chair was pointed out during Melody and Beat’s morning interview, I predicted that it would be for Beat’s blackmailer. I did think that Fletcher would reveal Beat’s family secret on the show, but he didn’t. I also thought at one point, it would be revealed that Melody and Beat had the same father, as Melody’s father wasn’t mentioned and it was revealed that Fletcher went between Melody and Beat’s mothers, so I did think it was a possibility. 

I questioned my ability to read with this book as sometimes the grammar really threw me off. I came across two mistakes, which really had me questioning my ability to read and comprehend. 

“If the jail cell floor wasn’t stained with god knew what, Melody might have lain down on it” - shouldn’t it have been God knows what, as opposed to God knew what. 

I know it was a Christmas themed book, but the character names were questionable. Beat and Melody had me cringing, but I was able to move past it since their parents are from a musical background, but when Savelina was introduced I was baffled. 

I’m slightly disappointed as I had high hopes for reading a Christmas themed book. I read my first Christmas themed book last year, A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and was severely close to DNFing. I just couldn’t get into the story and it has made me apprehensive about reading other work by Julie Murphy. If I don’t overly enjoy the first book I read by an author, I won’t be overly eager to read other work by them, unless it comes my way on TikTok. 

I can’t say I loved this book or that I was emotionally invested in them to end up together and become engaged. I just seriously procrastinated this book and not having the motivation to read, made me not want to read it as much, but I had to power through. Hopefully next year, I’ll find a Christmas book that feels right. Although I did have window shopping by Tessa Bailey to read, so I’m slightly rethinking that now. 

 

My Thoughts: 

*Contains Spoilers*

It’s a normal day in Sosalito, where they all live, until news reports break out that the business in such Owen worked for (The Shop), has been found of fraud and embezzlement. With the owner being arrested, Owen is nowhere to be found. Hannah and Bailey both receive letters from Owen stating for the pairs to both look out for one another, without any explanation as to why Owen has disappeared. Only along with Baileys letter, there’s a bag full of cash - the letter detailing how Bailey knows her father. 

Following receiving the letters, Hannah is visited by an enforcement officer working in Austin, called Grady who is looking into Owens disappearance. Here he encourages Hannah to lie low and seek the support of a lawyer. Hannah then calls upon ex fiancé, Jake who is a lawyer in New York. 

After Grady’s visit, Hannah is visited again by FBI agents demanding to know of her knowledgement to where Owen has disappeared to. When Hannah reveals her visit from Grady, the FBI Agents are unsure, leaving Hannah confused as who she should trust. 

Hannah decides to visit Owen’s best friend to seek answers from him, but upon arriving at his house, she is forced to leave as his wife begins accusing Owen of willingly taking their money they invested into the shop, which was supposed to be their daughters college fund. Only what the wife doesn’t know and is later revealed, Owen didn’t take any money from them. Owens friend used the money for his mistress.

After receiving no information from Owen’s friend, Hannah decides to take Bailey to Austin to explore leads and to jog Baileys memory from when she was younger, as Hannah makes a connection to stories she’s been told by Owen that were based in Austin. Upon landing in Austin, the pair begin retracing Bailey’s steps from the last time she was in Austin, which was when she was 8 and are eventually led to a football stadium in which Bailey remembers being at, following a wedding on the same day. After searching for nearby churches, the pair stumble upon one they believe Bailey attended a wedding at. 

When arriving at the church, they speak to a lady and request details of all weddings that have taken place on the same day as a football game. Despite being very reluctant and needing persuading, the lady looks for the details. However, there’s no records of weddings taking place during their timeframe, due to the church being closed and undergoing renovations. 

Whilst at the church, Hannah receives a phone call from Owen’s friend, where he reveals that his daughters college fund wasn’t invested into The Shop and how Owen was stressed that work wasn’t going well and the immense stress he was under - due to the software he was developing not going well.

After hunting leads in Austin, Hannah receives a phone call from her lawyer Jake, who reveals that his private investigator discovered that Owen Michaels does not exist. 

Jake then presents Hannah the two reasons for Owen’s fake identity:

1. He has two families which he is trying to hide and keep separate 

2. He was/is involved in criminal activity and has set up a new identity.

Following Hannah’s reminiscing of stories Owen told her, Hannah remembers a professors name that had an impact on Owen. After searching the professors name, Hannah discovers where Owen actually went to university - University of Texas at Austin. This prompts Hannah and Bailey to visit the professor who taught Owen. At first, the professor is reluctant to remember Owen. However, Hannah reminds him of a story which jogs his memory. Upon remembering Owen, he provides Hannah and Bailey with a list of pupil names that attended his classes and a description of what Owen looked like during that time - as the professor doesn’t know Owens new identity and the pair don’t know Owen’s old identity. 

The pair take the list of names to the library, where they can look through old class book photos and cross reference with the description the professor gave of Owen. While in the library, the pair come across a photo of a lady who looks eerily identical to Bailey, only much older and not by the name of Olivia - as Bailey had previously been told was her mothers name, who died when she was young. 

The lady in the photo is revealed as Kate and after some searching, the pair discover her family own a bar nearby, which turns out to jog Bailey’s memory of a place she’d previously visited. Hannah decides to source information at the bar and enters, making up a fake story to encourage the bartender to talk. During conversation, he reveals that Kate sadly passed away and later on, Hannah feels encouraged to show a picture of Owen to determine the link, but using a fake backstory. Upon seeing Owen’s face, the bartender, Charlie backs up and starts shouting at Hannah, demanding to know who sent her. The shouting sparks the arrival of Bailey, which leads Charlie shell shocked by the similarity to his late sister - the only words exiting his mouth were the name of Kristin; implying that Bailey is in fact Kristin. 

 

After the encounter with Charlie at the bar, Hannah decides that it’s time for them to leave Austin as she starts to feel like Austin isn’t a safe place for Bailey. Hannah contacts her lawyer, Jake and asks him to look into a woman called Katherine Smith and the possibility of her having a daughter called Kristin, around the same age as Bailey. 

Just as Hannah is about to smash her phone, to avoid being tracked, she decides to have one more look into researching Katherine herself. Here she finds a news article containing a photograph that looks familiar to her and when thinking about the familiarity, she realised she saw the picture in Charlie’s pub. When looking further into the article, she finds information about an actress called Meredith Smith, who is married to Nicholas Smith, once known as the good lawyer, but later became known for helping people who otherwise couldn’t be helped by the law. His work became invaluable, but landed him in trouble with the FBI and DEA, subsequently making him a target. After becoming a target, his daughter was sadly killed in a hit-and-run as she was walking home to her house in Austin. She was a mother to a young child, which Nicholas spent a lot of time with, taking her to music classes and spending time in playgrounds on Friday afternoons. This was a planned attack at Nicholas, as his daughter died on a Friday afternoon next to the playground which Nicholas went to with his granddaughter, which meant Nicholas witnessed the hit-and-run and murder of his daughter. Despite his clients denying their involvement in his daughters death, it was a clear shot of vengeance and a sign of wanting to Nicholas. Nicholas daughter’s husband, Ethan was angry at the fact that Nicholas was partially to blame for the death of his wife, due to his line of work. Therefore, Ethan carried out his own vengeance to Nicholas, as he had previously worked with Nicolas to develop a software for Nicolas to use with his clients, meaning that Ethan had information on Nicholas that would send him to prison. With the information Ethan had, he was able to present it to the police - resulting in the end of Nicholas organisation and imprisonment for his crimes. It was not long after the trial that Ethan and his daughter, Kristin disappeared and were never to be heard of again. 

After reading the article, Hannah puts the pieces together realising that Bailey is in fact Kristin and Owen is Ethan. She rushes back to the hotel room to urge Bailey to get her things so they can leave immediately, only to find the hotel room empty and Bailey missing. Hannah begins looking for Bailey, but upon returning to the hotel room, she finds police officer Grady, who tells her she’s made a mess of things. 

Grady takes Hannah to the police station as they await the return of Bailey, where everything is explained to Hannah - what happened between Nicholas and Owen that resulted in Owen’s new identity. Hannah learns that Nicholas was a bad man who was doing illegal activity that resulted in the death of his daughter and how using his knowledge of coding, Owen created a software for Nicholas to use to send messages between clients imprisoned. Following the murder of his wife, Owen then hacked the system and turned over the information to the police, in exchange for new identities. 

Wondering why Owen hasn’t called upon Grady again, Hannah wonders whether she should trust Grady, as he’d previously mentioned a leak that happened with Owen and Baileys identities. Hannah sets off back to the bar to visit Charlie to request that she can meet Nicholas herself. Despite being apprehensive at first, Charlie agrees to take Hannah to see Nicholas at his secluded home, where upon meeting, Hannah is shocked at Nicholas’ kind nature. 

After arriving, the pair embark on a conversation of the history Owen shared with Nicholas and the actions that led to where they are now - Nicholas involvement for working with dangerous people, who needed defending when no one else would. During their conversation, Hannah and Nicholas come to an agreement for Nicholas to request that his clients and organisation protect Hannah and Bailey, to prevent Bailey from starting over with a new identity - only this does not extend to Owen, as he hasn’t forgiven him for his involvement that landed himself in prison. Despite her love for her husband Owen, she accepts Nicholas deal, with the thoughts of Owen’s request for her to protect Bailey. After accepting the deal, Grady arrives at Owen’s gates, requesting to take Hannah. 

When Hannah and Bailey are reunited, Bailey reveals that her disappearance was because she was chasing a phone call she believed to be her father and was hunting for better signal. She also reveals that she managed to speak to her father, who said he was sorry for his disappearance and that it’s not safe for him to return. Despite Grady’s convincing that Owen will return, Bailey accepts that she’ll never see her father again and requests that she returns back to her normal life - which is what Hannah and Bailey do together. 

The plot experiences a time jump of 10 years that shows Hannah and Bailey in their lives in Los Angeles where Bailey is now in her twenties as opposed to being sixteen. Since her agreement with Nicholas, Hannah feels like she’s constantly being watched by Nicholas’ shadows that are awaiting Owen’s return - only this shadow is that belonging to Owen. The pair have a very brief exchange and silent reunion, before Owen quickly takes off, not before reminding Hannah that all the could-have-been-boys still love her - a nod to their earlier dating days. Neither parties acknowledging their relationship to one another, out of fear for Owen’s safety. 

I’m not sure what it was about this book, but it left me feeling nothing - a bit meh, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but it’s not a book I wouldn’t ever re-read. It’s a story I’ve read and experienced, but I wouldn’t be inclined to relive the story because it didn’t bring me much emotion. 

Starting off, I felt like there were wayyy too many characters to keep on track of, who they were and their involvement to the plot. Quite a few times I had to highlight their names to find out who they were - thanks to the kindle app feature that allows you to do that. I personally think there should only be 4 character at most in stories and that’s including the main characters. I struggle to keep on top of people and their names when it’s on screen, never-mind when I’ve got no visual representation of them. Maybe it’s just me, but I think character should only be involved if they have a substantial role within the plot and are mention frequently, otherwise it’s leads me to forget who they are and their relevance. 

The story started off very slow and I’m so surprised I didn’t DNF this book out of how slow it was. It could be that I was also ill during this book, so perhaps it just dragged because I was under the weather - that’s what a long illness and ear infection will make you feel, like everything is going in slow time. 

I don’t believe this was a shocking thriller that had me on the edge of my seat, but I didn’t anticipate the plot of new identities. I hope that when I come to watch the series, that I enjoy that more (I will share my thoughts). Is that even possible - for a story to be more enjoyable onscreen than the book that it’s based on? It goes back to the whole the book is better debate. I personally think it depends on the production of the adaptation. 

At the end when Bailey called Hannah mom, that made me pull a 😭 face because it shows that Bailey had finally accepted Hannah and they’d managed to develop a good relationship in Owen’s absence. 

I was expecting the end to go on a little further than where it ended. I was reading expecting another chapter, but upon turning the page, I was met with the acknowledgments, which I wasn’t expecting - made me do a this is it comment. Despite this, I did enjoy the ending and how it was a bittersweet closure, which made sense. I liked how there was an appearance of Owen, who let Hannah know he still loved her. I just wish it also involved Bailey. I also wish we had of experienced Owen’s POV, where he could at least detail how he didn’t have an interaction with his daughter, but he was able to watch her from afar. This was something that Hannah mentioned might have happened, but I would’ve liked to have seen it from Owen’s POV.

Definitely not a book I’ll reread because I know the storyline and it didn’t bring me any sort of overwhelming emotion or feeling that I need to reread it. I’m looking forward to watching the series to see how it differs from the actual book plot and also from how I envisioned everything. If other work by Laura Dave was to venture my way, I would read it if it was something I was dying to know, but otherwise, I don’t think I’d actively pursue her other work. 

Georgia