It’s November – and that means it’s time for Christmas reads, and so far this one is the best of the season. Finding My Elf is an incredibly speedy, properly holiday-perfumed little read – and even better, it’s a very charming tale with loads of personality that makes the reader sit up and take notice. It’s about two collegiate rivals working a mall job who fall in love and well, find themselves, during the Christmas season.
Freshman college student Cam is desperate. Becoming a big fish in a big pond after graduating high school and moving to college, he’s close to failing out of his theatrical major due to a lack of confidence, which puts him in danger of losing his scholarship. The last thing he wants to do is tell his hardworking dad that he’s within inches of losing out on graduating from NYU. Heading home to Lindell for winter break, he decides to take an acting job to pay off his debts; the first one that comes along is being one of Santa’s elves at a nearby luxury mall.
Backing up Santa doesn’t match Cam’s natural demeanor, but at least it pays decently. Unfortunately, he finds he must contend with his ex-boyfriend, Leroy, who’s also an elf working at the mall. When Cam learns that, at the end of the season, the most popular, customer-pleasing elf in the bunch will be given a $5,000 bonus and named Top Elf, he becomes determined to do his best. His invention – Oopsy the Elf – gains him viral fame and puts him on the fast track at work. But there’s one fly in Cam’s ointment, and his name is Marco.
Marco is the head elf in Santa’s village, and he’s everything that Cam isn’t (as an elf) – charming, cheerful, friendly, and great with the kids. Cam vows to outdo Marco – but might something be stirring in his own heart – a certain something called love? Will Cam fall back into love with Leroy or will he and Marco turn their rivalry into romance? And will he get that 5k bonus?
Finding My Elf is about growing up, finding love, and managing to make it through the holiday season without punching demanding parents in the face at shopping malls. It’s fun, it’s lively, and it remembers exactly what it feels like to be young and struggling.
Cam feels like a real, fallible person, so I couldn’t help but root for him. I liked his friendship with his buddy, Jazz, and the push-pull of his attraction to Marco. Marco is a happy ball of energy who is wonderfully imperfect.
The only reason this didn’t end up an A-level read for me is that the book ends before Cam can return to NYU and straighten out his educational issues. He has new performing confidence, sure, and a new romance to boot, but his collegiate fumblings are a central part of the novel and this never manages to get resolved in time.
Otherwise, Finding My Elf is a delight of a read that’ll please readers everywhere, and deserves a prime spot under their tree.
Grade: B+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance|Young Adult
Sensuality: Kisses
Publication Date: 11/2023
Recent Comments …
Well, it is true that over 121K readers have given it basically a five star rating. It’s flawed, for sure.…
I don’t do YA much anyway, so it’s unlikely I’d have read this, alhough given all the hype I have…
Hmm, isn’t sending your kid to a dangerous school the premise to just about half the YA books out there?…
Thanks for this review. Sounds cheesy as hell and not in a good or fun way
I enjoyed this more than you did but I too struggled with the premise. Unlike The Hunger Games where it…
Thank you . I read the free sample and the nonsense you expound on above was sufficiently grating to me…