Review: Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop by Tricia O’Malley

Published By: Lovewrite Publishing
Publication Date: December 2, 2024
Date Read: December 11, 2025
Genre: Adult – Romance / Magical Realism
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 338

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Delicious banter, bookstore magic, adorable puffins, and a heartwarmingly happily-ever-after makes this an enchanting Christmas treat.

The universe is playing a joke on me.

An unexpected inheritance has gifted me with the dream of a lifetime – owning a charming bookshop in small-town Scotland. Little did I know this gift comes with a surprise – Highland Hearts bookshop has been running an underground magical matchmaking service – and as new owner of the shop, I am expected to deliver on these matches.

As Christmas looms, and lonely hearts beg for love, I’m tossed into the world of magic and romance, aided by a meddling book club who seems more interested in romance than reading.

The problem is – I just don’t believe in love. Or so I thought.

It turns out there’s one local bird nerd and Scottish hottie, Alexander MacTavish, who has my heart all aflutter. While he’s more into puffins than paperbacks, I can’t help but notice he’s showing up at the bookshop to help every time something goes wrong. Maybe it’s my determination to have an adventure, or maybe it’s the magic, but every time tall, dark, and grumpy enters my bookshop, I find myself wanting to read up on birds just to catch his attention.

As my newfound magic falters, and the town enters my shop into a cutthroat Christmas window decorating competition, I find myself working side-by-side with Alexander, who seems just as determined to avoid love as I am.

With Christmas fast approaching, I must figure out if I can suspend my disbelief and make the match of a lifetime – my own.

I’ve always been such a big lover of everything festive and Christmas related. Festive books included. So, when I came across Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop in the Libro.FM sale, I couldn’t resist. And I am so glad that I got this one, as this was just so much fun. It is definitely a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form… and I loved every moment.

One thing I really enjoyed about this one is that it adds a little bit of magic. Our FMC inherits a bookshop in a small town in Scotland, and when she gets there she discovers magic is real, and that the bookshop is offering a matchmaking special, where they use magic to match people based on their favourite book. I absolutely loved this! As a big lover of everything fantasy, having that magical realism tilt to the book just made it even better for me. I really loved this concept.

My one little gripe about the book is that as we got further and further in, it definitely leaned more into just the romance and relationship between the FMC and MMC. Which was great… but the magical elements seemed to just be pushed to the side a little bit. I was just a little bit sad about this as I felt like the elements that made this book completely unique just fell to the wayside towards the end.

Overall Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop is the cutest, most magical Christmas romance you will read this year. I am so very glad that I read it, and I will definitely be checking out some more of Tricia’s backlist. If you’re a fan of anything festive and anything romance, I cannot recommend this book enough. Check it out! You won’t be disappointed.