Hot Cocoa Hearts

Wish #3

by Suzanne Nelson

Tis the season... for heartbreak?

Emery Mason is not a fan of the holidays. She's so over the tinsel, the shopping, and all the other trappings of the season. Unfortunately, this year, Em is forced to work -- as an elf! -- at her parents' Santa photo booth at the mall. There, Em meets Alejandro Perez, who works at the hot cocoa shop next door and is always full of holiday spirit. Alex is cute, but he's nothing like Em's real crush -- the brooding and artistic Sawyer Kade.

But the more time Em spends with Alex, the more she realizes that she may not be the Grinch she always thought she was. Soon, a blizzard, a Secret Santa surprise, and a family disagreement throw Em's world upside down. Can Em embrace the magic of the holidays and find the perfect boy to kiss under the mistletoe?

Genres: Romance, Middle Grade, Christmas, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 25, 2016

About the author

When she was in kindergarten, Suzanne Nelson jotted down in a school keepsake album that she wanted to be a “riter.” Though she clearly had issues with spelling, she persisted, composing cryptic poems about rainbows, fairies, mud, and even "Star Wars" in spiral notebooks all through elementary school. When she was seventeen, she filled four journals with her handwritten first novel, titled “The Dream Keeper.” To escape her chores, she often lied to her parents about what time her shift started at the local fast food joint so that she could spend an extra hour writing in the parking lot in her mom’s faded Buick. Her first published novel was The Sound of Munich, followed by Heart and Salsa, The Ghoul Next Door, Cake Pop Crush, and Dead in the Water. She is a shameless fan of “The Sound of Music,” Hershey’s kisses, Charlotte Bronte, and Jane Austen, and can often be caught daydreaming of romping about gothic castles in lovely Victorian gowns. She was born in New Jersey, grew up in Southern California, attended college in Texas, and spent eight years as a children’s book editor in New York City. She now lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut with her family.

Reviews

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is a terrible job to have when you feel totally like the Grinch at Christmas? Working as elf in your parents’ Santa Photo Booth! Emory Mason just does not get into all the fuss made over the Christmas holiday. She could do without any part of it, especially the elf part. When she makes friends with Alex, who works at the hot cocoa shop, his constant holiday cheer gets on her nerves a bit at first. As they get to know each other, Alex is able to make Emory’s “Grinch Heart” begin to grow a size or two.

[Blanca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looks like a cheesy book doesn't it? It's actually not that corny, it just sounds corny. Wait, wait don't leave, I have a plausible reason for reading this:

During my 6th grade year, which was previously two years ago, I was a book noob and I stumbled across one of Suzanne's books "Cake Pop Crush". Of course, my first impression was disgust then it turned into curiosity because there this person who was evidently non-reader who actually seemed like she liked it. Curiosity killed the cat, is what they say. So I read it. I wasn't the type of person to usually read this kind of book, but it was actually entertaining and a feel-good book. And right after reading it, I wanted more, embarrassingly. So this is just one of her books I read.

I have to say, none of her books have failed to entertain me because each of her characters overcomes an obstacle that I really want to know how they dealt with it because I can actually relate to it. There's a unique twist in each book, honestly Plus, I don't mind love interests and the awesome recipes to make them. And sometimes, I just I like to read feel-good stories for amusement, short breaks from studies or just interest.

But, after reading this, I suggest that she doesn't make it look predictable because I could already guess to who it was.

*I feel like I did a good review in a long time*
***4.50 Cocoa Stars!!!***

[ضحى الحداد · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally LOVED IT !!! <3 <3
this is the perfect book to cuddle with in these times because it takes you back to Christmas and happy memories :D
the story is about Emery who absolutely hates Christmas, but one boy, Alex *MAJOR SWOON* has to convince her otherwise.. what will happen ?
this is the best book in the series so far let's see about the rest :)

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy! Adorable! Christmas!!!

[Aileen M · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I didn't really like the book, like it didn't hook me, but I kept reading and it got better. In this book, Em's class is doing a Secret Santa. Em, however, got the schools most girly girl, Nyssa. Em thought that Nyssa wouldn't like anything she would get because she already has everything. however, Nyssa actually loved the things she received.
Em is forced to work at her parent's store. She bonds with the boy that works next door, but she has a crush on this other dude named Sawyer. Although she is sure that Sawyer is the one that is right for her, she may be wrong. Read the book to find out more.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute read. Nyssa was my favorite character. Also, Emery was pretty oblivious to Alex. Overall though, it was a nice Christmassy story.

[Laurelai Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These WISH Food love stories are the sweetest. Anyone who loves the cringy, predictable, but adorableness of Hallmark movies will love any of them. With unique characters and sweet tropes, Suzanne Nelson does a great job with all of them.

[Sierra Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emery Mason does not like holidays but sadly Emery has to work at her parents photo booth for Santa at the mall. At the mall Emery meets Alejandro Perez, who works at the hot cocoa shop next door. Emery thinks Alejandro is cute but he is nothing like her real crush. The more time Emery spends with Alejandro the more she realizes that she may not be the Grinch she thought she was, soon a blizzard and a Secret Santa surprise throw Emerys world upside. Emery is trying to embrace the magic of the holidays and find the perfect boy to kiss under the mistletoe. I thought this book was good and I would recomend this book to a fourth or fifth grader.

[Damia Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this is a kids book but it’s such a cute story. And it makes your heart happy and makes you feel good by the end. Haha. I honestly have read this so many times in the past and I always pick it up around this time of year for a cute Christmas like read. I highly recommend this for anyone with preteen, aged daughters.

[Morgan Hurula]

so far it sounds very good although I'm not that far on the book I look forward to reading it

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It was so cheesy and cute, like a middle grade Hallmark movie!!!! First off, is this Holiday Stroll a real thing??? Because I totally want to take a Holiday Stroll past the Holly Jolly House!

I loved the main character’s parents who were refreshingly normal and involved in her life. I especially loved her dad who had so much Christmas spirit. He was great.

I also liked that this subverted stereotypes somewhat. I thought Nyssa was going to be the Mean Girl of the piece, but I ended up loving her. She was a good friend to Emery.

The romance was super sweet. Totally predictable, but super sweet. This reminded me of a middle grade version of My New Crush Gave to Me and I absolutely loved that book. This one was probably 4.5 stars but it was just so darn cute and funny I had to round up.

There was also some seriousness with Emery coming to terms with the loss of her beloved grandmother. A surprisingly deep middle grade read.

[Ms Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only I would finish a holiday book right at the end of summer break. I've been reading this off and on since last winter and I'm happy to finish it off.

It's perfectly cheesy for the holidays and I liked that the hot cocoa recipes referred to in the story were actually printed in the end of the book. Is it predictable? Yes but it's not written for me who knows where these kinds of stories go. It's for kids who haven't heard these stories for years and years like I have. I'm definitely including this in my winter book displays.

[Kameryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all the books in this series, this book was very cheesy. But this book was my favorite one out of all the books I read from this author. I liked it because even though it was cheesy at some points, it was the least cheesy out of all the books. So I definably recommend this book out of the other ones. It was a pretty good storyline.

[Leyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good. The characters changed throughout the story so much and it was the kind of change you hope would happen. The conflict left suspense and I was eager to keep reading. I liked how you figured out things before the characters realized and you were wondering when they would figure it out. I would definitely suggest this book to others.

[Adalee Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

(1: Very fast pased, finished in two days. I could have finished it in one day

(2: I figured out the plot twist before MC Emery did... She was dumb. I did not like the love interests that much.

(3: Like a Hallmark movie but for middle schoolers. Also funny I read it in the middle of summer

3/5 Secret Santa gifts

[Brianna Cheung · Rating 3 out of 5]

school's been time-consuming, so i thought i would pick up a short and light book. i liked this novel but didn't love it. also, the cover makes me hungry.

[Anastasia McDougall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was gifted this in grade 6 from my teacher and it was my favourite book for YEARS—still is a nice light read to this day! I didn’t know it was a part of the series until now though …ha-ha!

[Rmsooon · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute i even cried ,, it reminded me of " my new crush gave to u "

[Bebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short & sweet! 🩵

[Ciara croom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because it is in a series of books and it is not the type of series that you have to read the first book to know what is going on in the other books and it is like in every book it starts out with something that you don't expect

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sweetness of these stories is the kind of thing that if there was one for every season you'd go back and read just because it warms your heart. In this one, it's a Christmas story in which a girl (a la Polar Express) has lost her belief in Christmas after her grandmother died. Her parents (particularly her father) carry on the crazy beautiful enjoyment of Christmas, decorate, and work at a store at Santa where Emery takes the pictures of the kids. She's a photographer. But she hates the commercialization and believes that her budding romance with a musician at her school who hates the commercialization too will blossom.

But it's the boy who runs Cocoa Cravings with his grandfather who wants to make her a perfect hot cocoa (because she hates cocoa) and you guessed it, realizes also that he was the one she wants all along because he's got a sweetheart of gold.

Will continue to read this middle grade series that's like candy-- sweet.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form.

Ben and I read a chapter of a chapter book every night. We started with Harry Potter and when we finished all of those, I let him pick from a giant stack of books I got from NCTE. This was his first choice. He loved it.

I'm definitely adding it to my chapter books for the grade school and middle school. They're always looking for romance, but finding tame romance is rather difficult. This is exceptionally tame. Plus the jerk doesn't get the girl. The girl realizes he's wrong for her all on her own. And the guy she ends up with stays out of the way for her to have all of her own agency throughout.

[Melody K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book multiple times, but I recently read it on my road trip, and I finished it all in basically a 24-48 hours. The book starts out with Every( The main character)hating Christmas, and Emery liking a boy named Sawyer. The thing is, throughout the book, Emery starts to have a change of heart for Christmas, and that's because she starts to develop feelings for this other boy named Alex. This book really shows how people can have a change of heart, and it's okay to change your opinion on things.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an adorable YA Christmas tale. Emery is embracing her inner grinch this year, but Alex and his cocoa are on a mission to turn her Christmas spirit around. As you might expect, Emery's grumbly, eye-rolly teenage attitude can get annoying, but honestly I think it matches the age, when kids start thinking all those Christmas traditions are just for little kids. Emery is on a path towards realizing she never lost her love of Christmas, and it was fun to ride along. Also, hot cocoa recipes in the back!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is about a girl named Emery who absolutely hates Christmas after her grandma died. But she has to deal with all the Christmas spirit because her mom and dad work at the North Pole Wonderland and she has to be one of santa's elf's. Emery is so scared that her crush Sawyer is going to see her in her elf costume. But Emery has a change of heart by a different boy named Alex which she finds out something different about here self.

[Jeana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this cute book about a girl who hates Christmas because she's grieving the loss of her much-loved grandmother. There's also a middle school love triangle and a hot cocoa store. I read it to my 9-year-old at bedtime and she really liked it, although the kiss at the end made her blush. That was adorable! Really cute book! We can't wait to read more of the series!

[Kimberly Karalius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is the CUTEST! This one has to be my favorite so far, and I don't consider myself too crazy about Christmas either. Alex was pretty irresistible.

[Abbygail Cedillo-Oviedo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was really good. It has everything a 11 years old wanted in a book.

[Lily Godfrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about Emery, who convinced herself she didn't like Christmas. However, deep inside her heart could she still have some Christmas magic?

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

not the dad guilt-tripping emery into liking christmas 💀💀☝