Review: Approximately Yours

Approximately Yours by Julie Hammerle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Danny lives in a town called North Pole. Unsurprisingly the town is an homage to all things Christmas, everything is Christmas themed and the town takes the annual gingerbread competition very seriously.

Danny had high hopes of playing professional basketball until showing off in front of a reporter he fell and broke his ankle. Now his big chance may have gone forever, his girlfriend has dumped him for the waterboy and he realises that he has no clue what he wants from life.

Holly's grandmother lived next door to Danny's family. Growing up Holly and her cousins used to visit North Pole every year at Christmas and Holly would enter the gingerbread competition, mainly because even back then she was in love with Danny. In those days Danny was less athletic and more nerdy.

After Holly's grandmother died the family have returned to North Pole one last time to pack up her house before putting it on the market. When Holly and her cousin Esmerelda (Elda for short) go into Santabucks for coffee they see Danny serving behind the counter. Holly is sad that her childhood crush doesn't even recognise and, just like every other guy she's ever met, he only seems to have eyes for her beautiful cousin. Whilst Elda might be every guy's wet dream, she is also a bit weird, fascinated by plumbing, and has difficulty talking to guys she likes. So a plot is born, Holly will help Elda when she goes on a date with Danny by telling her what to say (and what not to say). In Danny's defence, he is trying to avoid going out with another girl just like his ex, he is attracted to Holly but she seems to turn her nose up at him so he tries to do something different by dating Elda.

Just like in Cyrano de Bergerac, Elda and Danny are totally incompatible but Holly and Danny text each other constantly. Danny can't understand why the woman he chats to for hours at night about architecture and films and the gingerbread competition suddenly starts talking about plumbing and roadkill when they meet in person.

This was a sweet YA romance, the trouble is when you add the sweetness of Christmas in a Christmas-themed town it becomes almost too sweet. For those who know the plot of Cyrano there were few surprises and very little tension. Danny and Holly were so 'nice' that they didn't really have much character. I was more interested in Elda's obsession with plumbing.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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