The Sleight Before Christmas 

Author: Kate Stewart

Plot: 4/5 

Spice: 1/5 

I think this book is gunna push a lot of buttons for some people. Especially people who lean towards the more gentle side of parenting lol. But if you’re raising little gangsters, or free thinking, feral to the bone, country boys, you’ll know that gentle parenting ain’t always it. Time and place my darlings, time and place. It was actually refreshing AF to read a book that wasn’t trying to be all woke parent and politically correct. So bravo Kate, hats off to you for making a bold fuckin move and doing it so damn well! 

There is a warning that Kate’s written in the beginning of the book and it didn’t make sense, until it did lol. You’ll know what I mean once you read it. Is some of the stuff in here over the top? YES! Absolutely it is! And I would hazard a guess that that is very much the fuckin’ point, and if you can’t pick up on that, well maybe you’re a bit too dense and need to lighten up a little lol. 

So this book is set after Plight and it gives us Thatch and Serena’s story, which I never knew I needed until I finished it. I’m really, really glad that we got this story though because it showcases the struggles that I think a lot of us have after having been married with kids for so long. I absolutely adore these two and they might be the most relatable couple that I’ve read in a really long time. The dual time line was so well done and Thatch just pulled on my heartstrings the entire time, which I would not have expected. In true Kate fashion, it was witty and hilarious and had me literally crying laughing in some places. I’m looking at you Voldemort balls lol. We get the comedic relief of the rest of the family and a touch of Christmas spirit and everything is tied up once again with a beautiful bow in a very heartwarming holiday romcom. 

My only complaints are that the writing felt a little rushed in some places, like parts of the timeline were missing or forgotten and some of the sentences were structured in a really strange way that had me needing to go back and re-read them multiple times. Throw in a little bit of editing that got missed and it unfortunately knocked it down a star for me. 

Overall though, this was another brilliant book by Kate and really just reinforces how much I love her and her work! Absolute must read! 

Xo