Weber Haus, the mountainside inn, is gearing up for another extravagant Christmas, and everyone’s favourite white cat supervises the decorating in SNOWBALL UNWRAPPED. A fun trope is when twins switch places, and we certainly see that happen in the latest seasonal romance tale in the Snowball series by Kristen McKanagh.

Jocelyn Becker is a contentedly quiet film historian, but the twin sister she would do anything for has a different personality. Ilse Becker is the co-host of a popular TV show called Home & Hearth. She’s a perfectionist, which is a sign of professionalism, but also of someone who might be difficult to work with. Jocelyn doesn’t really know how Ilse works, but she’s about to find out the hard way. Ilse is weepy from a boyfriend problem and needs her beloved sister to stand in for her while she jets off to the Philippines. Gregori Stadnicki-Borch, of titled European descent, just texted about breaking up, from the tropics, and Ilse, for once in her life, wants to put a relationship first.

Snowball, the inn cat, takes to Jocelyn at once when the crew arrives to film a series of holiday-themed parties. Unfortunately, the show includes a white studio cat named Angel, who attacks the younger and smaller kitty.  Ilse’s reliable assistant Margot is taking care of everything for the woman she thinks is the star. The other host Ben Meyer can’t put his finger on why Ilse is being so cooperative and vague about all the script changes the studio requested, but he’ll take it and run. As long as Jocelyn can keep from freezing in front of the camera – or keep Angel from scratching her, as the cat knows the difference – she might just succeed.

Personalities are emphasised because not only are the twins opposites, but so are the cats. Girl cats aren’t aggressive, but they can certainly fight other girls for territory or status. Every time Jocelyn cuddles the affectionate Snowball, Angel later smells the resident cat on her clothes and retaliates, sometimes on live TV. Chaos! While Jocelyn is brave to try helping her sister, she just knows it’s going to go wrong. Especially after she finds herself liking Ben far more than Ilse ever did.

SNOWBALL UNWRAPPED by Kristen McKanagh features a skating party as well as the usual indoor activities, so plenty is happening and anyone interested in a lively tale about modern media will have a chuckle. Teens to adults can enjoy the latest Snowball romance which proves that cats are not always as sweet as they appear.