The daughter of a Philadelphia bar owner, Kate Flannery went from flunking auditions for Philly TV shows Al Alberts Showcase and Chief Halftown and pretty much every theater in the city to being part of the workplace comedy juggernaut that was The Office. Overall, ‘Last Christmas’ helped explain Ariana’s behaviour in the series thus it is a definite must-read for those who have already devoured the ‘Private’ series.Kate Flannery, who played Meredith on The Office, at South Street dive bar Bob & Barbara’s / Photograph by Linette & Kyle Kielinski The best thing was, I got to know Ariana a lot better and as a result, I actually felt sorry and sad for her despite knowing that she wasn’t thinking straight and that her emotions were clouding her judgments. It featured a nice balance of romantic and morbid moments. Therefore, this wasn’t a straight up romance story. There were also plenty of dark moments namely involving Ariana. The stalker element was incorporated effectively as the author created the right atmosphere which induced suspense and impending doom. Thomas was also strangely more fleshed out in this one book in comparison to the ‘Private’ novels. I found myself rooting for them to be together even though neither of them was close to perfect and clearly had issues of their own. The way they interacted with each other and how she gradually let her guard down around him was sweet and ultimately believable.

Furthermore, she and Thomas had great chemistry – something that he never had with Reed, in my opinion.

There’s some background information on her family and how her mother has affected and influenced her hence she feels the need to portray the image of a popular girl surrounded by those with a high social status even if she doesn’t feel comfortable around them.Īlthough she reminded me of Reed due to her irrational beliefs regarding popularity, she was definitely a lot more interesting than the latter. Here though, the author revealed several different sides to Ariana as well as her thoughts which I particularly liked having a glimpse into. In the ‘Private’ series, I found her to be sort of boring and I didn’t understand why Reed was intrigued by her. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed having Ariana as the main character. However, their bliss is interrupted by Ariana’s realization that someone is watching them. Consequently, she chooses to spend Christmas with Thomas at Easton Academy instead of following her possessive boyfriend Daniel home to meet his family. It revolves around one of the key Billings characters, Ariana who falls for the mysterious bad boy, Thomas. ‘Last Christmas’ is the prequel to the ‘Private’ series (reviews on its installments will be featured in the future).

Last christmas kate brian