THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners.It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere … Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.
But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.
The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.
Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark “downright hilarious” (Helen Hoang, author of The Bride Test) hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.
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This book was a very heart warming read with wonderfully created characters and a well written storyline that made this book a very enjoyable and worth while read!
First of all I’m a huge fan of this writing duo. So I don’t personally think they’ve ever written a horrible book. But that’s just my point.
In A Holidaze is essentially what the title covers. Our heroine is thrown in a time loop, why, you ask. The reference to GROUNDHOG DAY AND LOVE ACTUALLY is fairly accurate. Mae, our lead had always spent Christmas with family and oftentimes things can go wrong. Mae makes a wish that gives her what she desires. But is it truly what she wants? How she comes to that conclusion is why you read this book.
There’s some drama and some romance thrown in. But is there secrets and lies? And that eternal loop makes it hard to keep up appearances along other things.
I recommend the book if you like either movie! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Gallery Books.
BOOK REVIEW TIME
“In a Holidaze” by Christina Lauren
Another Christina Lauren book that I just adored! These two can do no wrong!
“In a Holidaze” is the perfect mix of romance, holiday cheer and moments that make you laugh out loud. I can always count on this duo to bring fun to my world with their characters and storylines.
When Mae finds herself living the same Christmas vacation over and over, she makes a wish “to find what makes her happy”. What follows is a week full of moments that shape and mold Mae into the person she’s always wanted to be. In the hopes of being a better version of herself, Mae gives herself the go ahead to fall in love. Is a happily ever after in the cards for her? Or will Mae end up learning happiness has a cost and sometimes, you don’t get the gift you’ve being wishing for?
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for my ARC of this novel!
STAR RATING:
I adore holiday romances, and this one was very heartwarming, sweet, fun, and charming. I am enjoying Christina Lauren’s romcoms very much. I really like Maelyn and Andrew’s characters and their relationship made me happy. I also enjoy the whole Groundhog Day experience, it’s always a fun thing to witness, so that was a nice story line. All in all this was a fun book to read that left me with a smile on my face and thoughts of Christmas in August.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this early read.
Have you ever crushed so hard on a guy that it lasted for years? Never told a soul, but suffered in silence?
This story reminds me of my teenage and young adult years so much! With a Hallmark movie feel to it, this book is a wild and wacky ride back to the future, or is it the past?
The setting is awesome. The descriptions are just as crisp and clean as the new-fallen snow. It definitely made me long for the holidays!
I simply fell for the delicate balance our main characters had. Tentative, yearning, and just so perfect. Notice, I am not naming who HE is… I want it to be a surprise for you. But oh, what a surprisingly sexy and heart-filled story!
The authors have such a perfect formula for their writing. I am forever thankful for their amazing talent to tell a story that sucks me in so deep. Tears and smiles, emotions all over the place, I ended with the most amazing “sigh” for the love of it all.
Contemporary Romance? In a Holidaze is so much more than that! The authors are a national treasure and this book is a perfect reason why.
Who wouldn’t want to go back in time for a do-over when you realize you’ve kissed the wrong brother?
I loved this story set up from writing duo Christina Lauren in their latest romance release, In a Holidaze. Maelyn Jones is spending the holidays at a cabin in Utah where she has always spent the Christmas holiday with her family and two additional families she’s known since she was born. Only she wakes up the morning after Christmas having kissed her long-time friend, NOT his brother whom she’s had a massive crush on since she was a teen.
Not only is she devastated by this oops moment, but she soon learns that this holiday is to be their last one together at the cabin so full of memories. Desperate to change the past and the future she throws out a wish to the universe asking it to show her what will make her happy. Little did she know that wish would cast her into a time loop where she gets to relive her Christmas holiday giving her the opportunity to kiss the RIGHT brother and maybe even save the cabin and their Christmas tradition in the process.
The time loop plot line was overall an interesting twist and something new from Christina Lauren. It was very reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day if you’re familiar with it, although there wasn’t an excessive amount of looping where you’d have to reread the same piece of story line over and over. What I liked best about using this idea was that it gave Mae the ability and confidence to just go for it – to finally live authentically and to share her feelings with Andrew, come what may. She was living in the moment without fear and it was totally freeing. If only we could all live that way!
And yet, I also felt like you’re left hanging with the whole “why is this happening to me” question she asks herself about the time loop. It’s a good question but it’s never answered and there’s no real resolution to the time loop. Was there more to it? Why was she picked to rewrite her past? At times I felt led that there was going to be a deeper meaning exposed regarding the time loop but then nothing ever came of it.
Despite that, I loved Andrew and Mae together – once they were together. It took a bit to get to this point however where in the beginning I was questioning whether this was even going to be a romance book at all. If there was one thing I would change, it would be to add Andrew’s point of view. It was hard for me to truly buy into their connection because you don’t know what’s going on in Andrew’s head half the time.
If anything, Andrew’s reaction the morning after the first day of Christmas to her kissing his brother made it hard to believe his turnaround later in the book. Other than him knowing Mae since childhood you have no idea what he sees in her. It’s never discussed. You’re just supposed to assume that they both love each other because they’ve grown up together but I got hung up on that for some reason.
There could have been more relationship development in my mind but that could just be me. There were however some really great moments with them that I loved and yet I also felt like there could have been more. Maybe a flash back or two so you knew how much Adam liked her even if just as a friend?? One of their last scenes in the boathouse though had me in tears and the epilogue was truly fantastic.
There were also A LOT of additional characters in this story. At times I thought there were way too many, but there were some great heart to heart moments that Mae had with a few that were so endearing. I loved Benny most of all- the pot smoking, 50 something who was Mae’s confident. He was such a good friend when she confided in him and I loved their scenes together. I also thought that Mae’s conversation with Andrew’s father was really poignant and a good moment in the story.
As far as a holiday romance, other than the title, a moment of Christmas tree decorating and opening presents, there wasn’t too much “holiday” to this novel so it really could be read any time of the year or whenever you’re in the mood for a bit of holiday cheer. Don’t let that part steer you away from reading it even if it’s not December .
Overall, I liked this book because it was unique and something different from what Christina Lauren has given to us before. Is it my favorite of theirs, no, but I’d recommend reading it all the same.
*Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Check out this review and all my romance book reviews and romance book lists on my book blog, She Reads Romance Books: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/
This is a cute, funny festive little romance. After a drunken mistake with ‘the wrong brother’ on the last night of their holiday vacation, she finds herself in a Groundhog Day situation. She must figure out what it is she’s supposed to do, in order to move on with the future. After several do-overs, she basically says eff-it and decides to just do what she wants, since no one will remember tomorrow (when she starts the holiday all over once again.) This time she’s doing things to make herself happy, even though normally she’d be reluctant to do them, not worrying about the consequences, and enjoying every minute of it. There’s lots of fun action with the families as they carry on with their holiday traditions. Scavenger hunts, snowball fights, sledding, mistletoe kisses to name a few. It is written strictly from her POV. The characters are all great. A good mixture of personalities from cool calm and collected to zany. It’s a pretty good light-hearted read. No major tear-jerker moments. There is some sexual content, but it isn’t graphic or explicit. There’s a little bit of angst, as she struggles with liking a boy who doesn’t feel the same (or so she thinks,) and not being happy with her job, but being too afraid to do anything about it. It’s well written, easy to read and flows smoothly.
*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.
Maelyn Jones feels like her life has stalled professionally and personally. The one thing she could always count on, even after her parent’s divorce, was Christmas at the cabin with both her parents, her brother, their large chosen family, and tons of tradition. When Ricky and Lisa announce they’re selling the cabin, Mae feels even more lost. Sending a wish out into the universe to find what makes her happy seems like a good idea at the time, only she could have no way of knowing she’d time travel back to the beginning of their vacation and get stuck in a time loop until she gets everything right.
In a Holidaze is another phenomenal book from Christina Lauren, I adore everything about it, it’s sweet, funny, and full of good feelings. It’s also more than just a romcom, Mae spends a lot of time figuring out what she wants in life and putting herself out there to get it. She feels real and relatable, and I could feel every emotion she was experiencing because it’s so well written. I finished this book last night and I’m still struggling with finding words that adequately describe how much I love it. There are great side characters, they’re all different and add so much to the story without being overwhelming. Andrew’s just everything, there aren’t enough adjectives to describe him. I’ve never loved single pov before, but Christina Lauren changed that for me, not getting a peek into Andrew’s head made the story so much better. I thoroughly enjoyed the time loop aspect, I was so stressed out Mae was going to start over around the 70% mark, or later. You absolutely need to read this amazing, warm, fuzzy, sweet, funny holiday book.
In A Holidaze is my favorite book by Christina Lauren to date! There was so much heart and soul in this book. I laughed, I cried, I got angry and I fell in love with this blended family.
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, and a lot of that has to do with very fond memories growing up. If I could describe this book, it would be just like that. It’s a family spending a week together to enjoy their holidays, adding new memories, except this year there’s a twist.
The whole Groundhog Day twist was wildly entertaining. I got so invested in Mae’s life and her road to figuring out what would get her out of the loop. By the end of the book, I wished these people were real and that I knew them. That’s the result of some excellent writing from this author duo.
I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have enjoyed every single Christina Lauren I’ve read to date so I expected nothing less from this one. And yet, they were still able to surprise me in the best way.
This one is different. Wishes have real power here. The light element of time travel to the story drew me right in and had me turning pages as fast as I could. It also made it impossible to predict what would happen next. I literally had NO IDEA and I loved that almost as much as the cast of characters! It kept me guessing until practically the very end.
I’m sure lots of people will say this but I can empathize with Mae. It’s hard to be an adult, particularly in a group that always sees you as a kid. All any of us really want is to be happy but it can be tricky to figure that out, too. Fear of making the wrong choice stops a lot of people from making any choice and that’s easy to identify with.
This group dynamic is fantastic. I would love to be part of something like this. Benny is delightful and I would love to spend hours talking to Aaron and Kyle. I have friends like Theo and Andrew. My friends have kids like Zach and Kennedy. It was all so realistic and relatable without being boring.
The steaminess has been dialed back a little on this one and I think that was a solid move. It would not have been as sweet had it been steamier. Christina Lauren managed to strike a great balance and I appreciate the skill it takes to do so. But the romance is there in full force!
This book has been like a good hug. I’m sure I’ll revisit it around the holidays…and I’ll happily tell everyone else to do the same!
OKAY, I don’t pass up a book from this duo so, I don’t even bother reading the blurb these days. I’m super glad that I didn’t with this one. I’m not sure that I’d have given it a chance had I known it had a groundhog day type plot. But, lucky me by the time I figured it out, I was already hooked. I absolutely adored it. The plot is unique and incredibly well written. It’s a super fun read with low angst. It’s exactly the kind of books that I’ve been reading these days. Don’t pass up this holiday read, no matter the time of the year.
Extremely well written, with a very intriguing plot. I think anyone who wants to read a unique holiday romance, with a “Groundhog Day” like plot, will enjoy this story. That’s what my rating is based on, the pure enjoyability of the read and the flow of the writing. I admittedly was rooting for a different ending. There is a bit of a “who will she choose, what will make her happy?” plot, and I was honestly hoping for a different, and less obvious result. But alas I am not one of the authors, so that is not my decision, and they really didn’t make it ever seem like a different result would actually happen, so it was definitely a me created complaint. That being said if you’re looking for unique and low angst, mixed with holiday romance, then you will enjoy I’m sure.
If only we could all have the chance to redo our mistakes. I enjoyed this story so much, it centers around the Christmas holiday and that is the reason we can allow the flight of fancy. This story is a sweet, heart warming romance with a touch of angst,drama and steam. A joy to read, ending with a HEA. Add this to your holiday reading list.
Holidaze, the premise is similar to Groundhog day, by which the main character keeps repeating the same day; in this story, the day is December 20th and told by Maelyn’s point of view. The back story is of a group of six college friends; Lisa and Rick, Benny, Elisa, and Dan, Aaron, who married the only outsider Kyle and adopted twin Kennedy and Zachary. Lisa and Rick Hollis have two sons Andrew 29 and Theo 26. Divorced parents Dan and Elisa Jones have two children Maelyn 26 and Miles 17. Throughout their lives, they have always shared Christmas and fourth July in the Hollis cabin in Park City, Utah.
At age 26, Maelyn is experiencing her 1st life crisis where she lates her life, she broke up with her boyfriend, is pining for Andrew Hollis, in a dead-end job, and moved back home that she shares with Miles, her younger brother, mother, and her mother’s new husband, Victor. Her main wish is just to be Happy! When she finds out her happy place, the Hollis cabin might be for sale, deja vu starts until she finds her happily ever after.
In the first part of the story where Maelyn keeps repeating the same scenario, found tedious and boring. However, the tale picks up speed in a heartfelt, caring, and hilarious way only Christina Lauren could accomplish four peppermint white chocolate stars!
In a Holidaze (Kindle) by Christina Lauren….. What a fun “Ground Hog’s Day” story. This is full of fun characters, laughs, some tears, combined family fun at Christmas…and a great love story with a HEA.
In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren is an excellent, entertaining, and creative holiday romance that kept me entertained from beginning to end.
I have read several books from this awesome author duo and have enjoyed every one. This book did not disappoint. It can be sometimes hard to create a holiday-themed novel without taking it to the tacky route, and this book definitely kept the Christmas theme fresh, enjoyable, festive, and welcoming.
I enjoyed the concept of “Groundhog Day” added into the romance plot, and felt that it added a nice level of complexity to the light, romantic read. I enjoyed Mae and felt empathy for her troubles in life. I enjoyed her personality and her growth throughout her “unique” experiences. I appreciated the chemistry and also the secondary cast of family and characters. I also truly enjoyed the wonderful ending.
This wonderful romantic, comedic, snowy, and fun novel has most certainly placed me into the Holiday spirit. A wonderful addition to an excellent author portfolio. I look forward to additional books from this amazing double duo!
5/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for this excellent ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.