Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Review - In a Holidaze

Title:   In a Holidaze
Author:  Christina Laurens
Publisher:  Gallery Books
Genre:   Women's Fiction
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   336
Date of Publication:   October 6, 2020
My Rating:   3 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

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 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.


MY THOUGHTS:

What happens when you wish something would never end? That is what Maelyn Jones is about to discover. For her entire life, Mae and her family have been spending Christmases with a couple of other families at a delightful Christmas cabin in Utah. Mae knows that this will be the last holiday that they will spend together. And for a book that is said to be Love Actually meets Groundhog Day, Mae’s wish is that this holiday vacation continue to occur year after year.

Mae’s simple wish leads to a sudden car crash as she is driving away from the cabin. She blacks out. Next thing Mae knows, she is back on the airplane headed to Utah - only to repeat the same holiday week time and again. Truthfully, Mae would rather forget one very specific event of said week, a disastrous kiss that shakes the foundation of perfect memories.

Unfortunately for Mae, as she is destined to repeat the same fiasco over and over again, she is determined to break this continual loop that is beginning to drive her crazy. While trying to figure out why a simple wish would land her in a time traveling loop, Mae is also realizes that keeping conversations straight is rather dizzying in the varying timelines.

With a mix of drama and humor, along with a rather Hallmark-like romance, have fun suspending belief as I did in this delightful book by the prolific duo that is none other than Christina Lauren.

Many thanks to Gallery Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fifteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received multiple starred reviews, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, been inducted into the Library Reads Hall of Fame, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, a Lambda Literary Award finalist and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, followed by  Roomies, Love and Other Words, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, My Favorite Half-Night Stand, and the Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal starred The Unhoneymooners, out May 2019.


Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.


Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you can find her at her desk, writing or watching BTS videos. She lives in Utah with her husband and daughter, thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter.


You can follow their shenanigans at:


@lolashoes (Lauren) & @seeCwrite (Christina) on Twitter, and @ChristinaLauren on instagram.

For official information about their books, events, interviews, movie/TV news and more, follow @christinalauren.


7 comments:

  1. I keep meaning to read this duo, maybe I won't start with this one though

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  2. I have been wanting to read one of their books.

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  3. Sounds lovely. I hope to one day give this duo a try.

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  4. I have wanted to read this book; as well as this author-duo for a while now

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  5. Great review Robin I have an arc by this duo I got back in January but I haven't read it yet but I hope I can get to read the arc soon. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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