Short Take Reviews: In a Holidaze and The One for Me

 

IN A HOLIDAZE
Christina Lauren

Series: N/A

Published: October 6, 2020

Source: Gallery Books and Netgalley

4 stars

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.

*****

In a Holidaze took all the things I love most about Christina Lauren’s contemporary romances and combined them all together to make a feel-good holiday story that had me smiling from start to finish.

Mae and her family spend every Christmas at a snowy Utah cabin with their lifelong friends. But this latest trip ends with much awkwardness (a drunken hook-up with her longtime crush’s brother – ack!) as well as the news that the cabin may be sold. A desperate plea to the powers that be to show her what will make her happy is the catalyst that finds Mae reliving the last week at the cabin again… and again and again… with varied results.

I loved Mae’s story and watching her journey from feeling stagnant in her job, and life in general, to someone who spoke her mind and made bold choices. Rounding out the story was a cast of secondary characters who practically leapt off the page. I fell in love with this close-knit group and all their many Christmas traditions. The romance played out in a way that made my heart happy and feeling completely satisfied. In a Holidaze was the perfect holiday read!

THE ONE FOR ME

Corinne Michaels

Series: Arrowood Brothers #3

Published: August 18, 2020

Source: Purchased (Audible)

4 stars

Devney Maxwell has been my best friend since we were six years old, but she has no idea I’m in love with her.

Even when I’m on the road playing professional baseball, she’s my home—the only one I’ve ever known. But when I return to Sugarloaf to care for the family farm, I discover she’s trying to talk herself into a life with the wrong man … and I become desperate.

It only takes a single, perfect kiss to change everything.

I have six months to get it right with Devney—to convince her to leave this town and turn that kiss into forever.

I aim to do just that as I spend my days coaching her nephew’s baseball team, fixing up the farm, and loving her with all I have. Finally, it seems like our relationship is secure and we’ll find a way to make it work.

Then tragedy strikes, changing her life forever. She’s needed here more than ever, but as for me—there’s no way I can stay.

I know she’s the one for me, but I might have to let her go…

*****

I have been loving Corinne Michaels’ Arrowood Brothers series and The One for Me was no exception. It didn’t hurt that the friends-to-lovers trope (used so well here) is one of my favorites. Sean and Devney had been best friends since childhood. They saw each other through family traumas and formed a lasting bond. When Sean, a professional baseball player, returned to the small town of Sugar Loaf, he couldn’t keep denying that his feelings for Devney went well beyond friendship. Devney took some convincing but when she needed to move out of her parents’ home and went to stay with Sean… that helped speed up the process. 😊

In typical Michaels’ fashion, there was some serious heartbreak. As soon as I realized what was about to happen during a pivotal scene, I thought: Oh my goodness, she's done it again. Corinne is going to make me cry. (And then cue all the tears.) As much as the tragedy that occurred broke my heart, seeing the love and support that came in the aftermath made me melt. Devney was so strong and resilient, and Sean was so loving and willing to do whatever it took for them to have a future together. And while I had guessed the big secret/plot twist well before it was revealed, it didn’t lessen my enjoyment in the least. The solid foundation these two had as friends gave their relationship a steadiness and intensity that gave me all the feels. I could keep reading book after book about the Arrowood brothers and the women who love them. 

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