Every time Jenny Holiday’s name crops up, it is accompanied by praise for her books. Some authors excel no matter the format, short, long and all sizes in between — Holiday is one such author.

Holiday writes a story full of warmth and affection among all the people in the story: the friendships and the love interests. They all have each other’s backs and are always ready to offer their support. This is the true miracle of Christmas — the caring of each other in difficulties and the celebrations of joy.

Holiday has the talent to distill emotions down to their essence that enable her characters to connect at a fundamental level. The unbreakable bonds thus created make her HEAs all the more powerful. This is at the core of her storytelling, and that makes readers identify with her characters so much and her stories resonate with them so much. In a story set at Christmastime, Holiday has created a magical amuse-bouche of a tale.

https://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2018/12/17/keira-soleore-romance-recs-suleikha-snyder-jenny-holiday-jessica-lemmon/

This sweet yet steamy novella is a great addition to the Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series, telling the story of the couple whose wedding started it all in One and Only. The holiday framing helps ease the dramatic nature of a difficult topic like couples debating having children. I recommend this series to members of a romance novel book club I attend.

Favorite Quotes:

He was perfect. The perfect gentleman and the perfect… not gentleman, as the situation required.

Jay had never thought about sex having magical healing powers. That was for other people. Hippies. People doing breathing exercises and chanting mantras. But clearly there was some healing to do here.

But one thing she’d learned recently was that sometimes it was a good idea to expand your definition of perfection.

My Review:

I adore this couple and holy scorched sheets, Batman – they have world-class stamina! My beloved Kindle was in extreme danger from industrial strength grip I maintained. Sigh, I am besotted with this quirky collection of friends and how perfectly this gifted wordsmith supplies them with unique and unconventional attributes and challenges. Jay was an unexpected yet highly interesting dichotomy, a sexy and dirty talking accountant. I have to marvel, and giggle-snort at that.

Merrily Ever After by Jenny Holiday. This is part of her Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series and probably better enjoyed if you have read at least one of the previous books. This one feature Elise and Jay who got married and the first book although the first book was not their love story.

This was a cute and emotional holiday novella about a couple who is already married working through some things. This isn't a spoiler but the heroine, Elise, finds out she's pregnant in this book. And the couple has to work through how are they going to deal with this. As they had previously planned to be child-free.

One of the things that Holiday does extremely well is portraying female friendships between the four main characters. I recommend this series on that fact alone. And in this book the four women spend time discussing Elise's options once she discovers she is pregnant. Give me more books where the default on discovering pregnancy isn't carrying it to term.

Overall this was a very quick and solid read and I was invested in the main couple working out their troubles and rediscovering their happily ever after.

What I do like is that the past characters get realistically worked into this story and they aren’t just there to pimp their books. Jay’s determination to rework the food comparison to baby size also seems really “guy.” The way he goes about proving to Elise that he’s really gung-ho about everything seems in line with his take charge personality. I loved that Jay and Elise are fanatical board game players and how Jay redoes one of their favorites into Dirty Strip Scrabble is hilarious. But there were a lot of cracks in their relationship that I’m still not entirely comfortable with how they’ve been plastered despite the HEA Jay engineers. B-

I’m so glad I started reading romance about a year ago. It’s opened me up to so many good stories and honestly just gives me a break from this crazy world. Jenny Holiday has quickly become a favorite and I loved this novella about Elise and Jay. It’s full of marriage bumps, baby bumps, and Christmas magic. If you’ve read any other books in the Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series then you’ll see a familiar cast of friends who at this point feel like my own friends. Thanks to Forever Romance for letting me read and review this adorable story! I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit, I struggled a little bit with Merrily Ever After. This is a novella that is book 2.5 in the Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series. Book 0.5, Once Upon a Bride, is the story of how Elisa and Jay get together, while Merrily Ever After is the story how they stay together. It's definitely much higher angst than any of the other books in the series to date, and I wasn't quite prepared for that going in. The only thing is, you know it's a Jenny Holiday romance novel so you KNOW it's going to have a HEA. (And, come on, the book is called Merrily Ever After.) A large focus of the novella is on the rocky path their marriage goes through, so prepare that box of tissues if you're a crier (because you'll probably need it).

On the other hand, it was so amazingly great to revisit Jay and Elisa again! I love them as a couple, and the secret santa gifts Elise keeps getting (like her "Bridezilla" ornament) are hilarious. Also, how totally like Elise to have a travel edition of Yahtzee in her purse (and how like Jay to find that super sexy). They're the most adorable, wacky, dorky couple ever, and I love them to pieces. I feel like Elise doesn't get a lot of time to be a fully fleshed out character with all her wackiness on display as a supporting character in the other books in the series (probably because most people only get to see her perfectionist surface, and not her vulnerable board game loving underbelly), so it's really wonderful to get to experience that fun-loving and goofy side of this rather straight-laced couple in these novellas.

This was a super cute novella for this series. I don't really have much more to say than that. I did like seeing inside Elise & Jay's heads and seeing cameos from the other characters. This would be the perfect read for a the holidays; when you want something quick and cute!

Merrily Ever After by Jenny Holiday is book 2.5 in the Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series. This continues the story of Elise Maxwell and Jay Smith who we met in the 'Once Upon a Bride' book.
You could probably make this a standalone without any issues but I personally feel you will enjoy it more if you read the previous book first. Elise and Jay are so much in love and are ready for their first Christmas together but then Elise finds that she is expecting a child. Elise is concerned how Jay will take the news and we see how they deal with that and catch up on their lives.
I have really enjoyed this series!

I probably should have read the first novella that Jay and Elise were in...Once Upon A Bride...before reading this one. I might have liked it better than I did. Because I didn’t have a background to their story, I definitely didn’t enjoy Merrily Ever After like I might have.
Actually, I still might not have enjoyed it. Jay is a very controlling man in the bedroom, which Elise doesn’t seem to mind, but made me feel very uncomfortable. Now, I read all different kinds of romances and have enjoyed many with alpha men who can be bossy in the bedroom. Jay to me was different, and I was less than impressed.
Below is the review I put on Amazon and Goodreads....

Once Upon a Bride, the first novella in the Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series, is Jay and Elise’s story. It’s free on Amazon and in my opinion, might lend a better reading experience to this book if it’s read first. I didn’t, and I think it lessened my enjoyment of Merrily Ever After.
I have the other books on my wish list, so I’m not willing to throw in the towel with the series. I was just sadly not impressed with Elise and Jay as characters. The writing was there and the plot was inspiring and hopeful to those suffering with endometriosis, like Elise. But I just couldn’t connect with either lead.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Jenny Holiday’s Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series so I was really excited to see we were getting a novella about Elise and Jay. I’d recommend you read the first two books so you get maximum enjoyment out of this story.

The reason this series is so great is the group of friends at its center. Elise, Jane, Wendy, and Gia are best friends and each woman gets her chance to shine in her own book so it’s only fair that former bridezilla Elise take a turn.

Due to severe endometriosis, Elise believed she wouldn’t be able to get pregnant, which made her the perfect woman for Jay who doesn’t want kids because he had a terrible father. So what happens when Elise gets pregnant after all and realizes she does want kids?

We go on quite the journey with these two, with Elise realizing the impossible has happened and admitting she secretly did want to have a child, even though it was never supposed to be a possibility. And that’s before she realizes she has to tell Jay words he never wanted to hear. His response was hard to watch but understandable at the same time and that’s where the story really soared. Jay and Elise have to decide what really matters and what they’re willing to do in the process. Of course, their friends are there to support them and I loved watching them in action.

Elise’s yearning for snow and who Jay is with Elise compared to who is with others also told me a lot about these characters and what formed them. There were so many special touches, like dirty Scrabble and the LEGO kit, that showed how good Jay and Elise are together and for each other. Plus, Jay’s grand gesture at the end was everything!

This is a really great story but I had one personal disappointment. While I appreciate the strength of the conflict Holiday presented, I do wish Elise and Jay had remained child-free, simply because there are not many romances where being child-free is presented as a valid option. Yes, Elise had a condition which, until now, prevented pregnancy but she and Jay began their relationship knowing they wouldn't have kids and they were both fine with this. Of course, feelings can change and I absolutely understood where Elise was coming from. I just wish more romance authors overall didn't equate pregnancy and progeny with a couple's happily ever after.

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I have not read anything but this author before and I am so ready to go and read the other books in this series. I love the friendship these four women have, its close but its also "family". They are there no matter what happens, and I love how the author had these girls and there crazy antics throughout this book. I really enjoyed reading this quick read and how even though Elisa and Jay are already married they are faced with something that she feels could destroy their relationship and how its not always perfect. This book does have a lot of adult language and situations throughout so it that's not your thing be forewarned, otherwise this is perfect to cuddle up with a drink and fire and read.

Heart-warming addition to a wonderful series! I didn't think anything could make me love this series more, but sure enough, through an unlikely pregnancy in the mix, and I'm sold! I love how the couple goes through the typical reactions to finding out they're expecting, especially after being told it wasn't possible. Definitely the perfect miracle for this holiday season, and a must-read!

It’s not often that we get the chance to dive back into a couple’s life once the happily ever after comes along. So when we do get the chance, I personally cherish it to bits. In Merrily Ever After we get a chance to see a truly wonderful event happen in Jay and Elsie’s lives… unexpected, most certainly but not without its complications to their relationship either.

It was well established, in some ways heartbreakingly, in Once Upon A Bride that it would be practically impossible for Elsie to find herself ever giving birth to a child. Yet, miracles do happen, doctors are wrong. Knowing how Jay has always made it clear how he feels about having children has definitely taken some of the thrill off of announcing that they are about to be parents to a very reluctant father in waiting.

I found Merrily Ever After to be so very realistic. Elsie knew how Jay would react, and her fears certainly came true. Jay said some things that should never have crossed his lips – yet we often hurt the ones we love the most, especially when the unexpected happens. While it’s true that many times I just wanted to shake Jay, it’s also true that I “got” where he was coming from. Watching a truly realistic event like this happen in a loving couple’s lives was a rare privilege for a reader. It was heartbreaking, and heart mending as well. Jay had to face his past, his fears because there was no way he would risk losing Elsie, even as surprised as he was. His is a journey that we get to travel along on, a healing of Jay and of their relationship as well. This novella packs such a powerful story into a small space – and I loved being able to experience it.

I would recommend Merrily Ever After to any Romance reader – but I think if you can at least if possible, read Once Upon A Bride beforehand then you’ll understand this story so much more. This felt like a special gift from Jenny Holiday to her readers, and I definitely appreciated going through this part of Elsie and Jay’s happy ever after.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Merrily Ever After, book 2.5 in author Jenny Holiday's Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series, is a both a fun and passionate read. The two main characters, interior designer Elise Maxwell, and accountant Jay Smith, are lustfully married. They are happy and successful workaholics, running their own respective businesses. Having a baby was never in their future, yet the pregnancy test proves otherwise. Elise believes this is a Christmas miracle, however, Jay is not as excited. Luckily, the holiday season, good friends, and a bit of snow, make this the merriest Christmas ever.

This is a nicely-written novella. The chemistry and impenetrable love between Elise and Jay is heartfelt, in addition to being seductive and playful. Elise and Jay are realistic characters and I was able to connect with them both as individuals and as a couple. Elise's girlfriends are amazingly genuine, and their loyalty and friendship is inspiring. If you are looking for a slightly emotional holiday read with a bit of steam, then Merrily Ever After is for you! This novella may be enjoyed as a standalone.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

4.5 stars!
Oh, I really liked this Christmas novella by Jenny Holiday. Merrily Ever After was sweet, emotional, sexy and at times funny. I adored the relationship between Elise and Jay. I just love how much in love they are with each other. My feelings for Jay were all over the place. He started out strong. Dipped quite a bit. But then he redeemed himself in a big way. This book was just what I needed this time of year.

I hadn't read any of the previous Bridesmaids Behaving Badly books beforehand but that did not hinder my reading enjoyment. I'm pretty much addicted to this group of friends now. I can't wait to see what's in store for them next.

If you love sexy, heartwarming, emotional holiday romances, I highly recommend Merrily Ever After by Jenny Holiday. I love how this book talks about a very real issue that can arise after a couple seems to have found their happily ever after. I love how Elise and Jay address this issue together, in a way that's honest and emotionally raw while still being really fun and sexy.

When Elise and Jay got married, they both agreed that they will never have kids. Jay is afraid of turning into his father, and Elise thinks she is biologically incapable of becoming pregnant, so it seems like a simple enough promise. But, as this novella begins, Elise learns that she's pregnant, and now has to figure out how to break the news to Jay.

I love how real these characters feel. Elise wasn't as open as she should've been, and when Jay does learn the news, he doesn't respond as well as he could've either. But even when they're at odds with each other, the love between these characters just overflows from the page. The entire time I was reading this, I fell more and more in love with these characters, and became more and more eager to see them find their way back to each other again. 

I also love the way that their sex life plays a huge role in how they communicate. There's such sexual chemistry between them that they almost feel like a new couple, but there's also so much wordless communication that I can also believe they've been married for decades. I especially love the scene where Jay draws Elise into one of their favourite sexual scenarios to get her to open up -- it's a really steamy scene, first of all, but also it shows how their physical connection as a couple fuels their emotional one. More importantly, Jay also notices when Elise wants to straight-up talk, and not have sex mixed up in it, and he pulls away immediately and starts the conversation. This kind of deep, intuitive understanding shows just how perfect they are together, and this scene is just so wonderfully indicative of that.

Finally, the holiday connection is so beautifully cheesy and heartwarming. The ending made me squee, and feel all warm and gooey inside. Merrily Ever After made me fall in love with Elise and Jay and their love story, and I absolutely recommend this as a bookish holiday treat.

+

Thank you to Forever Romance for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This got off to a slower start than I would have liked but absolutely paid off in the end. Jay and Elise don't have their own book in the series, but rather two novellas. The first was about how they met and got together.

In this one they have been together for about a year and are going through their first major rough patch. I thought it was very interesting seeing this stage of the relationship, in general romances end just when the couple marries or commits to get together permanently.

Jenny Holiday had a charming, and just slightly dramatic writing style that I adore (in book one a bridesmaid wears a Xena costume, I mean how great is that!). It shines again here. There was a little too much of each of the main characters 'telling' what their partner's personality is. "Jay was ____, and she adored that about him" or "He knew Elise was _____ and he loved her even more for it" Once or twice is fine, but that kind of thing made up a large portion of the beginning, before the plot really got going.

In all, I really liked it even if there was more angst than I was expecting, and I loved that most of the side characters made and appearance again.

Blissfully in the throes of newlywed life, Elise is looking forward to her first Christmas with her husband Jay. Her holiday spirit comes to a screeching halt, however, when she discovers she’s pregnant – despite all odds, medically impossible, no way no how. While Elise is bouncing between feeling elated and utter panic, she’s terrified to break the news to Jay: right from the start he said he never wanted children. This is their first Christmas together..will it also be their last?

This summer’s It Takes Two was my introduction to the series that’s taken the book community by storm and I’ve been kicking myself ever since for not listening to the praise sooner! Let me put it this way: I do not like short stories. At all. Despite MANY attempts to get into them, side stories and bonus novellas just never clicked for me. Yet I was beside myself with excitement at the thought of having more of this series to read.

Because this is a romance – a Christmas romance no less! – I knew there would be a happy ending, but my heart still went out to Elise several times over the course of this story. Against all odds, she’s going to have a baby and there’s a secret part of her that’s overcome with joy. On the other hand, she’s dreading the thought of telling her husband; when he learned she wasn’t able to have children, he announced she was his dream woman. She doesn’t want to even think about Jay leaving her, but how else could he possibly react to this news? It Takes Two was an incredible short and sweet read that even made this Grinch’s heart grow three sizes – AND cameos from other characters made this novella an absolute delight.