A very sweet, charming and heartwarming book that puts you right into the holiday mood. So many moments that will make you laugh and swoon. Candice and Charlie are absolutely perfect together.

Holidate by Monica Murphy is the 3rd book in the Dating series, and my first book in this series. This book was such a delightful Christmas romance, about opposites attracting. Candice loves Christmas, and everything that entails. Charlie Sullivan hates Christmas except his family owns a Christmas tree farm. If your looking for a sweet Christmas story, with the perfect ending this books for you.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

This was a super fun read. The story is filled with lots of Christmasy events and lots of Christmas spirit. The two main characters, Candice and Charlie are very likeable. Candice took some of the grumpy away from Charlie and Charlie took some of the sad away from Candice. I really like the Christmas gift Charlie gave to Candice. Such a beautiful, thoughtful gift.

This was such a cute and fun holiday read! If you're a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, this book is right up your alley. It was fluffy and sappy in the best ways and definitely put me in the Christmas spirit.

I’m so in love with this author. Each character she writes ends up being one of my favorites.

Sometimes your mothers choices will either work out so she can gloat, or it will be a complete mess. One simple white lie turns into a cute friendship that’s tipping towards a relationship. Of course there are always twists and turns in the story. This book is entertaining. Great characters.

Perfect read for the holiday season or whenever.

*I was given a free advanced copy of this book by Net Galley in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.*

Overall, I would rate this book a 4/5. I loved the chemistry that developed between the two protagonists. I also very much enjoyed Candice's suggestions that her life was turning into a Hallmark movie. I found this completely relatable and hilariously true. Other romances really rush into relationships. I enjoyed the slow burn between these two protagonists. It was way more relatable and realistic not to have the characters say "I love you" by the second chapter, or even by the end. The main reason this book does not receive a 5/5 is Candice's narration. When I first started this book, I groaned out loud. Candice's narrating voice just about killed me. I didn't think I would be able to make it through such a selfish and flippant sounding voice carrying me through a cute, holiday romance novel. The way she broke down a wall and tried to talk to the reader was a bit ridiculous sounding sometimes. As the story moved on, I understood a lot about her as a character and her motives for speaking or acting a certain way, and this increased my like for her as a character by the end. My favorite character to roll through was *Charles* though. His real talk and attitude saved this book. If you are in the mood for a fun, holiday romance, pick up Holidate today!


Whenever possible, put the good things about a book or author up front.
Criticize the book, not the author, if you don’t like what you’ve read. Explain why.

Such a fun and entertaining read! I loved the characters and fell in love with the story . I read it in one sitting

A sweet and lovely holiday read, fast-paced and just like a perfect Christmas movie on Hallmark channel.
It's the first book that I've read in the series but it can totally be read as a stand-alone. Great characters and quite a laugh out loud and heartwarming story.
The perfect read for cold days in winter and a cup of hot chocolate.
I liked the writing as it's a quick read and didn't felt like dragging at all. Looking forward to reading more books by the author.


Thanks for my review copy to Sb pr and NetGalley.

This was a super sweet, fun, festive read! I didn't realize it was part of a series before diving in, but it does fine as a standalone and I would be interested in reading the other books now. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for an easy holiday read that feels like the best Hallmark Christmas movie. I loved it and will probably read again come December!

I LOVED this story soooooo much. It is actually a clean book, there is kissing - alot of kissing but no actual sex scenes and it absolutely worked.

It is book 3 in the series and I read book 1 and loved it. I need to read the 2nd book and this 3rd book was wonderful. It easi;ly stands alone. Its the perfect Christmas romance and I truly felt the Christmas spirit with this story.

Candace is an heiress. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 9 and she misses her every christmas. Candace tries to give back and volunteer her time to charities to honor her mother and that is how she meets Charlie's mother who asks a favor of her.

And that is how she meets Charlie/Charles. He is a big grump who is busy jerk. But he loves his mother and so he agrees to holidate Candace through the holiday season. The two are very different but they come together and find that they enjoy each other.

This was a wonderful, heartfelt story and I really loved it.

A cute and sweet Christmas story, entertaining and well written.
I liked the cast of characters and the plot.
I'd like to read other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

An heiress, Candace Gaines doesn't have to work and she doesn't. But she volunteers, a lot. And that's what puts her in the path of Isabel Sullivan. Her family tree farm is getting into the big leagues and Isabel wants to start donating time and money to various charities and she wants her oldest son, Charlie, to be the face of the company. However, Charlie isn't all that personable, nor does he want to be. He wants to help the family though so he agrees to go with Candice for... reasons, I guess.
Her original schedule includes something almost every night (she really loves Christmas and going to ALL the Things). But Charlie just wants to work. He likes his routine and this... is not routine.
There is not a lot of sex in this book. I wouldn't normally have noticed but the second book in the series had quite a bit (at least in my memory) so it felt like this book was from a completely different series.
It's a great holiday romance but I wish there had been more relationship development between Candace and Charlie and I didn't love the way the Big Misunderstanding unraveled (though, major props to Ms. Murphy for one of her characters actually articulating that it could have been fixed had two of the characters just talked to each other.)

Three and a half stars
This book came out October 15th
ARC kindly provided by Social Butterfly PR and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Lovely festive read. It was a heart warming romance. It was a wonderful book to read. It was well written and flowed well.

HOLIDATE is the third instalment in Monica Murphy’s contemporary, adult DATING romance series. This is Christmas tree farm owner Charlie Sullivan, and philanthropist and fund raiser Candice Gaines’ story line. HOLIDATE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Charlie and Candice) HOLIDATE follows the building romance and relationship between Christmas tree farm owner Charlie Sullivan, and philanthropist Candice Gaines. The holidays are about to get busy and Candice finds herself the ‘victim’ of a lie when she is asked by a well-meaning mother to accompany her son to a variety of holiday parties. Candice, with a holiday scheduled filled to the brim, isn’t exactly thrilled to be holding hands with the local Grinch but discovers there is more to Charlie than meets the eye. What ensues is the building relationship between Candice and Charlie, and the potential fall-out when the truth is revealed.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters include Candice’s friends Kelsey, Eleanor, Caroline (Save the Date #1) and Sarah, her brother Jared’s girlfriend (Fake Date #2), Joyce Rothschild, as well as Charlie’s mother Isabel Sullivan, his sister Victoria; and tree farm employee Isaac Jones.

HOLIDATE is a cute holiday themed story; a ‘Hallmark-esque’ sweet romance where the push and pull of enemies to friendship quickly escalates with each encounter. The premise is endearing; the romance is sweet (no $ex scenes, a few kisses and limited physical touching); Candice is energetic and over the top, almost childlike in her love of Christmas; Charlie struggles with the season and everything it represents. HOLIDATE is a light-hearted and delightful read.

Copy supplied for review by Netgalley

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Candice Gaines is extremely busy during the holiday season with copious amounts of volunteer work. Being in her early 20's and still living at home, she has plenty of free time to fill, or more accurately distract herself from missing her mom who she lost to cancer when she was little. When Candice is approached by Isabel Sullivan, owner of a Christmas tree farm, who needs help convincing her son Charlie to take over the family business, she's hesitant especially considering all she knows about Charlie is that's he's grumpy at best. After fainting and hitting her head Candice doesn't really remember agreeing to help, but Isabel's assured her that she has and introduces the two of them. Charlie immediately doesn't like bubbly, chatty Candice, she's too much. Candice isn't sure about Charlie either but she's not a quitter.

This is such a sweet book and has me ready to get all my Christmas decorations out in the middle of October. It's very Hallmark-esque, in the best way possible, cranky son of a farmer, socialite who he thinks is ridiculous but later learns she has so much more depth, a breakup that's short-lived and minimal conflict. It all made my heart happy. I was so sad for Candice and the real reason for all of the volunteer work that she does, loss is extremely difficult, especially during the holiday season. And Charlie, who doesn't love a cantankerous hot farmer who smells like Christmas? I really enjoyed this story, perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

This book is a hallmark movie in waiting. Seriously. Hallmark - you need to make this movie now.

The best part is that Candice even comments that her life is about to become a Hallmark movie at one point. And it does! Candice is bright, happy and extremely capable. She was clearly a little bit lost in life, losing her mom at age 8. But has a loving family and a great relationship with her step mother. She also has a trust fund to live off of. She spends all of her time doing charity work and planing events for those charities. She also seems to have been very lonely until recently becoming friends with her brother's girlfriend.

She ends up helping Charlie navigate the holiday season of charitable events - although neither is initially a willing party. Charlie is a workaholic and very closed off. I think he is just one of those people who likes a routine and is very introverted. When he is budged out of his routine - he is super grumpy and jerkish about it.

Charlie and Candice are truly opposites - but Candice brings out the best in Charlie and Charlie appreciates Candice for who she is - without wanting to change her in any way. They are so sweet together.

The book ends in a happy for now - but truly seems like it will go all the way to happily ever after.

This was a sweet, quick read, that will give you ALL the holiday glitter and cheer.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are my own!

Also - unlike some series - this book can truly standalone. There are characters from the other books - but you won't miss anything by not reading those first!

Charlie for me was the character I could get into, Christmas tree farmer that hates the whole Holiday season and is just a grumpy person all the time. I mean you don’t blame him if you have ever worked customer service during this time you are also a hater and it loses it’s magic. He is my dream book boyfriend- cute, hardworking, looks amazing in a suit, smells like trees, and wears flannel and boots.
Candice the main character was very off- putting to me in this story, I’m guessing it was all the trust fund babyness. She seems very nice but from a different generation and income bracket that I just wanted to yell well then get a job or go to college, so you have friends your age, doing something, ect. She love the holidays and Christmas, therefore with all her free time does it all with tree lighting, parties, decorating committees, anything and everything.
This is very “Hallmark- movie” with Candice at one point even watching them. There is also nothing but kissing, more than a hallmark but not much. It’s nice, cute, happy ever after, and a good holiday read. I give it 3 stars as Candice really did just ruin it for me.

*Received ARC via Netgalley for honest review*

This one was so cute! I loved the holiday theme as well as the plot. Candice and Charlie were perfect and I found myself really rooting for them. This is my third Monica Murphy book and I will continue to read anything she publishes!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Candace loves Christmas and she does a lot of volunteer work especially during the holdays to keep herself busy. That's the only thing that helps her not think about losing her mother to cancer at this time of year. Charlie hates the holidays, even though he manages his family's Christmas tree farm. Not a very social person, he feels Christmas is just a time when people are insincere.

When Charlie's mom asks Candace to take him to some holiday events to help him become more social and to advance their business, she agrees. In the beginning, Charlie is a royal pain but as they get to know each other their feelings change. Sweet holiday romance.