I've read most of what Christina Lauren have written and nothing has come close to the beauty that is Love and Other Words. Until now. I was expecting In a Holidaze to be classic CL: quirky heroine, swoony hero, funny but not too serious. But this story blew me away in ways that I wasn't expecting, and with some similarities to Love and Other Words that made me so happy. In all honesty, I didn't love some of CL's most recent books (Twice in a Blue Moon, Honey Don't List) but this is definitely my second favorite.

In a Holidaze follows Maelyn Jones and her family's yearly trip to a cabin shared with 2 other families for the holidays. These are friends who become family - full of traditions, funny stories, intricate histories. After making a huge mistake and making out with her best friend Theo, and finding out that her big crush Andrew (Theo's brother!) saw them make out, Mae wishes for the Universe to show her what it means to be happy. Immediately after, the family is in a car accident, propelling Mae back 6 days earlier, on the plane to Salt Lake City. As various ridiculous things happen one after another, Mae has to figure out why she keeps getting sent back, and most importantly what, or who, makes her happy.

There was so much beauty in this story. I loved the threads of family, both biological and chosen, being critically important to survival. I loved the threads of traditions and how they can be so important but can also hold us back. And I absolutely loved Mae's love story with Andrew (and I am so happy to it went that way.). The blurb makes it seem like this is a battle of two brothers and that is not the case at all. Their love was pure and beautiful and so darn romantic. I especially loved Mae's growth and her ability to own up to her mistakes. She felt a little younger than 26 at the start of the book but I really loved to see her become more confident in herself. I've got a few quotes that are my favorite and will share them closer to release.

Overall, highly recommend!

I gave this one 3.5/5 stars. Not my favorite Christina Lauren and not my least favorite Christina Lauren. I think sometimes their books just feel generic, but I enjoyed the romance arc between the main characters in this novel. I didn't really enjoy the time loop aspect. It just wasn't for me.

I've pretty much LOVED every Christina Lauren book I've read (and that's all of them!) This book was so sweet, light hearted and it's the perfect read for the approaching Holiday Seasons!

Holidaze features Mae who travels to a close family friend's cabin every Christmas. Mae has had a crush on their oldest son, Andrew, since she was 13 but never has had the courage to do anything about it. This Christmas, things went horribly wrong ending with a car crash on her way back to the airport. Shockingly, when Mae wakes up she is on the plane on her way to begin the Christmas holiday in Park City. Mae had wished to find out what would make her happy and is given her chance to make things right. Every time she does something wrong, she gets sent back and has to start all over again. Mae finally decides to be honest with Andrew about her feelings and things get on track. Hello, Groundhog's day!
Loved this book so much and can't reccomend it enough!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy to read in exchange for my honest opinion and review!

In a Holidaze
336 pages
Genre: romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unread shelf since: September 2020
**thank you @gallerybooks & @netgalley for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review**

SYNOPSIS: One Christmas wish, two brothers and a lifetime of hope are on the line for Maelyn. It’s the most wonderful time of year but not for her. 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 she will spend in her favorite place. She asks the universe what will make her happy, and the tires screech, metal collides, everything goes black. When Mae is awake, she’s on an airplane where she begins the holiday again. She must figure out how to break free of the time loop and get her true love under the mistletoe.

REVIEW: Christina Lauren has done it again and written a swoon-worthy story, with loveable, well-developed characters. This book also had me laughing out loud at some points. The characters felt very real, and none of the awkwardness of a new relationship was held back. The time loop concept was definitely something new, and not exactly what I was expecting. I’d never read a romance novel with that aspect, and Mae came off crazy every time it reset, which really added to the story and was humorous at times. I also liked the amount of times she was reset, as I didn’t want the story to focus more on the time loop, I wanted to focus on the romance brewing. I really wish it was longer so we learned more about Andrew. He really came off as private, which is true to his character but I wanted to know all about him. Overall this was such a good romcom that really put me in the holiday spirit, and that I have a feeling will give me a book hangover!

In a Holidaze comes out October 6, 2020.

#InAHolidaze #ChristinaLauren

This one just didn’t work for me. Although I came to like Maelyn and Andrew, and really liked side character Benny, I didn’t see how the time travel gimmick added to their story. Maelyn makes a rookie mistake at a holiday weekend get-together (note to young adults… don’t trade tongues with the brother of your true love). Then she is given a do-over of the weekend. She apparently doesn’t get it quite right on her first few tries, but finally gets the hang of this assert-yourself business with predictable results.

Christina Laurens fans are loving this book, so maybe its just me being Scrooge!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In a Holidaze starts with a Groundhog’s Day-esque time loop that leaves Maelyn Jones reliving the week leading up to Christmas over and over. Each year, her family and close friends spend the week at a cabin in Utah. Their time there is scheduled with daily traditions they’ve been living out since Maelyn and her friends Andrew and Theo were little. Although they’ve graduated from all sleeping on bunk beds together, the snowman competition is still very much alive. Mae treasures her time at the cabin with the people she loves most in the world, but as she continues to fail at moving forward in time, she’s forced to figure out what she’s doing wrong.

I got all the holiday feels from this book. The descriptions of cozy mornings sipping coffee safe inside from the snow, and the group’s quirky annual activities were so reminiscent of the holiday season. The setting was rich with details and sentimentality that flowed wonderfully through the entirety of the narrative. Long story short, reading this made me want to curl up with a chunky blanket and a cup of cocoa and watch the snow fall outside.

There were a lot of characters between the two families and some of them weren’t distinct enough for me to be able to keep track of them. I couldn’t keep the parents straight in particular. Besides that, the concept behind this book didn’t feel fully formed. The repeated sequences as Mae relives the days and tries to convince her friends of what’s happening seemed super unbelievable. Usually there’s an a-ha moment when you discover what breaks this type of time loop, but I didn’t get that from this book. Instead, everyone just kind of stops talking about it and goes on with their life? I think this book would’ve been so much better as a cozy holiday romance without Mae going back in time, and instead with more focus on character relationships.

Review to be posted and links added in October

I love the Groundhog Day trope. I love Christina Lauren. But, like chocolate and the leather seats in my car, sometimes awesome things are better when you keep them apart.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed the book. But as a GHD trope, it fails for one important reason: as soon as Maesie and Andrew take their relationship beyond flirting, it would be really icky for her to reset and use her knowledge to regain his interest. (Doubly so after they sleep together). But in a sexy romance, the main characters are expected to kiss early on and sleep together by the midpoint. Meaning the GHD part largely falls be the wayside.

One of the staples of this trope is the “oh screw it” montage where the MC does random stuff they would never ordinarily try and constantly resets. Where was Maesie jumping out of the plane, breaking into that house she loves, punching Theo in the face? That montage would’ve injected some much needed humor into the earlier chapters.

Then the universe starts sending Maesie signs instead of resetting her, and it was just too contrived. Reset her to the morning if you can’t put her back at the beginning of the vacation. I really enjoyed the book, but it would’ve worked better to me without those elements at all.

What if you relived a certain time-period over and over until you got it right? Oh and by the way, you don’t actually know what “right” is. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, Maelyn Jones has been thrust into recurring time loop after an embarrassing hookup.

While the story is reminiscent of Ground Hog Day, it is also a very enjoyable holiday romcom. The cast of characters was delightfully flawed yet so very likable. The imagery of the snowy winter setting, rustic cabin and family/friend interactions was so well drawn that I could see it in my mind’s eye. This is a story that will make the reader believe in the magic of the holidays and the families that we create. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.

Whenever I am in a book slump, I can always count on Christina Lauren to pull me out. Before I picked this up, I hadn’t been having great luck with the books I was reading, but In a Holidaze definitely broke me out of my rut.

The story ended up being a little different than I thought it would be, though. The synopsis mentions “hilarious disasters” send Mae back to start the day over and over again and I guess I expected a little more hijinks. What sends her back are life-threatening accidents – and not funny ones. And she didn’t “reboot” as often as I expected, either. I thought there would be several reimaginings of the same scene, but this was limited to only one or two specific scenes before that part of the plot was basically left behind and Mae goes on to live several days in a row that we hadn’t seen before. This isn’t really a bad thing as I like how the story unfolded, I just wish the authors would have committed a little more to the hook of the plot.

That said, I enjoyed watching Mae’s week of Christmas vacation unfold. Every year, her family joins a few other families at a cabin to spend the holiday together. They’ve been doing it since before Mae was even born and the week is steeped in tradition. I loved the cast of characters. They were such a fun, close group of people and I would love to have a group like them in my life. Included in that group is Andrew, who Mae has had a crush on for half her life. He’s always thought she had a thing for his younger brother, so he’s always treated her like more of a little sister than potential love interest. When Mae decides the universe is telling her to go for it with Andrew, she lets him know how she feels and a bit of a slow burn romance begins.

I really enjoyed the romantic development between Mae and Andrew. He was just so sweet. It seemed almost impossible that he could be so perfect and I kept waiting for him to do something awful. Thankfully, he is just a really great guy. There was a bit of time where I got annoyed with him for how he reacted to something, but overall I thought he was a great romantic lead and I definitely shipped him with Mae.

Overall, I really enjoyed In a Holidaze. While I wish it had committed to the whole “groundhog day” gimmick a little more, I liked the romance and the family atmosphere of the cabin. While I did like Mae’s journey to becoming a more confident person, I thought the “big lesson” was a little underwhelming and could have done without a passage regarding religion that I found a little offensive. However, Christina Lauren’s addictive writing and the cute romance definitely broke me out of the reading slump I was in and this book is one I would recommend to Romance fans.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Maelyn is spending her Christmas vacation like she usually does, at a cozy cabin in Park City with her family and their lifelong friends, when she does a dumb thing and makes out with Theo, the younger brother of Andrew, the guy she’s been in love with since she was a teenager. She’s worried she’s just ruined her friendship with Theo and her chance to ever be with Andrew, but luckily the universe gives her the opportunity to redo the whole Christmas vacation, sending her back to the very first day. After a few false starts, Maelyn decides to go for it with Andrew, and what follows is a whole lot of sweetness and romance that gave me warm fuzzies for days!

What I enjoyed: Andrew is the sweetest, gentlest book boyfriend and a genuinely good person. I loved the whole ensemble of characters and the families’ silly holiday traditions. I especially adored the setting, since Park City isn’t far from me! This was a light, fun read, with nice sexual tension between Maelyn and Andrew, and only a little angst that resolves without too much fuss. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Coming October 6.

Heat level: there’s a steamy make out scene but the actual sex scenes are fairly tame.

Thanks @netgalley and @gallerybooks for my digital copy!

Super cute holiday romance! In full disclosure, romance-centered books are very hit and miss for me, so I'm pleased to say - this one was a hit! I enjoyed the development of the relationship between the two main characters and was rooting for them throughout. The holiday cabin setting was fun and overall this was a delicious palate cleanser between a couple of heavier thrillers.

The one thing I found a little weird/unresolved was the time loop - I have a lot of questions about the how/why it happened in the first place and how it ultimately got resolved...but that being said, I think for this book you just need to suspend a little disbelief and take it for what it is. :-) 4/5 stars!

Thank you to Gallery Books and Christina Lauren for my gifted copy of In A Holidaze! This cute holiday book comes out on October 6th.

So, I loved The Unhoneymooners. However, every Christina Lauren book I’ve read since then has fallen short for me. I am not a huge fan of the time loop concept either. I think if they had just focused on the relationships in the book, including friends, family, and romantic, it would’ve been such a cute holiday romantic comedy! The second half of the book was much better for me, and kept me reading to see what happened. I loved that we got to know the characters more, and were able to take on more of the backstory as the book went on.

Overall, In a Holidaze definitely had Christina Lauren’s trademark laughs and romance, but fell a little short for me. I’d still give it a try if you are a romantic comedy or a Christina Lauren fan! It certainly did make me excited for the upcoming holidays.

Christina Lauren's books are the ultimate rom-coms and this book is no different. Maelyn Jones is a lovable and fun heroine who keeps reliving the same Christmas holiday over and over after asking for what will make her happy. As she scrambles to right the wrongs the days she has already lived, she finds herself more comfortable in her own skin and ready to make the choices she was afraid to make before. A perfect holiday romcom to spice up this Christmas season!

I enjoy all of Christina Lauren books, but was not sure how this story would work… But it did! A quirky, fun holiday read. A bit Groundhog Day meets Hallmark channel. Long time family friends, two brothers, one girl, family traditions. A cabin in a winter wonderland. What could happen? And happen again? Then again? Will she get it right and get the right man? I didn’t want it to end, but then I wanted it to end because I had to know! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to read and enjoy.

Rating: 4/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣
Rationale: In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren was the exact story I needed right now— magical, heartwarming, and with plenty of cozy holiday cheer.
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𝗪𝐡𝐨 𝐈’𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨: CLo fans who are looking for a sweet story comparable to Love In Other Words (vs. a saucy Unhoneymooners)
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝: As is true in all of CLo’s books that I’ve read, the main characters Mae and Andrew were two people that you just want to root for. I loved Mae’s sense of humor about her entire Groundhog Day experience, and found Andrew to be so charming. The characters in this book and their annual cabin tradition feel straight out of a movie and I couldn’t help but wish that I could be a part of this family. You could feel their love and joy seep off the page and it was infectious.

Christina Lauren take some risks and the “Groundhog Day” element is a bit bizarre/requires you to suspend belief, but I also though that it was fun and well-executed. I really loved the focus on Mae's individual story and on the cast of characters making up her real and chosen family brought the whole story to life. The ending was sweet, hopeful, emotionally charged, and satisfying. This is the perfect holiday pick-me-up that will leave your heart warm and toasty.
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: This one had a bit of a slow start for me and I couldn’t really figure out where it was going, but once it picked up I was hooked. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of, and not all of them felt totally necessary. I would have loved if some of that had been sacrificed so that the relationship had a bit more time to develop throughout the middle of the book.

I was excited to read In A Holidaze because I really enjoyed The Honey-Don’t List! Two of the major plot devices in this book are a love triangle and one of those endless time loops that the heroine has to figure out how to break. Full disclosure: I am not a fan of either of those devices which is probably why I did not fall in love with this book. If you are a fan of the movie Groundhog Day and/or enjoy love triangles this book will be your catnip. I, however, do not like those things so I found the plot to be a little stale/predictable and was annoyed about who Maelyn dedicated to end up with. This book is about Maelyn, who is in a rut in her life and clearly fears change. When an upsetting announcement by her lifelong family friends at Christmas shakes up her world, she is not quite sure how she is going to move on. Then, she gets into a terrible car crash and wakes up a week earlier. Unsure of how to move on, Maelyn is forced to figure out how to fix the time loop, keep everyone happy, and decide who her true love is after all. My feelings about this book are also likely related to the fact that I read it in July and it is most definitely a story about Christmas.

I always read sappy Christmas novels around the holidays. It’s kind of a tradition but I acknowledge that they are quite cheesy and often objectively not very good. This Christmas novel was refreshingly great! I really enjoyed the premise and the characters. The pace of the book moved quickly and I loved the romance. There was some sex in the book but it hit the right balance of not being boring and not being too explicit. There were some character holes (I would have liked more of a redemption story for Theo) but it was overall a fun and enjoyable read.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For as long as she can remember, Mae has been a part of a large, extended family: her parents’ university friends, all of the kids and plenty of love, laughter and memories. It’s the best time of the year for Mae: she’s attached to the traditions, gets plenty of time with her ‘adopted’ uncle Benny, her childhood (now grown) friends Andrew and Theo, and time to connect with memories of happy times. But things are different this year. Although she’s always had a crush on Andrew, well, since she was a teen, she’s never truly believed in the possibility of them: or if their dynamic and the holiday would change if for some reason they did make it to ‘relationship’ stage. But, just as the holiday is winding down, she discovers that this may be the last holiday in this particular mountain cabin.....

Devastated and distraught, she’s asking the universe for some answers: how to be happy, what can she do to change the fact that the cabin holiday will forever change, and what direction should she go to find her own joy. BAM – she's granted a do over- where she works to change (with subtle warnings and not-so-subtle ones: when the third repeat of her day starts anew, she’s stressed: but everything is different. Starting to tell the universe what she wants, rather than waiting for things to happen: she’s making changes, and one of those changes is getting to know Andrew in ways previously avoided. From starting a ‘relationship’ with him that leaves them both giddy and excited, to actually sharing the truth of her ‘time slips’ the two have plenty to work out – with several missteps, plenty of overreactions, and Mae’s willingness (or compulsion) to take on every mishap as something she could (or should) have prevented.

THIS book brought back ALL of the reasons I read books from this author duo – the fun, the characters, the silly situations and moments that in any other story would be horrendously over-the-top. Laugh out loud references and descriptions as everyone has a moment to shine in this large cast of characters – although the main couple of Andrew and Mae, and the wise and very surprising “adopted uncle” Benny is always good for a moment. Mae just needs to gain her own sense of self and what she truly wants – rather than worrying about reactions (and actions) of others, while Drew needed to (and does, finally) take the time to explain to her that one moment, or one argument, is not going to end the years they’ve known one another, or what he’s always felt about her. With the holidays, the traditions, the descriptions and even the laughs, the moments keep piling on as the pages turn, making this a ‘read in one sitting’ favorite for me from Christina Lauren.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Mae's family and family friends always spend the holidays at the cabin together. This year she finds herself in a bit of a time loop. When the trip is over and the family is headed back to the airport, they are in a car accident; however, she wakes up back on the plane on the way to the vacation again. There are a few things on her mind - save the cabin and tell family friend, Andrew, that she is in love with him. As Mae, lives the time loop again she makes a few changes, but then finds herself back on the plane again. She is struggling to find out what she needs to do to get out of the time loop.

First of all, I am a big fan of Christina Lauren's writing. Their books are always easy to breeze through and leave me feeling all of the feels. This one was no different in that way. I found the book slow to start as the time loop was playing out, but once we got into the meat of things I flew through. I loved Mae and Andrew's characters. Uncle Benny was the greatest and the ending was perfection.

To say that this book is a gem would be an understatement. It was in fact, a true enjoyable read and I look forward to the next one.