I didn’t recall the blurb for this story which made for a surprising and fun beginning. As the story begins, family – those of blood, friendship and of love – are back again for the Christmas week and the cabin they’ve visited for years. The older adults are those that mostly met in college so have known each other for many years. There are children of various ages but mostly young adults. We meet Maelyn who has moved back home, unhappy with her work life and a non-existent love life. Through her eyes, we learn about the older adults, the various children, their personalities, the traditions each Christmas, the description of the cabin, and the fun and chaos that ensues with thirteen people together for a week with cooking, games, and more.

Maelyn, Maisie, Noodle, and goes by many other nicknames, has had a long-time crush on Andrew, the older son of another couple. She dreams about him, is mesmerized by his looks, his kindness, the way he plays the guitar but believes he thinks of her as a sister.

After the holiday and as everyone leaves for their homes in different states, Maelyn has a thought about what would make her happy. In the next second, the screech of cars colliding threw me into shock, wondering about injuries or worse. THEN, Maelyn wakes up on the plane going to Utah to start the Christmas holiday again. I burst info laughter at the way she and her family acts. She’s wary of going to the cabin again as she’s not quite sure what’s going on.

Benny, the one adult she’s always confided everything throughout her life, is who she tells about this crazy event. After going through this cycle again and again, Maelyn decides to just let go and be honest about what she wants, which is so out of character for her. It was so sweet during each of these restarts, how she and Andrew start to get a bit closer then start over again.

This story is the perfect mix of family, long-time friends who are considered family, holiday traditions, funny, sweet, romantic and a bit of angst. The cycle Maelyn goes through makes me think of the movie Groundhog Day and it was interesting to see what changed each time. We get just a peek of the older adults during their college years with relationships and friendships and I would have loved to know a bit more about that time in their lives before they had children. The various characters and personalities made me think a bit of the movies Family Stone and The Big Chill.

The various relationships are the best part of the story with so much love through the years. As Maelyn decides to be honest about her feelings and makes some decisions about her life, she and Andrew get closer. It’s just so sweet to see how hesitant they’ve both been, to learn more about Andrew’s feelings and vulnerability and how the spark ignites when they take a chance.

Of course, there are some issues to work through which are heartbreaking but there was a beautiful HEA. I love epilogues and while this was a brief one, it was just so perfect and exactly what I needed right now.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work.

Sweet and funny, I absolutely love everything Christina Lauren writes. This has the perfect blend of comedy and romance. The glitter and sparkle of the holiday season is sprinkled throughout all the pages, which gives the story such a happy, love-filled setting. Each of the Groundhog Day styled resets made me giggle. The book had a lot of laughs, but also had me crying for a good twenty minutes or so at the end. Definitely a must-buy for all Christina Lauren fans.

Are you ready for some Christmas Cheer? If so you need to pick up the new book In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren. This book will have you dreaming of snowy days and log cabins in the woods with the people you love.


The story uses two fairly common tropes to build its plot. The “ make a wish “, where you make a wish and end up in the past so you can hopefully fix or change things, and the “ Groundhog Day “ where you are in a constant loop of a certain time period. Lauren does an excellent job of combining the two.

Being from the South, having the typically shown snowy cold Christmas is as fiction as most of the books I read, so the setting in the book was wonderful to me, and the author described everything in detail, which gave me the feeling of being transplanted straight to Utah ( which was great because we are still having 90-degree weather where I am at ). I even told my husband we need to pack our bags this Holiday season and head for somewhere snowy !! The cozy log cabin, the snow, the tall trees, the big porch, it all just felt warm and fuzzy like you expect Christmas to feel.

The family dynamics were great in the book, and while yes, it was a romance, I felt it leaned a bit toward a family saga also. There were so many times you felt like the fly on the wall watching the family’s yearly traditions, their love for each other, their doubts, and their fights. The family felt real to me, they were not a perfect family, they had their flaws, yet even with flaws, they showed great respect and love for each other. Possibly my favorite relationship in the book was the main character Mae’s relationship with Benny. It was a close almost parental type relationship, where she often turned to him for advice, not wanting to tell her parent's certain things. It was a relationship a lot of us could have really used as we grew up.

I am not giving much detail on this review, as it would be so easy to give away the entire book, but I will say, I could easily see this as a Hallmark Christmas movie, it is funny, it is cute and cozy and it is magical. Be prepared though, the typical meet-cute is not in this story, it isn’t needed to be part of the story, but it doesn’t feel lacking at all. All I can really say is JUST READ IT…YOU WILL LOVE IT…

Working for a magazine means that I’m always a few months ahead of the curve holiday-wise. Since we’re wrapping up our Nov/Dec issue now, my head has been filled with Christmas carols & The Holiday rewatches. So, I decided why not add a festive book to the mix?

In A Holidaze follows Maelyn Jones, a slightly discontent 20-something, who is absolutely shocked when her family-friends tell her they’re selling the cabin where she’s spent every Christmas she can remember. When she gets the opportunity to redo the week (yes, in a Groundhog Day-type scenario), she has to figure out how to save the cabin from being sold. But what if the cabin isn’t the only thing she’s supposed to enjoy this go-round?

I truly wanted to like this one more than I did. I absolutely loved The Unhoneymooners (the only other Christina Lauren book I’ve read) but In A Holidaze required some serious suspension of disbelief, and still left me somewhat bored and wanting more. It didn’t make me have butterflies, or chuckle to myself, or stay up late reading, which I think for me are the defining characteristics of why I love contemporary romance.

The more romantic scenes came as a bit of a shock to me, as I figured on more of a slow burn romance based on the initial tension. There were also a LOT of characters to keep up with, and not all of them felt totally necessary and fleshed out.

What I did love was the swoon-worthy romantic lead Andrew, Mae’s sense of humor about her entire Groundhog Day experience, and the cozy festive winter scenes at the cabin. This would be an excellent Hallmark movie and maybe reading it around the holidays would change how I feel. But something about it just felt off and it was probably a case of too high expectations, to be totally honest.

This was so much fun! A Christmas romance with a time-travel twist? What's not to love?!

The thing that really shone for me throughout this novel was the family dynamics that the authors absolutely slayed. The interactions and banter was both realistic and a joy to read.

There was a great message throughout this novel about acceptance and taking the chances that we all want to do, but are too afraid of change to go ahead with. As an avid planner and someone who doesn't adapt well to change, the story hit a little too close to home.

I laughed, cried, and instantly wanted to reread it. Totally recommend to any rom-com lover!

Mae has a life a lot like many twenty-somethings -- she's moved back in with her parents, has a job she hates, and is harboring a love she's been too scared to say anything about for years. One drunken night, she makes out with the guy's brother and regrets that it ever happened. Her wish to undo it and truly be happy comes in the form or re-living her Christmas holiday until she gets it right.

At first, Mae focuses on fixing the wrong issues; she wants to fix everyone's problems and not just her own. But once she learns to let go a little, she begins to go after what she really wants.

This is a binge-worthy romance that can be read in a day, and I almost (but not quite) got through it in 24 hours. Mae's story is relatable and her romance is both cute and sexy. The journey is a roller coaster ride filled with fizzy highs and heartwrenching lows.

Highly recommended for fans of lighter women's fiction or "chick lit," especially those who enjoy the holidays. Fans of Hallmark Christmas movies will eat this book up!

This binge-worthy book made me want to curl up in front of the fire with a snuggly blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. It’s tradition for Maelyn’s family and their closest family friends to spend every holiday season together by staying in a cozy cabin in snowy Utah. Their time in the cabin is driven by nostalgia and routine making for a comfortable and predictable getaway; that is, until a lost and confused Maelyn drunkenly kisses her childhood best friend, Theo, who also happens to be the younger brother of her longtime crush, Andrew. Deep regret leaves her wishing for the opportunity to discover what she really wants from life. The universe hands her an opportunity for self-discovery when she is placed in a time loop and finds herself repeating the first few days of the family trip over and over. Although the plot itself is not wholly original, the writing is strong, the characters are likable, and the romance is steamy, making for an emotionally engaging and enjoyable read. I can definitely see myself reading this one again when holiday season is approaching!

I love Christina Lauren’s books but I tend to deeply hate and get extremely stressed out by do-over stories. Groundhog Day, for instance, has been one of my least favorite movies since it came out. This is a repeating day story, which I had to push past, but it’s more like Before I Fall, where the main character Only gets sent back to the beginning again when she does something wrong. I liked the way the story turned out, but this won’t be one of the many Christina Lauren’s that I re-read.

This book was a bit harder for me to get into - especially compared to other Christina Lauren novels; however, I think that is largely due to the fact that How to Save a Life by Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton also came out this year and was a similar time loop concept, ending in death.

However, once I got past the similarities there, I loved this cutie little holiday book; I was worried it was going to be too cozy and Hallmark-like, but it was still a high-quality romance that we are used to seeing from this dynamic duo.

My only pause is that the end seemed to wrap up a bit too nicely; I would have preferred for the central conflict being the couple to be drawn out a bit more, instead of the back to back grand gestures. However, this was a great cast of characters, a picturesque setting and a lovely, light read.

In a Holiadaze


I so enjoyed this light hearted quick read. It is about Mae and her extended family spending every Christmas in the same cabin. The group were in college together and have always spent Christmas together. Mae is attracted to one of the boys (Andrew) and his brother Theo is a player and flirts with Mae a lot. But suddenly Mae in rewinding her days there just like Groundhog Day. This is the first book I have read of Christina Lauren and it was a breath of fresh air. Things do work out between all of them but it takes awhile to get there. I enjoyed the peppermint kiss scene! I am not gonna spoil this for you but I think you will love it!

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

This book is based on the concept of the movie Groundhog Day with Christmas playing on repeat for our main character, Mae. As she seeks what will make her happy, she finds herself back on the plane, back to repeating Christmas yet again. Will Mae find her true love before a glitch causes her to get back on the plane to repeat it all over again. While at first glance, the concept was great, but reading it felt like a different experience. After the 3rd time she was back on the plane, I didn't care about the Groundhog Day element anymore and I just wanted more of the story. There's a cute love story with all the aww moments. And there were moments I felt were out of character for some. All in all, if you love Christmas, renewal, family time, and romances, then this book will be in your sweet spot.

n a Holidaze is a book about Christmas, romance, time travel, and second-chances! A friends-to-lovers light-hearted read that I definitely needed right now! This book definitely is a take on Groundhog Day movie but it was executed so well!

The story revolves around Mae, her family, and family friends who spend every Christmas Holiday together at a cabin in Utah. Mae especially loves this holiday tradition spending time with her family friends, Uncle Benny, and best friends Andrew and Theo. Andrew is Mae’s longtime crush since they were teens and he has no idea that Mae has feelings for him. Everyone always assumed that Mae and Theo would end up together because they were always two peas and a pod as kids! Unfortunately this Christmas Mae makes a horrible mistake that causes major ramifications and she is crushed. On the way home, Mae wishes for what most would make her the happiest and upon waking up she is transported back onto the plane the first day of their Christmas Holiday trip. Here comes the travel time and a chance to make things right!

This is the perfect holiday, feel-good book! Christina Lauren did it again! I loved every moment of this delightful Christmas romance! The chemistry between Mae and Andrew was undeniable! Their dialogue together was so easy-going and magical! I also loved the epilogue and it gave a perfect ending!

I love Christina Lauren & this cute holiday romance was right in her wheelhouse. A quick delightful read, perfect for the holidays!

So. Best friends that read together stay together 😂🤷‍♀️ me and my sister from another mister started #netgalley together. She’s so in to #christmasstories⛄️❤️❄️ and #Christmasbooks so when I saw my fave #christinalauren had a soon to be released Christmas themed book I jumped ❤️ luckily I was #approved #phew not even going to discuss the #jodipicoult and #sopiekinsellabook I was declined 💔🙄😭 whatever. So. This is a #groundshogday meets love meets family meets everything a girl needs for a pick me up. This book just flows and I promise you won’t be able to put it down. If you’re a fan of #chicklit #truelove #sappy #booksbooksbooks📚 then definitely grab this among all the others she has written. She has been a phenomenal author to read and I adore her 🥰 #netgalleyreviewer #netgalleybooks #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #bookaddict #booknerdlife #bookrecommendations run don’t walk when this releases. Or. Preorder it. On the #kindle #nook #ipad whatever your pleasure may be. Just. You won’t regret it. I promise xo.

I have read several books by Ms Lauren. Having said that about 2 chapters in I was not feeling this book. However, I kept reading and about Chapter 5 I was hooked. This book is told in first person and I like dual POV but Ms Lauren has a way of writing her characters you dont need the dual POV. I completely loved all the characters. This a romance but it also has a suspense but the good kind. I have never read a book like this. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

This was a happy RomCom that made me long for Christmas music and hot chocolate. The best part of this story was the family. I loved that a group of people could meet in college and form these lifelong bonds that pass down to their children as well. In a Holidaze focused on the fact that family doesn’t always mean blood and that warms my heart.

After a disastrous ending to their holiday gathering, Maelyn makes a wish, asking the universe to show her what would make her happy. A Groundhog’s Day-esque situation follows, as Maelyn next wakes up back on the plane on her way to the cabin…six days prior.

Thinking that she may just be repeating these few days over and over again with no end, Mae shoots her shot and finally tells her long time crush Andrew how she feels. They both grew up together in this friend-family and for over a decade Mae has been hiding her feelings. What happens next is the quickest and yet sweetest relationship.

There are a few flaws, of course. Their fight felt contrived, and honestly a bit ridiculous. What Andrew was angry about was similar to being mad at someone for how they acted in a dream. Plus I wish there was a better resolution with Theo, it felt rushed and glossed over.

Regardless, In a Holidaze was a wonderful read that got me ready for the holidays!

The writing due of Christina Lauren never fail to present a fun easy-going romantic comedy that is a great distraction any time of year. In a Holidaze is no exception to this rule.

Maelyn is a twenty-something who loves to celebrate Christmas every year at a cabin in the mountains with her mom, dad, and brother along with their adopted family of her parents' college friends and their families. This tradition has been going on longer than Maelyn has been alive and she doesn't know Christmas without it.

Add in Maelyn's lifelong crush, some time travel, and some self discovery along with Christmas and you have yourself In a Holidaze. This is a light quick story that readers will love any time of year. It is all about family and friendships.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars only because in the beginning of the story there are so many characters thrown at the reader that I had trouble at first keeping everyone straight. Once I got several chapters in then it wasn't an issue.

Christina Lauren hit it out of the park with this festive gem. In this time of Covid and failure to focus; I picked this up and couldn't put it back down until completion. I smiled, I laughed, I felt weepy... this book had everything I needed.

Maelyn Jones has a job that's going nowhere, lives at home, and has been in love with Andrew Hollis for forever. At Christmas time, the tradition is alive and well, as her family and long family friends converge to a cabin in Utah.A little too much eggnog on the last night there has Mae making out with Theo - the wrong brother. They both know it's a mistake by the next morning but things become worse as Andrew and Theo's parents will be selling the lodge, ending their yearly tradition.

As Mae's family heads to the airport to go home, she makes a wish to the universe to show her what would make her happy. Then there is a terrible accident and as Mae comes to, she realizes she is back on the plane, at the start of the week, heading to Utah. This week at the lodge becomes her Groundhogs Day as she navigates what will make her happy... she repeats the week a few times.

I loved this book. The cast of characters is vast but not overwhelming. They all play integral parts in the moving cog. This story is about letting go of ideals on how things are supposed to be and learning to embrace spontaneity.

So will Mae discover what makes her happy and get out of her time loop? Definitely one-click now to find out!

I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. Although the heroine kept repeating her holiday over and over, each day had something different both for her and the readers. The chaos of Christmas along with the traditions and nostalgia had her wondering what she needed to do to make an important change and get back to her life. Were there things that bothered me? Absolutely. But the character, her doubts, confusion, and her arc, kept her very real. Loved the setting, the cabin like its own character. A must-read Christmas story.

🎄Seasonal togetherness with a side of romance💕

While the concept of the plot was interesting and the author drew me to the book, I found it slow going at the beginning and just never got invested in the characters. I guess I was looking for a romance and this book packs so many characters and the details of so many holiday activities into the story, I found the whole thing too long and disjointed. It improved towards the end but, on the whole, it missed the mark for me.

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.