Groundhog Day with a holiday romance twist that left me with a warm fuzzy feeling.
“It never occurred to me that you might be mine.”

♕Plot: When Maelyn Jones’ perfect ideal holiday getaway spot with her family and best friends since childhood is threatened to be sold and no longer available to celebrate togetherness with her chosen family, Mae asks the universe to show her what would make her happy and the next thing she knows she’s stuck in a time loop repeating her holiday until she gets the right guy to notice her and she’s able to figure out what she wished for.

♕ Heroine: Mae seems to be stuck in a rut with a job she doesn’t love, living with her parents and getting attention from the wrong Hollis brother, but after repeating the holiday cycle a couple of times she decides to be honest with Andrew Hollis, the guy she’s crushed on since she was thirteen.
“How does one move on from a man so kind of heart and fine of @$$?”

♕ Hero: Andrew was a wonderful hero. He’s kind, funny, playful and loving. I love how he cared for Mae and how he immediately seized the opportunity to be with Mae once it was presented to him.
“I’ve loved you my whole life, but this new thing….” He sucks in a deep breath. “It’s amazing and scary.”

♕ Sexiness: Mae and Andrew or Mandrew and Maissie had an equal amount of sweet and sexy moments together. Their banter was smile inducing and their romance was a wonderful escape.

♕Feels: Even though it starts out slow, this story provides all the good feels perfect for a winter holiday read with its heartfelt family connections and all the entertaining sweet and hilarious moments.

♕ Facts: In a Holidaze is a standalone contemporary romance by Christina Lauren. It is told from the heroine’s point of view with a happy ending.

This book was a delight. Groundhog Day meets Home for the Holidays. I really love it when an author can make a bit of magic or the supernatural fit in a book, yet somehow make it feel like any other contemporary romance. The love growing out of a forever friendship felt natural and absolutely believable. Very well done!

In a Holidaze is exactly what I have come to expect from a Christina Lauren novel-- an easy, fun and fluffy story with entertaining characters that will pull me in and keep me reading. I read this whole book in one sitting! It's a bit cheesy and completely fluffy, basically a lot of mindless fun. It feels a lot like a Hallmark Christmas movie (although it's not as squeaky clean as a Hallmark movie, there are some steamy love scenes in this one. I ended up skipping over several pages, as it felt excessive).

The premise: Maelyn Jones has been coming to the same cabin with her family and friends for her entire life. She grew up spending Christmas here with Andrew and Theo, the sons of her parent's friends. While both men have always been like brothers to her, Mae has had a secret crush on Andrew for most of her life. One year, after making a wish to find happiness, Mae finds herself stuck in a time loop. She keeps repeating her Christmas vacation over and over again. Is this how her wish will come true? Will she finally have the chance to find out if Andrew feels the same way about her?

I do always love a story that messes around with time, so I just gobbled this one up! I have read it described as Love Actually meets Groundhog Day, which feels accurate! I do think you have to just go with the "time travel/Groundhog day" plot. Don't try to make too much sense out of it, because I'm not sure it fully does make sense. But who cares? A story like this is not so much about making time travel logical as it is about keeping you entertained and charmed. And this story is full of charming characters and an endearing romance that will surely make you smile. Combine that with the wintry Christmas cabin setting, and this one is most definitely a winner for a feel-good holiday book.

I think the title is a bit cheesy, but honestly, it's probably an accurate description of what you get when you read this romantic comedy. Nothing too serious or meaty, but it is, cute, charming, and lots of fun. If you like romances, it would be a great book to read with a cup of cocoa while watching the snow fall outside this winter!

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sending me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is available on October 6, but I would recommend waiting until closer to Christmas to read this one!!

A fun, light read about finding your true self to be happy and to find your happily ever after. I liked Mae's growth as a character. Doing a story with time travel is tricky. Was this a case of Mae being rebooted each time or are there other time lines out there where she is injured in a car crash, breaks her neck falling down stairs, or dies from a tree limb falling on her? How is her family coping her injuries/death in the other timelines? If she is injured in the future, will she end up on that plane again even though she found happiness and love? Maybe I'm focusing on the wrong aspect of the book and what it's trying to teach us. Outside of that I enjoyed the story and had a few laugh out loud scenes.

This was an unusual premise for a romance, a play on the movie Groundhog Day, where the heroine relived a day over and over. And it all started with a wish, as Maelyn "Mae" Jones felt everything going wrong in her life. So she asks for a "do over" of sorts. Only problem, was she kept getting a do over, over and over. LOL

Things start to turn the corner for Mae when she finally opens up to the man she's crushed on for years, Andrew Hollis. Her honesty was refreshing and I think Andrew recognized how hard it was for her to take a chance and lay everything out. The rest just seemed to fall into place.

This couple had a natural connection, it felt effortless. It made me wonder why they both waited so long. But I liked how they both began to reevaluate their lives together.

"It never occurred to me that you might be mine."

My only issue with the story was the dreaded formula. If you've read my other reviews from this author duo, I've figured out part of their formula and it's a bit maddening. I know exactly when things are going to go wrong, and this book was no exception. In fact, the drama seemed over the top and completely unnecessary. I think this is one of those books they could have ignored the formula.

Despite that issue, overall, this was a sweet read. I loved all of the family traditions throughout and the fun cast of secondary characters. As I read in this never-ending summer heat, I longed for the holidays. So if you are looking for a great escape, check this one out!

*Actual rating is a 3.5*

IN A HOLIDAZE is one of those books I expect people will either love or hate. Besides the time travel element, this book lacks the traditional romance structure (though it delivers a HEA, I promise!). For the first 15-20%, I was worried this was going to fall into the "hate" category for me but then the story really kicked into gear and became an utter delight.

IN A HOLIDAZE highlights a lot of the elements Christina Lauren does really well. We have grade A banter between the love interests, plenty of interesting + lovable side characters, and a swoon-worthy ending. I was surprised to find that the content in this book is a bit tamer than the author's other books. There weren't true fade-to-black sex scenes but they were much less descriptive than I've come to expect from Christina Lauren's other books. This didn't spoil the book for me but was a bit unexpected.

I wish the romance element of the story had appeared a little sooner in the book. There was quite a decent chunk of the book where I was convinced that any sort of relationship between Maelyn and Andrew could never happen. Seeing Maelyn learn more about herself and what she needs to do to make her life more fulfilling was an interesting storyline, though, and did a good job carrying some of the slower parts of the book.

This was a fun holiday story with a cute romance. It's not my favorite of Christina Lauren's books but was still a solid read.

She’s 26 and for her whole life, every Christmas vacation has been spent in a cabin with her family and 2 others. It’s her favorite place in the world, and she’s harbored a silent crush on one of the other “kids” for 13 years. In her normal life, she has had to move back home and is miserable in her job and unlucky in love. When she learns that the cabin is going to be sold, it’s like a wake up call that things have to change and she needs to do something to be happy, so she asks the universe to show her what would make her happy, and it sends her back to the beginning of the same holiday. Again. And again. Finally, she figures it out and eventually lives happily ever after.

This was my first Christina Lauren book, and it is similar to what I expected, i.e. judging their books by the covers. It is a cute little Christmas romance and a fun read. Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly Lauren’s books are a hit or miss for me! I loved Unhoneymooners and Roomies, but others no so much. I was skeptical to start this because of that. But wow what a beautiful framed read!

A perfect Holiday story with romance here and there. Safe to say that this is a holiday romance, apt to read by the snowy windows in December. I already know which one I’m re-reading this holiday season ❤️

Thank you Gallery Books, Netgalley & Christina Lauren for the arc. This review is my own and is not influenced in anyway!

I didn't like this as much as some of the other Christina Lauren books I've read, and I wish I did because the concept is great. Who doesn't love a Christmas themed time loop romance? But unfortunately the beginning of this book was almost too rough to get through for me with the absolute chaos of trying to understand who all these people were, what their relationships with each other are, and what exactly happened the night before to throw Mae into such turmoil.

Things picked up once she started time looping and we leaned into that whole thing, which was very fun. I liked Andrew and I liked their friends-to-lovers situation but I think the entire potential love triangle subplot could have been dropped and things might have felt less messy that way. I was disappointed to see the time loop thing just...get dropped once Mae got her issues figured out, but I did love the six month later epilogue at the end.

How has it taken me so long to discover Christina Lauren? I just discovered this hysterical, warm, enchanting writer and I can't put her down. Holidaze will be the perfect quick read to quick off your holiday season, or like me have a little Christmas in July.

Mae is living with her parents, detests her dead-end job, and fallen flat on her face when it comes to romance. And of course, this happens during the holidays. Mae is spending the holidays at her favorite place on earth, a snowy cabin but holding tight in her mind that this will be the last time she is there. Filled with sadness Mae's head is not focused on the road as she tearfully pulls away from the cabin for the last time. The next thing she knows tires are screeching and metal is colliding. Mae's world goes black and when she awakes she is right back at her arrival to the cabin. Mae enters a groundhog day like time loop.

The story follows Maelyn, a young adult, at a family friend's cabin over the holidays. Maelyn and her family have been coming to this cabin every year for as long as she can remember with several other families. This year, though, is different. Maelyn wakes up one morning and has to relive her entire trip over and over again in order to figure out what it is she really wants from her life.

Cute premise, good cheery holiday story. Romance is involved. What more do you need from a holiday rom-com? Definitely worth adding to your list of holiday books to read this upcoming holiday season.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book to review!

I have received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was such a cute Christmas romance. I loved the characters and how they all interacted and I loved the plot. I didn’t love some of the characters reactions to things towards the end of the book, but I think the story wrapped up nicely in the end.

I adore holiday romances, and this one was very heartwarming, sweet, fun, and charming. I am enjoying Christina Lauren's romcoms very much. I really like Maelyn and Andrew's characters and their relationship made me happy. I also enjoy the whole Groundhog Day experience, it's always a fun thing to witness, so that was a nice story line. All in all this was a fun book to read that left me with a smile on my face and thoughts of Christmas in August.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this early read.

A fun holiday twist on Groundhog Day. Cristina Lauren always combines witty dialogue and a romantic story. Loved this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I started my holiday reading early this year because when I get a new CL book I don’t to start it. If you can’t fathom reading a Christmas book until December just don’t forget to add this to your TBR because it was the cutest, coziest holiday romance I’ve read since, well last December hahaha!
The Groundhog Day premise has been done before but there was still something magical in this one. Maybe it was just CL’s trademark charm and humor or maybe it was the idyllic holiday setting, but whatever it was this one worked out well for me. Maelyn was a lovable character and Andrew was sweet and charming as well, I also loved her uncle Benny too. There was a strong sense of family and the added magic made an already adorable story that much cuter. It’s on the sweeter side of steamy, I don’t actually think there was any open door romance, I think of there was it was minimal but if you’re looking for a heartfelt romance that will make you feel warm and cozy this is it!

I’m a huge fan of the Unhoneymooners, so I was delighted to find out that Christina Lauren had a Christmas novel! Hollidaze is cute, sweet and heartwarming. I feel like I’ve seen the premise on a Hallmark Christmas movie before, but of course the novel is more layered and nuanced. Similar to The Family Stone. I love messy families and Lauren does a good job creating a close knight community who you root and fall in love with. The protagonist, MaeLynn, pulls at your heart strings and the Groundhog Day effect is comical and exciting for the plot. Loved the relationships, characters and setting. The cabin is a character itself and I felt so attached to it. It’s a fun, light hearted holiday read and everything I wanted it to be! Lovers of Christmas and Lauren’s work will NOT be disappointed.

Hilariously entertaining and so fun.
This is exactly what you expect from these amazing authors. Thoroughly enjoyable and the perfect holiday read.

What a sweet story! I love the back and forth with Benny. Mae keeps living the same Christmas vacation over and over. She’s a character you root for. A story about the magic of Christmas, and mistletoe. Can’t wait to give as gifts this year for Christmas.

This book did not work for me. I am not a fan of things like time travel and I just didn't find it plausible.

If you had asked me a couple months ago if I had any interest in reading a Christmasy version of Groundhog Day the answer would have been a resounding no. Thankfully I see the name Christina Lauren on a book and I make it mine before bothering with learning what the book is about because I would have hated to miss this book. The swoon level was so high in this book. Some of the lines were so dreamy I was happy I was sitting in case my knees went weak. I just loved the romance in this book so much. The conflict towards the end did not really make sense to me but did not alter the dopey smile on my face. Looking forward to rereading this closer to Christmas.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.