LOVE, HOLLY - Emily Stone

REACHING OUT - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - A young woman tries to heal a rift in her elderly pen pal’s family in time for Christmas, all while falling in love—and maybe even reuniting with her own family.

Characters - 4 stars - Holly is kind of a scatterbrained, energetic woman who just wants to help. After a tragic accident that she feels responsible for and the subsequent estrangement with her sister, she just wants to help someone else heal. But she becomes more and more involved in their lives.

Writing - 4 stars - Stone is able to create characters that draw people in. They are appealing, but they also show vulnerabilities, allowing us to feel empathy, even if we haven't gone through the same situation they are dealing with.

Title - 4 stars - Holly is part of an anonymous writing group, sending and receiving a letter each year with strangers who are struggling with life's problems, as she is. Using the closing salutation allows us to focus on the main gist of the book, reminding us that the characters began as strangers before reaching out to each other.

Cover - 4 stars - The bright (and unusual) color of the cover definitely draws the eye. And the cartoon-y design fits the current trend.

Overall - 4 stars - I enjoyed this book (and the characters), although it wasn't as compelling as previous books of hers. I liked how their lives intertwined, even more so than we originally thought. But the emotion wasn't quite there for me.

I really enjoyed this story, which is my first by Emily Stone. It explores themes of grief, hope, friendship and forgiveness. There is also a sweet romance. Holly and Josh have a memorable meet-cute in a cafe but then time elapses before they meet again. A touching story which made me tear up at times.

Just like Emily Stone’s previous books, this was an emotional read. The story is less about romance and more about found family and forgiveness.

I felt like first seventy percent of the book was fairly slow with a lot of dialogue and story building. The last thirty percent really picked up and is where I truly fell in love with the characters. I was ugly crying by the end of the book. It’s going to take me awhile to fully digest this book. It has so many layers. So much sadness and beauty.

This a not your typical holiday romance. It’s an emotional story about fate, forgiveness, and the power of family. Make sure you have tissues handy!

First thought: Wow. This one takes you on an emotional rollercoast over the corse of a Year, starting and ending with Christmas. It’s truely a beautiful journey that is heartwarming, fated, full of healing and hope and will leave you wanting to hug the ones you love a bit tighter.

Do you believe in fate if not maybe serendipity.

Holly on Christmas Eve walked into a coffee shop with her sister to get some caffeine before finishing their drive. She bumped into a handsome man Jack, they hit it off and he gave her his number on her coffee cup. Holly would never get the chance to use that number as she and her sister were in a car accident that would forever change her life. Holly was driving and was to blame and since then she lost her sister and all ties with her family.

Fast forward 3 years and Holly finds herself back in that same coffee shop searching for a women who wrote her an anonymous letter expressing her own grief that Holly connected deeply with. Holly finds the owner of the letter and Emma is a spunky, has no filter older lady, who is also grieving. These two form a friendship based in grief but it develops into so much more.

But wait here’s the plot twist! Emma is estranged from her family after an accident tore them apart, and her grandson is Jack. Holly wants to help reunite them but things are complicated and the only reuniting that’s happening is the beating of her heart.

Jack fell for a redhead in the coffee shop 3 years ago but she never called him, then one day that same face is looking at him in the lobby of his office. He knows he wants a chance with her but things get messy fast when he find out she knows his estranged grandmother.

This book’s characters are intertwined and as you follow the journey of grief, morning, loss you come out the other side with hope, forgiveness, healing and a beautiful story. Don’t miss this one.

Tropes you’ll find:

* Second Chances
* Fate
* Witty Banter
* Tear Jerker
* Slow Burn

Liked this one. This pulls at your heart strings and you feel for the characters in their friendship and love. This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it!!!

4.5⭐️

There was less Christmas but far more substance to the story than what I’d anticipated going into it. It’s a thoroughly human tale of love and loss and connection and forgiveness. Holly is a wonderful and highly sympathetic character, and I was moved by her journey in the wake of a tragic accident, as well as the love story with Jack, which refreshingly took a backseat for much of the book to her bond with Emma, and path to reconciliation with her family. Highly recommend giving this a read any time of year.

Thank you Emily Stone, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Emily Stone is so good at writing emotional stories full of loss, love, and hope.

Holly’s life completely changed after getting into a car crash on Christmas Eve with her pregnant sister in the car. Now, Holly has joined a Dear Stranger writing program, but she doesn’t expect to ever have a connection to one of the strangers.

I really liked that the romance wasn’t the main plot of this story; it is about forgiveness and second chances. I also loved that it explored the idea of fate and timing. A great read to pick up during the holiday season.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

This is such a heartbreaking, beautiful, and heartwarming story all wrapped together.

This story is an emotional rollercoaster that will really tug on your heart strings. Just something to keep in mind before you jump in.

Love, Holly deals with loss, loneliness, grief as well as healing, love and forgiveness. 
Holly was driving with her pregnant sister on Christmas eve when they had what would become a life changing car accident.

Three years later Holly’s family has disowned her completely. Holly decides to join a lonely hearts pen pal group. In this group you send a letter to an anonymous person to get your feelings out. 

One day, Holly receives a letter from someone named Emma and she mentions a specific café with art all over the walls. The café turned out to be the exact one where Holly and her sister stopped before their accident. It was on that same dreadful Christmas Eve she bumped into Jack which caused him to spill coffee everywhere. 

Holly felt an immediate connection to Emma and she couldn’t get her letter out of her head. She decides she needs to meet Emma in person. So she goes on a mission to find her.  

The way you learn how Holly, Emma, and Jack are connected to one another makes this a must read. 

This is beautifully written and really makes you think about serendipity and fate. 
I would look into the trigger warnings before diving in. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A few years ago, Holly was in a car accident with her sister. Her sister lost her unborn baby and hasn’t talked to Holly since. When Holly gets a Dear Stranger letter that talks about losing a loved one in a car accident, she sees at fate and goes to meet Emma. Emma’s grandson Jack just happens to be a handsome stranger Holly met years ago right before the accident. Now they must work through their trauma together.

This one was overall a cute romance. It wasn’t as Christmas-y as some of Stone’s previous works so that threw me off a little.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you are going into this book expecting a holiday read then you will be sadly disappointed. It’s around Christmastime briefly three times in the book, but it is definitely not a Christmas read, not is this much of a romance. This is a book dealing with loss, grief, forgiveness and fate. I’m not a believer of fate so that did not appeal to me at all.

I had a really hard time connecting with any characters in this book, therefore it took me a long time to get through it. The whole not talking to family members for years seemed a bit unbelievable to me given the reason, and then seemed to be resolved so quickly. Perhaps that truly is how some people deal with grief, though. The romance also felt forced. I have a hard time believing that you briefly meet someone and then think about them for years afterwards, especially when the meeting wasn’t anything that special. The romance aspect just didn’t work for me in this one.

There are tons of trigger warnings in this book: car accidents, death, cancer, pregnancy loss, infertility, cheating, divorce, and family abandonment.

So if you are thinking about making this one of your limited Christmas reads then I would think twice. Was it a poorly written book? Absolutely not! Is it a Christmas book? No. Is it a light read? No. Is it a full-on romance? No. Just wanted to give these warnings.

This was a lot more than a romance. I was not expecting it to be kind of depressing, Holly was working through a lot. The romance aspect is both slow and fast at the same time. they don't talk in person that much but the connection between them is very strong. I love that they were able to help push the other person in the right direction.

I received an arc through netgalley.

✨Review✨ {3.5/5⭐️}
I loved the character relationships in this one! I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the curmudgeonly Emma at the start of the book, but she really grew on me by the end. Emily Stone’s books are always emotionally heavy, but with a great lesson, and this one is no exception.

Technically, Love, Holly is a Christmas book, but most of the story takes place outside of Christmas, so I think you could read it anytime. Also, despite the absolutely adorable cover, this book is not a rom com or your typical warm and fuzzy holiday read. There is some romance, but the story focuses more on healing from trauma/self-blame/guilt.

🌶️ Emily Stone’s other two books are closed door, so I was sad to find that Love, Holly is (mildly) open door. There are two relatively short, not overly detailed spice scenes, but y’all know I still prefer my romance closed door 😅

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance e-book copy. This was a beautiful story about grief, loss and love. I really enjoy Emily Stones writing, and look forward to reading more from this author.

This book was actually a lot more than I expected. I went into this thinking cute, heartfelt but very heartwarming holiday read and while you get that there are also other things, deeper, heavier more serious things to be dealt with. Wish I had known that going in because I at least would have been prepared.

Love, Holly is about a girl, Holly, who is in a car accident that changes her life. To try and process she starts writing Dear Stranger letters. These anonymous letters are exchanged between strangers and when Holly gets one she thinks it sounds familiar and decides to go and find the letter writer who experienced a similar situation as her. Of course once she does she finds more connections than she thought possible. This story is about love, life, loss, grief, forgiveness, and more. Emma and Holly’s friendship helps them both heal and Holly and Jack’s relationship helps them both move on.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love this book. It seemed to be a little long and slow for me. It followed a typical Emily Stone holiday read format which was fine but nothing outstanding. Always, in December will remain my top book by Stone.

Read in one sitting. Such a bittersweet, heartbreaking, beautiful holiday romance. Tropes - second chances, holiday romance, forgiveness, found family, friendships. Emily Stone books always has a special place in my heart!

Love Holly was a cute, sometimes sad and all around lovely book.
Holly is dealing with the loss of her sister. Not a loss in the traditional way but more a falling out with her sister after a tragedy that occurs one Christmas.
Jack is also dealing with some complicated feelings towards his estranged grandmother.
Fate has brought Holly, Jack and Emma (Jack's grandmother) together to heal and begin again.

I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy second chances.

I don’t know how but this book was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Really most of the book was terribly sad but such a beautiful story I hardly minded. It’s a story of forgiveness and letting go. And I think we could all use some of that in our lives. And at its heart it’s a story about family and letting people into your life. A wonderful book. I can’t wait to read Ms Stone’s next one!

4.25 stars!
Save this for Christmas because this is a great emotional read for Christmas. I know that once the snowy weather hits, then you will feel that emotion rising up to your throat. The second chance romance and a bittersweet ending was such a perfect combo for tears so have your tissue next to you. This story was emotional heavy so please know that in mind before proceeding! Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Between Always, In December and One Last Gift, Emily Stone has a choke hold on holiday stories that are both hopeful and deeply emotional and Love, Holly is no exception.

Holly Griffin meets a handsome stranger on the night before Christmas Eve but a tragic accident keeps them apart. That's the one-liner but Holly's story is steeped in grief, fate, romance, found family, estranged family, and a guilt so heavy that it sometimes weighed on me, as the reader.

As with all of Stones books, it is also hopeful and full of sweet moments with longing glances, playful banter, and characters so full of life that you feel as if you know them.

Cathartic and life affirming. Five Stars.

Thank you to Emily Stone, Random House Publishing Group, and Netgalley for a complimentary eARC of Love, Holly in exchange for my honest review. I honestly loved it.