I read several different genres and had just finished a WWII novel, so I was relieved to open this heartwarming, relaxing book. I’m not an artist, but I loved how the author worked art into the plot. I also loved the theme of speaking honestly about our feelings when we are grieving. It can be so difficult to make ourselves vulnerable and open up to others, especially after a chunk of time passes, but Emma, Holly, and Jack show us how important it is to do just that.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, for this advanced readers copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Love, Holly by Emily Stone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I enjoyed this heartwarming holiday story from Emily Stone. Love, Holly tells the story of Holly who has struggled with the holidays since experiencing a tragic accident three years ago on Christmas Eve. In an effort to reach out to others that are having a hard time at the holiday season, Holly participates in a Dear Stranger letter swap. She is able to provide some solace to others and receive a letter in return. This year’s letter has a familiar ring to Holly and she ends up reaching out a little further to find the person who sent it.
Holly did seem a little too meddlesome at first and I questioned whether she would really go that far and do the things she does. In the end, though, I fell in love with the main character and ended up invested in her journey. The end of the book, including the connections that Holly makes with others, is pretty emotional and made me tear up a bit. Love, Holly is a Christmas love story, but it’s also about forgiveness and found family and those are themes that really resonate with me. I recommend Love, Holly to anyone lookin for a Christmas romance with a lot of heart.

Thank you Emily Stone, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing for this ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Wow. What a powerful and emotional read. This was my first Emily Stone book, and it came at a time when I’m grieving the loss of a loved one.

This book will make you laugh, CRY, and truly find something special in the plot.

Learning not to take those we love for granted, the importance of forgiveness, and exploring loneliness and grief are all topics you will dive into in this one.

This book will be a great read around Christmas , and it seperates itself from a lot the typical holiday romances. It’s sad but also hopeful which kept me going throughout the book. I also really liked the idea of the letter writing!

This one was just okay for me. I entered it thinking that it was going to be a Christmas book given the cover but this was not the case. I didn't feel myself gravitating towards this book or really that interested at all.

Emily Stone is quickly becoming one of my favorite romance writers.

This was such a lovely story about fate, found family, heartbreak, loss, unlikely friendships and forgiveness. Less than 10% in, I knew this would be a story that pulled at my heart strings. I absolutely adore this story, and I am so looking forward to more from Emily in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Love, Holly!

Heartbreakingly poignant. All the feels are here, it is a little long and drawn out, but so worth the read. Holly and Jack both have their own ghosts to settle, yet fate seems to get in the way. A wonderful HEA, good til the very end. Grab this one and enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication: September 26, 2023

Rating: 2.5 stars (rounded down to 2)

This was my first book by Stone and it was a cute read. I loved that I wanted the feeling of "Christmas in July" and this book delivered on that front. The plot touched on some deeper issues but my main problem was Holly would meddle in other people's lives. Plus she wouldn't speak up about said issue with Jack- enter miscommunication trope (one of my least favorite). The plot left me figuring out the story line far in advance which in turn left me bored.

My second issue was the characters. They were pretty bland and run of the mill so this left me feeling like I was reading cookie cutter interactions with nothing really distinguishing characters apart. A lot of this involves me as a reader so if you feel that this book is up your alley- go for it!

Multiple POV told in 3rd person
Miscommunication trope
Fated Love
Healing vibes
Christmas atmosphere

Love, Holly has got all of the heart and soul of a great book.

Sigh— I will get to this one again. There is a difficult trigger for me (personally) so I haven’t gotten back to reading the book. I’m giving it five stars until I get back to it because it’s got all of the heart and soul of a great book.

Another great Christmas novel by Emily Henry. Holly and Emma come to meet and become friends due to similar circumstances involving car accidents and family strife in the aftermath. What I most appreciated about this book was that while there were plenty of opportunities for standard rom-com tropes (misunderstandings, lengthy lies or made up stories), the characters were by and large upfront and honest. The misunderstandings that were there were quickly resolved. This helped me to like the characters more. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for your Christmas reading stack.

I received an advanced ARC via NetGalley.

3.5⭐

Love, Holly has an adorable cover. If you like romance with instant chemistry and so many coincidences that it could only be fate, this is for you.

Holly and Jack meet in your typical meet cute. It's Christmas in a small town and she runs right into him in a coffee shop and he spills coffee all over both of them. She offers to buy him a drink and a snack, but realizes she forgot her wallet. They spend a brief couple of minutes feeling this electric energy before she has to go, he writes his number on a coffee cup and asks her to call.

Minutes later, Holly and her sister get into a life altering car crash just down the road. She loses the coffee cup, and her life is forever changed in the blink of an eye.

Four years later, she is alone on Christmas and gets a "Dear Stranger" letter in the mail. Something she signed up for to send anonymous letters to others in her same position of loneliness. Except, this letter is signed with a first and last name, and she recognizes the description of the cafe she met Jack in years ago. She feels a pull to help this woman and reunite her with her grandson, whom she hasn't spoken to in 20 years.

Fate. Fate. Fate. Holly will have to face her own fears and fight for what she wants as well if she truly wants to be happy. She will have to believe that she deserves happiness too, even after all that has happened.

Thanks to netgalley for an eARC to review.

A young woman goes on a healing journey when she tracks down an elderly pen pal to help reunite her with her estranged grandson as she herself tries to fix the relationship with her sister after a devastating car crash. When Holly and her pregnant sister Lily make a quick pitstop at a coffee shop things go awry quickly. Holly spills coffee on a hot stranger who gives her his phone number and as they are leaving the cafe Holly and her sister get into a car crash that causes Lily to lose her baby. Ever since then Lily has never forgiven Holly, especially since she can't have kids anymore, and now Holly is estranged and wracked with guilt over the incident. Three years after the crash Holly decides to visit the pen pal (despite said pen pal was assuming it was anonymous) to help them whether they want it or not. Holly shows up at her elderly pen pal Emma's house saying she'll help reunite Emma with her estranged grandson Jack... who just happens to be the hot stranger she met three years ago at the cafe. When Holly tracks down Jack and they start spending time together, Holly's secret about why she actually tracked down Jack might ruin the sparking romance between them... can Holly fix all the relationships in both her and Emma's life before Emma's cancer takes her? Unfortunately this was a miss for me, it gave me Letters to Juliet (movie) vibes but with less romance, a more insufferable protagonist, and less charm. Sadly I really just could not stand Holly, she really just tracked down to people, deflected her own relationship issues with her family onto to them and decided to make herself a part of it. I understand it was meant to come off as sweet and caring that she was doing it, but honestly it came off as weird. i just didn't really enjoy this novel and it didn't give off a cute Christmas or emotional Christmas romance read at all for me. So while this one didn't work for me, maybe if you are looking for a Christmas read with emotional stakes then give this one a go!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

My favorite Emily Stone read yet. A perfect holiday treat. Some hard topics, but a beautiful read. Thanks to NetGalley for the early read!

Beautiful story about love, loss, growth and healing. Love the story and how they all connect in a way that fate has allowed.

I can absolutely count on Emily Stone to write about a traumatic event, so trigger warning if you have ever been in a serious car wreck- you may need to sit this one out. I love Emily's writing because it is honest and thoughtful. Processing death and sitting in grief and blame and guilt is tough to address in fiction but I think it was well addressed. I love a fresh plot and the Dear Stranger letter intrigued me. The ending hurt, but I knew it was coming. This was a story of grief and hope. This was not fluffy at all; if you are looking for a sad holiday romance, this could be your pick.
Thank you Netgalley and Dell Publishing for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Dear Emily,
 
I have read both of your other holiday reads and enjoyed them, so I was super excited when fate led to the approval for an arc of your newest one Love, Holly. And I’m so glad it did!
 
I loved this story about a young woman who is trying to heal after a family tragedy.  I loved her quirkiness and her need to ‘fix’ others in hopes of fixing herself.  I loved the idea of the Dear Strangers letters bringing comfort to those feeling lonely around the holidays.  I loved the snarky elderly characters that Holly kind of forced into her life.  I loved the letters she wrote to her sister.  I loved the coffee shop meet cute and later watching that relationship unfold.  And I loved how fate helped led her back to herself and what she wanted most.
 
I love how your writing is always both heartbreaking but also beautifully hopeful.  I loved how this story was about blame and grief and also about acceptance and forgiveness.  I love the idea of second chances, both in love and with family.  And I loved the idea of the power of fate and how it can help you along your journey, pointing you in directions that will help you find yourself again. I just love your stories.  Thank you!
 
Love, Celebrating Christmas in July
 
If you love a good emotional read that relates back to the holidays, then please pick up Love, Holly or either of Emily’s other two holiday reads.  You won’t be disappointed.
 
4 stars
 
Pub Date: September 26, 2023
 
Thank you Emily Stone, NetGalley, and Random House for this ARC approval in exchange for an honest review.

This review was posted on 7/11/2023 to both Instagram and Goodreads.

I was hooked from the very beginning of this story, so many events keep bringing Holly and Jack together but not the way you would think . There is so much emotion in this story and so much serendipity that there must be someone who really wants them together.
This is not an easy tale to read there is a lot of emotional upheavel but a lot of love and kindness too. Many of the characters have a lot of guilt and misunderstanding about events in their live that gets in the way of loving each other and make them believe that they aren't worthy of forgiveness or love, but somehow they do the heavy lifting and get to the other side. This truly is a story of love, forgiveness and selflessness and a lot of stubborness, but with the right amount of badgering things change.

I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell and NetGalley for advance copy of a story that will make you rethink about the misunderstandings you may have too.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this was a bit heavy of a read for holiday time but it's also full of love and reconciliation. I like the meet cute. Not the family drama. Sweet read overall

I haven't cried reading in a long time, but this one got me. I almost have it up, because the sister drama is emotionally draining for me. Beautiful written characters and a great read!

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Okay, I loved this book. It is so much more than a love story between two people. A chance meeting before a terrible car accident, fast forward 3 years and lives are changed completely. Holly tracks down Emma after receiving an anonymous letter from her. She stubbornly sets out to make Emma let her into her life and help restore her relationship with her grandson, Jack. Along the way Jack and Emma help Holly repair her relationship with her sister. Lily, and her love of art.

Easily 5 stars for me. I loved the relationships that Holly is able to form with Emma and Jack. They all helped each other realize that they were being too harsh on themselves for the accidents they were in years ago. They all learned to find a way to get back to their passions - art and gardening. And best of all they found each other.