This is such a fun, light-hearted, and beautiful holiday story that tackles real life issues, while stranded in Snow Falls, the small Canadian community where Christmas movies are filmed.
Set during a somewhat recent year where Christmas, Ramadhan, and Hanukkah all occur at the same time. Such a great taste of different cultures, written by two best selling Canadian authors. Highly recommend it for your next holiday read!

This book is for those of us who want a funny, festive, and multi-faith rom-com that celebrates love, family, and the magic of the holiday season. Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin & Marissa Stapley is a delightful and heartwarming holiday romance that beautifully weaves together the lives of two very different women.

Meet Anna and Maryam. Their paths intersect during a snowstorm-induced emergency landing, and fate throws them together in the small, charming town of Snow Falls. Talk about a unique premise! Imagine Christmas, Ramadan, and Hanukkah all falling at the same time. Anna and Maryam, strangers-turned-friends, find themselves snowbound along with the cast and crew of a holiday romance movie, nosy family members, and their lifelong crushes.

I thought the setting was utterly charming. The snowy backdrop of Snow Falls adds to the cozy and festive atmosphere. The town becomes a character in itself, enhancing the magic of the story. Jalaluddin and Stapley crafted authentic characters that were easy to love. Anna and Maryam are relatable, flawed, and endearing. Their interactions, hopes, and fears resonated with me as a reader. The romantic tension also kept me turning the pages! As Anna feels the magic of an unexpected new love and Maryam opens her heart, the chemistry sizzles.

Whether you're curled up by the fireplace or traveling home for the holidays, this book will warm your heart. Jalaluddin and Stapley have created a memorable tale that reminds us of the joy of unexpected connections.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada, and Viking for a temporary e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the way this book builds on and re-ignites the joy of the 4 weddings and a funeral storyline. This was a great read for the holiday season. It would make a great weekend read!

This was charming and fun. It had all you want from a Hallmark romance, with a fun twist. Cozy and cute, although it did drag a bit at times.

osh this was cozy and cute.

The book brilliantly highlights the year 2000 when Hanukkah, Christmas, and Ramadan all fall in the same single week, making its the holiday trifecta.

Set in a cozy snowed-in inn jsut outside of Ottawa, it's a heartwarming tale of friendship, family, and romance. While it's not just a love story, both main characters grow on you, especially with their evolving friendship and family dynamics.

A lovely read for those seeking some holiday cheer, pairs perfectly with a warm mug of tea or hot cocoa.

I thought this was a charming holiday romance and I was thrilled to see rep of other cultures/religions in the holiday season that is so often dominated by Christmas.
I wouldn’t adopt it for my classroom, as it’s not age appropriate necessarily, but I certainly have recommended it to friends and family!

This was an entertaining holiday romance. I liked the plot and the characters were a lot of fun. Very much recommend this book.

Gosh, this holiday book has such a fun and romantic uniqueness to it. I fell in love with all the characters and their stories. Uzma and Marissa did a great job at weaving these two love stories together to create an unforgettable and addictive romantic romp. This is a must-read for any romance bookworm.

Just what was needed for a holiday read! Snow, romance, family and a quaint small Canadian town. I appreciated the diversity in this book that shared stories and customs of Christmas, Hanukkah and Eid. It was educational and enjoyable.

It was written from the perspective of two different characters (and by two different authors) which I appreciated and the romance elements were predictable with happy endings all around. The theme of family especially around the holidays was important.

Three Holidays and a Wedding by uzma jalaluddin and marissa stapley was the fun and diverse holiday book I needed this winter break!

In this dual POV romance, Maryam and Anna start off irritated by each other, and become close friends when their respective trips to Toronto for the holidays is derailed. Set in the year 2000, a year where Eid, Christmas and Hanukkah fall within days of each other, and also in the absence of reliable cellphones and internet service, they must both find a way to make the most of being stranded in a multi-day blizzard in a small, remote Canadian town. This town is straight out of a Hallmark movie, a joke which is played up multiple times throughout, though the name of the movie production company (yes there is actually a Christmas movie being filmed in this tiny town) is altered, presumably for copyright reasons. This blizzard gives both women a chance to reconsider their life paths and potential/former relationships, as well as the true meaning of family. The perfect amount of cheesy, improbable situations (it is a romantic holiday story after all) and predictable happy endings, this book is a great choice for anyone looking for a more diverse Holiday romance.

Thanks to netgalley and penguin random house canada for giving me the chance to read and review this sweet holiday story!

I’m calling it: Three Holidays and a Wedding is my favourite holiday read of 2023. Now, I haven’t read that many yet (and I’m woefully behind, as usual, on my holiday review books) but this one, co-written by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley, two of my favourite authors, was an absolute delight and I enjoyed every second reading it.

Here’s the book’s description:
Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.
As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.
An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.
The premise of this one is perfectly bonkers which made it the best kind of holiday rom com. There are not one, not two, but three major holidays converging, a plane being rerouted and, oh, there’s a movie being filmed in town, too! Jalaluddin and Stapley work their magic, though, and make something that could be cheesy and over-the-top, completely wonderful. I was smiling constantly while reading this story and was completely invested in the characters’ lives.

The book takes place in December 2000 when Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Christmas all fell within a few days of each other. You may think that 2000 wasn’t that long ago and I mostly forgot that the book took place *gasp* 23 years ago. But there were the odd moments when I realized how much things had changed since then - which I loved! Anna only had a flip phone and her charger had been lost with her luggage so she couldn’t get in touch with her boyfriend in Toronto. That would never happen these days. Nor would someone pull out a bunch of CDs for a mehndi ceremony in 2023. I really liked the little mentions of days gone by!

I loved how the holidays came together and how Hanukkah and Ramadan took centre stage, with Christmas almost being an afterthought. It was refreshing. I celebrate Christmas but there’s no religious reason for that. I just enjoyed that a big guy in a red suit brought me and my sisters presents and we had an excuse to decorate the house and eat lots of treats. I enjoyed feeling part of both Anna and Maryam’s celebrations as they shared traditions and discovered just how important family and their holidays really were to them. (And that maybe family didn’t have to be related by blood.)

Maryam and Anna were such great characters to get to know. They were real (and therefore flawed) but such wonderful people. And their love interests probably didn’t deserve them because these ladies were so great. (But the boys were ok too - we can keep them!) The romantic relationships they embark on were secondary to the women figuring out what they wanted to be doing with their lives. Becoming snowbound in Snow Falls allowed them to really analyze their current circumstances and think about their futures. I was so proud of their growth and loved reading it.

If you buy just one holiday read this year, make it Three Holidays and a Wedding (and I highly recommend you buy yourself your very own copy). Uzma Jalauddin and Marissa Stapley have completely nailed it and I loved reading this holiday rom com. I hope these authors pair up again for another novel in the future.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

I really enjoyed Three Holidays and a Wedding! It was fun to read a novel set in Ontario during December 2000 and I found it to be a really cute rom com. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

In December 2000, three holidays were all happening at the same time: Hannukah, Ramadan, and Christmas. Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson are two strangers flying to Toronto for the holidays. Maryam is going to her sister’s wedding, which she had to plan at the last minute, and Anna is going to meet her wealthy boyfriend’s family for the first time. Maryam and Anna sit next to each other, and confess their hopes and fears following some turbulence. They end up making an emergency landing in a small town near Ottawa because the snow storm of the century is closing down Toronto. With no flights out during the storm, everyone has to stay there for days. Snow Falls is a cute holiday town where a Christmas romance movie is being filmed. Meanwhile, the man Maryam had a crush on since they were kids is also staying at the inn with them. Everyone is stranded in the town for the holidays, and both young women find unexpected romances there too.

This was such a fun holiday romance! I don’t remember the December of 2000, when all three major holidays occurred at the same time, but it is a great setting for a holiday romance novel. It was so nice to see people from different backgrounds brought together in celebration. The town of Snow Falls was very inclusive, so they were ready for all the holidays. The huge snowstorm that shut down Toronto actually happened a couple of years before 2000, but it made sense for the story for it to happen during these holidays.

Three Holidays and a Wedding is a celebratory holiday novel!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a digital copy of this book!

Content warnings: death of parent

Title: Three Holidays and a Wedding
Author: Uzma Jalaluddin & Marissa Stapley
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: September 23, 2023

I received a complimentary eARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Warm • Cheesy • Festive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.

As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.

When Anna, Maryam, Saif, and Maryam’s sister’s bridal party are snowbound at a quirky inn on the outskirts of Snow Falls—a picture-perfect town where a holiday romance starring Anna’s actor-crush is being filmed—chaos ensues. But as Maryam and Anna start to feel the magic of Snow Falls—and find love better than their deepest hopes—they just might realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I have enjoyed several of Uzma Jalaluddin's books in the past, but have yet to read Marissa Stapley. With that said, I was intrigued after reading the premise and interested to see what this writing duo could do with a holiday rom-com. Three Holidays and a Wedding was the only holiday book I put on my TBR this year.

What I like:
• the friendship between Maryam and Anna. Their unlikely friendship was my favourite part of this book. They helped each other and I'd have been completely okay if it had been the focus of the book.
• the combination of the three holidays. I really enjoyed the tri-holiday concept. Learning about the each of the different customs of the faiths was informative and just was a good fit.
• the Canadian setting. The fictional town of Snow Falls was delightful. A little over-the-top but that's to be expected in holiday rom-coms
• the grandfather. My favourite character hands down. His wisdom and appearances always brought a smile to my face.

What I didn't like:
• the romances. There was just so much going on that it took so long to get to the actual romance. Each of the romance plotlines got equal page time, so flushing out two entire romances made the novel longer than it needed to be.
• Nick. He was just awful and I found myself skimming anytime he made an appearance.

It's hard to pin point exactly how I felt about this holiday romance. There were some things I really enjoyed, but on the other hand there was so much going on that it got a little convoluted. It needed some editing, because the writing was choppy at times. This was a different type of holiday read for me, and I would consider picking up another book if this duo teamed up again, yet I cannot say for sure.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Hallmark Christmas movie lovers
• readers looking for diverse holiday rep

⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, grief, toxic relationship, gaslighting, alcohol, infidelity

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The world was a miracle, at all times of the year."

"'We're all broken,' Saif said. 'We just make beautiful new things with our broken pieces.'"

"When you lose someone, a 'right time' never really comes. You have to take happiness as it comes to you, while accepting that grief will always live with you, too."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
🕎 dual POV
🕎 friends to lovers
🕎 Christmas scenery
🕎 2 different romance stories going on at once

Two strangers meet on a plane to Toronto where they are both going for different reasons: Maryam is going home for her sister’s wedding and Anna is going to meet her boyfriend’s snobby family for the first time. The snowstorm of the century causes hilarity and dramatics when everyone is stranded at the airport together: crushes and all!
This was definitely the perfect holiday read because not only was it about Christmas, but it was also about Hanukkah and Ramadan also.. so anyone could read this book and celebrate their own holiday. I love that.
I love the little graphics at the heading of every chapter!! It’s such a small thing but especially when you’re reading an ebook with just black and white text… it really adds some nice detail that is very enjoyable and pleasing to my eyes.
This book is set in Toronto which is super close to where I live, and that always gives me so much joy when the story takes place not only in Canada but somewhere super close to where I live 🤪 I really appreciated all the Canadian sayings and inside jokes!
I am really enjoying books lately that (specifically Indian) are from a different culture and have a bunch of not only their cultural practices and hobbies, but also has a bunch of their lingo thrown in. It honestly feels like I’m learning a bunch of stuff but I’m actually just reading, which is obviously one of my main hobbies.
I was very happy reading about all the Christmas treats and Christmas decorations and scenery 💕 I love Christmas books this time of year and this was the perfect book to get my ready for Christmas next week ❤️
I really liked that it was a dual POV and we got to see two different romance stories in one book. It was like reading two books at once!
I really liked most of the characters and was genuinely invested in what happened to them, and I desperately wanted everyone to get their happy ending.
This was my first novel by this author but it definitely will not be my last! This was such a fast read for me; I flew right through it in only a couple hours 💕

A Hallmark Christmas movie in book form; you already know the beats that it will hit, so it's easy to just sink in and enjoy. I wish that the characters had more depth as everything felt very surface-level and I ended up not really invested in the story because I knew that it would be happily ever after for everyone. I did enjoy learning more about Ramadan, Eid and Hanukkah, and I thought that Maryam's arc of learning that she had imposed many of her growth restrictions and pressure on herself was one that many of us can relate to.

Three Holidays and a Wedding, by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley

“Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.”


Look no further for a feel good holiday story that embraces the beauty of three holidays converging days apart, topped by a wedding, all the while being stranded with strangers due to the snowstorm of the century.

Three Holidays and a Wedding is a sweet, swoony and charming clean romance that focuses on connection and tenderness.

Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson, strangers who are stranded together, find friendship in each other with the depth and intimacy of having known one another for decades. Finding solace and safety in each other to vent, reflect on their own experiences, and rediscover their true selves. It’s an empowering friendship that is enriched by diversity and set in a remote and remarkably quaint and inclusive community.
I loved how the authors created a festive tale that highlighted Christmas, Hanukkah and Ramadan. Three holidays that actually did converge days from one another in the early 2000’s.
Truly, if Hallmark wrote books this would be it! And I really hope that this book is brought to the screen!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the authors for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

As much as I am a fan of Christmas, I’m a bit of a Grinch when it comes to holiday-themed movies and novels. I can count on less than two hands the Christmas movies, episodes, and books that I love. Fortunately, I can now add Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley’s Three Holidays and a Wedding to this short list. Three Holidays and a Wedding is basically a Hallmark holiday movie, but in book format, with the bonus of being Canadian and diverse. I love the fact that the authours used the 2000 confluence of Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Christmas to make the book magically stand out among the countless other winter holiday books. Additionally, they made the celebrations fit naturally in the book, as Maryam’s family is Muslim while Anna celebrates Christmas, but she also embraces Hanukkah as she grew up with a stepmother who was Jewish.

Being of a similar age to the two women, there were definitely parts of both their stories that I could relate to. Such as Maryam shouldering the burden of her immigrant parents’ expectations as the eldest daughter, and Anna being torn between what she truly wants versus what she should want on paper. To be honest, I wouldn’t categorize Three Holidays and a Wedding as your standard holiday romance, especially when the “true” love story, in my opinion, is the stranger-to-close friends’ relationship that forms between Anna and Maryam. Still, there is some romance for those craving one. Anna and Josh’s romance felt overly cheesy at times and a bit predictable. However, I did enjoy the love story between Maryam and her long-time crush, Saif, and wished we got more of them instead of Anna and Josh. A family-filled, somewhat chaotic holiday mish-mash of a novel, I left Three Holidays and a Wedding feeling satisfied but also sad that a place like Snow Falls and a person like “Dadu” both don’t exist in my reality.

This was a solid holiday read for me! I love that it was co - written by Canadian authors and that the fictional town was actually based on a real town just outside of Ottawa. It was very interesting to read about three different holidays happening at the same time, and to learn about holiday traditions in different cultures. I loved the quaint small town that gave off big holiday vibes and the massive snow storm that had everyone snowed in. The two main characters were very different, but both great. They both seemed to grow throughout the story.

Pick this one up if you like:
- All the holidays! (Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan)
- Small town, cute/quirky local shops, all with big heart!
- fun secondary characters including the sweetest Grandpa
- Snowed in!
- unlikely friendships, found family
- two different romances
- big festive vibes!

Overall, it was quite delightful and I liked it a lot! Would recommend picking it up for your holiday reading!

Oh I just finished this one, and it was a fun + festive read. I liked the merging together of faiths, and hearing about some of the different traditions + customs. I feel like I would have liked more depth to the stories but overall, it was a great way to kick off the holiday season.

Thank you to NetGalley + the publishers for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.