I was SO excited for Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake. I’m a huge fan of her work and sapphic Christmas romances, so this book seemed like it was made just for me. Sadly, it didn’t quite hit the right notes.

The story about Charlotte and Brighton reuniting over the holidays had a lot of potential, but I didn’t really buy into their second-chance romance. The Christmas setting and all the festive activities were super charming, but I just didn’t feel the emotional connection between them was strong enough. For me, a second-chance romance needs to really convince me that the characters are meant to be together, and this one fell a bit short.

Blake’s writing is, as always, warm and engaging, and the holiday vibes are on point. But even though the book has a lot of heart, I ended up feeling a bit let down. If you love holiday romances and Blake’s other books, you might still enjoy it, but I was hoping for a bit more.

Got approved for the new Ashley Herring Blake ARC, thank you so much 💜 yes I read a Christmas book in July/august lol. I think romance is hard for me because I haven’t really felt like I love someone romantically in years. Meeting new people at 28 is so hard. Don’t wanna get in a depression spiral over a book, but it’s hard! The book was good, but it was hard to like either main character. Charlotte was a horrible friend and I’m supposed to think Brighton can be redeemed after leaving her fiancé at the alter??? The lack of communication with these two was so frustrating. I do love the author, the writing was great of course, but the characters were not that likable to me unfortunately. 3⭐️

58/100

the literal sapphic, angsty, childhood best friends to lovers to strangers, second chance romance, christmas book of my sparkly dreams!!! this left my heart feeling so overwhelmingly overflowing and warm and fuzzy and i truly truly truly loved every! single! second! of it! yes, even the many seconds where bright AND charlotte were pissing me off (said with love!! i just wanted them to work it out so bad!!)!!
this felt like a very painfully raw, GENUINE! love story and i really adored seeing these messy, scarred characters work through their individual fears and hurt and find their way back to each other!
another thing i really love in ashley’s books is the friendship and this was no different! i was so invested in all the side characters and their journey’s and happiness!! these relationships really added so so much to the book for me and i just loved seeing it!!!
the one thing that bumped this down a star for me was probably just a little lack of depth at times? while i loved all the characters and loved lola and bright so so so much i never felt the bone deep connection and pull in my heart that i feel reading some of ashley’s other stories and i think it’s because some plots and conversations just didn’t have the depth i wish there was.
all in all though this was a super lovable holiday read and i would recommend it a hundred times over!!!!

This was the queer hallmark movie gays deserve!!!!! But I’m happy to take the book version of a bisexual holiday love story.

Ashley Herring Blake is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint. This book follows Charlotte and Brighton who were childhood best friends and ex-fiancees. After Brighton leaves Charlotte at the altar, the two are reunited for Christmas and forced to participate in a singles speed dating event. This book will make you laugh out load and also scream and cry in the best way. This book is about honoring yourself and also forgiveness and second chances.

Thank you, Berkley, for giving me a little Christmas in July!

This is a wonderful second chance romcom with two exes who are stuck in the same house for the holiday, It’s hard to find romance novels with gay and lesbian couples that feel genuine, but “Make The Season Bright” does a fantastic job. I especially loved the character of Charlotte; she is just so relatable! The chemistry between her and Brighton is absolute fire.

I cant wait to recommend at publication and will probably do a reread at Christmas. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read in advance!

This book was a cheery queery dream. I am so grateful that I got to read this ARC, and Ashley Herring Blake has once again made me swoon with a beautiful love story. This book was the perfect "christmas in July" read, and it had me singing christmas carols on the beach while also laughing, sweating, and cheering on this pair so hard. 2024 really is the year of the second-chance romance!

One more Christmas in July book! This was honestly so sweet! I love AHB’s writing style and it’s easy thread and full of so much heart. And this is a second chance!!! And there is simply nothing I love more. Charlotte and Brighton were the perfect childhood friends to lovers to strangers to now they’re on vacation with their friends who are sisters who don’t know their past to lovers again and I love them so much. Christmas and the cute little town and all their love filled festivities were so cute and such a good back drop! It was exactly what Brighton and Charlotte needed to find each other again.

I loved that there were sweet little flashbacks within the story, I love being able to see where all the love started. I thought Charlotte and Brighton were both opposite and so similar. They were both so stuck without the other. They were so both so scared of losing the other they didn’t really have any room to grow…and coming back together and realizing they still really haven’t grown…was exactly what they needed to finally make some much needed changes in a lot of places in their lives.

I also really loved this cast of characters!! They were all so sweet and they clearly loved each other so much!

Thanks to Berkley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Literally nothing better than reading a phenomenal queer, lesbian romance set at Christmas time whilst at the snow. Being in Australia does have its perks 🤌🏼

This was exactly the sapphic contemporary romance I needed to get me out of an impending reading slump. I am not one to reach for a friends to lovers to exes second chance romance, but this one really spoke to me. And my god did it deliver.

For my first Ashley Herring Blake book, I am THOROUGHLY impressed and will be reading through her backlist

Second-chance romance can be stressful - I had times of being extremely frustrated by both the main characters, but I still really loved the story overall. As always the side characters were great, and Ashley Herring Blake's writing was wonderful, I had a hard time putting the book down for silly things like sleep and work.

A Sapphic Christmas second-chance romance — what more do you need to know? Two musicians, one who left the other at the altar, are in a forced proximity situation at Christmas! The dynamic between Charlotte and Brighton is excellent, and I loved how important music was to the story. A perfect holiday book to devour in December.

This did less than nothing for me, sorry. The two leads are not distinct from one another at all and look exactly the same, the sex scenes are incredibly boring, and the plot is ridiculous. I don't mind romance novels with extremely silly plots, but this is one where I'm like "hmm, maybe these people should not be together." It's a second chance romance where one character leaves the other at the altar five years before the start of the book, but we're never given a particularly good explanation as to why, and the act is never well-justified or adequately explained. The friends and other side characters are one-note set dressing, and the setting is generic.

This was just fine. I loved that one of the main characters started going grey at 21, but that was honestly about it, and at 85% into this book I came to the really unfortunate realization that I just didn't really care about Charlotte and Bright and their relationship.

I loveeee Ashley Herring Blake! I was so excited about this book. I was trying to wait until closer to the holiday season to read this but I couldn’t wait, so Christmas in July! Loved it!

This was a cute second-chance romance, but the two main characters were just OK for me. I was actually more interested in the side characters stories and backgrounds. I also found that the main couple moved past their issues a little too quickly. I find it hard to believe someone who was left at the alter would reconcile with that person over the course of a few days. I am hoping this will become a series though, as I would love to see more of Adele and Manish.

<i>Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for this eARC. This is my honest review.</i>

I lovely Ashley Blake. The Bright Falls trilogy and her earlier younger readers books are going to be lifelong favourites, and this is still really, really good. At the same time? I don't know that I'll find this as memorable as her previous titles. It ticked all the boxes I want from Ashley Blake books, and yet...I don't know. It just seemed to make less of an impression, for some reason? I'm only writing my review weeks later because it was just kind of...I'm not sure...just fine maybe? I'm not sure whether the leads just didn't completely vibe with me, whether this was how much Charlotte kept Sloane at arms length that never really got sufficiently resolved to my satisfaction, the way the second chance romance was approached, that everything wrapped up a touch too neatly, I'm not sure.

There's objectively so much to love about the story. Great supporting cast, interesting scenarios and settings, so I'm not sure what makes it so meh to me? I'm going to give this a 3.5 stars rounded up and have high hopes for the next one that there's a brief preview for at the end.

Second chance romance? Count me in!

I loved this book so much, and the fact it's holiday themed? Obsessed with it! This was a cozy hallmark style type of romance book that just had you feeling good and in love the entire time while reading it. It had the perfect amount of cute and cozy with the right about of romance to it. I loved reading these characters growing and coming into themselves and finding each other again, especially around the holidays.

This one made me feel so warm and fuzzy, I loved every minute of it!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

2024 Christmas in July

For me, this lacked the magic of the Bright Falls series. In it, Astrid was my favorite. These two remind me of Iris, who I severely disliked.

My problem with second chance romance, and I realize this is a very personal problem, is that once I leave you behind, you remain behind. Don't feel bad for these people. They've had more than multiple chances at this point to get their act together, and then don't. And then act shocked when I cut them off. So that is what I truly don't comprehend about this romance genre.

Lola is unlikeable, but in the closed off way that I am also unlikeable, so I liked her a smidgen more than Bright. Bright is very wide-eyed, open, and in my eyes, naïve. I don't have a lot of sympathy for characters like this. While their engagement and subsequent breakup was both of their faults, I think Bright should've spoken up when she was unhappy. On the other side of that, Lola should've seen it coming. She did see it coming. She chose to ignore it.

So while it may have been entertaining for some to watch these two come back together, with some well-placed shenanigans to boot, I just didn't buy it. By the end, I just didn't care. Don't worry. I'm not writing off Ashley's books. This just wasn't the one for me. The cover is really something else, though.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley

If you like second-chance romance and holiday-themed books then you need to check this one out. This is a cute read both of the main characters are musicians with one being in an orchestra and the other being in a band. One of the fmc Charlotte was left at the alter by the other fmc Brighton and a Christmas season holiday get-together with Charlotte's orchestra friends brings her back in forced proximity with Brighton. I thought the coziness of this book was so well done and I loved how the author wrote the friendships between the characters. I liked the romance I just had a tough time moving past the left at the alter aspect of the book. There are some steamy scenes, family issues, music, and holiday fun which makes for a good read. Thank you to the publisher for this arc for an honest review.

Read for:
- Sapphic romance
- Second chance
- Holiday theme
- Cozy romance

4.5 stars. A sweet second chance romance in which childhood friends and exes get stuck together at Christmas. Featuring lots of music, as one of them plays in a string quartet and the other is a singer songwriter.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.