What can I say: around December, I start craving Christmas romances, both in movie and book form. The sapphic Christmas movie selection may still be pretty weak, but at least we have plenty of seasonal sapphic romance books to choose from. I enjoyed the previous Ashley Herring Blake romances I read, so this seemed like an easy win.

Between this and Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing, I’ve been convinced that I am a fan of the second chance romance trope. Like The Pairing, these two main characters have been close since they were kids, but haven’t spoken to each other in years, since Brighton left Charlotte at the altar. Then they both end up at the same house for Christmas—it turns out their friends are sisters—it brings up a lot of intense emotions.

The second chance trope works for me because we start this story with so much tension and complicated feelings. They know how to push each other’s buttons. They miss each other. They’re angry at each other. That makes it easy to immediately be pulled into the story. I also appreciated that as the book went on, I could sympathize with Brighton’s decision to leave Charlotte at the altar years ago—it was a betrayal, but it wasn’t entirely one-sided. Romances always need an obstacle to overcome, and this one is big enough to keep them apart without ultimately feeling insurmountable.

Glancing through reviews, I found it a little funny that there are plenty of reviews saying Brighton is terrible and Charlotte deserves better—and that Charlotte is terrible and Brighton deserves better. Personally, I love flawed characters. They feel more realistic. Charlotte is closed off to the point of selfishness, but we understand why: she was raised by a mostly absent mother and then was left at the altar by the love of her life. Brighton cared so much about Charlotte in their relationship that she tried to suppress any of her own doubts and conflicting desires until it reached a crisis point. To me, that breakdown of communication between them—especially in their early twenties when they’d only ever been with each other—made total sense, and I was invested in seeing how they would bridge this enormous divide years later.

This really delivers on the Christmas vibes, too. Some books are marketed as holiday romances, but it isn’t actually that relevant to the plot. In Make the Season Bright, they’re staying with a family who is enthusiastic about Christmas, and they’re also roped into a series of Christmas-themed singles events.

I misread a review of this as “inexplicably sexy” (it actually said “explicitly sexy”), and honestly, I think that’s right. I associate Christmas romances with cozy and sweet, so I was a little surprised by the explicit sex scenes, including discussion of kinks, but I’m not complaining!

Another fun aspect was the queer friend group. In fact, despite the sisters complaining about growing up in this small town and being some of the only queer people, almost everyone we meet is queer, even side characters who only show up for a page.

I also appreciate that these friendships are given weight. Charlotte and Brighton have to repair their relationship, but so do Charlotte and Sloane. Charlotte hasn’t realized that by trying to be so independent, she’s been hurting the people who care about her by pushing them away. Sloane is right to be angry about this one-sided relationship, and I’m glad that Charlotte has to apologize for them to continue to be friends.

That brings me to the thing that didn’t work for me, though, and something I’m beginning to notice about Ashley Herring Blake romances: they always star white characters with best friends who are characters of colour. (I believe usually Black women, but I could be wrong about that.) Similarly, trans characters are mentioned, but never the main characters. I understand not wanting to write outside of your own experience, but it can seem tokenizing when trans characters and characters of colour never get the spotlight. What made this stand out to me this time was Adele calling Brighton “baby girl” constantly; I think about half of the lines she has include that phrase, and it felt weird to me, more like a catch phrase than a natural speaking choice.

While there were elements that I really enjoyed about this, it didn’t feel particularly memorable. Unfortunately, I’m still looking for that Christmas romance book that I love as much as The Holiday.

I was excited to give Ashley Herring Blake another try after hearing about this sapphic Christmas story. Unfortunately, this story was not for me and did not grip me. I was not compelled to finish it.

I DNF'd this pretty early on because the pacing was slow and the characters didn't draw me in. I really enjoyed Ashley's last book and her writing style, but this story left me feeling unmotivated to pick it back up.

I am choosing not to share this review publicly since I did not finish the book and I don't believe that would be fair to the author.

I loooove second chance!! But I think these two could’ve stayed broken up.

Loved the holiday vibes and the snowed in moment and the tension and jealousy games. It was a super cute story and mostly had me hooked. But I didn’t believe in forgiving the reason for the initial breakup. My trust issues could NEVER. And so they should’ve learned from their mistakes and moved on (I get it’s a romance with an HEA but that’s just my OPINION).

Read if you like:
❤️‍🩹 second chance romance
🌶️ medium spice (2.5/5)
👯‍♀️ FF romance
🎄 Christmas books
🎶 orchestras and bands

Stunning. This is my first Ashley Herring Blake read and I am so impressed. Somehow Blake has crafted a holiday romance that is both fun, cozy, and deeply moving. I felt like I really got to know Charlotte over the course of the book and the author did a fantastic job of writing her emotions into the story. This book has a little bit of everything- cozy holiday vibes, second chance romance, emotional substance, and some wonderful smut. One of my best reads of 2024!

AHB writes really well and this book is no exception. Her books are enjoyable to read because the writing is great. She also has a hallmark for writing a good group of friends and found family and that was also great. I had some issues in this one with the main characters though. The nice part for me about second chance romance is that you worked your ass off to deserve the other… Like I think they tried… but they were better together…But kind of in a bad way? As in Charlotte refused to open up to anyone and Brighton STILL couldn’t communicate! Like in five years, they had NO growth? Also, though I get it, like we as the readers need to see the story and thus the growth, I would’ve wanted some progress. Like how is it possible that Charlotte was left at the alter and was still not in therapy? Given her age, that seems almost unrealistic.

ALSO— it is INCREDIBLY rare to receive university positions via the phone. (My personal issue as a former classical musician who works in higher ed.) As in, virtually it doesn’t happen.

I wanted to like this! I think it’s a fast-paced read and written well but ultimately it just didn’t do it for me.

I love Ashley Herring Blake's writing so I was super excited for her holiday book. The plot is a bit unbelievable but it still makes for a fun sapphic second chance romance that will get you in the Christmas mood.

Thanks to Berkley for the copy to review.

When professional violinist Charlotte finds herself with nowhere to go for the holidays, her friend and fellow quartet member Sloane insists they all join her at her family's home for Christmas. Charlotte wants to say no--December has been a cursed month for her ever since her fiancé left her at the altar five years ago--but her fellow musicians won't let her. Only when they arrive in Colorado, it turns out Sloane's sister, Adele, has also brought a friend with her: Brighton, Charlotte's ex-fiancé. Brighton, meanwhile, is struggling with being kicked out of her band that's now made it big, floundering working at Adele's bar, and regretting leaving Charlotte.

I loved this book. All of Herring Blake's books have been fabulous, particularly her first novel, but I love the holiday cheer and Christmas tropes this one packs in. We get only one bed, snowed in, home for the holidays, drunken confessions, fake dating, holiday games and more. It's a holiday romance lover's paradise with a sapphic spin! This one took a little bit to get going, and the beginning in New York almost felt like a separate story (albeit, a good one), but once we were in Colorado I was IN! I loved how the plot focused just as much on Charlotte's platonic relationships as her romantic ones; it was a nice through thread that logically connected to the romance.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

**Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc**

I really enjoyed this Christmassy romance! I was surprised, because usually second-chance romances don't do much for me. There's something about the way the writer is able to make her characters seem complex and flawed but still likeable that made this work for me. I was rooting for them the whole time. Also- the Christmas vibes were on point. I would like to spend a weekend in Colorado with this group, please and thanks. I enjoyed the spice, but I also enjoyed the story outside of romantic scenes, and each of the characters felt very lived in and nuanced, even the side characters!

I was surprised when I looked at this author's other books and realized that she wrote some of my favorite MG novels (especially Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World!). Clearly she's a writer who is able to write well across genres and age groups. I'll definitely be picking up another one of her romances.

Thank you @prhaudio and Berkley for the review copies.
DNF at 15%. I had a hard time getting into the holiday spirit with these two main characters, which may have been more of a "me" issue than the story. If you are a fan of second chance romance, being snowed in together with your ex at the holidays, this would be a perfect read.

This was fine! I don’t easily buy into second chance romances and this one was no exception. But all of the characters were fun to get to know and it was definitely entertaining! I just couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to buy into the happily ever after. I also wasn’t a huge fan of calling her dislike of the holiday season a “December curse.” Like ok girl you just don’t like Christmas. That’s so fair. CURSE is a little wild. But I loved AHB’s writing and still had a good time!

This holiday romance was a lot of fun. I honestly think that if you like this author, you are going to enjoy this holiday romance. I do have to be honest, and maybe the two of them may have been better with other people in the long run, but I still thought this was sweet and fun.

Ashley Herring Blake has become a must-read romance author of mine, and this, her first standalone romance after her Bright Falls trilogy, did not disappoint. One of her biggest strengths as an author has, in my opinion, always been her ability to write complications into her romantic pairings that make sense and are sympathetic even when it doesn’t necessarily make the character likable—and here she does that very well with Charlotte and Brighton, who find themselves accidentally reunited for the first time after Brighton left Charlotte at the altar five years ago. A second chance romance after a betrayal of that caliber is a very hard sell for me, but Blake managed to completely convince me not only of these characters’ complex traumas and relationship difficulties but that the bones of the relationship were worth salvaging.

Also, the Christmas vibes in this book were immaculate—I purposely held off reading this book till right before Christmas and loved the cozy, warm, and bright atmosphere Blake created. The side characters were also great, although if I had one quibble about the book, it’s that the side characters got a bit sidelined. There were just so many of them and I would’ve liked a little more breathing room to get to know them! I’m so excited that Blake has another romance coming out in the spring.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Love is a journey, and sometimes that journey is long and convoluted and involves someone getting left at the alter.

Ashley Herring Blake has a way of writing characters and romance that resonates with me. I adored Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail, and Make the Season Bright is full of the same realistically flawed characters and loveable supporting cast that won me over with her other novels. There's something to the way that AHB writes both narration and dialogue that makes her books so enjoyable to read and make the characters and setting feel so real and alive, and I really enjoyed this book for the writing and the magnificent cast of characters, especially the supporting characters! I did realize, however, that second chance romance--or at least this second chance romance--just isn't my thing. While I liked both Charlotte and Brighton despite their flaws, I struggled to root for them as a couple and couldn't help feeling like their initial separation made sense and that they really might not be right for each other. That said, the story was charming and everything was done well, so I wasn't actually upset by anything that happened, and I found myself smiling as the story came to a close. I just prefer meet-cute or rivals-to-lovers romance more than the second chance variety, I think!

If second chance romance is your thing, though, I highly recommend this book to brighten up your holiday season! The holiday vibes were great and had me wanting to hang up Christmas lights and sing some carols in September! I loved the setting and all the background plotlines in this book (I would not be opposed to partaking in Two Turtledoves, just saying), and I would be thrilled if we get another Delilah Green situation and revisit this world and characters in future books!

All in all, while this romance storyline was not a favorite, I really enjoyed this book for the characters, the setting, and Ashley Herring Blake's delightful writing, and it's an excellent festive read for the holiday season!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot going for it, but ultimately I was never going to love the "second chance romance after one person is left at the altar" storyline.

I loved the cute Christmas environment. I enjoyed the friend group, though I thought they felt a bit interchangeable other than the respective best friends to Charlotte and Brighton. There were some funny moments and some sexy moments.

I didn't feel the communication issues that led to the first breakup were fully addressed in a way that felt satisfying. It was clear that both people loved each other very much, but it was too much suspension of disbelief that they would be able to come back to a healthy relationship after the previously mentioned being-left-at-the-altar thing.

Santa did read my wish list this year! A second chance queer romance from one of my favorite sapphic authors was definitely a fun surprise. I'm also a sucker for a good pun so making one of the MCs a holiday die hard with the last name Bright was just icing on the cake.

My only gripe is the same as so many romances and it about communication. How are you going to ghost the person you are literally marrying on the day of the wedding and then expect me to believe no one EVER forces a conversation? Come on, now?

I love Ashley Herring Blake and I was so excited to get this ARC! It was a fun holiday second chance romance and I loved how queer the whole story was!

One thing I wish was done was I felt like there needed to be more groveling for all the pain caused! I would have loved to see Charlotte grovel with how her character was.

I loved how the groups worked together. The hodge podge of people spending time together for Christmas was a cool dynamic.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story!

The second-chance romance didn't work for me in this one. I actively didn't want to two main characters to get back together.

3.5⭐️ I’m having mixed feelings about this. There was so much that I enjoyed, but also a fair amount that I just really didn’t. I will say, Ashley Herring Blake’s stories are always messssssy but not in a bad way. Messy in an entertaining way with great spice. Which this absolutely fits that. However, I fear I hold a grudge WAY too hard to fully get on board with this reconciliation 🫣 I need to think on this for my final rating. I may end up changing it.

Highlights:
- Romance: FF
- Holiday romance
- second chance romance
- childhood friends to lovers to…idk a lot happens lol
- Snowed in

3.5 stars! This one was cute, but it was missing a little something for me! This one was a queer version of the new Netflix movie with Lindsey Lohan!