I normally don’t read holiday books around this time of year—I like to stick to the season so I can really get into the holiday spirit. But when I got approved for this ARC, I had to sit down and read it right away. I fell in love with Grace and Henry’s chemistry from the start.

The side characters were just as fun to read, adding even more charm to the story. I thought it was super cute and clever that the author titled each chapter after a holiday movie. There was plenty of romance and humor throughout, and I found myself smiling often as I read.

I definitely recommend this one if you’re in the mood for a heartwarming, festive read—no matter the season!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Henry and Grace were two characters that were easy to fall in love with. Grace's emotional distance was frustrating yet completely relatable. Henry was a quirky goofball experiencing the worst thing imaginable.

This book had me wanting to laugh from the quirky one-liners to wanting to cry from the emotional turmoil Henry and Grace were experiencing. The pacing of the book was perfect and the movie theme had me yearning for my own holiday movie marathon while not distracting from the overall plot.

Another winner from Matthew Norman! Being in the midst of grief myself, I didn't expect to love a book that focused on...grief. I started reading it without realizing the main characters were both widows, but by chapter 3 I had already cried, laughed, laugh-cried, and I think cry-laughed? This book was filled with the typical Matthew Norman characters - flawed, human, relatable, and catch you off guard snort laugh funny. The kind of funny that you sneaks up on you when you least expect it. I never thought I would use the phrase "a heartwarming tale about grief" but there you have it.
I loved this book! A holiday rom-com in book form, but not like the cheesy Hallmark ones you hate-watch...like the old school good holiday films that you watch over and over every year.

I adored all the holiday movie references and discussions in this story! It was so fun to read! The story is pretty heavy with a lot of sad content starting right at the beginning and carrying through the novel. Since it is a holiday story, there is a HEA and there is a good amount of humor throughout the novel, so I think this would appeal to holiday story readers who don't like the "Hallmark fluff" stories since it has quite a deeper and more emotional storyline for the entire novel. I tend to love those "fluff" stories during the holidays so no judgment from me either way! This one has a lot of movie nostalgia which should be a fun and enjoyable experience for readers!

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Grace and Henry are two people with nothing in common except for the one thing they do:

Their partners died.

It’s so rare to find a book that weaves in a love story in the midst of grief and even rarer still to find one that’s good. Matthew Norman was able to do both perfectly. I loved the relationship built between Grace and Henry, a real (awkward) friendship that makes the slightly cheesy ending feel perfectly at home. There’s a lot in here— about grief, and death, morbid humor, starting over again and different paths— but none that feel out of place. Life, and love, are complex and Norman does a great job in showing that with ease. The framing of using pop culture and holiday movies, while annoying in most other books, works like a charm here.

It might not be for everyone, particularly for those who like to have light, low stakes romance but if you want a story that packs more of a punch, I’d definitely recommend this one.

I can’t recommend this enough for anyone looking for a heartfelt, emotional read that isn’t just about romance but also about healing, moving forward, and finding unexpected joy again. It’s a perfect holiday read for anyone who loves a mix of sweetness, depth, and emotional vulnerability.

I adored this book - it was different from my usual reads, but it touches a lot on the different types of grief. Grace and Henry are navigating their lives after losing their spouses and stumble into their own type of friendship.

I loved watching Grace and Henry's different journeys through their grief and of course, I fell in love with Ian, Bella, and Harry Styles (wink). The dry humor and quirky bits were so fun. I would be lying if I said I got through the book from with a dry eye. My heart wrenched and was slowly put back together again by the wholesome moments that came throughout. I really enjoyed this book!

** Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine | Dell for the Advanced Copy for my honest review **

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing for the ARC!

Going into this book I wasn’t sure what to expect, the cover alone drew me in. The book overall was really enjoyable. You really find yourself rooting for the growth and wellbeing of Grace (and the kids) and Henry. The grief and growth these characters go through are relayed so well that it really puts you in the experience of their loss and growth by the end.

I will admit, as not a big holiday movie buff, the movie title bits confused me a bit in the beginning but as the novel went on, they made more sense.

I would definitely recommend this book to my friends to read and I look forward to reading more Matthew Norman books.

[ARC from NetGalley // Opinions all mine]

Sure, it’s April now and the last thing I want to think about is winter or the holidays but I was still stoked to dive into Matthew Norman’s new novel. The main characters, Grace and Henry, are two individuals whose mothers clumsily try to pair them up while each is immersed in grieving the loss of their spouse. They form a friendship, shaped in part with the theme of holiday movies.

I love the way Matthew Norman writes. I love the dialogue. His characters. I can envision it - like it’s a holiday movie of its own, playing out with each turn of the page.

In Matthew Norman's winning novel, Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon, set in Baltimore, Grace and Henry are strangers who have both lost their spouses within the past year, Grace's husband to cancer and Henry's wife in the crash of a private plane. Their mothers are acquaintances, so they devise an excuse for the two to meet, which doesn't fool either but does kindle a budding friendship as they struggle to recover from the tragic event that has changed their life.

Grace is quirky, brash, and irreverent, a bar owner who is raising two young children. Henry is a a quiet artist working for an ad agency, who is now wondering if his and his wife's decision not to have children was such a good idea. He forges a bond with Grace's sixth-grader son, a precocious artist, and even takes it on himself to catch and humanely rid Grace's house of the intruding population of mice. He and Grace connect over their favorite holiday movies, which they watch together or separately. Appropriately, many chapters of the book bear the title of a holiday movie, from The Family Stone and Die Hard to to Edward Scissorhands and Love, Actually.

The romance comes late in the book, and is deeper and more nuanced than a Hallmark holiday movie, although it does take place between Thanksgiving and the end of the holiday season. I found it to be a heartfelt, touching story, peppered with humor and featuring an engrossing character study of both of the protagonists and some of their likeable family members and friends, as Grace and Henry navigate through parallel journeys to a happier time. I flew through the book and would recommend it to interested readers at any time of the year.

My sincere thanks to Ballantine/Dell and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Ballentine Books for the advanced readers copy of Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon: A Novel, available through NetGalley. The following review expresses my own opinion, which I was not paid to provide:

Wow. This book was far better than I expected, having no previous knowledge or experience with Matthew Norman's writing. I have already pre-ordered a copy for my personal collection, because it is too sweet not not have a copy of and re-read again, come autumn!! I will be adding Matthew Norman's writing to my reading rotation. I give this book 5 stars, and I don't give them out willy-nilly.

The basic premise: Two widowed people are forced into proximity by their parents, who are convinced that they will be a great support to one another. While they both are adamant that they aren't ready for a relationship, they settle into comfort and reliability with one another as friends.

I love how Matthew Norman weaves this story together, accurately portraying what it is like to be a person who has loved and lost, who is actively grieving, and in the process of discovering life beyond what was before, all while honoring and reflecting on one's past. Sometimes through the process of grieving and remembering, we learn that there are indeed more ways to love and to be known.

10/10 would recommend. No reservations. The pacing was great. I loved how the chapters were named after "holiday movies" which contributed to the vibe of the chapter's content, as well as providing kind of what feels like a watch-list to accompany the story and set the scene.

Extra credit: There were no cringe-worthy or icky statements said by ANY of the characters.

* I will say, if you're looking for anything "spicy" in the romance department, this is not it (which is fine by me, because that is not what I was looking for in this book)!

Even though the opening chapter starts with a funeral, I'd say there was very little need for any trigger warnings in advance. Everything is written with tact, an a dash of good humor, highlighting ironies of life. Thank you, Matthew Norman!

I will be publishing my review imminently on Goodreads. See link below.

This book uses dual point of view to follow two characters, Grace and Henry, who bond over their shared grief of losing their spouse in the past year. Grace and Henry start their friendship watching Christmas movies together over the holidays.

Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon isn’t just a romance, it’s a beautiful reflection on grief, friendship and the forming of a family (Grace has two kids). It’s a wonderful holiday book and I really liked how the various movies were woven throughout the plot. Sections of the book are split by each movie, but in a way that makes the story flow well.

My one gripe with the book is that there were sections of the chapters from Grace’s point of view that made it so clear that the author is a man. It felt like someone was trying too hard to portray the hardships of being a woman. A few sentences made me laugh out loud. It was just some sections though, overall I did enjoy it. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

loved this book about loss of a spouse and how grace and henry got set up by their moms and end up slowly falling for each other. loved that they watched different holiday movies and that henry became a good addition to the family.

This is such a sweet story about navigating life after life altering loss. I thought the portrayal of grief in both adults and kids was really well done. Plus, despite death being a major part of the story, it is surprisingly funny and uplifting.

I absolutely loved this book! Christmas movies are my favorite! It’s never too early for a holiday romance book!

Grace and Henry have both lost their spouses. A year has passed and neither are ready to date. They do end up forming a friendship. The time they spend together watching the Christmas movies, allows them to see a life beyond the sadness. This book was so heartwarming. I couldn’t stop smiling.

This was a nice quick read! It was well written. It has me looking forward to the holidays!

Thank you NetGalley, Matthew and Ballantine for the eARC!

Publication : October 14 2025
Rating: ✨✨✨ ✨

#GraceHenrysHolidayMovieMarathon #NetGalley

Man, this hit me in the feels more than I was anticipating. Heartfelt, emotional, nostalgic… this book was all the things. I am someone who will read a Christmas book or watch a holiday movie any time of year so I happily jumped on this arc and it definitely did not disappoint! Two people brought together kind of forcibly (yay parents) while trying to grieve the losses of their respective partners find solace in each other and holiday films in a beautiful way 🩷 I adored how the chapters were titled based off of movies and the entire premise of this. Definitely recommending this to all of my romance reading, holiday loving book friends!

Grace ha perdido a su esposo recientemente y está criando sola a sus dos hijos. En un intento por darles un poco de alegría tras la tragedia, decide adoptar un perro y comenzar una nueva tradición navideña. Por su parte, Henry también está de duelo tras la inesperada muerte de su esposa en un accidente aéreo. Cuando sus madres los emparejan bajo el pretexto de arreglar un router, ambos descubren que tienen más en común de lo que esperaban.

Lo que empieza como una reunión incómoda se transforma en una amistad inesperada, construida entre malvaviscos tostados, cerveza IPA, películas navideñas y un perro llamado Harry Styles. La novela sigue sus vidas durante la temporada festiva, mientras navegan el duelo, el humor incómodo, y la posibilidad de abrir el corazón nuevamente.



Todo iba bien hasta que aparecieron Meredith y Lauren. Se me hizo injusto para Grace, primero porque tenía que ver a Henry salir con Meredith, justo cuando se supone que los dos empiezan a desarrollar sentimientos y le sumamos que no paso a más por Meredith y no porque Henry se diera cuenta que era un error. Luego Grace se entera de que su amado esposo le era infiel, y el autor intenta restarle importancia porque Tim amaba tanto a Grace como a Lauren.

Todo iba bien hasta que aparecieron Meredith y Lauren. Me pareció injusto para Grace.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

5 stars. I loved this book and can't wait to buy it.
I don't know why (from the description) I thought it would be just another romance novel, but it was so much more real. It's poignant and sweet and so sad. I'm obsessed.