In a Holidaze | ARC Review

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Synopsis

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Review

I really, really liked this book from beginning to end. It had adventure, plenty of humor, and, of course, romance. This was my first Christina Lauren book to read, but it certainly won’t be my last!

From the beginning of the book, I knew I was going to love it. It started out at the end of Mae’s trip which was nice for a couple of reasons. One, it gave me an overview as to things that had already happened throughout the week. Two, it showed me why Mae was both dreading leaving and wanting to get away as soon as possible. And three, it didn’t make me walk through the whole week since I knew going in that this book was going to be a Groundhog Day situation. So, even though the character ends up living through the week, again and again, most times, we’re experiencing things for the first time so it’s not annoying or monotonous.

This book was also so funny! Part of it had to do with the array of amazing characters, but the rest was all storyline. I feel like usually in Groundhog Day type books, it’s just that the character wakes up the next day to find that they have to live the same day over. This book was a little different in that she could get sent back to day one of her vacation from any accident that befell her. I mean, the ways Mae kept getting sent back to day one were hilarious to me.

But going back to the characters, I loved them all! They all had their quirks and things that made them original and unique as people, which I loved so much. I also felt like I got to know them all really well by the end of the book. They were kinda beginning to feel like my family which made the ending that much more bittersweet.

The only slightly negative thing I have to say about this book (that I can’t even really say since it’s a spoiler) is that I was slightly thrown off by the direction this book ended up taking. I’m okay with the way things ended and what not, but I really thought things were going to go another way. The fact that they didn’t is still throwing me off and making me feel a little like things aren’t completely resolved.

But, overall, I really liked this book! It took me on a crazy trip that I never wanted to leave with characters that I never wanted to say goodbye to. This is the perfect holiday read for everyone to enjoy!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Christina Lauren, go their Goodreads profile or their website.