Thoughts on : In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
Genre : Contemporary romance
Stand alone
About the Book :
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.
Last summer I read and fell in love with Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Fake Dating, and then I immediately added all of their books to my TBR list. And of course In a Holidaze was at the top of my list!
In a Holidaze had several things I really enjoy : it takes place during the holidays (my favorite time of the year!), it had a cute romance and family dynamics, and a speculative aspect with Mae having a “Groundhog Day” type of experience.
I thought the romance was well done and loved the chemistry between Mae and Andrew. Even though I’ve only read two of Christina Lauren’s books, I have a feeling that chemistry is a strength in their writing, as it was so perfectly achieved in both books I read.
And I like the “Groundhog Day” experience Mae went through. I was so curious to see how she would affect her world and her life, the choices she would make, the crazy things she might try to do!
And that’s kind of where things fell apart for me. In the end, the time travel aspect was a very small part of the book. You could easily remove it and tell almost the same story with the same life lessons. The last third of the book was a bit weak. To me, it felt as though the authors had written themselves into a corner and didn’t know how to write themselves out of it. The “big conflict” was a bit ridiculous and the resolution kinda messy.
All in all, In a Holidaze wasn’t a bad book, even though I was slightly disappointed with it. It was charming and had some good winter ambiance, if that’s what you are looking for. I’ll be reading more books by this duo of authors for sure!
