This is the perfect romantic-comedy for the holidays! It made me feel light and joyful, which was just what I needed! The characters are easy to like, and the story is just so much fun!

I highly recommend this if you are looking for a little love around the holidays!

5 Stars

Thank you Galley Books and Netgalley for the ARC of In A Holidaze. I have read several of Christina Lauren's novels and new I would want to read their latest; and a perfect holiday book too!

Without giving any spoilers, the plot concept is unique and leaves the reader guessing what is coming next. Mae is a 26 year old woman who finds herself with another chance to find happiness. Which direction will she take? You will just have to read it.

Maelyn Jones looks forward to her family's annual Christmas trip to the cabin in Utah every year. She loves spending time with her parents and their close group of friends, especially Andrew. Mae has had a crush on Andrew since forever, only he doesn't know it. After a night of too much drinking and bad decisions, Mae and her family head home to California. Mae feels like her life is falling apart - she's not happy at her current job, she's living at home with her parents and she makes a wish to the universe - Please. Show me what will make me happy.

And then instead of driving to the airport with her family, Mae is back on the plane about to head to the cabin in Utah. Mae of course is freaking out because what the hell universe?! but she decides that the universe is giving her a second chance to make it right this time. Every time something goes horribly wrong, Mae ends up back on the airplane. What does she have to do to continue to live in the present without fear of being sent back?

Once I started reading In a Holidaze, I could not put it down! It did take me a bit to get into the book, but I loved the way Mae was able to experience the different parts of the holiday again with a different kind of clarity each time. I loved the way Mae came into her own and her various relationships with everyone in the cabin.

In a Holidaze is a perfect book to get you into the holiday spirit! I would love it if I could escape to a cabin in the woods each holiday season with the people who love me unconditionally. Such a great read!

Overall I would rate In a Holidaze 4.5 stars!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I jumped at the chance for this Christina Lauren novel. I needed me a good holiday read and In a Holidaze did not disappoint.

After Christmas winds down with family and friends, it looks like all tradition will be lost after this year. Maelyn is devastated and mistankingly asks the universe to show her what would truly make her happy. Don’t we all know that is a horrible idea?

Well, Mae got what she asked for and is now in a Groundhog Day type time warp. Only when she does something the universe doesn’t like, she has some random accident that kills her off and is forced to start her vacation all over again on the plane with her family (hilariously smacking her brother a few times as she comes to). Throughout this belly laughter inducing story, Mae must figure out what will truly make her happy in life without pissing off the big U.

Between the deja vu, her childhood crush and her bff (crush’s brother) chipped teeth, and a drawing so beautiful, you- the reader- will cry, Maelynn is on a mission to save the holidays, take some chances, and live life to the fullest.

Will she save traditions? Will she find more of her own? Did Benny REALLY work at a naked club? You’ll have to get in the ‘daze to find out. A hilarious and heartwarming romcom, this book is the perfect thing to get you out of a rut and help you ignore your own family while you’re at it. In a Holidaze is the perfect book for the holidays.

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Have never met a Christina Lauren book I didn't love! This is the perfect holiday book to escape the current world we are living in, would highly recommend.

Christina Lauren is usually a guaranteed 5 star read for me, but this book fell very short for me. Maybe it was the repetitiveness of the trope or maybe it was just me but I look forward to reading their next book.

I loved this book! It gave me all the feels. I laughed and I even teared up reading this.

This is a groundhog day type of repetitive time. Our main character is repeating her time at the game cabin until she makes different choices.

I absolutely adored it.

It’s the perfect time of year for a holiday romance novel and this book could easily be made into a Hallmark movie; in fact, when I first started reading it I thought it was very similar to a show I saw several years ago.

Maelyn (Mae) Jones has just spent a week at her favorite place in the world: a large, well-loved, slightly worn and weathered cabin in the mountains of Utah. She has been coming here since she was born. Several families gather every year to spend the holidays. This year things didn’t go well and as she is leaving with her family she reflects on her life and realizes that nothing is what she wants it to be. She asks the universe what would bring her happiness and then a whole series of events starts which basically has her reliving her time at the cabin over and over until she learns what she needs to learn.

I enjoyed some of the characters and I wanted a happy ending, but I didn’t really ever get into the book. I think most people would enjoy this book, but for me, I would have been just as happy spending an hour or two watching it as a Hallmark or Lifetime movie.

Thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

It was super cute. A feel-good holiday story. I didn't love the whole time-travel/magical realism element and felt that it wasn't wrapped up well at all, but I liked this book better than their last few. A solid 3.5 - 4 stars.

4.5 Stars
Christina Lauren has done it again! I absolutely loved this book! I absolutely loved Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, but this book beats that one by a long shot. I didn't even know I needed a book like this so badly! This book is similar to one of my favorite Christmas movies "The 27 Dates of Christmas" I will be rereading this book ever Christmas season!

The story starts out with Maelyn Jones going to a cabin in Utah for the annual Christmas get together with her family and close family friends. The families have been getting together every year because the parents were all friends from college. Maelyn is not living the life that she has always wanted. She is at a job that she does not love, lives with her parents, and of course makes the worst romantic mistake ever at the beginning of her trip. Once she has made this mistake she keeps reliving this trip over and over again. She will reach a certain point in the timeline and then she will wake up in seat 19B on the airplane heading to the cabin again. Ultimately she wants to tell Andrew that she has loved him forever, but the question is will she ever get the chance?

This book sucked me in from the first page. I not only love a good Christina Lauren book, but I love their book mixed with Christmas. I felt like I was living the life of Maelyn and felt every feeling she was experiencing. I was annoyed when we went back to seat 19B and got my hopes up the farther along in the trip we got. I was so sad when this story ended, I actually teared up when I was done because I enjoyed this so much!

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for providing this copy to me! I have already recommended this book to many of my friends! I can't wait to see what Christina Lauren writes next!

A fun holiday read. Predictable yet I couldn't put it down. Sometimes you just need a happy ending!

After a disappointing end to the annual close friends Christmas celebration at a cabin in Park City, Maelyn wishes she knew what would make her happy. Then, bam, she is back on the plane on the way to the vacation. The Groundhog Day story commences and she repeats the first few days of the vacation until she starts getting it right. It was a cute story, and I liked it much better once the Groundhog Day part was over.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was Groundhogs Day meets The Family Stone meets The Summer I Turned Pretty and I ATE IT UP. I've been in a pretty hardcore reading slump for the last few months, but this book was EXACTLY what I was in the mood for and it pulled me right out of it. The holiday hijinks and the angst were strong in this one, so if that isn't your thing I would give it a pass, but I thoroughly enjoyed them and this is definitely my favorite of the last few years worth of Christina Lauren releases. So Christmassy! So cute!!!

I had high hopes for this book because I love Christina Lauren's other books. I was a bit disappointed, however. The concept sounded great, Mae is spending Christmas at her favorite place in the world: a cabin in Utah. The cabin is owned by her parents family friends and every Christmas, the families spend a week there together. Nothing is going right this Christmas for Mae. She wakes up in an awkward spot romantic all, is no closer to fulfilling her lifelong crush, hates her job, and finds out the cabin is being sold. Driving to the airport, she gets in a car crash and wakes up on the plane a week earlier, begining her groundhog day Christmas. I really liked the concept and loved the chemistry between Mae and Andrew, but I was disappointed in the pacing. At the begining of the time loop, Mae is learning and making progress but about a third of the way into the book, it feels like the the author just gave up on the time loop concept and nothing came from it again. The pacing also felt weird for the relationship and Theo turned out to be a flat character and I could understand how him and Mae had ever been friends.
All in all, a good concept that wasn't executed as well as it could have been.

3.5

This *almost* feels like old Christina Lauren again. Their last two books were such complete flops for me that I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this one, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.

The humor was great and the chemistry between the love interests was swoon-worthy. However, I didn't think the groundhog-day/time loop aspect was at all necessary. It could just be that Palm Springs does it so much better and I'd just finished watching that movie not too long before reading this, but either way I wasn't a fan of the MC repeating the same day and trying to figure out what she needs to fix, and for that to become the conflict between her and her love interest at the end.

I'm not giving up on Christina Lauren, and I'm crossing my fingers that their next release will be more like Josh and Hazel, Half-Night Stand and Unhoneymooners.

*** This ARC was provided by Netgalley for an honest review***
Christina Lauren is one of my favorites. She always has a cute story and best of all they are happily ever after books.
Mae is 26 years old and has had to move back home to her mothers house after realizing that LA was just to expensive. Mae’s parents have been divorced for a long time now but they still travel to their best friends cabin in Colorado for Christmas every year together.
This year‘s Christmas was no different than any other year until at the end something tragic happens and she wakes up on the plane on the first day of vacation all over again. In order to move on with her life she has to figure out what’s causing this “groundhog day” effect. Feelings are hurt and secrets come to light. How long can they keep this dynamic up? Check out In a Holidaze for the answers!

great book. great character development. this is Christina and Lauren at their best-- with witty, lovable characters that have you hooked from the first chapter. a perfect example of a narrative that might not stay with you for years but one that has an innate ability to take you out of yourself for it's duration.

I liked the story and didn't like at the same time. I liked the idea of the plot--something I hadn't seen previously -- cute and I thought would be fun but was underwhelmed for most of the story and almost gave up on the book. I am glad I didn't because I enjoyed the last (approximate) 1/3 of the book. I was bored during the first part of the book and found myself not liking the Groundhog day rehash even though there was a little change with each day as Mae would do things a little different in each replay of the week. I just didn't feel connected with the characters and I felt the main character, Mae was a little immature for some of her reactions/actions to things especially early in the book. While I enjoyed the last part of the book, my overall reaction to the book is "eh, it's okay but I could have lived without it. Some people may really enjoy the book, it just wasn't for me. I received a copy of the book via NetGalley/publisher and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Cute seasonal read. One of Christina Lauren's better books. A nice hetereosexual palette cleanser for the hellscape that is 2020.

What worked:

The whirlwind romance. These two characters grew up with each other. The fact that they moved so quickly is believable and rooted in reality.

It was refreshing to see Masie talk about her relationship with the Catholic church and its traditions:

“Mine has generally skewed more toward sentimental comfort: I love the songs, the community, the breathtaking beauty of church architecture (minus the vagina). I love the consistency of the rituals. Mom never demanded that we believed everything she believes—after all, Dad has a firm disinterest in all things religion—or do everything the church wants us to do, which is good, because I found that I was never able to accept the Bible as nonfiction. Mom only asks that we come and listen respectfully, and that we work to be good and kind, and live generous lives.

The function of Christmas in commercial fiction is usually depicted as secular. It’s as the background of gingerbread cookies, pine trees, snow, and gift exchanges. There is seldom an acknowledgment of Christian faith, even if to address the agnostic, familial, and capitalistic turn the holiday made.

The close-knit, rag-tag found family is well-done. This dynamic was believable and familiar. The history between these characters was deep and worked.


What didn’t work:

The opening was difficult to get through. I understand the intention and how a summary about the past week is integral to set the reader up for the time-traveling dejavu, but it felt a little too drawn out. There was a bit too much summary and exposition of familial ties.

I forgot that Masie had a brother. He was brought up in the beginning, but it wasn’t until 50-60% of the way through that he was mentioned after the catalyst around 13%. His character could have been omitted completely and much of the plot would have stayed the same.

The use of adverbs. I know this is typical in its genre and I don’t mean to be contemptuous, but phrases like “eyes gleam flirtatiously” never fail to take me out of a story. Just removing “flirtatiously” makes the sentence stronger and still serves the same function without the hokey cheesiness of it all, but it’s not that deep.

In a Holidaze was a fun Christmas read. If you are looking for a quick escape this holiday season grab this one. At first I was a little worried with the whole "Groundhog's Day" plot line as I find those books a little slow and predictable, but this one was done great, and I loved the added twists to the plot.

Maelyn is stuck in a job that she doesn't love, still living with her parents, and has just made a horrible mistake in her romantic life. She feels like her life isn't going anywhere and asks the universe, "What will make her happy", not even twenty minutes later, Maelyn is in a car crash with her parents and brother and wakes up in the airport ready to redo the week, whether she wants to or not. At first she is confused and can't figure out what she is doing reliving this Christmas week, but soon she thinks she figures it out and is going to fight for what makes her happy. Even if doing so causes some ripples a long the way.

Make sure you grab this one and had a little fun romcom into your life this Christmas!