Even though their last couple of books have been misses for me, I am a longtime Christina Lauren fan and continue to give their new releases a try. In A Holidaze was SUCH a treat to read and totally reminded me why CL books have been among my favorite reads! This was a really sweet, feel-good, friends-to-lovers romp that got me in the holiday spirit and made me smile the whole way through. A perfect book for the upcoming holiday season that I can't wait to recommend to my patrons!

After a few recent Christina Lauren books felt flat and underdeveloped, this one is a welcome surprise. I didn’t want to leave the characters and the comforting world of the book.

The Groundhog Day/Life After Life premise is always entertaining. The cast of characters was so well done and added to the cozy Christmas feel, very Family Stone. And the romance was on point.

Maelyn was funny and lovably confused as she tried to figure out what was going on and how to fix her life. Andrew was adorable and cuddly and vulnerable. The book is full of lovely details that make you feel like the characters really have known each other forever and that they have shared jokes and quirks.

My only criticism would be that they maybe needed one more reset to round out the Groundhog Day theme.

In A Holidaze was such a fun book.

Mae is 26 and her and her family are on their traditional Christmas vacation. Every year they go to a cabin with lifelong friends. It is her most happy place in the world. Her parents’ college friends and their two boys. She still sleeps in the same bunk bed room she has for years. But this year looks a little different. She has had a crush on the older brother, Andrew, since she was 13 and her feelings have only intensified over time. However, one night, her and the younger brother, Theo, end up kissing after an evening of drinking and the next morning she wished it had never happened. They leave after Christmas and all Mae keeps thinking is she wishes the universe would just show her what would make her happy. They end up getting in a car crash and Mae wakes up back at the cabin but at the beginning of the Christmas vacation. Without giving away too much of the story.... Mae makes certain decisions and the week starts over again and again. (Like the movie Groundhog’s Day). Finally she makes the right choices and her week does not start over and her life plays out how it is supposed to.

It took me a little while to get into this book. I did not really like the beginning and how the story kept replaying itself. I kept putting the book down disappointed because I was so excited to read this book yet I didn’t like it. However, once the story got moving and the week did not start over, it developed into a sweet love story and I couldn’t put it down.

In a Holidaze was another amazing Christina Lauren story that I could not get enough of. I loved the warm and delightful feeling in the story and how relatable Mae was. 

This was an amazing Christmas story that I could fall in love with. It was adorable and full of heartwarming moments. I loved all of the extended characters, laugh out loud moments and the love between friends and lovers.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this story for an honest review. 5 stars! ~Ratula ❤

I thought that this was a really cute, holiday book. It was an easy book to stop and start, which is great when you have little ones! The back and forth, groundhog day portion of it did feel a bit repetitive, but as soon as I started to wonder if that would make it dull it picked up and held my interest through the rest of the book!

I grab every single one of these ladies books. They always bring the swoon and laughs and I am never left unhappy with their books. This was no different.

In a Holidaze was a giggle filled swoon fest and you will love every single word of it. This was a rom com you wont want o put down. It is full of joy and finding your true happiness. I fell for Mae very quickly and this story was fun and unique. Someone said it had Groundhog day kind of feel and that is totally accurate but in a holiday feel. It was perfection. Throw some fanatic and yummy best friends into the mix and things get fun.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Ever since reading My Favorite Half Night Stand, I’ve kept my eye out for Christina Lauren books- and I was really excited to see that they were penning a holiday one.

What I Liked:

Well, the cover obviously. SO cute!

Mae. You can really root for her to get her happy ending.

The whole darn setting. All these people coming together to celebrate Christmas, the traditions, mistletoe and more- well it was like a slightly steamy Hallmark movie.



Bottom line: This book was cute and fun. And it will give you the holiday feels!

I was so excited to be approved for the ARC of Christina Lauren's new book. I love this author duo's writing and the stories are always a great escape. In a Holidaze was sweet and so full of the tingly feels. I love romance books that have time travel and it's written so well and keeps it fun.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read another great Rom-Com by this winning duo!

Christina Lauren has really changed as an author. It was always going to be hard to top The Unhoneymooners, which is the perfect romance - lots of great back and forth, slow building tension, great romance scenes, some good drama - but the trend now seems to be kind of these typical romance, not a lot of tension, almost PG-13. I get that appeals to some people but I like my romances a little more charged up with tension and romance, and with this and The Honey-Don't List, it just isn't there for me anymore. The plot of this is intriguing but the main characters don't bring a lot to the table in terms of chemistry or interesting dialogue, and the drama of the story just feels so contrived. It was a fluffy Christmas read but not the kind of book I would come back to.

In a Holidaze
by Christina Lauren
Gallery Books
You Like Them
Romance | Women's Fiction
Pub Date 06 Oct 2020 | Archive Date Not set

Just finished this book and it is a winner! Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC. Our patrons love the early release Christmas books so we got this just in time.

4 star

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a laugh out loud holiday romance which is perfect timing for this time of year when we could all use some humor. I couldn’t put it down once I started reading.

It begins December 26 with the main character, 26 year old Maelyn Jones, exclaiming “call me a harlot” which sets the stage for what she describes as impulsive behavior leaving her hungover in the morning. All she remembers is a “drunk make out” with Theo Hollis who happens to be the brother of her crush, Andrew. She feels humiliated when Theo seems to ignore her in the morning.

For years Maelyn’s family has spent the holidays with her parents college friends in a cabin in Park City near Salt Lake. Lisa and Ricky Hollis stayed in Utah where they welcomed their friends to their cabin. Her parents have been divorced 3 years but still maintain this holiday tradition together traveling from CA to Salt Lake. Her mother and Lisa were college roommates while her dad lived off campus with Aaron, Ricky and Benny.

Over the years the group expanded to include Aaron’s husband Kyle Liang and their adopted twins from Manhattan. Benny remained single and eventually settled in Portland. Maelyn and her younger brother 17 year old, Miles, practically grew up with the Hollis brothers, Andrew and his younger brother Theo. Each year they anticipated the traditional schedule of playing board games and snowman contests.

Somehow Maelyn’s life goes sideways when on the way home from the holidays the family is still processing the news that the cabin was being sold. Suddenly, she sees the car swerve and crash when she opens her eyes she is totally confused to find herself on an airplane. Dazed from what she recalls was a car accident, she is stunned to see her cell phone date is December 20th! They are actually on their way to Salt Lake and not on their way home on December 26th.

She is flummoxed knowing that no one will believe her when she tries to explain that she has already experienced this week. Did she time travel what happened? She follows along and decides to avoid some of the mistakes she felt she made the first time. If only that were so easy, she has a series of mishaps of falling down stairs and having a branch fall on her only to wake up back in the plane. She found it amusing initially but soon she fears she will be stuck in this time warp forever.

What would you do if you could have a “do over” of past events? How do you think you would handle such an experience? Maelyn finds herself not taking her life for granted and wanting to make changes with courage she didn’t know she had.

I really loved In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. It came right at the perfect time. It's a lighthearted, fun, sweet book in the middle of what is certainly one of the worst years in history. At the very least, one of the worst I've ever experienced. And the levity and joy that this book brought is, in my humble opinion, exactly what the doctor ordered for this craptastic year.

Now, normally I would kind of turn my nose up at any sort of magical, mystical, Groundhog Day-esque story line because I like my fiction to be realistic. But in a world and a year where so many things have happened repeatedly that I would never have imagined possible, not even this was out of the realm of believability.

Something else I've noticed about this year - I really want to put up my Christmas decorations. I'm someone who puts them up what some people would consider "early" anyway (ahem...November 1st), but the urge is especially strong in 2020. Few things make me feel joy the way the Christmas season, and all that it entails, does. Christmas also signals the end of the year, so I'm ready to put a sparkling star on the top of the shitpile tree that is this year and move on. This book quenched that thirst perfectly. Now I'm only a handful of days from it being socially acceptable to put up my tree and this book is going to carry me on through to it wonderfully.

Christina Lauren is a fantastic writing duo and I've been a big fan since they wrote their very first book. Their signature story-telling shines in this book. There was nothing truly remarkable about the story, but it was such a welcome nugget of goodness that I swooned nonetheless. I highly recommend this book if you suffer from any or all of the aforementioned ailments like I do/did. And if you're a Christina Lauren fan, this book is right on par with the quality that you'd expect. Lovely little book for the holidays!

I was a little worried to read this book because of the concept. But the authors are so great that they made it work. Although I did feel like the whole groundhog premise disappeared halfway through and it just turned into a normal romance. I really enjoyed the couple and their chemistry. The hero was really sweet. One quibble I had was all the different nicknames the heroine had and they were never explained. Some were plays off her name but where does noodle come from?

Holidays is the book that readers need in 2020. Take a break from election and pandemic news and lose yourself in this happy, sweet, warm book about Maelyn.

Christmas romance mixed with Groundhog’s Day type repetition? Yes, please!

I give this an enthusiastic four stars. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

I’m a huge fan of Christina Lauren’s books but More often than not I feel like there is something missing in their stories that prevents me from adding it to my favs shelf! In “In a Holidaze,” I loved the family dynamic and the plot was interesting and not something you see in a romance novel, but the romance reminded me a little bit of their romance in The Honey-Don’t List, and I personally was not a fan of the romance in that one either. My problem was the lack of the development and the way it just happened so abruptly. It made it hard to be interested in the romance or root for them as a couple.


I do think this was a perfect little book for the holiday season, it had that holiday magic and cheer I love and I appreciate that! Not by favorite by the authors but also not my least favorite!

I am glad that I picked this up because I was in a terrible slump and this definitely helped me out! It’s such a feel good book.

I went into this blind and I’m glad I did. I didn’t realize it had the Groundhog Day trope because I’m normally not the biggest fan of it. I just hate reading the same thing over and over. I have to say that Christina Lauren handled it beautifully! It’s not overdone and I never felt like it was the exact same thing. It’s honestly not the majority of the book really. I’ve recently had to let people know this in a book group. They were not going to even pick it up because of the trope. It’s definitely worth the read!

I really loved all the characters. There are a ton in this book and they all add something special. I really loved the feeling of family, the traditions, Christmas time, and the cabin! I think a lot of us are missing out on a lot of family time and it was just so nice to read about this one.

Overall, I loved this cozy and comforting read. I would say that it’s made me wish it was Christmas right now!! I do wish that it would have been released closer to Christmas time. If you are looking for a sweet and uplifting romance, definitely give this one a go! I’m a big-time fan of Christina Lauren now!!

This might be exactly what you're looking for during the holidays. Something light, with a fun romance growing between two people who have known each other since childhood. I read this in a few short hours.

As a regular sci-fi reader, the science fiction aspects (think <i>Groundhog Day</i>, a story that gets namechecked) were undercooked. They really exist to give the character a do-over and don't much matter otherwise.

Oh man, I’ve got some serious mixed emotions/thoughts on this one. I feel like the last 2 CLo books have lost the magic for me, and it makes me really sad. For awhile I thought this one was going to be a bit like a holiday mash up of Love and Other Words and TJR’s Maybe in Another Life….. but here’s the thing, the ending didn’t fill in the plot holes. I’m trying to not say too much here and ruin it for anyone else, but I’m seriously annoyed. Have you read this? Positives: loved the setting and the family dynamic. Benny was a pretty fantastic side character, kind of like an Aussie fairy godfather. Overall I felt like our characters were written like NA but we’re in reality in the book late 20s/30. Between that and the lack of chemistry (which they typically do oh so well) I sadly didn’t love this one as much as I wanted to. It’s a quick read, and if you’re in the mood for something festive akin to a hallmark movie it does fit the bill.

This is the holiday romance everyone needs in their stocking this year. This seemingly normal girl Mae Mae gets stuck in an unfortunate "Groundhog Day" situation While trying to be her true self and reveal her long hidden away feelings without hurting those around her. I loved everything about this book. I love the humor and banter in this book along with the way it doesn't take itself too seriously. The characters are ALL great in there own way. I love when the whole story is turned on his head when dealing with what are thought to be unrequited feelings. It's delightful and sweet and lovely and steamy! This would be a great modern rom-com film! Another 5 star read! Thank you to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the e-ARC of this phenomenal holiday read in exchange for a review.

I think it's time I gave up on picking up Christina Lauren books. It isn't that they're bad, the writing has just changed so much. I don't feel like their books are so much romance, as they are just fiction. I guess many people would call it women's fiction? Which I feel is a little antiquated in this day and age, but I digress. Anyway, I love Christina Lauren's older books. This book was cute, and I do think that if you're not looking for only romance, this might be a great holiday read for you!