This was an interesting premise. A Christmas Ground Hog Day. I was moved by the book almost from the beginning watching Maelyn try to figure out why she's repeating her family's annual Christmas trip and watching her deal with her feelings for her lifelong friend, Andrew. What does the universe want from her? Is she supposed to be with Andrew's brother, Theo? Surely not after a decade of being in love with Andrew. What about that job she doesn't enjoy? What about tradition and it's importance in her life?

Forced to review everything about herself and her life, Maelyn has to do some real introspection that she's never done before. She's not happy with a lot but fears changing anything. She finds it freeing once she tries being more honest with herself and others and life seems to be getting better. Until...

There's just enough strife to keep the story really interesting and to be realistic (since life seldom takes the easiest route!) Maelyn and Andrew are so likeable and good together. The rest of the family adds great color and their own distractions.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.

In a Holidaze is a cute holiday romance, with a twist of time travel. It's the third book I've read by CL, though it fell a little flatter for me than the others. The romance aspect of longtime friends to lovers at the holidays was a nice arc to the story, but the time loop aspect just felt rushed and out of place.

Overall, I enjoyed the connection between Mae and Andrew, and the side story of Mae deciding to chase her dreams and expand her world view. But with the first 40% of the book focusing on Mae being stuck in a time loop, it dragged it out for me a bit. A time loop is also a pretty difficult storyline to pull off - it's a challenge to make reading the same day over and over again exciting. If you come for the romance aspect, I think you'll enjoy this one, but it may take you a bit to get into it.

For as long as she could remember, Maelyn Jones has celebrated Christmas with her family and close family friends in a snowy mountain cabin in Salt Lake. Many things have changed over the years, but the constant in Mae’s life is the week with everyone together each December – that is until this year. The devastating news that the cabin is going to be sold is bad enough, but on the way to the airport, Mae and her family are in a serious car crash – but did it really happen?

Waking up on the plane after the car crash, Mea is confused. Her family tells her that they are on the way to Salt Lake, not on the way home and there was no accident. Mea knows better – she knows the details of the week, including a hookup with one of the guys she now regrets. Just like the funny movie Groundhog Day, she has to redo the week – this time hopefully getting it right. Everyone thinks there is something wrong with her except Benny, a college friend of her parents. He believes Mea but tells her she has to figure it out herself in order to stop the time traveling loop she seems to be caught in.

In A Holidaze is cute, funny, sexy and has a satisfying end. All of the characters are developed with interesting backstories binding them all together since the parents of Mae and her contemporaries met in college. Marriages, divorce and children have not stopped them from celebrating the holidays together each year. They are perfectly suited for a Christmas story. Mae is at a crossroad in her life and the author allows her to flounder as she learns the important lesson of growth and stepping out of the shadow of others to become the person she wants to be.

I love all things Christmas. I could picture this as a blockbuster Christmas movie – but be sure to read the book first, the book is ALWAYS better! This is the first book I have read by the dynamic duo of Lauren Billings and Christina Hobbs – who write under the pseudonym Christina Lauren. These best-selling authors have a long list of books just waiting for you to discover.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2020 Laura Hartman

Groundhog Day meets Christmas! What happens when a young woman, Maelyn Jones, spends her last Christmas in the cabin she, her family, and her constructed family have spent every Christmas in and she has made a set of wrong decisions? Well, she asks the universe for help in knowing what will make her happy and what is the right thing to do, of course, and is thrown right back into reliving those six days again. Christina Lauren has a delicious, happy hit with In a Holidaze.

While Phil Connors had to relive Groundhog Day in order to learn how to be a better person, Maelyn Jones relives the Christmas holiday to learn how to take risks and live her life better, because she is in a serious rut. She’s in a job she hates and she has never acted on her feelings for the boy she’s loved since she was thirteen. What ensues is a charming, funny story of family, friends, holidays, and what it means to have the people you love and who love you in your life as well as to live an authentic life.

I love the relationship that already exists between main characters, Mae and Andrew, as well as the one that develops. They are sweet and caring of each other and exemplify what real love means and how important it is to have friendship in the mix.

His breath comes out warm against my neck, voice shaking: “It never occurred to me that you might be mine.”

There is something about Christina Lauren’s storytelling that just works for me. Maybe it’s because her characters feel relatable or that the relationships and reactions feel real or something else that I can’t quite put my finger on. Regardless, she has very much become a must-read writer for me.

In a Holidaze is everything I want in a holiday romance/story. It was definitely one of those reads during which I smiled a lot and just felt good with. Laughs, swoons, happy. What more do you need?

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren is a new holiday contemporary romance happening the week of Christmas. This new book is definitely for the fans of Groundhog Day as the main character gets stuck in a similar loop while celebrating Christmas with her family and friends.

Maelyn Jones has been stuck in a rut in her life after having to move back home with her parents and working in a dead end job she does not enjoy at all. Mae had been hoping spending Christmas at a cabin owned by her parents long time friends would be the break she needed but as the holiday wraps up Mae finds things did not go as planned when a make out session with the wrong brother has her hiding in shame.

On top of it all the news breaks that the cabin everyone has come to all of Mae’s life is going to be sold so this will be the last Christmas with everyone coming together… that is until Mae’s family hits the road to return home and out of nowhere there’s a huge accident. Instead of waking in a hospital though Mae finds herself on the airplane heading to the cabin to begin Christmas week all over again, maybe just maybe this time she’ll get it right.

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren is the first holiday contemporary romance I picked up this season and boy am I glad I got started on such a fun note. Going into this book I had high hopes and was glad it turned out to be as fun a read as I expected it to be. The whole idea of repeating a timeframe for a character over and over can either be done well or get monotonous and this happened to fall on the side of just enough changing each time to keep it totally entertaining while building a great story around the characters as you get to know them. Definitely glad I started off the season on such a great note!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I've read most of what Christina Lauren have written and nothing has come close to the beauty that is Love and Other Words. Until now. I was expecting In a Holidaze to be classic CL: quirky heroine, swoony hero, funny but not too serious. But this story blew me away in ways that I wasn't expecting, and with some similarities to Love and Other Words that made me so happy. In all honesty, I didn't love some of CL's most recent books (Twice in a Blue Moon, Honey Don't List) but this is definitely my second favorite.

In a Holidaze follows Maelyn Jones and her family's yearly trip to a cabin shared with 2 other families for the holidays. These are friends who become family - full of traditions, funny stories, intricate histories. After making a huge mistake and making out with her best friend Theo, and finding out that her big crush Andrew (Theo's brother!) saw them make out, Mae wishes for the Universe to show her what it means to be happy. Immediately after, the family is in a car accident, propelling Mae back 6 days earlier, on the plane to Salt Lake City. As various ridiculous things happen one after another, Mae has to figure out why she keeps getting sent back, and most importantly what, or who, makes her happy.

There was so much beauty in this story. I loved the threads of family, both biological and chosen, being critically important to survival. I loved the threads of traditions and how they can be so important but can also hold us back. And I absolutely loved Mae's love story with Andrew (and I am so happy to it went that way.). The blurb makes it seem like this is a battle of two brothers and that is not the case at all. Their love was pure and beautiful and so darn romantic. I especially loved Mae's growth and her ability to own up to her mistakes. She felt a little younger than 26 at the start of the book but I really loved to see her become more confident in herself. I've got a few quotes that are my favorite and will share them closer to release.

Overall, highly recommend!

I gave this one 3.5/5 stars. Not my favorite Christina Lauren and not my least favorite Christina Lauren. I think sometimes their books just feel generic, but I enjoyed the romance arc between the main characters in this novel. I didn't really enjoy the time loop aspect. It just wasn't for me.

I've pretty much LOVED every Christina Lauren book I've read (and that's all of them!) This book was so sweet, light hearted and it's the perfect read for the approaching Holiday Seasons!

Holidaze features Mae who travels to a close family friend's cabin every Christmas. Mae has had a crush on their oldest son, Andrew, since she was 13 but never has had the courage to do anything about it. This Christmas, things went horribly wrong ending with a car crash on her way back to the airport. Shockingly, when Mae wakes up she is on the plane on her way to begin the Christmas holiday in Park City. Mae had wished to find out what would make her happy and is given her chance to make things right. Every time she does something wrong, she gets sent back and has to start all over again. Mae finally decides to be honest with Andrew about her feelings and things get on track. Hello, Groundhog's day!
Loved this book so much and can't reccomend it enough!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy to read in exchange for my honest opinion and review!

In a Holidaze
336 pages
Genre: romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unread shelf since: September 2020
**thank you @gallerybooks & @netgalley for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review**

SYNOPSIS: One Christmas wish, two brothers and a lifetime of hope are on the line for Maelyn. It’s the most wonderful time of year but not for her. 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 she will spend in her favorite place. She asks the universe what will make her happy, and the tires screech, metal collides, everything goes black. When Mae is awake, she’s on an airplane where she begins the holiday again. She must figure out how to break free of the time loop and get her true love under the mistletoe.

REVIEW: Christina Lauren has done it again and written a swoon-worthy story, with loveable, well-developed characters. This book also had me laughing out loud at some points. The characters felt very real, and none of the awkwardness of a new relationship was held back. The time loop concept was definitely something new, and not exactly what I was expecting. I’d never read a romance novel with that aspect, and Mae came off crazy every time it reset, which really added to the story and was humorous at times. I also liked the amount of times she was reset, as I didn’t want the story to focus more on the time loop, I wanted to focus on the romance brewing. I really wish it was longer so we learned more about Andrew. He really came off as private, which is true to his character but I wanted to know all about him. Overall this was such a good romcom that really put me in the holiday spirit, and that I have a feeling will give me a book hangover!

In a Holidaze comes out October 6, 2020.

#InAHolidaze #ChristinaLauren

This one just didn’t work for me. Although I came to like Maelyn and Andrew, and really liked side character Benny, I didn’t see how the time travel gimmick added to their story. Maelyn makes a rookie mistake at a holiday weekend get-together (note to young adults… don’t trade tongues with the brother of your true love). Then she is given a do-over of the weekend. She apparently doesn’t get it quite right on her first few tries, but finally gets the hang of this assert-yourself business with predictable results.

Christina Laurens fans are loving this book, so maybe its just me being Scrooge!

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

In a Holidaze starts with a Groundhog’s Day-esque time loop that leaves Maelyn Jones reliving the week leading up to Christmas over and over. Each year, her family and close friends spend the week at a cabin in Utah. Their time there is scheduled with daily traditions they’ve been living out since Maelyn and her friends Andrew and Theo were little. Although they’ve graduated from all sleeping on bunk beds together, the snowman competition is still very much alive. Mae treasures her time at the cabin with the people she loves most in the world, but as she continues to fail at moving forward in time, she’s forced to figure out what she’s doing wrong.

I got all the holiday feels from this book. The descriptions of cozy mornings sipping coffee safe inside from the snow, and the group’s quirky annual activities were so reminiscent of the holiday season. The setting was rich with details and sentimentality that flowed wonderfully through the entirety of the narrative. Long story short, reading this made me want to curl up with a chunky blanket and a cup of cocoa and watch the snow fall outside.

There were a lot of characters between the two families and some of them weren’t distinct enough for me to be able to keep track of them. I couldn’t keep the parents straight in particular. Besides that, the concept behind this book didn’t feel fully formed. The repeated sequences as Mae relives the days and tries to convince her friends of what’s happening seemed super unbelievable. Usually there’s an a-ha moment when you discover what breaks this type of time loop, but I didn’t get that from this book. Instead, everyone just kind of stops talking about it and goes on with their life? I think this book would’ve been so much better as a cozy holiday romance without Mae going back in time, and instead with more focus on character relationships.

Review to be posted and links added in October

I love the Groundhog Day trope. I love Christina Lauren. But, like chocolate and the leather seats in my car, sometimes awesome things are better when you keep them apart.

Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed the book. But as a GHD trope, it fails for one important reason: as soon as Maesie and Andrew take their relationship beyond flirting, it would be really icky for her to reset and use her knowledge to regain his interest. (Doubly so after they sleep together). But in a sexy romance, the main characters are expected to kiss early on and sleep together by the midpoint. Meaning the GHD part largely falls be the wayside.

One of the staples of this trope is the “oh screw it” montage where the MC does random stuff they would never ordinarily try and constantly resets. Where was Maesie jumping out of the plane, breaking into that house she loves, punching Theo in the face? That montage would’ve injected some much needed humor into the earlier chapters.

Then the universe starts sending Maesie signs instead of resetting her, and it was just too contrived. Reset her to the morning if you can’t put her back at the beginning of the vacation. I really enjoyed the book, but it would’ve worked better to me without those elements at all.

What if you relived a certain time-period over and over until you got it right? Oh and by the way, you don’t actually know what “right” is. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, Maelyn Jones has been thrust into recurring time loop after an embarrassing hookup.

While the story is reminiscent of Ground Hog Day, it is also a very enjoyable holiday romcom. The cast of characters was delightfully flawed yet so very likable. The imagery of the snowy winter setting, rustic cabin and family/friend interactions was so well drawn that I could see it in my mind’s eye. This is a story that will make the reader believe in the magic of the holidays and the families that we create. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.

Whenever I am in a book slump, I can always count on Christina Lauren to pull me out. Before I picked this up, I hadn’t been having great luck with the books I was reading, but In a Holidaze definitely broke me out of my rut.

The story ended up being a little different than I thought it would be, though. The synopsis mentions “hilarious disasters” send Mae back to start the day over and over again and I guess I expected a little more hijinks. What sends her back are life-threatening accidents – and not funny ones. And she didn’t “reboot” as often as I expected, either. I thought there would be several reimaginings of the same scene, but this was limited to only one or two specific scenes before that part of the plot was basically left behind and Mae goes on to live several days in a row that we hadn’t seen before. This isn’t really a bad thing as I like how the story unfolded, I just wish the authors would have committed a little more to the hook of the plot.

That said, I enjoyed watching Mae’s week of Christmas vacation unfold. Every year, her family joins a few other families at a cabin to spend the holiday together. They’ve been doing it since before Mae was even born and the week is steeped in tradition. I loved the cast of characters. They were such a fun, close group of people and I would love to have a group like them in my life. Included in that group is Andrew, who Mae has had a crush on for half her life. He’s always thought she had a thing for his younger brother, so he’s always treated her like more of a little sister than potential love interest. When Mae decides the universe is telling her to go for it with Andrew, she lets him know how she feels and a bit of a slow burn romance begins.

I really enjoyed the romantic development between Mae and Andrew. He was just so sweet. It seemed almost impossible that he could be so perfect and I kept waiting for him to do something awful. Thankfully, he is just a really great guy. There was a bit of time where I got annoyed with him for how he reacted to something, but overall I thought he was a great romantic lead and I definitely shipped him with Mae.

Overall, I really enjoyed In a Holidaze. While I wish it had committed to the whole “groundhog day” gimmick a little more, I liked the romance and the family atmosphere of the cabin. While I did like Mae’s journey to becoming a more confident person, I thought the “big lesson” was a little underwhelming and could have done without a passage regarding religion that I found a little offensive. However, Christina Lauren’s addictive writing and the cute romance definitely broke me out of the reading slump I was in and this book is one I would recommend to Romance fans.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars

Maelyn is spending her Christmas vacation like she usually does, at a cozy cabin in Park City with her family and their lifelong friends, when she does a dumb thing and makes out with Theo, the younger brother of Andrew, the guy she’s been in love with since she was a teenager. She’s worried she’s just ruined her friendship with Theo and her chance to ever be with Andrew, but luckily the universe gives her the opportunity to redo the whole Christmas vacation, sending her back to the very first day. After a few false starts, Maelyn decides to go for it with Andrew, and what follows is a whole lot of sweetness and romance that gave me warm fuzzies for days!

What I enjoyed: Andrew is the sweetest, gentlest book boyfriend and a genuinely good person. I loved the whole ensemble of characters and the families’ silly holiday traditions. I especially adored the setting, since Park City isn’t far from me! This was a light, fun read, with nice sexual tension between Maelyn and Andrew, and only a little angst that resolves without too much fuss. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Coming October 6.

Heat level: there’s a steamy make out scene but the actual sex scenes are fairly tame.

Thanks @netgalley and @gallerybooks for my digital copy!

Super cute holiday romance! In full disclosure, romance-centered books are very hit and miss for me, so I'm pleased to say - this one was a hit! I enjoyed the development of the relationship between the two main characters and was rooting for them throughout. The holiday cabin setting was fun and overall this was a delicious palate cleanser between a couple of heavier thrillers.

The one thing I found a little weird/unresolved was the time loop - I have a lot of questions about the how/why it happened in the first place and how it ultimately got resolved...but that being said, I think for this book you just need to suspend a little disbelief and take it for what it is. :-) 4/5 stars!

Thank you to Gallery Books and Christina Lauren for my gifted copy of In A Holidaze! This cute holiday book comes out on October 6th.

So, I loved The Unhoneymooners. However, every Christina Lauren book I’ve read since then has fallen short for me. I am not a huge fan of the time loop concept either. I think if they had just focused on the relationships in the book, including friends, family, and romantic, it would’ve been such a cute holiday romantic comedy! The second half of the book was much better for me, and kept me reading to see what happened. I loved that we got to know the characters more, and were able to take on more of the backstory as the book went on.

Overall, In a Holidaze definitely had Christina Lauren’s trademark laughs and romance, but fell a little short for me. I’d still give it a try if you are a romantic comedy or a Christina Lauren fan! It certainly did make me excited for the upcoming holidays.

If the movies The Family Stone and Dan in Real Life had a book baby, this would be it! This was exactly the literary warm hug I needed in my life. I enjoyed nearly every single page - the dynamics between blood family and chosen family members was too good. And, don't even get me started on the romance ... SWOON. So cute. So sweet. So romantic. I'm so excited for everyone to dive into this for the upcoming holiday season. I guarantee that it'll put you in a cheery, deck-the-halls mood!

Christina Lauren's books are the ultimate rom-coms and this book is no different. Maelyn Jones is a lovable and fun heroine who keeps reliving the same Christmas holiday over and over after asking for what will make her happy. As she scrambles to right the wrongs the days she has already lived, she finds herself more comfortable in her own skin and ready to make the choices she was afraid to make before. A perfect holiday romcom to spice up this Christmas season!

I enjoy all of Christina Lauren books, but was not sure how this story would work… But it did! A quirky, fun holiday read. A bit Groundhog Day meets Hallmark channel. Long time family friends, two brothers, one girl, family traditions. A cabin in a winter wonderland. What could happen? And happen again? Then again? Will she get it right and get the right man? I didn’t want it to end, but then I wanted it to end because I had to know! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC to read and enjoy.