I absolutely love these authors and have read all of their books. But this was probably my least favorite. What I love about their books is that I can believe the story could happen in real life. The "time loop" aspect of this book ruined that for me.

I usually love Christina Lauren books - really, their books are what made me fall in love with contemporary romances/rom-coms - so it pains me to only view In a Holidaze as a 2.5 star book. I was so excited for this one, but it really fell flat for me. I felt like there wasn't enough space/time to connect with any of the characters, and I was left disappointed by the romance. I was lead to believe there would be a love triangle, but it was really just two people briefly sneaking around before the other person finds out what happened and then...reacts briefly. I wasn't particularly moved by Maelyn and Andrew's romance, couldn't figure out what exactly they saw in each other, and didn't see enough of her and Theo to understand why everyone was worried Theo would be upset. And usually, Christina Lauren writes very strong women, Mae just...seemed immature. Overall, I thought this story was going to take a very different route. I'm definitely in the minority though! And, of course, In a Holidaze had its good points: it's funny and clever, has enjoyable side characters, and all the usual you expect from Christina Lauren. It's definitely more of a closed-door romance though, and, really, maybe the romance wasn't super necessary anyway? The story could have easily just been about Maelyn having to do-over the holidays to find what's right for her, and that doesn't always have to be a man. Still, it's a fun and quick read for the holidays.

I thoroughly enjoyed this romance filled with holiday fun, do-overs, and a house full of found family and lifelong friends.

The time loop where Mae, the main female character, gets sent back to relive her holiday vacation, is a little eye-roll worthy at times, but it's fun! She asks the universe to show her what will make her happy, and then she has to figure it out. And then try again. And again...

It's an enjoyable, heartwarming story about claiming what you want and going for it. Mae is surrounded by a cast of funny, supportive family and friends. A fun Christmas-in-August read that will be great in winter as well. This is my first Christina Lauren book and will definitely not be my last!

I absolutely fell in love with this book!! Christina Lauren is a brand new author to me but will now be an automatic buy. This book was fun and entertaining. I was glued to it from beginning to end. Mae and Andrew’s character growth And relationship jumped right off the page. I loved the “family” dynamic in this story. It was refreshing to see friends acting as family. The groundhog part of the story was a unique twist on a hallmark type story. Bravo!!!

A perfect made for Hallmark book-turned-movie that has me craving the Christmas season, this was a really cute story about love and finding the courage to go after what you want.

While the premise itself is recognizable on the surface, I did like the twist of how the universe showed her she was on the wrong path. Mae had good chemistry with her guy and I loved the inside jokes interspersed throughout that showed the long history these families had with each other.

My biggest issue is that the characters didn’t feel the ages they supposedly were. The three main characters felt about 3-7 years younger than their labeled ages and it threw me for the entire book. I also wish the main secondary character had a more resolved ending.

No tears at all for this one so it doesn’t come close to rivaling Autoboyography, Love and Other Words or The Unhoneymooners but I did enjoy it overall.

This book was such a fun and easy read. The resolution was so satisfying. Love a good happy ending! Seems like a future Hallmark movie to me!

Christina Lauren is an auto-buy, immediate read author for me. Every time they release a new book, I am blown away by the creative storytelling and lovable characters. In a Holidaze was no different. In fact, this one had a unique premise I had yet to experience in a book, and I was actually shocked when I encountered it (for the first time).
This unique romantic comedy is sweet, funny, and everything I could hope for in a holiday romance. This made me wish I was reading it around Chrismas time.
In a Holidaze earns a solid 4.5 stars from me. I loved Mae and Andrew, and all of the unique personalities of the people who spend every Chrismas in this Utah cabin together. I wish I was there for the holidaze too.
Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for my ARCs. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was the cutest little romance story that will get you ready for Christmas!
I was surprised to see this book was releasing in October, but while the story gave me all the holiday vibes you definitely can read it anytime of year.
Maelyn, who has several nick-names in the book, so don't get confused, end up experiencing the same holiday over and over again after making a wish to the universe to help her find her happiness. She is a confused 26 year old trying to figure out life and love. I think every woman can relate to that.
I do appreciate how Christina Lauren book always have more to their romance stories besides just the attraction between characters. They write real people you end up relating to and passionately rooting for.

This book is short and sweet and has everything you need in a holiday romance, plus a little more.

One of my favorite holiday activities is watching as many Lifetime/Hallmark/straight-to-video movies as possible. The wilder, the better. The presence of a time loop is crazy enough that our authors chose to keep the rest pretty grounded, and we're left with heartwarming vignettes, and a slow burn, largely in one location. Christina Lauren are so perfect at building romance that it all feels very real and intimate. The lead is very relatable, and the struggle of wanting to improve your life but not knowing how is an evergreen mood. Any romcom aficionado knows that the genre is largely about women improving themselves and growing confidence and moving forward, with romance as a treat. This one is highly satisfying. It name-checks Groundhog Day a few times, and is described as such by the publisher, but I felt several dashes of Happy Death Day added in. Just take out the murder plot and add in a holiday romance.

Christina Lauren has done it again! I absolutely loved Maelyn and Andrew! The ‘Groundhog Day’ effect was done perfectly in this book. Not too much repeating, but just enough. Christmas and romance are my favorite and this book has that in spades. Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the advance copy. Y’all are going to love this book.

Such a fun book! I was rooting for the romance the entire time, and it put me right into the holiday spirit. As always, Christina Lauren’s book are fast and enjoyable reads, and this book did not disappoint!

Ok, I didn't love this book, but I also didn't hate it.

This Groundhog Day inspired Christmas tale follows Mae. She doesn't want to go back to her life in California. She's down on her luck, and living back at home until she picks up the pieces.
She finds out one of her favorite places where her family travels to with friends is going to be sold, and wishes for happiness. This then shoots her back to the beginning of the trip for a Groundhog Day do-over.
I really enjoyed the Utah landscape for the cabin, and Park City is a great choice for this. Being a Utah native, I understood the appeal of it. All of the supporting characters were also a lot of fun, and added to the story in the right ways, particularly Benny, as a mentor type figure to Mae.
The brother love triangle however, I was not here for how that went down. It just felt clunky and awkward to me. I've seen this done well in many novels, so I guess I had a hard time with how awkward it all felt.
So, this one wasn't it for me. I know there are a lot of people who are going to enjoy this one. It just wasn't the one for me.

I usually inhale Christina Lauren books. This one took me about four evenings to get through though. The “Groundhog Day” chapters were a little slow. Once the attraction between Mae and Andrew became a thing that’s when I became invested in the story and read straight through until the last satisfying page. It’s not as steamy as previous books by this dynamic contemporary romance duo—this one had more of a chicklit vibe. But I was glad for the happily ever after and went to sleep with a happy heart.
I read this via NetGalley courtesy of the publisher. Thank you.

The tag line for the blurb for In a Holidaze is "Love Actually meets Groundhog Day in this quintessential holiday romance . . ." so I am not really giving anything away by saying that the universe gives leading lady Mae a second chance ( and third and fourth...) to get things right when her annual holiday with her extended family ends on a wrong note and there may not be an opportunity to ever fix things even as she head back to a life that is off track.

There was so much that I liked about in a Holidaze once the story gets past its unfortunate beginning/ending. Mae is very likeable, as is her older family friend Benny - who gives the best advice. And Mae is surrounded by a great supporting cast in her divorced parents - who still spend every Christmas with Mae and brother - and her parent's best friends and their families who have been a big part of Mae's life forever. I also really liked the way that the time loop was handled, in fact I'd say this is the best handling of the trope I've ever encountered. Generally, the audience is clued into the repeats by actually having to witness the repetitive parts. That is not the case here - we see very little about the "first time" but learn about events when Mae shares them with the Benny and since her loop is 5 or 6 days in most cases different events are the focus in different loops.

At the heart of this is Mae's chance to make better choices to get the happiness that she wishes for and there are some very nice moments with Mae and the one that she wants for her happily ever after. Along the way she learns that even with do overs mistakes are not avoidable, but it is what you do to fix them that matters. And then there is "the scene", the one scene in the whole book that is so touching that I went back and read it three times - there are others that are swoon worthy, but this one made me misty every time I read it.

I originally rated In a Holidaze 4.5 stars when I finished because I really liked it - the ending is very 'feel good' - but I save 5 stars for books the very few rare books that I know that I will actually reread. Then I found myself immediately reading the parts of the story that I liked so much and thinking about how well the trope was handled so final rating... 5 stars.

ARC courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley release date 10/6/2020

A typical chick-lit, romance, love-story that reminded me of the movie 'Groundhog Day.'. Later on in the story, the author actually mentions that! If you like fluffy beach reads and Christina Lauren's other books, you'll enjoy this one as well.

Really great story. A fun escape and totally charming. One of my fav recent CLo stories! The LI Andrew was really charming.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The amazing writing duo is back and in the holiday spirit with their latest, In a Holidaze.

Mae loves going to the cabin every Christmas. There she spends the week with her parents and brother as well as her found family who have known each other for decades. One Christmas Eve, she happens to fall into the arms of one of them and it turns her world upside down. Literally. She repeats the days over and over to only find herself in a sort of love triangle.

I’m a huge Christina Lauren fan. That’s no secret. Their last two novels failed to wow me but this one was solid. The characters were a rag-tag group with such strong personalities that made me laugh and wish I could spend the holidays with them too. The romance was great and Mae was a funny heroine who was completely confused but endearing. This is a solid 4 star book for its quick and fun style, humor, and themes of being careful what you wish for and live out your own dreams. AND the end...was pure sweetness.

The one issue I have with this novel is the premise did not develop to its full potential. Without giving away anything, an event that happens in the beginning gets no explanation, yet the entire time readers are guessing “what the heck is this all about.” Its hard not to be vague, but the novel hinged on this one situation.

Solid and highly enjoyable holiday adventure!

Pick it up when it releases in October!

This books was sweet, quaint, and a delightful read. I have small qualms with the character building and world building, but for what it is, it's great! Maise and Andrew are such a cute couple, I've never really liked childhood friends to lovers, but this one was so adorable and done so well. I have a ew complaints, but this is not to say that this book wasn't great. It was amazing and really made me feel as though I wanted a significant other who I knew as a kid. I really enjoyed the straight serotonin that this book gave me.

Also, this is rare for me, most contemporary romance novels don't get more than 2 stars from me. I feel the stars aligned for this book, my mental state, my free time, outside events... Anyways, let's get onto the cynicisms:

I was very interested in the 'Groundhog Day' twist to a romance novel, and that part of the story was very interesting. I think that it could have been done better, but considering this book was a romance novel above a thriller/mystery novel, I think it played into the story well. I think that plot line was the means to an end, to put it bluntly, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

I also think that Andrew's character could have been expanded on further, I liked the way that his character was built but I would have loved more from/about him. I liked the 'soft boy' vibes that he gives off but I wanted to get to know him more, I would have loved to know more about his thoughts, feelings, motives.

Overall, I think that this book could have been given more pages dedicated to a fuller plot and fuller characters. This is almost always my criticism of books, I'm a simple girl who wants long books to quench my thirst of fully developed worlds, characters, and plots.

I give this book a 3.5/5 :)

All it takes is one moment to zap away the Christmas spirit. All it takes is one moment to know you made a mistake. All it takes is one moment to feel like you've lost everything. All it takes is one moment to make a wish...

Maelyn Jones' Christmas has come to a terrible end, having drunkenly kissed the guy she's known her entire life and have him treat her coldly the next morning. And, oh yeah, she's been in love with his brother for the last 13 years. Mae's Christmases are always spent at the cabin in Utah owned by a family friend, where three families (plus their "uncle", Benny) gather to spend the holidays. But Mae's just learned that this is their last Christmas ever at the cabin--adding to her misery of the kiss-of-Christmas-mistakes, a job she hates, and having needed to move back in with her mom, step-dad, and younger brother when her first job ended in failure. On the way to the airport, Mae makes a wish, for the universe to show her what she needs to be happy.

And then the car gets hit by a truck.

Instead of waking up in the hospital, or limbo, Mae finds herself on the plane going *to* Utah. It's December 20th. She has a second chance to fix her mistakes, save the cabin, and confess her feelings for the brother she truly loves. It'll be a Christmas she'll never forget--especially if she has to keep reliving it over and over and over...

A fantastic, funny, and swoony Christmas-themed "Groundhog Day", "In a Holidaze" is another brilliantly written brain-child of the dynamic duo Christina Lauren! Fabulously festive, "In a Holidaze" focuses on family--both blood and found--and taking charge (and some risks) in one's life to find happiness. Mae was given a second chance, and found the confidence to make choices she otherwise wouldn't have--and is much happier for it. As someone who will be Mae's age this upcoming Christmas, I definitely felt her as a kindred spirit when it comes to job woes, feeling discouraged about failed attempts of self-sufficiency, and coming fully into adulthood after being seen as a 'kid' in the family for a very long time.

As sweet as a candy cane--and spicy as spiked eggnog--Christina Lauren's newest "In a Holidaze" is one you'll want to read this holiday season!

[2.5]
In a Holidaze blends a holiday romance with the Groundhog Day concept in a way that unfortunately wasn't executed to my liking. This book had a lot going for it initially, it just failed to hold up to all the potential it had from the start. Take the timeloop for example, a supposed key point to the story, that only really ended up forcing the main character back in time a grand total of three occasions. As this was what really drew me in to the book in the first place, I have to say I was let down in that respect. The romance too, between the main character Maelyn and her childhood friend Andrew, didn't really wow me at all. There really wasn't anything between them that made me emphasize or care, which in a romance is perhaps the most important thing to bring across. The same could be said for most of the characters throughout the book. Something about this story was just missing that panache or feeling that grabs your attention and leaves you wanting more. I know the authors can tap into that, The Unhoneymooners had all of those qualities and then some. So I hope to read more of their books in the future that is representative of that. Just wish this had that quality to it as well.