Oh hey Taylor Cole, can we be besties?

So, I have a life update .

I found a new author to obsess over . Taylor Cole is everything I never knew I needed in my life and Holiday Read slipped right into my number one spot of most favored books of this year.

To think I was once a “I only read thrillers” kinda gal.

Wow, I was quite the snob.

I’m glad I finally saw the light and jumped on the Romance/RomCom train .

Holiday Read is the perfect book to pack up in your tote and head to the beach .

The characters all flawed but real, will steal your heart. The flow of the chapters was executed with perfection and I love how the ending came to tie everything together.

This book screams “summer hit”

Don’t take my word for it, this showstopper is free on kindle unlimited

Teaser :

The ultimate escapist rom com for book and beach lovers! Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Josie Silver.

When romance-fanatic Candice meets writer Alexis, she thinks her happy ending is finally on its way. He walks into her struggling Cornish surf school, and they hit it off straight away. Until she discovers that Alexis has been using their courtship as inspiration for the romantic novel he's struggling to write.

When Alexis offers to bring her in on the deal if Candice helps him deliver a winning book to his publisher, she accepts, and along with Alexis' agent Daniel, they embark on a very unusual summer of love, as Candice tries to teach the men the recipe for a successful romance.

But you can't have a great love story without a great romantic hero. Will Candice find hers before the summer is over?

Candice meets Alexis when he is on holiday in the town in Cornwall where she is currently living and working. Then she meets Daniel, and things become more complicated. A great read.

Did not love this one, it felt choppy and disjointed at times. I did enjoy the honesty between characters and how they felt like real people.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the ARC!

This one was just not for me. Unfortunately, I added this to my list of DNF reads. I just couldn't get into the characters and it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I love reading to escape especially when I am feeling stressed and romcoms are my absolute favorite. This one just missed the mark for me.

I hate to join the chorus of DNF-ers, but I made it to about halfway through (it's hard to tell because my e-proof had a lot of formatting nonsense at the back it turned out) and then skipped to the end and read the last ten percent, because it didn't seem like it was getting better, only worse. And amusingly there was some good news there, but it wasn't enough to make me want fill in the gap that I'd missed.

I don't think the cover and the comps really do this any service at all - I found it neither funny nor romantic, and having read the new Emily Henry a week or two back that has some serious stuff in it but it is all balanced with actual humour and not... well whatever this is.

This is a straightforward story with few unexpected twists or turns. While it has its flaws, it still offers a pleasant escape for readers seeking a simple and undemanding story. At the end of the day I just feel bad for this woman and was surprised to find a familiar storyline.

I could not finish this book which is something that's very hard for me. I do not DNF a book often but I just couldn't get behind this one.

It wasn't a lighthearted beach read and the premise wasn't great. It felt like Alexis was exploiting Candace and going behind her back.

I could not see what she saw in him and the chemistry was not believable.

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Ehhh this one was okay. I wanted to enjoy it but it just fell flat

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Surfing
Unique plots
Found family
Strong female friendships
Character development

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The setting

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
The characters weren’t really relatable
There were a lot of words/references I had to look up
The way Alexis acted
There was too much going on

Candice is a long way from home. She grew up on the water in Hawaii and sufing is second nature to her. Here in Cornwall England she is surfing, living out of a van and working at a cafe. When a stranger walks into the cafe and takes up the best table to type at his laptop Candice starts a journey of self discovery. She will learn who her friends are and what is her true calling in life.

But so many questions. Why is Candice in Cornwall? Is she running to something or running away from something? What will happen when her past catches up with her? And who is the true hero of this story?

This was more of a fiction than strict romance. It is a story about Candice learning more about herself and who are her true family. I found it a little long winded and I had to push through to finish this one. Not really what I am looking for in a book but I did learn that there is actually surfing in England, which was enlightening for for me, an Australian with an English mother.

This one just wasn't for me. I was expecting something different when I read the description/title. It is also long and took everything for me to get to 40% before not finishing.

Holiday Read by Taylor Cole was just ok for me. It took a little for me to get into it and even then I struggled for most of the book. There is not a whole lot of romance, small glances/touches, or anything like that, which is something that I love about romance novels. I would not classify this as a romance. The story was off and I went into it hoping for more.

Based on the cover I thought this would be a lot like Emily Henry's book Beach Read. While there may be some similarities, the plots are different. Candace is trying to start over after leaving her cheating husband behind. Candace is a romance reader and when she meets Alexis, a romance author she thinks it might just be love. Things however take a turn when she discovers that this author is using her as inspiration for his next novel. This was a fun read and I enjoyed the chemistry between all the characters.

I've tried really hard to like this book but it's not for me. It's labeled as a romcom and it's really not. Candice leaves Hawaii after a failed marriage with an emotionally and verbally abusive husband who cheats on her with her best friend and said best friend is now pregnant. She comes to Cornwall to find her bio father and finds herself sleeping in a quasi-camper van, working at a tourist cafe, and trying to start a surfing school. She meets Alexis, a handsome writer who takes up space at the best table in the cafe while not ordering anything and slightly befriends him enough to help him write a romance novel so he can make the most money possible.

While this book may have good intentions, it just falls flat. The possible romance with Alexis (whose first novel was deeply misogynistic) turns into a possible romance with his friend/literary agent, Daniel. The best part of the book was the friendship between Candice, her boss Demi, and her coworker Makayla. Their friendship/found family was great and I wish that was what the book was about and not this romance thing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this eARC.

This was a pretty good book. It took a little for me to get into it and even then I struggled for most of the book, but once I figure out that it is not your typical romance, then I was able to get more into it. There is not a whole lot of romance, small glances/touches, or anything like that, which is something that I love about romance novels. If that is something that you can enjoy, then I would recommend!

I'm very thankful to have been given an ARC of this book from Netgalley. For me it was a miss, though. The story just didn't really resonate with me. I pushed through because it felt like the right thing to do. I hoped it would pick up or get interesting, unfortunately it never did. I feel like a lot happened, but nothing happened. I wouldn't even be able to give specific examples of things I liked, because I can't remember any.

He's a tit limpet. In bed.

This is going to be an unusual one to rate, but ultimately I'm giving it four stars because I feel it was massively underrated and that just won't stand with me because I have found some beautiful thoughts and sentiments I relate to! I loved how the author talked about romance novels using the FMC's voice. Sometimes fiction, especially romance novels are so underrated, shoved under the "chick-lit" genre as if they're something less than.

"People get so weird about romance fiction. As if it's something shameful, a guilty pleasure that should be hidden within the dust jacked of Serious Literature and read in secret."

Loved the journey of Candice and really found a lot of myself in some of her situations. Like falling for an asshole and not trusting your gut feeling because of their manipulations.🫠 I also loved that she has no idea what to do with her life, just bouncing between things, trying to find herself. People don't talk about it often - how sometimes we can feel lost in this huge world, without any sense of direction. It's okay to switch jobs, move, break off a marriage, fall for the wrong guy, and then maybe fall for the right guy too.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for the eARC!

This is a very slow burn romance and had an interesting premise.

Candice moves from Hawaii to Cornwall, England after she loses her mother. She lives in a van while working at a coffee shop to save up money for her surf school.

She meets Alexis at the coffee shop, where he spends days taking all sorts of notes on his laptop. Eventually, Candice finds out he is a romance writer that is in town for the summer to get inspiration for his next book. He and Candice have a lot of discussions about the romance genre. Then Alexis's agent, Daniel, comes to town to help with the book. Will this summer collaboration lead to something lasting?

This book really missed the mark for me. I found it to be chaotic and drawn out for most of the time I was reading unfortunately.

‘𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜?’
‘𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.’
‘𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞?’
‘𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑,’
‘𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚎.’
‘𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚢, 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐.’
‘𝙴𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢..’

🍷🍷🍷.75 / 5

🌶️ / 5

»»————-✼————-««

Review:
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the author for this gifted eARC!

This book was a wee bit of a rollercoaster for me I can’t lie! I absolutely adored the Cornwall setting, all the places of Newquay are places I’ve been before and honestly I’m gunna have to convince Mr Boyfriend to go on a cute Cornwall holiday soon because I just need all the romcom small town vibes🥹 Taylor’s description was fantastic and I truly felt like I was sat on a sunny Cornwall beach surrounded but surfers and tourists, even though it was pouring down with rain and I was actually stuck in traffic😭

I started off this book absolutely loving Alexis, he came across as this very misunderstood author type who was a little weird, I hear most authors are? He seemed very set in his ways, and had all these deep and 3D conversations with grit and depth and idk were actually lengthy and interesting. Sometimes in romcoms I can find conversions between characters a little flat? As in they’re a bit surface level and just seem a wee bit short. Alexis and Candice didn’t have that at all; all there conversations were full and long and exciting. For anyone who hasn’t read it yet, close your eyes and cover your ears **Alexis is a dick** you can open your eyes now… I can’t explain more without spoilers but honestly when I got to know him more, I was kinda heartbroken for Candice; it was like a flip switches and suddenly I couldn’t stand him anymore, and I honestly low key hate him. You truly never know anyone as well as you think…

Once Daniel came onto the scene I started to realise how infuriating and annoying Alexis is, he’s so unaccommodating and just nothing compared to Daniel… I want Daniel! He’s sweet and kind and just an all round guy, he takes care of Candice and never pressures her to do or feel anything she’s not ready for. Candice describes her favourite factor of romance as: 2 characters who have a deep connection and feelings for each other but can’t be together so they have this deep longing for each other that no one else knows about accept them; and I really felt this between Candice and Daniel. I thought it was so cleaver and it kept me reading as they had so many moments that got ruined; it felt so natural and like real life when you long for someone you can’t have. I wish we could have delved into Daniels character a wee more, found out more about his life; it would make me love him more!

All 3 of our main ladies are honestly top tear, they’re funny and relatable and have this family dynamic that you can only get with your found family. The added disasters of the cafe and their dating mishaps made them all relatable. I really loved that we didn’t get to dive into Makayla trauma too much, it felt really on character to keep these dark hidings to herself and I think it represents a significant amount of woman who feel the same way; saying it out loud makes it true, if we don’t tell anyone it never happened. Candice was also secretive to start and it make me feel really confused as to whether or not I liked her for the first 5 chapters. But as she came out of her shell in the community more and we got to know her better I really started to love her. I was rooting for her and empathised with her trauma in ways that made me angry at the men who wronged her.

I found the first 5 chapters quite wordy and long, but they were important for setting the scene and introducing the characters. I think the ending was perfect and honestly I’m not sure i’d change a thing. It was the perfect holiday read with all the vibes that I needed to get me in the summer mood! Bring on the sunshine ☀️

For lovers of:
- Romance set in Cornwall
- Hawaiian FMC
- Found family
- Author MC
- Surfing

Holiday Read has many of the ingredients of a successful romance, but it fell flat.
Set in Cornwall, our main character is working in a cafe and trying to establish a surf tuition business. She has left an emotionally abusive husband after he gets her best friend pregnant and is trying to find her dad.
The story focuses on her getting caught up with classically good-looking but highly self-absorbed writer Alexis. He’s come to Cornwall to research ideas for his (hopefully) best-selling romance. Unfortunately he’s not feeling it, so enlists Candice to offer a more authentic voice.
From start to finish I found the scenario improbable. There were red flags aplenty being ignored and I was waiting for the what seemed inevitable double-cross. For a romance it fell spectacularly short on romantic feelings.
Thanks NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this. Sadly it was a case of there’s other writers doing this stuff better.