Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley is so sweet and a great holiday read! Now, as with most books in this genre, you can't think too much or really at all about the practicalities of the plot. This is not the time to ask questions- just believe in the holiday magic! Why does a small town in Canada (called SNOW Falls) seem to not have any snow storm preparedness? Holiday Magic. How do these businesses keep the doors open if they're giving all their products away to strangers for free? Holiday Magic. Why wold the locals ask random visitors to produce their entire holiday play which wasn't even written 3 days before Christmas? HOLIDAY MAGIC.

While the plot may have some holes, the stars of this book are absolutely the characters. They're diverse, quirky, lovable, and relatable. Our main characters are fully fleshed out with backstories, personal trauma, and real emotions. The side characters all have such unique personalities and appropriate depth of character. You will absolutely fall in love with them all, especially Dadu (grandfather). You will also appreciate the diversity in this book that is unfortunately so often missing.

This book also hits on everyone's favorite holiday romance tropes:
✅Quirky small town
✅Holiday decorations galore
✅Save the town holiday tradition
✅Snowed in
✅Unlikely friendship
✅Wise grandparent
✅Holiday puns
✅A meet cute AND a 2nd chance romance (That's right! You get TWO love stories in this book!)

If you like a totally clean, holiday romance, be sure to pick up Three Holidays and a Wedding! Pub Date: Sept 26, 2023. Thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for gifting me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for inviting me to read this adorable book.This was a nice holiday book to read that covers 3 holidays at once.This is just like a Hallmark Romance but it is more diverse.

The coming together on the calendar of the three major religion's winter holidays is a great premise for this sweet holiday romance. Funny, heartwarming, and sweet, the story also doesn't shy away from the challenges of grief, immigrant families, and cultural clashes. A feel good romance read! Note that this book is very much rated G or maybe PG at most, for those who prefer their romances on the more chaste side of things.

This was a fun holiday read!! I really enjoyed the Christmas town and theme vibe throughout it. It was also very inclusive! A nice easy read if you want something other than fantasy or dark romance :)

Great holiday read! Lots of exciting parts and laugh out loud moments!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc! I really enjoyed it

Great holiday book, that 3 different holidays. I really enjoyed learning more about other traditions then what I have known.
A holiday must read for everyone. I'm really hoping for a sequel as the ending did feel a little rush and I would like to get the characters a little more.

Thanks to netgalley and publisher for this e arc in exchange for a honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. The setting and two primary characters made this a charming holiday romance that I could easily recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. It is easy to see the differences in writing styles since this novel is written by two different authors. Romance is a big theme in these parallel stories, along with family, grief, and overcoming anxiety. I’m curious if Snow Falls is a real Canadian town, with all the cultural diversity presented. I should also look into some of these actors to see if they are made up or not. It’s a very believable and predictable story and clean enough for readers. While one romance story is “halal,” the other isn’t, so I’m not sure I would recommend this for our library’s Thank you for a happy ending!

I really enjoyed this. It was a lovely spin on a Holiday Romance with tons of inclusion. I loved the nostalgia of the time period and the characters were enjoyable and realistic. The romance was sweet too. All around a lovely read. it was unique and memorable but still gave the warm and fuzzy holiday feels (even though I read it in late Spring.

I thoroughly enjoyed Three Holidays and a Wedding. The story takes place in a small Christmas loving Canadian town when a small group of airline passengers get stranded when their plane is diverted for bad weather. Maryam and her family are on their way to Toronto for her sister's Muslim wedding. Anna is on her way to Toronto to meet her controlling and obnoxious boyfriend's family. Another group is in town to film a movie. They all end up at the same (only) hotel in town and romance, misunderstandings, cooperation, and Christmas are all around. The combination of Muslim, Jewish, and Christmas traditions was really interesting. This was an unexpectedly entertaining great read, Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for my honest review.

This book was cute and emotional. I liked that we learned a lot about culture and customs for Hanukkah and Ramadan. I loved the unlikely friendship between two very different strangers who find that they have a lot more in common than they thought.

Major spoilers follow.

Anna is dating an abusive controlling self absorbed shit head and gets stranded in a small town and basically he can’t handle it before the holidays and claims they’re on a break Ross and Rachel style.

Miryam is trying to give her sister a perfect wedding and trying to be the perfect desi daughter but she’s neglected her own dreams and love life. She reconnects with a childhood family friend and learns that she can open herself up to love again.

Anna meets a movie star who is down to earn and fake dating someone (dumb) and he’s WAY better than Nick the controlling boyfriend who declared them on a break. She learns to heal from her father’s death and to forgive her step mom for marrying so quickly again. She learns she deserves more and better and vows to make a career change along with the change in her love life.

M is in the same boat. She’s opened herself up to love. Stood up for herself with her family, professed her own interests and wants to be a writer.

Overall this is a feel good chick lit holiday book that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

The title alone made me really excited to read this book. My only complaint is that it's not longer. I want more!!! I really did enjoy this book and I can see my patrons loving it as well. Can't wait for September so we can buy it for the library!

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

I cannot find a single thing NOT to love about this cute and endearing holiday read! I absolutely loved it and (even though it is currently June) it got me in the mood for the holiday season!!

Three Holidays and a Wedding is a fun and relatable romance for all cultures to enjoy. Maryam and Anna are strong developed heroines with a believable friendship. Thank you Putnam for the digital review copy!

This book was a little like a perfect gingerbread house – sweet, dusted with powdered sugar snow, pretty to look at, but wouldn’t stand up more than a minute in an actual snow storm.

[author:Uzma Jalaluddin] is quickly becoming one of my romance-authors-to-watch for her stories of smart, interesting hijabis whose faith is essential to their character and their choices. I was less impressed with my previous encounter with [author:Marissa Stapley] (as part of the duo [author:Maggie Knox]), but together, the two authors spin a confection that is charming, a little sexy, a little madcap, and a lot of fun.

I love the way the authors weave together the stories of the two women – Anna, who is a Christian who was raised celebrating Jewish holidays with her stepmother, and Maryam, an observant Muslim – who board the same Toronto-bound flight and end up snowbound in the tiny Canadian town of Snow Falls. Maryam’s family is traveling for her sister’s wedding – alongside family friends, including her childhood crush, Saif. Oh, and the sequel to a beloved Christmas romance movie (along with its dreamy lead, Chase Taylor) also happens to be filming in town.

Snow Falls ends up being a small town worthy of an Amy Sherman Palladino show, with quirky characters to boot. Maryam’s family provides most of the drama (and humor) not related to the two main romance plots, and though they’re far from perfect, I loved getting to spend time with them, especially Dadu.

Now, while romance is basically a fantasy genre, I couldn’t <i>quite</i> get past Snow Fall’s mini UN-esque shops, restaurants, and people – everyone understands the basics of how to observe Ramadan? They’ve got henna on hand for a desi <i>mehndi</I>? No one is racist?? – but then again, the story is rather pointedly set in 2000. Ostensibly is because that’s when the three holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, and Ramadan) all lined up, but pre-9/11, it also makes it possible to (mostly) brush aside the persistent realities people of color – especially visibly Muslim people – face on a daily basis.

Still, Jalaluddin and Stapley have conjured up a winner for your holiday reading pleasure.

[book:Three Holidays and a Wedding] by [author:Uzma Jalaluddin] and [author:Marissa Stapley]
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️ Everything stays pretty PG
☃️❄️ So. much. snow.
🎄🕎☪ 👰🏽‍♀️ There were, in fact, three holidays and one wedding
🎥🎭✍️ Anna and Maryam are both artists at heart

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam Group for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This was very cute and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the 3 holidays joining together. It is a lovely little romance that also celebrates diversity and new friendships.

Reading books before they're published is always a gift, but this one was especially sweet. Spanning multiple faiths and still managing to be inclusive makes this book special. Maryam and Anna's journey unfolded and they learned that they both needed to put themselves and their own needs above others to find happiness and love in a town that sounded like pure Hallmark. How could it not with a name like "Snow Falls?" While this book was extremely sensitive to the Desi traditions, Ramadan, and Hanukkah, along with Christmas, it was written in a way to teach the reader about the traditions and holidays as well. With movies and the cinema being a large part of this novel I hope that it gets made into a movie. With a heartwarming celebration of love, family, and faith it would be a hit!

There are many things to appreciate about this seasonal romance novel and a few drawbacks. This is my first exposure to these authors, and I admire their skill in blending their talents into a seamless storyline. The backdrop is the convergence of the celebration of three holidays: Ramadan (Eid), Christmas and Hanukkah.

When a “snowstorm of the century” diverts their plane from its intended destination of Toronto, Maryam Aziz and her family find themselves stranded in the charming town of Snow Falls. The problem is two-fold: how will they observe their religious traditions in an unfamiliar setting and will the planned wedding of Saima, Maryam’s younger sister, be delayed or even cancelled?

Simultaneously, Anna is on her way to Toronto to celebrate Christmas with her boyfriend and will meet his parents for the first time. Plans have been made down to the smallest detail and carefully timed, all of which are now threatened by the blizzard.

Both women, who met as seatmates on the plane, are given the opportunity to reevaluate their roles and life choices over the ensuing week. There is plenty of romance, and exploration of the multi-cultural town of Snow Falls with its warm and welcoming residents.

I enjoyed the character development of the two protagonists – they were likeable and engaging. “Mr. Dadu,” Maryam’s paternal grandfather, was particularly delightful with his gentle humor, wisdom, and Bollywood stories. The one character that felt lacking in authenticity was Saima, the bride-to-be. She was described as a young physician affiliated with Doctors without Borders working in a war-torn country. In contrast to what one might expect from a devoted caregiver, her behavior was often immature and selfish, becoming a “bridezilla” and blaming her sister every time things did not go her way.

I found the descriptions of the religious traditions of the Muslim and Jewish faiths informative and a refreshing change to the usual holiday focus. However, I would have appreciated more depth in the context of the holidays themselves. My other concern is that even though the title implies three holidays, Christmas was barely acknowledged except for detailed descriptions of festive decorations and a reference to “A Christmas Carol.”

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Brimming with holiday spirit! I so very much enjoyed reading Three Holidays and a Wedding, and experiencing Ramadan and Hanukkah with a sprinkle of Christmas in the idyllic Canadian oasis of Snow Falls. I learned loads about the Muslim holiday, loved the characters and the village, and overall found the story to have an immensely festive vibe akin to that of a Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie.

The tale is not perfect. For starters, the title is a bit of a misnomer. The novel is really about Two Holidays and a Wedding, as the authors included only a bit of kitschy, commercial Christmas fare and omitted the religious underpinnings of the Christmas holiday and its traditions (“the reason for the season”). In so doing, they missed a fine opportunity to educate the reader about the holiday traditions of the Muslim, Jewish AND Christian faiths. Also, while I truly found interesting all of the descriptions of the holidays and their associated traditions that were featured, at times the overly detailed information regarding some of those traditions interrupted the pacing of the story or simply did not serve the story particularly well.

That said, I recommend this fresh take on the holiday themed happily ever after. Three and a half stars, rounded up since this was such a delightful and educational read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.