This story broke my heart a little. Holly is living in a self-imposed exile from her family after a tragedy occurs that she blames herself for. It seeps into every aspect of her life. Given that she's carrying so much personal guilt, she's given up her art which she was quite passionate about before.

Not only did Holly lose the connection with her family the day of the car accident, she also lost an opportunity with a guy she'd recently met named Jack. Then when she is suddenly put back in his orbit again a few years later, it's shocking to her that he can be related to the older lady she's recently befriended. The same lady who is also carrying a great deal of personal grief and guilt.

This was a really emotional read with sad moments. But it was also hopeful and at times a little frustrating. But above all, it was likable. I enjoyed seeing everything play out the way it did. It wasn't at all neat or tidy. It was in fact quite messy and filled with misunderstandings. It was a little bit real.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

4.5/5 ✨ if you want a christmas book filled with so much more than just christmas: grief, family healing, amazing main characters, redemption, fate, and romance too - read this book.

it has everything i could have wanted and more. emily stone can do no wrong.

I have long been a fan of Emily Stone and Love, Holly was no exception! Is was not my favorite book of hers but I enjoyed the setting, the holiday backdrop, and the found family aspects.

Emily Stone does not miss! I loved this book, which actually was a tad less sad than her others, and just as romantic! Loved our main characters and the tough topics the story took on.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Love, Holly to review!
One Christmas Eve, Holly gets into a car accident that will tear her family apart for years to come. Feeling lonely, she decides to join a lonely-hearts holiday letter writing club. Even though the letters are anonymous, one Christmas Eve she decides to track down the woman who wrote a letter that she received because she feels connected to her situation. The woman that Holly tracked down, Emma, was also in a car accident that caused her to lose her son and lose her connection with her grandson as well. Now with a cancer diagnosis, Emma is feeling more alone than ever. While getting to know Emma, Holly finds out that she had met Emma's grandson (Jack) the night of her car accident. Determined to resolve their family situation instead of her own Holly decides to reunite these two people and in the process, help heal her own grief as well.
I had mixed feelings about this book. I didn't dislike it but I felt very misguided from what I originally thought this book was going to be about. I thought this was going to be a fun little Christmas themed romance book and in some ways it was but in a lot of ways it was not. This book was a lot more about grief than I was initially expecting and in a lot of ways I think the grief part of the story took precedence over the love story part of the book. I also thought it was kind of comedic how a significant part of the story didn't actually take place during Christmastime? Additionally, I never totally understood Holly and Emma's relationship but I understood the purpose. I also never really felt the chemistry between Holly and Jack but you gotta love a good dramatic hospital scene though. (It gave me major Fangirl vibes because that book has like three different dramatic hospital scenes in it). In the end, I didn't really dislike the book but it was definitely not what I was expecting to get into and that kind of disappointed me.

This book was a mixed bag for me. There were a lot of different ideas going on-car crashes, families torn apart, cancer, fate, weddings, careers, etc., etc. I think it would of been a stronger book had some of these stories been taken out and it focused more on Holly and her relationship with Jack. However, it did like how it all came together in the end.

Read if you like:
⏳ Books that take place over a year+
❄️ Holiday Romances
😢 Sad Plot Points
🚗 Aftermath of Car Accidents
😭 Grieving Loss
🤗 Strained Family Relationships
🏡 Found Family
💌 Letter Writing

I really enjoyed my sad girl era mood while reading Love Holly. The letter writing that Holly engaged in to heal and grieve and try to move on from an awful car accident was so relatable & sad.

I really enjoyed the found family aspect that Holly gained with Emma and how fate seems to have really stepped in to bring them together with their struggles being so similar and feeling so interconnected.

I also loved the further feeling of interconnectedness as Holly reunites with the handsome man that she met the night of the car crash and how this truly changes the trajectory of her path and healing even more after connecting with Emma.

If you like sad books with a lot of fate and interconnected feeling strings of the plot, I highly recommend this winter read!

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review!

Love, Holly is a beautiful, gripping story about love and forgiveness. Through Holly’s story we can feel a rollercoaster of emotions, from joy to sadness, from love to grief. Holly feels guilty about an accident that she and her sister were in and is trying to cope with loss as well. She bonds with Emma and then her life collides with Jack’s.
I love the way Emily Stone can share stories that are deep and complex but in a very digestible and enjoyable way. I love how it starts and ends at Christmas, giving you the warm feeling of the holidays. I really liked the characters, both Holly and Jack but also Abi and Emma and even Pam.
The book had me in tears at more than one point, but by the end it was pure joy of having read such a lovely story.
I really recommend it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

3/5 stars - enjoyed while reading, but it probably won’t stick with me a few years from now. If you’re looking for a sentimental and holiday themed read, this is for you. Not overly romantic, which I was surprised by, but I enjoyed that aspect of the plot as a whole. Please be warned that there are some triggering subject matters within the story, so read with caution. I would’ve liked to see more development between Jack and Holly - overall, it all felt very surface level, despite the traumatic events that they went through / were dealing with, both individually and jointly.

I understand why there is such a demand for this genre but sadly it just isn't for me. Call me a corporate city lawyer grinch bitch but I felt like this was a Lifetime movie that was stretched into a 300+ page book where nothing really happened.

Holly is reeling from a car accident that happened three years ago on Christmas Eve that has left her estranged from her family. She begrudgingly participates in a secret letter exchange for people who are lonely during the holidays as a way to try to break out of her rut. When she realizes she knows the location of the cafe where her "secret" pen pal wrote her from, she spontaneously decides to try and find her in person and help he reunite with her grandson. Not at all intrusive in the slightest! And shocker of all shockers, said grandson happens to be the gorgeous stranger she met the night of her accident and never was able to reconnect with.

This book felt like a loop of talking about the same themes without any real events to move the needle in any direction. The "will they/won't they" lost its luster about a hundred pages in, mostly because I didn't really feel like I knew much about these characters outside of their respective familial struggles. And other than the core event happening on Christmas Eve, there wasn't much holiday/festiveness happening here.

Depressing at times and much more emotionally heavy than I tried expected or wanted.

It was a good read but needs some trigger warnings.

This is my third book by Emily Stone. I really enjoy the author's style. This book in particular had many layered connections which I love finding in real life and enjoyed in this story.

This book starts strong in December at Christmas, meanders a bit, and ends at Christmas many years later. This book covers love, loss, family, friends, grief, hope, fate and so much more to tug at your heartstrings.

I should now know that any Emily Stone book I read will make me cry. This is dubbed as a Christmas story, but if you want a fluffy story maybe skip this one. This story will make you feel good, for sure but you will have to go through some emotional heartbreaking stuff to get there. But I must be a sucker for it because I always go for her books. lol

Holly is part of a group that writes holiday letters to other people spending Christmas alone. This years she receives a letter from a woman named Emily, who mentions nearby places in the letter. Holly wants to meet her in person and help get her together with her estranged grandson. When she finds, it turns out they’ve met before and sparks fly between them.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

so i read this book almost three months ago and i’m not sure why i didn’t review it then because i absolutely loved it. i loved the not so cute meet cute. i loved holly and emma. and then jack. phew! that’s really not telling you much, i know. but listen, if you want a super emotional (in a good way, but definitely have some tissues nearby), totally romantic, full circle story then i highly recommend this one.

thank you to random house for an advanced copy. my thoughts are my own.

Classic Emily Stone. A heavy, heartfelt holiday read about second chances. The beginning definitely rips your heart right out and then the story really starts. For fans of romances that don't mind a little, or a lot lol, emotional damage.

This is a heartwarming book of family and reconciliation. It has “A Man Called Ove” vibes and a story of cute second, third and fourth chances. I really enjoyed the story. I usually don’t like drama, but this was well done and it was all imperative to the story and plot. It was sweet and fire and honest and real. It is a great read for year round.

Continuing on with my Holiday book binge—I really enjoyed this but was unprepared for the heavy grief theme throughout. If you want a holiday book about second chances and mending family relations this would be a great pick for you. The romance here is secondary. I loved the use of letters, the art theme, and Emily Stone’s writing—I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another book by her! For other readers, this book has minimal spice & profound themes of cancer, car crashes and finding your way back to family. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved (and bawled over) Emily Stone’s last book, so I was super excited for this one! It’s a romance but also about found family and sisters, and it made me super emotional (cue me crying on my lunch break at work lol). I liked how it took place over time, not just specifically at Christmas. If you’re looking for a cute Christmas romance that will also make you cry, look no further! Love, Holly is out now!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read before pub day!

This was a delightful holiday read with likeable characters and a great message. I was immediately drawn in by the cover and the sweet read inside was all I hoped it would be!