This was such a delightful read. Holly, a budding artist, walks into a cafe one day, clumsy and out of sorts, and runs into Jack. Coincidence in the universe brings Holly and Jack together, along with an estranged sister and grandmother. It is hard to put down and will make you smile while you cry.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

Emily stone is known to pull at heart strings in her writing. This book just was a little less impactful as her other stories. It dragged a bit.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Holly and her sister were involved in car accident three years ago on Christmas Eve. It changed their lives forever and things have never been the same. Holly joins a group of holiday pen pals that make you feel not so alone during the holidays. Knowing that they’ll never meet, they pour the hearts and souls into these letters. This years letter is from a woman named Emma whose grief Holly knows too well. When Holly recognizes the coffee shop Emma mentions, she makes it her goal to reunite Emma with her grandson.

This book tugged on my heartstrings! This was such a sweet, cozy, and perfect holiday read! I loved One Last Gift, and this one was just as great! Grab your tissues and get ready to fall in love with this book!

📘: Love, Holly by Emily Stone
🗓️: September 26, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Stone, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantinefor this ARC!

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

*Reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Thank you to Dell Publishing and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of Love, Holly by Emily Stone.

After a tragic accident estranges her from her family, Holly has a difficult time facing the holidays alone. To fill some of that loneliness, she begins participating in a holiday writing club for other people spending their holidays without their loved ones. As part of this club, she writes a "Dear Stranger" letter each year, and receives a letter from someone else in return. However, this year when Holly receives her letter, she is so moved by the writer's words that she sets out to find her pen-pal and bring her a bit of Christmas cheer. As Holly becomes involved with her new friend, Emma, she discovers that circumstances are not always what they seem, and love is an action that must be chosen daily, no matter how hard.

I have always been an Emily Stone fan, so receiving this ARC was so exciting for me! I truly loved everything about this story! It is heartwarming, yet real, tragic, yet hopeful. Stone is such a fantastic writer of relationships and she never shies away from the painful parts of life. The way the characters connect in this book are intricate and beautiful. This book is sweet and lovely and a must-read for your Christmas holiday!

Love, Holly is a wonderfully written endearing read! Holly has been estranged from her family ever since a tragic car accident with her sister three years prior. Alone, she participates in "Dear Stranger", a program where strangers write a letter at Christmas to someone whom they do not know and is also alone at the holidays. In return, they receive one as well. Generally these letters have no follow up, but when Holly receives a letter from someone named Emma who coincidently has suffered the same grief. The letter even mentions the same coffee shop that Holly visited with her family before the tragic accident. Eventually she seeks to connect with Emma.

Love, Holly covers a lot of themes like loss, grief, healing, second chances, love, friendship, and family. What makes this book stand out is Emily Stone's beautiful writing. Generally I struggle reading books that span years of time; however, thanks to Stone's writing I found the book easy, thoroughly engaging, and a wonderfully enjoyable read. Stone definitely has a full grasp of human emotion, grief, and the complicated nuances of navigating relationships.

Overall, a wonderful read. It's filled with plenty of deep heart wrenching moments but is also uplifting and filled with love and hope. Absolutely loved it!

This was such a heart-warming read! It gave off cozy vibes even though the books isn’t really a “Christmas” read as it spans several years. I think it’s the kind of book that you crave during the holidays as it has just has that “coming home” feeling.

It’s not just a romance. It deals with the loss of a loved one, family estrangement, and found family. There’s even a crotchety older woman with a heart of gold. Basically, there’s nothing revolutionary here but it’s well-written and sweet and leaves you feeling happy…though it will have you on an emotional roller coaster at times.

Jack and Holly are solid characters though I definitely felt like I got to know Holly a little better. I would’ve liked it if Jack a bit more depth. Emma is a great character. She comes alive on the page.

This is definitely a book I will recommend to others. And now I want to go and read the author’s backlist.

Emily does it again!

Such a great, heartwarming story set during Christmastime (which just makes it all the better in my opinion). Be prepared to shed some tears (happy and sad)!

I highly recommend this book. Definitely adding this to my bookshelf!

This was my first Emily Stone book and I was pleased. I enjoyed it. The characters were great and relatable. It easily captured my attention and kept it through the whole book.

An engrossing heartfelt tale that had me reaching for the tissues. Full of emotion, family, healing from grief, and hopeful romance. This novel is well-written. An anonymous Christmas pen-pal initiates the story, but it takes place throughout a full year.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced digital reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Loved the characters and the Christmas setting. The female main character was a little blunt. This book packs an emotional punch.

Emily Stone is an auto-buy author for me, and this book continued to show how much I love her writing!

Love, Holly is another Christmas-y looking book, but could be read whenever your heart desires. Though the book starts and ends around Christmas, we have a few years in between where we get to know more of the characters and how they came into each others lives.

Three years ago, Holly is driving her and her sister to her family’s Christmas celebration. While needing a pick me up, she stops at a small cafe and happens to run into a charming man named Jack. They have their meet cute and exchange numbers. Unfortunately, soon after, there’s an accident.

Fast forward three years and you’ll find Holly writing a Dear Stranger to someone who is also feeling lonely around the holidays. When receiving her Dear Stranger letter, she sees a landmark that she knows, the cafe. Holly decides to take things into her own hands and help someone since she is struggling again this Christmas.

What will happen? Do you believe in fate?

Stone pulls at your heart strings in the best ways possible. This looks like a fluffy, fun, Christmas Rom-Com, but it’s so much more than that (absolutely no hate to those, because I do enjoy those too!) I’ll always recommend her work and I’m already looking forward to her next novel!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book left me feeling like I had a nice big warm hug. Don’t get me wrong I had some tears as with many of my reads by Emily Stone. There was happy and sad tears. I just loved how this story laid out and then beautifully wrapped up. It felt good. This book does cover some very heavy topics mainly about forgiveness and letting go of mistakes or possible regrets you are harboring. It’s about learning to forgive and listen to others. This book centers around December and past events that happened in December so some holiday magic sprinkled in. Holly joins a letter writing group after a car accident with her sister, Lily, left her penalty estranged. Through this letter writing Holly meets Emma and their relationship I absolutely loved. While the letter writing is supposed to be anonymous Emma did leave some clues that Holly found family like a coffee shop she visited before her and her sister’s accident. Add this to your holiday reads this year, while heavy sun just matter is included it does end feeing uplifted. Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I love Christmas books and this is one of my all time favs! You will not want to put it down! It also will put you right in the Christmas mood!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for providing me with an eARC of Love, Holly in exchange for my honest review!

This Christmas romance isn't the sort of thing that blew me away, but I still enjoyed the heartfelt ride. It actually doesn't take place at Christmastime as much as I'd expected it to, since the majority of its plot spans over the course of one year, but it delivers enough of the holiday vibes that I'm able to be more lenient than usual. The pen pal trope isn't necessarily one of my favorite romance tropes, but it can be pretty damn cute, and I like how Emily Stone executed it here between Holly and Jack. Despite the narrative dealing with heavy subject matter like grief and frayed family dynamics, it maintains a fairly fluffy tone that makes it easy to breeze through. It does run into some cliches, particularly in regard to a certain twist that we learn at one point, but I can accept that.

Overall, I'm officially rating Love, Holly three out of five stars. It's not a holiday romance I plan on rereading, but I appreciate the charming time I spent with it. I'd be up for reading more of Stone's work, especially Always, In December.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. I love a Christmas novel more than anything. This was cute but also painful with death and grief. I like my holiday books a little more uplifting. This one wasn't my favorite by Emily Stone.

This story reminds me of This Is Us in the sense that you know you will cry through most of the story, but it is heartfelt and draws you in.

The characters felt like friends and family. I cried through their hard times and laughed through the funny parts. I became invested in how their story would turn out. Their problems are relatable and I wanted nothing more than for the circumstances to be better for them.

This story did feel like it was missing something for me. At times I thought the ties the author was creating to bring the characters together were a bit of a stretch. Overall i really did enjoy the book.

Please check TW. This book mentions miscarriage, details of car accidents, and cancer.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advanced copy. This was such a charming and sweet book. I can’t wait to read more by @emstonewrites.

Holly and her sister are in a serious car accident while traveling home for Christmas, causing a huge rift in her family. Three years later lonely and alone during the holidays, Holly befriends an elderly lady named Emma, who was supposed to be her anonymous pen pal. Emma’s story is very similar to Holly’s, so Holly hopes to reunite Emma with her long lost grandson only to discover Emma and Holly’s lives and the car accident were connected and changed both women’s lives.

Love, Holly was heartwarming, sweet, and a bit heartbreaking. I loved the incredible bond and unexpected friendship between Emma and Holly. The romance love interest was also magic. ❤️

Favorite quote: “Some people you know for a lifetime, but they never really make an imprint on your soul - and some people, you only have to know for an instant, to know they will be part of you forever. ❤️

Favorite character: Holly 👩🏼‍🦰
Steamy rating: Medium Spice 🌶️
Profanity: Mild 😎
How I discovered: Bookstagram 📱
Method: Advanced e-book copy🤳

Triggers: Death, Cancer, miscarriage, and family resentment

3.5 stars. This was a cute and heartfelt story. It held my attention in some parts and less so in others, but the story overall was pretty good and heartfelt!

Love, Holly
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Emily Stone

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Ever since a car accident tore her family apart, Holly has been part of a lonely-hearts holiday letter–writing club. Each December, she writes to a stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another lonely person in return. 

Usually, the letters go unanswered. That’s the point—the letters are anonymous, and the senders write whatever is in their heart. But this year, the letter Holly receives is different; not only is the letter full of a grief she knows all too well, but its writer, Emma, mentions a place that Holly has visited. When she realizes that she might actually be able to find the letter’s author, Holly becomes determined to reunite Emma with the estranged grandson, Jack, with whom Emma is desperate to reconnect.

When Holly finally tracks him down, she remembers that she’s met Jack once before . . . and the connection was electric. The spark between the two of them is still there—until a misunderstanding risks their burgeoning romance and his strained relationship with Emma, too. But Holly is determined; if she can fix Emma’s family, she might also be able to fix her own. Though as it turns out, Holly might have less time to put things right than she thought.

My Thoughts: This was such a heartfelt book. Along with being romance, it is also contemporary. I love Stone’s prior works and this was no different. Holly is involved in a terrible car accident around Christmas and since, her family has been estranged. Right before this car accident, she ran into a guy and sparred with him a little and lost his number in the accident and did not think much about it over the three years that passed. Since Holly is now alone on Christmas, each year, she writes a Dear Stranger letter to an anonymous person. This year, the anonymous letter she gets really strikes at her heart. Emma, an older woman, is also alone at Christmas, also estranged from her family, and is gravely ill. Holly recognizes the name of the cafe that Emma writes about and decides to befriend Emma and try to reunite her with her family. When Holly tracked Jack down, she realizes that she met him before her accident. This follows the tropes of second chances romance and friends to lovers.

The story is a dual narration between Holly and Jack with flashbacks of three years ago etched in. Holly is engulfed in grief, she is a caring and kind person, who will go out of her way to help others. Jack is charming, funny, and has also dealt with deep grief. Then there is Emma, who is very stubborn, stuck in her ways, but makes an excellent supporting character. The characters were well fleshed out, had depth, were witty, amazing chemistry, and intriguing. The characters were authentic, very likable, relatable, and I was absolutely invested from the first word. The author’s writing style was complex, clean, slightly humorous, poignant, thought-provoking, and just beautifully done. One moment in life can alter the course of your life forever, in both good and bad ways, just like one letter can impact a person’s life to change course. When a person enters your life, it can be for a moment, to help you through something, or for a lifetime. Those lifetime connections are rare and cherished.

Trigger warnings of cancer, grief/loss, and miscarriage. I read three Christmas stories back to back and this by far is my favorite. This story is full of love, compassion, grief, loss, growth, being true to thyself, and forgiveness, and of course, the romance. I loved that this was more than the romance, it focuses on healing from grief, forming friendships, and forgiving, not only others, but yourself. The authenticity and rawness that Stone embeds into this novel will have you on a rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, I cried (sad and happy tears), I was sad, and I was joyous at various times of the story. Stone delivers the perfect holiday romance read that will evoke all of the emotions and warm your heart from the inside out. I highly recommend picking this up for a Christmas escape.

Holly has an estranged relationship with her sister and most of her family due to a car accident where she was the driver years ago. Holly has distanced herself from them, but is lonely and so unhappy. She writes an anonymous letter and receives one - as part of a lonely hearts group- where the author can air out their feelings and struggles with loneliness to someone else who feels the same way.

Holly tracks down the author of the letter she receives, thinking this will be a nice surprise. It isn’t. After a relationship of friendship develops between Holly and Emma, Holly decides to find the grandson that could be the bridge back to Emma’s family. He becomes much more than that.

Found family, forgiveness, memory, resilience and avoidance all play a big part in this story. I couldn’t quite get behind the reasons for the family separations - but I still enjoyed these characters and this story. I love this author’s use of tension in budding relationships rather than skipping straight to intimacy. I am not a spice kind of girl so this one was perfectly in my zone.