I recently had the pleasure of reading this book, and it left a lasting impression. It's a tale that skillfully combines the raw emotions of sadness and the warmth of hope. The narrative courageously tackles some of life's toughest themes, taking readers on an emotional rollercoaster.

What sets this book apart is the unexpected twists and turns, the way it weaves a tapestry of love and support from characters you'd least expect. It's a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there can be a glimmer of light.

The holiday-themed backdrop adds a delightful layer to the story. It's the kind of book you'll want to cozy up with during the festive season, making it a perfect addition to your 'to be read' list. In summary, this book strikes a delicate balance between heartbreak and hope, making it a memorable read for anyone seeking a compelling and emotionally rich story.

**Thank you to Emily Stone, Random House Ballantine, and NetGalley for allowing me to receive an ARC of Love, Holly in exchange for an honest review!!** Ooooh boy! This book was such a treat. I couldn't put it down. I loved seeing the way that Holly and her stranger had unknowingly crossed paths in interesting ways. I really enjoyed the meet-cute in this book and it definitely made me more invested in this book. I definitely cried on more than one occasion so be sure to check the TW's before you start! I know it's a little early to be reading a Christmas book but it's really can be read at any time. I would say it's more a bok that has events that happen at Christmas rather than a book about Christmas. I really want to read more of Emily Stone's books and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work!!

I was hooked on this book on page one. The writing is immediately enticing, and the protagonist's voice is fun and interesting. Holly drew me in while I knew little about her! I breezed through this one!

I went into this book expecting it to be a sweet holiday romcom, but it was so much more, and so much better than that. This story is heartfelt, heartbreaking, and romantic. As someone who has lost someone close to them, it hit especially hard for me. But if this book reminds us of anything, it is the beauty in the strange ways the universe works and that it is never too late to forgive.

Jack and Holly's romance is sweet and subtle, and each of their POVs add a lot of great depth to this story. The side characters are hilarious and well-developed--Emma in particular has some incredible dialogue.

I couldn't recommend this book more.

I feel like this wasn’t the book I thought I was signing up to read. This felt much more women’s fiction/romance of the early 2010s to me, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Emily Stone does it again with a beautiful story about grief, forgiveness, and fate! I thought the characters were beautifully intertwined. Even though I guessed everything, it made me happy because it’s exactly how I wanted the story to turn out! I also loved the characters, especially Emma. I read the ebook but I bet it would be a great audiobook to listen to as well. A great winter/holiday romance that will have you smiling as much as it has you in tears!

A few things I was not a fan of:

-One character starts dieting to prepare for her wedding “months in advance;” not here for the diet culture or insinuating food can be “good” or “bad” or that you have to be a certain size for your wedding!

-This one is admittedly very minor but just annoying: the main character is unnecessarily depicted as clumsy. Why??? I don’t love the “clumsy, trips over nothing girl falls in love” trope, but maybe that’s just me!

TW (that contain some spoilers): death, car accidents, fertility issues, miscarriage, cancer

I loved this story so much! Holly meets Jack just before Christmas in a coffee shop; after tragedy strikes, their meetup is the last thing on her mind. Three years later, fate steps in and brings him back into her life. Over the course of the year, they spend time together but each the timing is just not right. Will it ever be right?

This book is so incredibly cute and touching! I did not expect some of the things that happened in this book. If you are a fan of stories that pull at your heartstrings, this might be for you!

Thank you #partners Dell @randomhouse @prhaudio for my #gifted copies

𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆
𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲
𝟵/𝟮𝟲/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

•Emotional romance
•Contemporary fiction
•Some spice

After a tragic accident causes a rift in Holly's family, she joins an anonymous pen pal program. When she receives a letter from Emma, an elderly woman dealing with grief of her own, Holly is compelled to help, and tracks Emma down in a place all too familiar. In the process of helping Emma heal, Holly reconnects with a man from her past, and might just be able to heal her own heart in the process.

I loved this so much! It's heartfelt, tender, and so beautifully written. With themes of love and loss, healing and forgiveness, family and found family, this one ticked so many of my boxes. Its a romance at its core, but also leans heavily into contemporary fiction. And while it's being marketed as a holiday romance, it takes place throughout the year and doesn't have strong holiday vibes. I recommend this book with my entire heart!!! ❤️

You won't want to miss this one!

**Review posted to my IG today 9/25

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Emily Stone for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Love, Holly coming out September 26, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A devastating car accident tore her family apart. Since then Holly has been part of a lonely-hearts holiday letter–writing club. Each December, she writes to a stranger who spends Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another lonely person in return. 

Usually there aren’t any responses. 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 the letter writer Emma, mentions a place that Holly has been to. When she realizes that she might actually be able to find her, Holly is 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 budding romance and his estranged relationship with Emma, too. But Holly is determined; if she can help fix Emma’s family, she might also be able to fix her own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really enjoy British romances. I thought this story had a lot of heart and was about second chances and forgiveness. I really enjoyed the themes of the book. The characters felt real and imperfect. I also loved the trip to Venice. The timeline made sense and helped make it feel more realistic. I would love to check out other books by this author.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys second chances and romances!

What an amazing story! Emily Stone made me feel all of the emotions. Such a beautifully written story about love, loss and grief. The details were among and everything just fit together like a perfect puzzle. This is my first Emily Stone read but definitely not my last.

Thank you for the opportunity tor had this arc for my honest review.

“Maybe it was chance- or manye the universe really does care about us all.”

This is a beautiful story that is the PERFECT holiday read. I shouldn’t be surprised because Emily Stone wrote my all time favorite holiday read, Always in December!

Stone has a signature style of reliable characters and thought provoking storylines with time hops that keep me hooked and thinking about her stories for some time after reading.

Love, Holly is a story of fate and friendship, forgiveness and healing, that is so tender and heartfelt. I really enjoyed the character development, especially Holly, Jack, and Emma’s vulnerability and rawness.

I also really loved the “Dear Stranger Program,” where people can write letters to anonymous pen pals when struggling around the holidays. I really wish this existed in real life. I really think there are so many people that need support around the holidays but struggle to ask because of pride, fear of rejection, or not wanting to be a burden.

The support these characters offer one another as well as the way they learn to support themselves is so uplifting!

“Sometimes it's not about having other people’s company. Sometimes it's about coming to terms with your own company instead.”

If you like Christmas movies like The Family Stone or Love, Actually I think you will love this book!

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the early copy

4.5 stars!

Thank you @emilystone for writing stories that fit right into my heart

Holly is lonely. She has been since she and her sister were in a car accident three Christmases ago - her sister hasn't spoken to her since. She starts participating in a Dear Stranger letter program during the holidays, and when she receives a letter from a woman who mentions the same cafe Holly was in the day of her crash - where she met a handsome stranger - she thinks it's fate. She seeks out the letter writer, to find it is a curmudgeonly old woman named Emma who is very closed off. Emma has recently been diagnosed with cancer and longs to reconnect with her estranged grandson after they were in a car accident of their own decades earlier. Holly takes it upon herself to find Emma's grandson and reunite them, but there are surprises in store for her as well.

This is my second Emily Stone book and one thing I love about her work is how heartwarming and tender it is. While there is romance in Stone's books, the heart of the story is in the human connection and friendships that are formed and strengthened. The romance - while lovely - is almost secondary to the growth that each character goes through. This book begins and ends during the Christmas season but isn't a true holiday read, but is so cozy nonetheless! I just love how sweet and uplifting this story was and I was rooting for everyone to come together with those they had drifted away from.

TW: Mention of car crash, death of a parent, miscarriage

Love, Holly by Emily Stone was an incredible, emotional story.
A story of forgiveness, hope, family and love.
Holiday romances are definitely my favorite, and this one had me from the beginning.
With a great cast of characters who are loving, complicated but real. With real emotions and feelings.
This was an endearing journey.
Stone wrote such a beautiful story and I loved every second.
With exceptional writing and storytelling, this book was a memorable read that I can’t sing enough praises for!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine & Dell for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book was so sweet and heartwarming! I absolutely loved Emma and wish I could be her granddaughter. I would say that this is not a typical “holiday” read. If you’re looking for a book to get you in the holiday spirit, this isn’t it, BUT this is a book you can read all year round! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This is such a beautiful book about grief, estrangement (I know that sounds odd, bear with me), new friends, and rediscovering relationships. The first chapter will grip your emotions and I was hooked into knowing how Holly's story would play out. I just adored her relationship with Emma and how both of them grew due to each other. I think there was such a great balance of potential dating along with sorting through long-term and fresh grief. There was a lot of heartache here, but Stone handled these sensitive topics with care and compassion. I liked how the pacing allowed for the characters to have full fleshed out emotions. They explored their feelings in ways that felt genuine. I fell for these characters, and if you're wanting a book with good depth, I highly recommend this one.

Over the last few years I have learned that Emily Stone brings all the emotions with her holiday romances. This one is no exception to that and was beautifully written. A touching story of loss, grief, hope, and love.

After a car accident that changes her life, Emma becomes a part of a stranger, lonely-hearts holiday letter writing club. The intent of the club is strangers write to another stranger who is feeling lonely during the Christmas season. Holly's stranger mentions a location she's familiar with and she decides to search for the stranger - an elderly woman with an estranged grandson. Once Holly, manages to find them both, she realizes she's had a brief meeting with the grandson, Jack, moments before her car accident. The electricity was sizzling at their original meeting and the feeling has evaporated over time. Soon, Holly is intertwined with Jack and his grandma, Emma's story as well as hoping to mend her own broken story. This book will make your heart feel everything and you'll lose yourself in the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Content warnings: child loss, loss of a parent, grief, cancer

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for an ARC copy of “Love, Holly”

Potential spoilers ahead!


On one snowy Christmas Eve, Holly and her older sister Lily are on their way to a cozy Christmas weekend with their parents. On the road trip there, they decide on making a coffee stop. But fate had other ideas. While in the cafe, Holly bumps into a man, spilling his coffee all over the floor and themselves. This run in will then turn into a brief conversation and the man giving Holly his number. But again, life/fate have other plans for Holly. Sadly, Holly and Lily are in a car accident which tears their relationship apart.

Flash forward to three years later..

Holly and her family are torn apart. She is trying to figure out life through grief, but also having to “fake it till you make it” she’s struggling in her career and love life, which is just great, considering it’s Christmas again. But, on this particular Christmas, she’s reading a letter from her “Dear Stranger” who just so happens to be writing from the cafe on the same weekend of the accident. And Holly has a tendency of sticking her nose into other peoples business.

Throughout this whole book, I kept thinking of the song “Invisible String” by Taylor Swift. Love, Holly is a story of fate, forgiveness, love and the bravery it takes to face your own inner thoughts. It was also a heartwarming story that can be read during any time of the year, not just around Christmas season.

Unfortunately this was just not a book for me.

I realized very quickly that I just wasn’t that into the story line. There were a lot of side bits and characters that were really taking away from the actual story.

I wish that it had been written in first person with more communication between characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emily Stone has wowed me yet again! This book had all the feels. Love, Hollyis heartbreaking, hopeful, full of love, loss, guilt, friendships, grief, connections, romance, self-image, and so many other things. I felt for the characters, I rooted for them, cried with them, and felt joy with them. One moment can change things in one's life. One moment can change relationships in either good or heartbreaking ways depending on what that moment is. Just like one letter can also change lives...

Holly and her pregnant sister, Lily, were involved in a horrific car accident on Christmas Eve. The accident caused great loss, guilt, anger, and pain. From that day, Holly and her sister have been estranged. At a friend's urging Holly began participating in a letter writing group that sends (and receives) letters during the holidays. Holly receives a letter and feels a connection to what a stranger (Emma) has written to her. Holly recognizes a place that is mentioned in the letter and decides to reach out, traveling to the place where a handsome man gave her his number. It was also the last place she laughed with her sister prior to the accident. Both Holly and Emma are just what the other needs even if they don't initially know it.

This was such a hard to put down book for me, so I didn't. I sat and read this throughout the course of one day. Emily Stone writes characters that I care about. She has a way of transporting me into her books as silent observer. This is dubbed as a holiday book, but it can be read year-round in my opinion. This book touches on serendipity, second chances, forgiveness, guilt, relationships, grief, healing, letting go, love, friendship, family, loneliness, and second chances.

This well written and hard to put down book takes place over the course of several years. I enjoyed how it showed how the characters changed over that time. It also showed how one moment can change so many things, how lonely people connect, how friendships are formed in unlikely ways, and how time has a way of bringing about change.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Emily Stone writes the most gut-wrenching yet heart-warming and healing Christmas stories, and Love, Holly is just that. Holly's life and family is torn a part by a car crash that happened at Christmas 3 years ago. Now estranged from her family she writes a "Dear Stranger" letter to feel less alone, and the one she receives mentions the cafe she stopped at right before the tragic car crash. Seeing this as fate Holly tracks down the writer and so our story begins. I love how Emily can intertwine every last detail and writes things for us readers to interpret one way then twist that plot later. This story about forgiveness, grief, and fate will have you believing in second chances and also sobbing but in a healing way.