Read if you like:
🌲Raw and emotional romances
🌲UK setting
🌲Timelines that span across a year
🌲Stories about fate and timing
🌲Holiday reads
🌲The process of grief, acceptance and forgiveness
🌲Lovable and snarky grandmas

Trigger warnings (some of these are spoilers):
death, miscarriage, fertility issues, cancer

Loved it. Grab a box of tissues and enjoy. A sweet romance and family issues. Delightfully heartwarming. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

OH MY HEART❤️!!! What a lovely and beautifully written Christmas story that will tug at your heartstrings!! Ya'll keep your tissues handy because you will need them! Yes, I shed many sad and happy tears. Love, Holly is about love, fate, friendships, family, loss, heartbreak, grief, loneliness, bitterness, guilt, forgiveness, hope, self-discovery, healing, second chances and romance! This is my first read by Emily Stone and I am already a HUGE fan! The author has created such a touching story with so much depth and characters with real life struggles and raw emotions. Honestly, this book will stay with me for a long time and I absolutely loved and adored it so much!! My first Christmas favorite for 2023!!🎄☃️❤️🎁

Holly and her pregnant sister were involved in a life changing car accident on Christmas Eve three years ago. After that horrific night things have never been the same. Holly is now estranged from her family and she battles with some many emotions including loneliness. As a result, Holly joins a letter writing club called "Dear Stranger" that helps others feel not so alone at Christmas time. Every December she writes a letter to an anonymous stranger who is also spending Christmas alone and in return she receives a letter from a stranger. The letter Holly receives this year is different because the writer deals with grief Holly can relate to and Emma (the writer) mentions a coffee place Holly visited with her sister right before the accident. In addition, she literally bumped into and spilled coffee all over a handsome man, Jack, at the same place on that same night. Jack wrote his phone number on a coffee cup for her to call him but Holly lost that cup in the accident. Holly decides to use that detail and track Emma down and help her. Subsequently, this sets off a series of events that no one expects!!

Overall, this is a a endearing and charming Christmas read with a bittersweet ending! I highly recommend this book and it deserves all the Christmas stars!!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

TW: Cancer

Why is it easier to tell a stranger your deepest thoughts? There’s a holiday campaign in England called Dear Stranger where you can send all your hopes, fears, and dreams out to a stranger who is also lonely and spending Christmas alone. The holidays can be very rough for those who have lost someone.

Ever since a split with her family, Holly has sent a few of these letters and received a few in return. The most recent one really shakes her, though. It’s from an elderly woman, and even though the letters are meant to be anonymous, a café is mentioned that Holly knows well. Emma is struggling with a health diagnosis and is also estranged from her family. Holly takes a chance that she can reach out to Emma and help.

What follows next in this book is an exploration of grief, families, and, yes, even some romance. Forgiveness is difficult, but that’s often what it takes to heal and reconnect. There’s some holiday flair, which was fun to read in a hot month! I also really enjoyed the letters sprinkled throughout the book. I wish we all wrote more letters these days!

I am a fan of this author and should know to keep some tissues nearby when I read her books. That’s one way I know it’s a good book: the characters really resonated, and I shed some tears! Whether you read this book during the holidays or another season, these characters will get into your heart!

I wanted to love this book so much. The premise of fate and the intertwined lives was interesting and very emotional, but I struggled big time with the pacing and the way a few situations played out and couldn’t get past it. Solid ending though!!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to review an advance copy.

Love, Holly by Emily Stone is a heartwarming story about family, empathy, and being open to receive love. It is a romance in that it follows Holly and Jack's instant attraction / missed opportunities storyline, but it is so much more than that. Much of the book is dedicated to a platonic friendship between two lonely women mirroring the way we tend to be more forgiving of others than of ourselves. It is a book with heart and depth and I recommend it!

4.5 stars / 5
Advanced copy provided by the publisher for early review via NetGalley.

Holly meets Jack on a snowy night when she and her sister Lily stopped for a coffee while traveling to meet their family for Christmas. It's an interesting cafe where artwork is sold and Holly is charmed as she is an artist. It's a quick exchange with Jack and he gives her his number. Holly and Lily are involved in an accident after leaving the shop and Holly loses his number and Lily, something more. Fast forward three years and circumstances have them in each others path and now they discover how what happened that night has affected both their lives. Is there a chance for a relationship for them now? 4 1/2 stars

A touching story about how people come in to your life to help you in ways you didn't know you needed.

Emily Stone’s latest novel is a master class in heartfelt Christmas spirit. Love, Holly is true a masterpiece - weaving a fate divined love story of Holly and Jack through the tumultuous mine field of life’s obstacles - accidents, divorce, death, grief, and finding one’s way back again.

This story truly tugged at my heart strings - it will make you weep, but these tears were so welcome for the words written on the page. Without giving much of the plot away, Emma is a character that will stay with me forever - someone who will sit in the back of my mind, with a wise crack or word of wisdom, and a reminder to choose quality over quantity in my life. I identified with Holly’s guilt and self-imposed isolation, and watching her come back into the fold and heal herself healed something within me as well.

Any time I pick up a novel by Emily Stone I know my heart is about to break and weep in the best ways - and Love, Holly may just be my favorite of hers yet.

I couldn't stop thinking about how much I disliked Lily through most of this book. And Holly's parents for basically telling her to bugger off.
Overall though I enjoyed this book and the moral that life is short and you should t spend it holding grudges or being afraid.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.
I continue to say I’m not a big fan of the romance genre, but I’m finding that if the book has depth and is about more than romance, that I do enjoy this genre. I found myself laughing and crying with this book. This had the aspects of a cute British romance, but it is so much more. It is about grief, guilt and forgiveness. Holly is artistic, clumsy and disorganized. But she is really humble and likeable. In fact, all of the main characters grew on me. Except Holly’s parents who are dicks, to be blunt. I did feel frustrated at times because of the poor communication between so many loved ones. It isn’t really a holiday book, more a book that spans a few Christmases. I enjoyed how the book cycled through moments of normalcy and lightness, mixed with tragedy and sadness. 3.75 stars rounded up.

This book completely blew me away.

Now, I saw the cover and was like "okay, lemme buckle in for another romance book," but it really managed to take all the typical "miscommunication" aspects of romance and push past them. Which was SO refreshing, let me tell you.

This was a really beautiful and sad story about being estranged from your family, and how it takes a toll on you/the family. Because even if the estrangement is completely justified for your own health, it's still /sad/ that you're losing someone you once trusted and loved.

I really loved the characters. I also liked the romance - if it had been any more in the forefront, I think I would've been a touch upset, but how it was made it really refreshing. Because this was a story about Holly and the love interest, no matter how much "fate" played a part, it was really about her.

And I did appreciate the few povs from the love interest! It really helped to round it all out.

Really enjoyed this one!!!

Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

Emily Stone knows how to make me cry. Every book, snotfest. And you know what, I love it? This was another beautiful story about loss and love and dealing with grief. I liked that it wasn’t solely based on a romance between Holly and Jack. It was also about forgiveness and repairing relationships. I loved Emma and Hollys relationship- even more so because it brings Holly and Jack back together after not seeing each other for 3 years. This was a beautiful story and I’m so glad I was able to read the arc.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Love, Holly by Emily Stone!

Did this book make me ugly cry? Yes, it did. Multiple tissues were needed. This book just hit me right in the feels. I loved the found family, reconciliation and grief & mourning. I loved it so much. I loved the monthly gaps, getting snippets of what's happening in Holly, Jack & Emma's life.

I didn't know that rolly pollies (USA) are called woodlouses in the UK. I had to Google that.

Always learning.

I'm not sure how to convey how much I adored this book.

I love the way the author made the time go in this: it was jumping ahead a few months each section. It was refreshing after reading flashbacks in so many other books. It was nice to see how everyone's lives were intertwined. As you read their stories, the more layers were peeled back, and you really fall in love with the characters. I feel that all of the trauma was dealt with well and you truly understood where each character was coming from. I enjoyed it!

Love, Holly by Emily Stone is a holiday romance that doesn't completely revolve around the holiday season. We see three different Christmases, but the book is about so much more than that. It is about family, fate, and learning to accept things you may not believe.

Holly meets Jack during a pit stop as she and her sister are driving to a family Christmas getaway. There's an instant connection. However, something causes them to lose contact after that first meeting. Three years later, Holly is part of a Dear Stranger letter exchange to help lonely people during the holidays. When she reads this year's letter, she immediately feels a connection and knows she needs to find the letter writer.

What follows is a heart-wrenching story that made me cry several times at multiple parts of the book. The characters are so genuine; they leap off the page, and their heartbreak is my heartbreak. You can't help but root for Holly and Jack and Emma as the book progresses. I never wanted to stop reading. In fact, I stayed up way too late finishing the book because I needed to make sure everything turned out okay.

If you enjoy holiday romances and books that make you believe in fate, this book is definitely for you.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“ 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 a part of you forever“

Ever since a car accident split her family apart, Holly has been participating in a holiday letter–writing club called “Dear Stranger”. Each December, she writes to an anonymous stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another anonymous stranger in return.

Usually, the letters go unanswered which is the point—since the letters are anonymous so that the senders will feel comfortable writing whatever is in their heart.

But this year, the letter Holly receives is different; not only is the letter full of a grief she is familiar with, but its writer, Emma, mentions a place that Holly had visited the last year that her family was to spend Christmas together, a coffee shop a couple of hours away from where she is currently living.

Not only is it the last place she spent time with her sister, Lily, but it’s also the place where she had literally bumped into a handsome stranger named Jack that she had hoped to see again, carrying out a coffee cup with his phone number on it, that she would lose before she could call.

When she realizes that she just might be able to track down Emma, if she visits the coffee shop again- she sets out on a mission to meet her-and in turn, she may find even more than she expected to.

Emily Stone lost her own mother when she was young, so she knows firsthand how hard the holidays can be for those dealing with loss, whether it’s fresh, or in the past, and she is carving out a niche of tear-jerker Holiday Romances.

Her signature style seems to include stories that make several jumps in time, MANY misunderstandings, and include therapeutic letter writing! ✍🏻

I don’t know if the “Dear Stranger” program really exists but if it doesn’t-it should! A very enjoyable story, full of HEALING and HOPE, but you may want a tissue handy for the very end! 🤧

Expected Publication date: September 26, 2023

Thank You to Dell for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

After a car crash on Christmas Eve, Holly’s life is thrown into turmoil, including her sister no longer speaking to her. When she receives a “dear stranger” letter and recognizes the name of the coffee shop, Holly takes a risk and goes to meet this stranger. As she learns more about the letter writer Emma, she becomes determined to reunite her and her grandson she hasn’t spoken to in years.

Welp, Emily Stone sure knows how to make me cry! Seriously, don’t read her unless you are ready for a few tears…find maybe a bit more than a few! I absolutely adored the relationship between Emma and Holly, and of course how it led to Jack, but the love story felt like it took a bit of a back seat in this one, and I really appreciated that. The relationships between Jack and Emma, Emma and Holly, and Holly and Lily and how each dealt with their own grief really took center stage and made this book as fantastic as it was. Obviously the love story was wonderful as well, but I loved that this book had a lot more depth to it than just a love story! I seriously love everything Emily Stone writes and cannot wait for what is next!

Each year at Christmas, Holly participates in a “Dear Stranger” letter writing club, where strangers who are spending Christmas alone pour out their hearts in a letter to another stranger. The letters are meant to be anonymous, but this year Holly feels compelled to seek out the author of the letter she received. Its writer, Emma, is a prickly older woman recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and estranged from her grandson Jack, her only living relative. Holly is determined to reconnect Emma and Jack before it’s too late – and find a connection with Jack herself in the process.

I loved this emotional story of found family and new love. It’s a little heavier than I was expecting for a holiday read with a jolly illustrated cover, but it’s a beautiful story that’s full of heart and healing. The characters are flawed but so relatable and likeable! I loved the snarky but deep friendship that developed between Holly and Emma, and the budding romance between Holly and Jack was so endearing with all of its awkwardness and banter. I felt the tug on my heartstrings as I rooted for the characters to resolve their misunderstandings, bitterness, and regret. I definitely shed some tears during the last couple chapters, but they’re the good, cathartic kind.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine / Dell for providing me an advance copy of this book.