Thank you to Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine and Netgalley for an ARC of this book! I’ve willingly read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.

LOVE, HOLLY is the third book I’ve read by Emily Stone. Much like her previous two novels, LOVE, HOLLY deals with grief and how that grief affects those who are left behind to deal with it. Yet, LOVE, HOLLY is unique in that there are so many moving parts and intricacies.

Following a tragic accident that has left her alone at Christmas, Holly Griffin partakes in a “Dear Stranger” pen-pal type program with other people lonely during the holiday season. The letter she receives, however, is littered with details of a place she’d been before—a café she visited just before the accident that changed her life years before.

What follows is a moving story of grief, of course, but also growth, forgiveness, and love.

I’ve always loved the concept of serendipity—these moments that can be brushed off as coincidence or embraced as fate, and Emily Stone plays with that idea beautifully in LOVE, HOLLY, having these characters experience similar circumstances that allow them to sympathize and empathize, and unbelievable moments of connection which prove just how funny life can be.

LOVE, HOLLY is the perfect palate cleanser from those holiday romantic comedies readers will certainly be gobbling up around the holidays.

Love, Holly may look like a cute Christmas romance from the cover, which it is, but there is also so much more. The main character not only finds a romance in a very unexpected way but she learns how to much on from a past trauma and how to open herself up again to the possibilities of life. I really enjoyed this novel it's my second one by Emily Stone and I will continue to read whatever she writes. This story was very well written and I felt a connection with all the characters and could see their point of view even if I didn't always agree. While Christmas is a part of the book of course it's not the main theme and could really be read anytime not just leading up to the holidays. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review. Giving this a 4 star rating.

The quirky characters are easy to love and their intertwining story builds into one of love on many levels. Love, Holly, by Emily Stone, presents as a fun holiday read at first, but has a depth that was not expected. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook that I could review.

I am so absolutely in love with Love, Holly.

Emily Stone truly knows how to write devastatingly wonderful stories that both captivate and frustrate you, while also making you fall in love with every single minute. This one is definitely her best book yet, and a perfect holiday read as it's set starting at Christmas time.

Holly was such a joy and I just love a good quirky character. After an instant attraction meet cute with Jack, I also had an immediate attraction to his character, as well. I loved the complexity of their intertwined stories, and how everything played out as Stone wove their lives intrinsically together but also separately, too.

Full of both love and tragic consequences, this is a beautiful story filled with hope, family, and the unforeseen friendships that can help heal you and set your life back on it's rightful path.

5/5 stars

Love, Holly feels like something special. Ever since a car accident changed her life, Holly has felt untethered, that is until she joins a lonely-hearts holiday letter writing club that puts her in the path of Emma, an elderly woman whose grief feels all too familiar to Holly. She becomes determined to reunite this woman with her grandson, only to find that man is Jack, a man she met years prior but never got to pursue. There is a magic in the story, a thread of fate that, even when it feels predictable, there’s hope and love and the spirit and strength of both the holidays and finding family. It is heartwarming and lovely. There is tragedy and growth and compassion. I wanted a little more resolution for Holly’s own trauma, but I loved how she found Emma and helped guide her to feel more hope and joy. Holly is so kind and broken and I just thought her journey was really beautiful. And Jack too was so vulnerable and loving. The conflicts all felt organic and understandable and resolved in a way that felt satisfying. There’s magic and fate at play in a way that felt really stunning and it pulls at the heart strings. It delicately addresses loneliness, grief and forgiveness, the writing just really beautiful. I read it in a day because I just couldn’t put it down!

Emily stone does the best holiday romances. I read this one for Christmas in July and I really enjoyed it. I love these fluffy holiday romances and although I do wish I read it during the real holidays I still thought it was super cute.

I'll be honest - I picked this book because of the cover. I thought I was getting a cute Christmasy book but I ended up getting so much more. While there is a love story - it extends far behind the FMC and the MMC. It's about love, fate, consequences of your actions and forgiveness. This book had me feeling all the feels. I can't wait to read another book by this author.

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy by NetGalley for an honest review of this book.

Holly and her sister Lilly are traveling right before the holidays, but since Lilly is pregnant, Holly insists that she does all the driving. Holly also insists that she needs to be heavily caffeinated for this drive and when she stops by a little cafe with beautiful paintings from a local artist. When Holly is walking to the order line, she bumps into a man named Jack. They really hit it off and there's so much chemistry that he even buys her coffee and shares a treat with her. Jack insists on leaving her his number on the coffee cup and it is her decisions to call him.

When Holly and Lilly are in the car, Holly is distracted by her phone and it causes a car accident. She has obviously lost that number on the coffee cup, lost her family, and has torn her family apart. To make matters worse, Lilly has lost the baby and she has blamed Holly for it.

Being alone, Holly decides to write to a stranger in the "Hello Stranger" program. It is all anonymous and Holly even receives a letter from an older woman having cancer, but her husband is no longer alive and her only grandson doesn't talk to her anymore. Even though it is supposed to anonymous, a return address is on the envelope and Holly feels the need to make sure this woman, Emma, is okay.

With this Holly befriends Emma and when she is invited over to Emma's house, she notices that Emma has pictures of her grandson, who happens to be Jack! Holly tries not to meddle in Emma's life, but she can't help herself either.

Will Jack and Emma's relationship heal? Will Holly ever talk to her sister again? Will Jack and Holly reconnect like they did at the coffee shop?

This was a cute book, but I thought some parts were unnecessary or just didn't flow as well as other parts. I really liked the relationship between Emma and Holly.

This book had such a heartfelt premise. Two unlikely friends bonded by the same tragic events learn to forgive themselves, heal, and trust in other people again while also mending the broken relationships these tragic events left in their wake. It was a relationship that neither of them knew they needed. The characters were relatable, dealing with real life situations and hardships that many readers are able to recognize in their own lives. It was well paced and the writing was well done.

Love, Holly
🗓️ 09/26/2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“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.“

A perfect Christmas in July read that I snuck in just under the wire! A lovely, heartfelt story about finding yourself, navigating blame and grief and believing in fate! Emily Stone has an ability to create truly relatable characters that you grow to love throughout the story despite their realistic flaws. What I loved:
•UK setting
•Character growth
•Holiday setting
•Grieving process and closure

Thank you @netgalley @emstonewrites and @randomhouse for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

#loveholly #emilystone #netgalley #netgalleyreview #arc #randomhouse #newrelease #holidayreads #christmasinjuly #bookstagram #bookreview

If you’re looking for a book to pull on your heart strings, and then steal your heart altogether, you need to read Love, Holly by Emily Stone. This book has my whole heart! It’s powerfully emotional and heartwarming, with little bits of humor sprinkled throughout. I cried equal parts happy tears and sad tears, and enjoyed every minute of it.

The underlying messages (like the importance of forgiveness) will stick with you long after you’ve finished this story. And even though this is marketed as a Christmas book, you could easily read it year-round, or anytime you want a hug of a book.

I loved each and every one of these characters, and the way Stone intertwined their stories. There was a slow-burn romance, a grumpy/sunshine friendship, estranged family members, found family, and second chances.

This story didn’t have as much romance as I had been expecting, but the connection between Jack and Holly still melted my heart. The friendship between Emma and Holly stole the show, though, and even as a romance-lover, I don’t regret that one bit.

Love, Holly is definitely a story you will want on your TBR. It comes out September 26, 2023. Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read it early. All opinions are my own

Once again, Emily Stone has proven that she is the absolute queen of heartwarming and heartbreaking Christmas novels. Love Holly is about Holly, who spends her Christmas replying to letters from other lonely people. One letter eventually turns into a pen pal situation, where both writers learn (through their communications) to heal and fall in love. Like Always in December and One Last Gift, this is a holiday story that will have you smiling and crying in equal measure. I will be adding this to my beloved Christmas story stack and I suggest everyone else do the same.

TW: fertility issues, miscarriage, car accident, cancer, death, grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

surprisingly delightful! The cover and the title give off Christmas vibes, but it's not at all a Christmas book. Sure a part of it is set at Christmas, but this is far from a Christmas read. It's the story of family, of forgiveness, and fate. I love when a book surprises me and I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one!

Listen, Emily Stone can write a Christmas romance. I still think of how much I sobbed over Always, In December, and I am surprised I managed to not cry during this book as well. She blends heartbreak, moving on, and romance so seamlessly.

A holiday read that spans across months is just up my alley! After Holly survives a car accident that tears her family apart, she learns to spend Christmas time alone, receiving and responding to letters from other lonely people around the holidays. Until she receives a letter that piques her interest and somehow brings her back to that fateful day of the crash and towards a journey of rediscovering what she has lost.

If reading Christmas books in July is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

There’s a lot more to the story than meets the eye and I enjoyed that the author created depth within her pages to both the story and character. As the reader you can become emotionally attached and really feel the author's words resonate while reading. The connections between the characters is what I enjoyed most with this book.

This was an adorable book that had all the magic of a Christmas book. It did have a slow pace at the beginning, but once you got to the heart of the story, it picked up for me. Though it is predictable and had all the fluff of a Hallmark style book, it was overall an enjoyable read.


Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine, Dell for this ARC

Beautiful story


Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

What a fun read this is. I found I simply could not put it down. It begin when two anonymous penpals connect at Christmas time and find that they have common threads throughout their lives even though one is a young woman and the other an elderly one. My favorite quote in the book is “Some people you know for a lifetime, but they never really imprint on your soul – and some people you only have to know for an instant, to know they will be part of you forever.” This story is one that will remain in my heart for a long time. Strangers can sometimes help you heal your heart more than lifelong friends or family. I highly recommend this book for all age groups and book clubs. Some say this is a Christmas story but I feel it is a timeless one good for any time of the year.


I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When your name is Holly, why not read a Christmas book in July? This one is scheduled to be published on September 26 but I was lucky enough to get an ARC from Netgalley (this did not impact my review).

I haven’t previously read a book where the main character shares my name (Holly), so this was a fun first (even if I didn’t want to shake her sometimes 😆). Holly the book character was an interesting mix of contradictions. She was stubborn, yet tender hearted. She wanted to help others but had no idea what to do with her own life. Now that I think about it, that also describes me at around the same age.

Even though this is a holiday-oriented read, there are some serious topics so check the triggers below. Without spoiling things- this was a touching story about forgiveness, found families, and of course a bit of romance.

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

Emily Stone is a Christmas genius! Another beautiful book that will make my Christmas reading rotation every year. A story that will tear at your heartstrings but leave you filled with hope.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this! Will definitely be shouting from the rooftops that everyone should read it!