I went in expecting this to be quick, lighthearted and fun and that’s what I got. It’s a second chance romance which happens to be my favorite. For me, what makes second chance so wonderful is seeing the characters work through their differences and grow individually and as a couple. This book just didn’t have the depth that I wanted for a second chance. I closed this book wanting more time to see the relationship grow.

While it was a short book, it was full of mishaps and plenty of forced proximity. There was just enough Christmas to make it a good holiday read with some family fun thrown in. I enjoyed both of the main characters, but struggled a little with Tom because of his circumstances. In the end I just wanted more!

I think people who want a really light read for the holidays will love this book.

This book contains scattered strong profanity.

This book is a second chance romance, crisis-based, holiday escapade that relies very heavily on miscommunication and hijinks. None of these are things I enjoy. I simply couldn't root for the main characters to be together as they stressed me out to the max just listening to them interact. I hate romanticizing toxic relationships, and this one very much felt toxic to me. I didn't like the characters on their own, either.

That being said, I know these are not tropes I enjoy, so I will rate it higher than I feel to be more objective. This will give you all of the holiday craziness feels. The story is predictable, but if you like all of the above tropes, this was a fun read.
My personal rating would be more of a 2.5, but I'll give it a 4 because I think a lot of people will love it.

Thank you to netgalley for this ALC.

I absolutely adored this duo narration story about second chance love! THIS was the holiday romcom story I’ve been waiting for.

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for this ARC!

Ahhh!! This was such a great read!! I loved it!!! Such a funny sweet holiday romance. Probably one of my favorites this year. Such a good second chance romance.

Such a fun holiday rom-com! I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrators did a great job of portraying the emotional arcs of both characters.

Katherine, a driven NYC attorney, finds herself in the hospital two days before Christmas. She hasn't updated her emergency contact information since her divorce, and when she awakens in her hospital bed, she finds her ex-husband, Tom, by her bedside. Kate has no one to help with her recovery, since all of her friends have other holiday plans, so Tom begrudgingly takes Kate with him back to Chicago for Christmas. so he can help take care of her. He is desperate to get there by Christmas Eve.

But of course, the journey from NYC to Chicago does not go as planned as a snowstorm and unfortunate incidents constantly halt their progress. As they travel together, they get to know each other again, and old feelings resurface. They both question what went wrong and if there is a way back to each other again.

This is a second chance romance with no spice. Highly recommend for a fun holiday romance adventure!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a super cute holiday romance!

Ambitious, career-driven Katherine and Tom divorced 4 years ago. When Katherine is in a car accident on December 23, Tom is still listed as her emergency contact. Knowing that she has no family available to help, Tom arrives at the hospital and agrees to take care of her so she is not in the hospital for the holiday.

I found this book to be a fun holiday romance read, without steam/spice. The audio featured alternating narrators for Katherine and Tom, and although I found the male narrator to be a bit over-dramatic for the part, it was still enjoyable to listen to.

Recommend for fans of Enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity tropes.

This was a fun listen about a divorced couple. It did come strong with affair vibes though, which I don’t love. It was entertaining and the narrators were great.

What happens when you forget to update your emergency contact information and you have just been in a terrible car accident? Katherine Tate, quickly learned they call your last known contact on file. As it turns out, her last emergency contact was her ex-husband, Tom. Forced to collect Katherine from the hospital, he missed his flight home. With an injured Katherine in tow, Tom is desperate to make it back in time for Christmas Eve. But traveling with an ex is never easy, especially when you left off on bad terms. Through a string of mishaps, Katherine and Tom find themselves traveling by planes, trains, buses, and even semi trucks. Will they survive their trip, or will it once again solidify why they divorced in the first place?

This was such a fun audiobook! I loved learning that the book was written by Lauren Layne and her actual husband, Anthony Le Donne. You can tell the two have great chemistry as they wrote a captivating story. I loved the banter Katherine and Tom shared.

In addition to this book being written by two authors, it is also narrated by two people. Brianna Cohen and Tim Paige make this story come alive with their animated readings. Audiobooks can be hit or miss for me, especially when narrated by one person. I loved getting to hear both a male and female voice since the story is told through alternating POVs (Katherine and Tom).

If you are looking for a great audiobook this holiday season, I highly recommend giving this one a try!

Special thanks to Netgalley, Lauren Layne, Anthony LeDonne, and Blackstone Publishing- Audiobooks for gifting me this book in exchange for my honest review.

Amazing! & absolutely adorable. The ending 🥹 I love their story. Their second chance. Their banter, anger, hurt and healing. Gah it was just all perfection!!!! New auto buy author for me. Thank you for this!!!

Emergency Contact is such a fun read. Kat is a scrooge who is focused on making partner at her law firm. When she is in a car accident on December 23, her office calls Tom, her ex-husband, since he is still listed as her emergency contact. The hospital won't release her if she'll be alone, so he decides to bring her home to Chicago for Christmas. If that isn't awkward enough, he's planning on proposing. To someone else.

What should be an easy plane ride turns into a disastrous, never-ending road trip full of pitfalls, blizzards, and unexpected transportation modes. There's so much fun banter between these two. Listening to the audiobook version really enhanced that dialogue with the two narrators. Tim Paige has narrated quite a few books I've listened to in the past. It seems this might be the first book Brianna Cohen has narrated and I hope she records more in the future.

Tank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this.

So this book was the night before Christmas Eve Katherine gets into an accident in front of her work. Her work decides to call her emergency contact, who happens to be her ex-husband Tom. Even though Tom is on the way home to propose to his new girlfriend, he goes to see his ex-wife in the hospital only to be told that she needs someone to watch over her. So he does what any ex-husband would do, he takes her home for Christmas. Of course, nothing is so simple, as they struggle to make it home in the biggest winter storm, Katherine and Tom realize that their past feeling may not all be in the past.
given to me by Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an honest review, thank you both for allowing me to read this book early.
Okay, so let’s be honest, I love this book! The main characters are hilarious and you can feel their chemistry together from day one. This is dual POV, and while sometimes I’m not the hugest fan of it; I had to admit the writers of this book did a good job writing two amazing characters. I love that Katherine and Tom are so opposite, yet you can see why they work so well together at the end of the novel. You can tell the writers took a ton of inspiration from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, so if you love that movie then you are going to fall in love with this novel. Did I also mention that the writers of this book are married and high school sweethearts, ugh I want to cry because that is so cute.
I listen to this book as an audiobook, and the narrators brought you into the book. I love it when there is a dual POV between two narrators it makes the story more interesting.

This book was reviewed as part of 20 days of holiday book recs I'm doing on my TikTok account. If you like to follow me @justonemorepagepodcast you can find some more fun holiday book reads.

Sooo CUTE and FESTIVE and FUNNY and CHEESY and HEARTFELT! What more could you ask for from a holiday romcom!?

This is a second chance, enemies to lovers, grumpy/ sunshine, super festive holiday romcom about a couple who were previously married finding their way back to each other after years of not speaking. There is just the right balance of light and fluffy with depth in this story to pull the heartstrings but also keep you giggling and kicking your feet. I adored the grinchy girl / holly jolly guy dynamic. So fun! 🥹🎄

3.5 stars rounded up! 💫


Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Emergency Contact was such a cute and fun holiday read! If it hadn't been for having to work I would have finished it in one sitting.

Katherine and Tom used to married and haven't seen each other since the divorce until Katherine is in an accident and they call her emergency contact Tom. Due to Katherine's accident Tom decides to monitor her and bring her to Chicago with him. The journey is full of misadventures which highlight how compatible Katherine and Tom are, as well as force them to actually talk about their past relationship.

Tom does currently have a girlfriend, but don't worry, there is no cheating. Just lots of conversations and misadventures!

LOVED Emergency Contact by Lauren Layne! Such a great holiday read. Wish she wrote more often, I'd love to read more of Layne's books!

Emergency Contact was a cute take on an old favorite with a great feel-good ending. I liked the characters and the narrators did a fantastic job. Traversing some wonky and abnormal obstacles, if you want a light hearted Christmas story, you are going to find it in this book!

I absolutely loved this story, and the audio was great! I am extremely picky when it comes to holiday books because they tend to be too cheesy and Hallmarkish, but I should have known Lauren Layne would deliver the perfect Christmas book to kick off my holiday reading for the year. I will be recommending Emergency Contact to anyone and everyone this holiday season.

Katherine is an up and coming attorney in New York, and has given up everying, including her marriage, in order to make partner at her firm. She has been so career focused, all of her friends and family have taken a backseat. But Katherine made her father a promise, and she is determined to keep it at all cost.

So, when days before Christmas, she finds herself in the hospital and unable to care for herself, and her ex husband at her bedside with no one else to call, what does she do?

Lie.

It's the only way out of this mess! She can't spend Christmas with him! Except he knows her, and she can't lie to him, and they end up on the most adorable, modern "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" adventure ever!

Katherine needs to learn what is important, and stop being so focused on herself, but will this accident be a wake up call? Or will this make her dig her heels in further?

Good holiday romance for the season. As the summary states, Katherine gets in a car accident and lands in the hospital. She never changed her Emergency Contact after her divorce so her ex, Tom was called. She can't be alone so Tom reluctantly brings her on his trip home. Their trip was one misadventure after another. It truly was a crazy ride!

The story alternated between Katherine and Tom and the audiobook narrators did an excellent job! Unfortunately, Katherine was incredibly unlikeable IMHO. That’s why I didn’t rate it any higher. Despite my dislike of Katherine, this was a heart-warming second chance holiday romance. Even if it comes to a predictable conclusion, it was sweet to see people get another chance at love.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so so much. The audio was incredible, the story was unputdownable, and overall I flew through this. This is the perfect holiday second chance rom-com, and I absolutely will recommend it to anyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy of an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Although I read this book after it already come out, I was so happy when I got my hands on it. I listed to the audiobook and the narrator was terrific. I was rooting for the main characters the whole time and wanted them to get over themselves and get back together. First love is a strong thing and these main characters definitely still had that going for them!