Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake 🎄🎅🏼

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

𝘼 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚!

I absolutely adore the Bright Falls series by Ashley Herring Blake, so I was so excited to see her releasing a Christmas book! I am Christmas obsessed, so I love reading all the festive romance books 🎄.

Immediately reading this I remembered how much I love Ashley Herring Blake’s writing style. I find it so easy to get into and quickly fall in love with the characters and world she’s created 💖.

I really loved all the side characters in this book, they were so funny and sweet and gave a lot of life to this book ✨. I also loved the Christmas setting, it felt very festive and fun and put me in the holiday mood (I know it’s only September but imagine it’s December 🤣).

The one thing that I didn’t love as much was actually the romance itself, and I don’t know how to describe it other than I didn’t believe in it? The initial interactions between our love interests felt very dramatic and out of character for the reserved shy characters she’d described. I did like some of the banter and bickering between them but it was weirdly public 😅. Then when they got together it felt so sudden that I wasn’t really rooting for them, and then add in some miscommunication and I was like I don’t buy this.

If you want a fun, festive Christmas romance that feels like a hallmark movie, I would definitely recommend 🎄. The world, the festivities, the writing and the characters were all really amazing ❤️. I was just a bit disappointed personally with the execution of the romance itself, given how much I love this authors other work 🥲. But I would definitely still recommend as a Christmas time read!

A vibrant, emotional roller-coaster set against snowy slopes, music and chaotic friends. I loved the complexity of Bright and Lolas relationship, and how the second chance unfurled slowly and authentically. The characters felt raw and honest, like they could just leap off the page. The conclusion felt honest the characters, and all threads were nicely wrapped up. Another outstanding by the author!

I needed a good book, and this completely delivered. I think this is my new favourite from Ashley Herring Blake.

It follows Charlotte and Brighton, two exes who find themselves together for a Christmas vacation with friends. You know it's going to be interesting when exes are involved and no one else knows about their history.

This was an enjoyable read, perfect for the holidays. The side characters were great, in particular I enjoyed Adele and Sloane.

While there was some angst and lack of communication, I got it. It made sense, and it wasn't cringeworthy.

Would recommend, so pick this up for a great weekend read.

I was excited to read this book, but maybe it wasn’t for me.
I love Christmas and reading this book during the winter season in Australia? Heck yes, I’m all for it.
The writing was very good, which is why I gave this book a 3 star review.
I also liked the friendship between Charlotte and Wes, I found that so cute.

On to the stuff that I did not enjoy:
This book made me realise that I do not like second chance and the miscommunication tropes

I understood the reasonings a bit more as I got through the book. However, Brighton at the start was really entitled and rude, I just really disliked her. It made me frustrated, made my reading experience bad, to the point where I was considering dropping it.

All of these could have been avoided by communicating with each other. It’s hypocritical to expect someone to see your struggles while you’re trying to hide it and also without saying it. I’m being petty maybe but when Brighton found out that Charlotte was crying in the bathroom, why did Brighton not think that maybe this was also the same reason Charlotte thought when Brighton was struggling?

The resolution and how the relationship progressed between the 2 main characters were too quick and too unrealistic for me to get past it.

However, I still recommend if you like holiday themed, second chance, and want a cute queer read

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This book was messy, and that's great, because I love messy. The characters were messy. The relationships were messy. The friendships were messy. It was all very messy and very dramatic and I loved (almost!) every minute of it.

Of the two leads, I have to admit, I felt more sympathetic towards Charlotte. Brighton certainly went through her fair share of crap situations after their breakup, too, but Charlotte's pain was real and raw and all too understandable. So early on in the story I found myself taking sides - Charlotte's version of events made the most sense to me. However, as we learn Brighton's story, Brighton's reasons behind the breakup, I found the ice in my heart melting for her, too. These were two women put in a series of circumstances they were perhaps too young to handle, and trying to handle them anyway.

So how wonderful they get the opportunity as adults to make it right! But of course, this is a romance book, and it wouldn't be a romance book without a bit of miscommunication and a third act break up. Still, by that point, this book has you hooked - Ashley Herring Blake has a way with characters that will have you on the edge of your seat, begging for more. Speaking of characters, the supporting cast, including Manish, Elle, Wes, Sloane, and Adele, were extraordinary. In some scenes, they stole the show entirely, but Sloane and Adele - as Charlotte and Brighton's best friends - were the most well developed of them all.

The tropes were so much fun. The snowed in, sharing a bed, huddling for warmth, saving her life, all had me wanting for more. I love that for a book that could have easily overdone it on the tropes Ashley Herring Blake actually kept it quite simple. Still, the tropes that were used were used so effectively. And the whole concept of Two Turtledoves was so cheesy it circled all the way back around to sweet.

Finally, I loved how important music was in this story, and how important it was to Charlotte and Brighton. It really added depth to the story and their characters.

I will be looking for Dream On, Ramona Riley when it becomes available!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley/Hachette Australia & New Zealand, and Ashley Herring Blake for this opportunity.

Make the Season Bright has some tropes I absolutely love, like snowed in, and some I hate, such as miscommunication. Much of this book is based around miscommunication and if Charlotte and Brighton would have just sat down after the last Turtledoves event and actually talked to one another it would have been more rewarding. I didn't see the point of the third act breakup as they weren't actually together. They could have been empowered together, instead of going through the feelings of a 'break up' all over again.

The parts I did love, like the horse riding incident, showed how much Charlotte still loved Brighton and how she wanted to help her and make her feel better. They had undeniable chemistry and as they came together and let their guards down, all they wanted was to be loved and love one another.

I also loved that Brighton was able to stand up to her old band with her friend by her side. That was pretty damn good. The ending of this book was sweet and showed that sometimes second chances are all you need.

If you love Christmas-themed romances with a touch of second-chance romance and the cozy atmosphere that a holiday-themed book brings, then this could certainly be for you.

Firstly, what's interesting to me is that this is perhaps the third sapphic-themed romance where the FMC has been left at the altar—I'll ponder that another time.

Overall, this book was atmospheric and cozy; those were probably the highlights for me. I felt like this book could have stood to lose 50+ pages, and I found myself really tired towards the end, skimming from about the 85% mark.

Friends to lovers is not always my cup of tea, but in this instance, where we had the chance for a second chance romance, I felt there was something left to be desired about the relationship here. I didn't connect with it and I didn't necessarily find myself rooting for the couple in the end.

I think I could have maybe appreciated things more if we dropped the music aspect and focused on the small town, two turtle doves thing, and perhaps had the FMCs running into each other a little bit later in the story. I found the believability that they were both friends with Adele and Sloane too much of a coincidence, however, I guess these things do happen in romances.

This book is like a cozy cup of hot cocoa, sweet, comforting, and just what you need to get into the holiday mood.

Blake's writing style is wonderfully warm and engaging, with a knack for bringing the magic of the season to life. The way she crafts her characters makes you feel like you’re right there with them, celebrating, falling in love, and experiencing the highs and lows of the holiday season. The chemistry between the characters is sparkling, full of those little moments that make your heart skip a beat.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Australia for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a very sweet, queery-cheery holiday romance. I really enjoyed the second-chance romance trope - I love the emotional conflict that comes with still loving someone even though you want to hate them. I thought this was done really well, and I could feel the tension between the main characters. I also enjoyed the plot and the writing style.

The main thing that was lacking for me was the character development. Connecting with the characters is the most important part of the reading experience for me, and unfortunately I felt like they could have been fleshed out more in this book. For the first half, we only really touched on the surface of the two main characters. We spent most of the time learning about Charlotte, but I didn't feel like I really knew her. I think this was a combination of the third person writing, and also that she was emotionally closed off to everyone which made it hard to connect with as a reader too. Brighton felt even less complete, amd I think this was mainly because we spent more time with Charlotte. The characters were very complex and I definitely felt like the second half was a big improvement, but I think the first half missed its potential. Despite this, I still loved them together and I could really relate to parts of Charlotte's character. I loved all the secondary characters in this book too, however, I also think some of them at times suffered from a lack of development or time.

Overall a really enjoyable festive romance and I can't wait for December now!

This was a cute festive read from Ashley Herring Blake!

This book makes me want to pick up more titles of hers :)

Lola and Brighton were childhood sweethearts who were destined for happily ever after, that is until Brighton leaves Lola at the altar with no explanation. Five years and a comedy of coincidences later has Lola and Bright spending Christmas together. Lola wants to leave everything in the past but Brighton wants a chance to explain herself

I'm not entirely sure why, but I sort of think this might be my favourite Ashley Herring Blake novel to date. There was just something about this one that made me blow through it quickly despite being in a bit of a reading slump right now.

I really enjoyed how both girls were pursuing music but in pretty different ways, Brighton's plot with the Katies was particularly interesting but I wish we got a bit more of it. I'm a pretty vengeance-hungry person so I wasn't totally satisfied with the way that plot was resolved - not just the stolen song but Brighton being ousted from the band - it would have been nice to see the girls who didn't know the song was stolen to have a moment with Brighton later on.

I think this is probably my biggest criticism of the book in general, everything felt a little bit too surface-level. I think we needed more of an exploration of why Brighton had to leave, why Lola realised that she was in the wrong too, and more of a look into Lola's relationship with her absentee mother and how that impacted what happened with Brighton and her choices in the aftermath. It just felt like there were a lot of gold nuggets that could have been really drawn out to make the characters feel more developed and rich.

But all in al, I did really enjoy this one and I'll definitely be grabbing a physical copy to add to my AHB collection!

Thankyou to Netgalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for an arc in exchange for an honest review.