This book was simply wonderful. It was both an emotional and inspirational love story. This author never disappoints.

Facing her imminent 40th birthday, dance instructor Gretchen, inspired by her dad’s lack of follow-through on his own ambitions, decides to rise above his failed aspirations and expand her successful dance empire by offering more classes, and adding yoga and massage services. She buys a building, oversees renovations, begins learning how to do payroll, and still presides over Miss Miller’s with it’s morals of dance being welcoming, inclusive, and fun. When she’s begged by her pregnant! best friend Rory to fill in for another pregnant instructor the last minute for a summer camp’s dance residency, she reluctantly agrees–she can miss out on a few weeks of renovation and prep, and goes off to the woods to live deliberately, deciding this will also fulfill her crone plans: she’s sworn off men as a result of a yet another disastrous date, the most recent one with a rock star she’s never heard of who thinks he’s all that.

At camp, she is irritated by, then bonds with Teddy, a musician whose band has just broken up (sidenote: it’s his married former bandmate who matched with her on a dating app and was a jackass). Teddy and Gretchen find common ground in their impoverished upbringing and creative endeavors, and bring out the best in one another as they forge first a friendship, then give in to their chemistry. Swimming, Target runs, and cold pack cheese food grilled cheese sandwiches become relationship milestones. So does accidentally getting lost in the woods for a bit, forcing them to cuddle for warmth, and ultimately leading to a suggestion they become friends with benefits for the duration of the camp session. Romantic times are deliciously spicy (though, Gretchen’s effortless multi-orgasmic experience is a bit unbelieveable). Gretchen seems happy to say goodbye forever as she finishes her camp stint; Teddy is definitely going to miss her. Will he chase her down and make a grand gesture to win her back once camp is over?

This companion novel to Canadian Boyfriend features crossover characters, dual point of view, emotional depth, vulnerability, healing, humor, and excellent writing: the metaphor of The Lemon Tree is carried through beautifully as a bittersweet motif. The summer camp setting is vivid, and renovation details and disasters realistic. I appreciated Gretchen’s self-assuranceness, even as it sometimes wavered; her integrity, her vivaciousness, her passion, and her drive leapt off the page. The other artists in residence: a sulky author with writer’s block are fully realized. Teddy’s support for budding musician Sarah is treated carefully, with no hint of anything untoward, and the work he does to deepen his relationship with his sister is brave. The only thing that missed the mark for me is characters who use the adjective clean to describe their STI status. Clear, healthy, negative or uninfected don’t have the same connations as clean, which implies anyone with an STI is somehow dirty. It doesn’t work for most modern readers.

The cover, with Teddy’s man bun and Metallica t-shirt \m/ and Gretchen’s curves, is cozy and charming, but doesn't bring a specific scene to mind.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #IntoTheWoods via #NetGalley courtesy of #Forever. This review will post to HLBB on 1/07/2025.

This charming romance is as much about rediscovering your passions as it is about falling in love. Jenny Holiday delivers a delightful, standalone story with a unique camp setting that brings Gretchen and Teddy together. Gretchen’s fierce independence, especially as a woman approaching 40, made her an inspiring lead—though her anti-dating stance sometimes felt a bit heavy-handed. Teddy, on the other hand, was a wonderfully complex rockstar wrestling with insecurities and unresolved trauma from his past. I loved how their chemistry helped them grow individually, with each supporting the other’s journey toward healing and self-discovery.

The side characters, particularly Jack, added depth and humor to the story—he somehow became my favorite, likely because I related to his writing struggles. There’s a significant focus on the difficult childhoods both Gretchen and Teddy experienced, highlighting how their pasts shaped their adult lives. The themes of artistic inspiration, or the struggle to find it, made for an interesting layer, as both characters navigated their creative blocks. In the end, the romance culminated in a heartfelt grand gesture, and their creative pursuits reached a beautiful resolution that felt satisfyingly imperfect.

Thank you NetGalley, Publisher and Author for sending over an arc in exchange for honest review!

I’m actually obsessed with this book. So cute & sweet & I loved the banter, I actually laughed out loud a few times. The grand gesture was perfectly imperfect. I felt so many emotions reading this book. Definitely a new Jenny Holiday fan.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jenny Holiday, & Forever publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a fun, unique storyline about self-discovery with mature characters who meet while running a summer camp. There are lots of sweeter moments between them and the spice was spicin'. They are able to bond over their pasts and work towards healing together. Definitely a fun read for those forced proximity fans!

You're gonna love INTO THE WOODS for

• Summer Camp Romance
• Contentious 1st Impressions
• Lose & Find Yourself Journeys
• Artistic Careers
• 35 & 40y.o. MCs
• A "Last Hurrah"
• Shared Hurts & Understanding

There's nothing like Summer Camp Magic. It is a  highly concentrated escape from reality that facilitates the deepest of emotional bonds with your fellow campers. Or, for Teddy and Gretchen, with your fellow artists-in-residence.

Teddy and Gretchen are as ill prepared for the intensity of camp forced proximity as they are for the Minnesota mosquitoes. A morning swim and a campfire song escalates to getting lost in the woods together and -BAM- the magic takes hold of them.

I appreciated the work done in the early pages to establish Teddy & Gretchen's life pre-camp and away from eachother. There are very defined personal goals for each that romance isn't the fix-all to happiness. They also successfully avoid an insta love relationship while they work past some fairly bad first impressions. The build up of the attraction and sexual tension was brilliant.

The most intimate scenes for me aren't the sex scenes. Rather, Teddy and Gretchen share the emotional trauma of growing up in a financially unstable household. They communicate with a sort of shorthand understanding for each other's anxieties. I saw their love grow each time they talked about food scarcity and didn't fear the other's pity. I'm glad they found eachother.

The big ask of course is how does a relationship build on magic survive in the real world away from camp. It was frustrating to read Gretchen try to cut out possibilities to stay focused on success and responsibilities, but I wholly understood her need for self preservation. Teddy was so emotionally locked down to start that I was left guessing how open he'd be to something so risky and so soon after other life breakups. But as Jeff Goldblum says, "Camp magic, uhh, finds a way."

*

I have a critical note regarding their work at camp, specifically regarding Teddy. While there is no inappropriate behavior between an adult character and a teen character, the optics of certain situations were uncomfortable. Teddy is an adult character, a known celebrity musician in a mentor position for teen musician characters. The in-story camp model is to relate to the campers as peers instead of students. I imagine it's a confidence boost for young artists to be adressed with respect rather than condescension. But eventually Teddy insinuates himself into plans for her possible career - offering to cowrite or produce an album - without consulting a parent or guardian of his mentee. This mentor/mentee relationship had very blurred ethical boundaries that didn't sit right with me.

To it's credit, the story addresses avoiding compromising situations for both the adult and teen characters. Gretchen collaborated and learned from the dance track campers while keeping her personal journey from overlapping or depending on her mentees. But there is a blind spot regarding the relationship between for Teddy and his mentee. I'd have been more comfortable if there was a stricter separation from personal attachment.

Thank you Netgalley & Forever / Grand Central Publishing for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

📖 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲

“𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘮.”

This was a really fun book! I love a good forced proximity romance and what better way to achieve that than having to adults reluctantly go to work at a summer camp?

Both Gretchen and Teddy have their own reasons for why they ended up at the camp. They get off to a rocky start, and there are a ton of great ‘hate to love’ moments. I loved them together! Gretchen has given up on love and Teddy is at a crossroads in his rockstar career. They both have sad childhoods and I really appreciated how they could connect over that. They both needed to get a little lost in the woods so that they could find themselves again.

“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦—𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺—𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵: 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭.”

When I got to the “camp friends with benefits” portion of the book I was obsessed. 🤣🔥

“𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬-𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”

There were just so many sweet and cute moments! From campfire stories to getting literally lost in the woods, this book was great. The ending was literally cinematic!

There are some heavy discussions, but I really loved how there was a ton of healing that took place!

If you love forced proximity romances full of all of the best summer camp moments, go add 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲, to your TBR today!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
💋 𝘏𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦
💞 𝘏𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵
🏘️ 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺
🫶🏼 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧
❤️‍🔥 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴
🌙 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵
🔥 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘺

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I struggled to get into this book because I did not connect or even care for the main character Gretchen.

this was so sad for a romance :(

i totally thought this was going to bring on the call vibes and it had the cutest cover but in reality they’re friends with benefits (if that) the whole time, as their leaving at the end kinda looks over them the entire time and i found myself feeling SO bad for the mmc who was really into gretchen!!! i feel like he deserved better

When I saw Jenny Holiday had written another book set in the same universe as The Canadian Boyfriend, I couldn’t help but kick my feet and squeal with delight! I truly enjoyed this one! Jenny Holiday has a talent for hooking me from page one.

I loved that this story features an older FMC, Gretchen, who’s turning 40 and figuring herself—and her life—out. The summer camp setting was such a nostalgic trip, bringing back memories from my own camp days as a teen. From the mosquitoes to singing around the fire and even camp crushes… it captured it all perfectly.

Broody, guarded Teddy was everything! When he finally opened up to Gretchen, it made him even more vulnerable and, honestly, so sexy!

This book was funny, reflective, and steamy! I’d recommend it to all my friends who enjoy a romcom with some real depth.

Big thanks to Forever (Estelle) and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Gretchen no quiso repetir su infancia y, desde que pudo, se dedicó a trabajar y estudiar para que nunca le faltara dinero, tuviera un título y fuera exitosa, y lo logró. Sin embargo, al centrarse en su objetivo, dejó de lado otras áreas de su vida. Ahora, a los 40 años, está cansada de buscar el amor y decide que tendrá su última cita.

Teddy era miembro de una famosa banda, pero por alguna razón terminaron separándose y ahora tiene que ver qué hará con su vida.

Se conocen en un campamento de artes, donde comienzan con el pie equivocado y se caen mal. Sin embargo, deben convivir y poco a poco se dan cuenta de que sus primeras impresiones fueron equivocadas.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet romance about finding oneself and passion. The setting and characters were fun. I really enjoy this authors writing style.

I really enjoyed this contemporary romance. I find that Jenny Holiday's writing really works for me. This is a standalone though the heroine's best friend is Rory for Boyfriend Material (which I also loved and can recommend).
Romances set at camp don't always work for me. Adults going back to the camp of their childhood is not really for me.
Here camp was more or less a convenient place out of the regular time and space for both MCs.
We have both Gretchen and Teddy going through kind of mid-life crisis, or least some major changes are happening in their personal and professional lives.
I genuinely liked them both. She was fierce and independent, turning 40 and no longer taking crap from anyone. Her anti-dating, giving up on men altogether was a bit much tough. Her mantra of becoming a crone got repeated one time too many. I understand she was trying to convince herself of something she was less and less convinced as the story progressed. Still, I found that it to be heavy handed and it got annoying.
I did like Teddy and appreciate the author showed this successful rockstar to be vulnerable, insecure, dealing with the trauma of his childhood.
There is a lot of focus on the difficult childhood both Gretchen and Teddy had and how it shaped them into the people they are as grown-ups.
The other central element in the story was about artistic creativity and inspiration or the lack of it and it was very interesting to read about.
The childhood trauma was closely connected with ||poverty|| and it made some chapters pretty dark but not overwhelming for me.
In the end, the romance had its perfect grand gesture and the artistic endeavours gave fruit and it was all perfect in an imperfect way.

CW: childhood neglect, poverty, rage /violence episode (off page),

Another great book by Jenny!!! Thank you so much for the ARC!! I love her writing , she’s made me a life long fan!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

LOVED LOVED LOVED THIS BOOK!
I loved Jenny Holiday's "Canadian Boyfriend" and I have to say, this one is just as good. The characters were mature, funny people you'd want to know in real life. I loved that this was told in dual, first-person POV. It really, really worked. Wonderful side characters. I was so surprised at the way Jack's character added to the story towards the end, especially since he seemed so one dimensional. The emotional journey Gretchen and Teddy take was lovely without hitting you (or each other) over the head with it. Beautiful writing. Would give this more than 5 stars.

This story was so fun & meaningful! I wasn’t expecting a story to take me by the heart the way this one did! I think this book handled hard conversations well and with grace! I am excited to get my hands on a physical copy!

Cute spicy romance that is just as much about finding your life and passion as it is about falling in love. Quick read. Great characters.

I only have a handful of romcom books that I recommend over and over again when asked and now Into The Woods has been added to that list! I love the grumpy/sunshine or maybe grumpy/grumpy trope. Jenny Holiday is fabulous and can't read more! Loved it through and through to the point that I will re-read it someday just to laugh again! Especially the beginning when they just arrive and Teddy is so thrilled to see it all lol. 10 stars!

I’ve enjoyed a lot of Jenny Holiday’s previous books. Canadian Boyfriend fell a little flat for me, and this one was better. It’s not one of my favorites by her, but it wasn’t terrible.

Gretchen, who was Rory’s best friend in Canadian Boyfriend, is the FMC in this book. She’s working to open a dance/yoga/Pilates studio when she gets an offer to be a dance instructor at an arts camp for the summer. It’s there that she meets Teddy, the bassist from a hard rock band that recently broke up. Teddy is coming off some bad press due to the way the band’s breakup went down. He’s hoping to use the time at camp to start writing a solo album. The two don’t get off on the right foot, but gradually, they become friends and then lovers.

This book has some interesting things to say about the creation of art, but mostly it just kind of… plods along? I didn't care that much about the camp stuff and wasn’t too invested in it. The chapters are long, and not much happens. Even the spice didn’t do much for me; it felt oddly detached and not very sexy.

Also, speaking of spice — I appreciate the discussion of STI status prior to the characters having sex, but why are we still having characters say “I’m clean” when they discuss their test results? “I’m all clear” or “My test results were negative” are far better alternatives that don’t imply someone is dirty for having an STI.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Really cute romance that's just as much about finding yourself and your passion as it is about falling in love. The setting was so fun and the side characters were great (somehow Jack became my favorite? I think because I relate to him and the writing struggles a lot). Gretchen and Teddy were adorable and I loved how they worked together and helped each other grow.