A Not-So Holiday Paradise is a sweet romance surrounding a woman and her brother’s best friend with a clever twist on forced proximity.

If you’re looking for a fun romance with holiday and tropical vibes, that’s closed door, this is for you.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story, with was performed by two narrators who made this listen enjoyable. I listened at 1.75x speed (my normal audiobook listening speed is 1.75-2x speed).

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for this advanced audiobook copy.

What a fun Christmas audio book! I love forced proximity and when the MMC takes care of the FMC. This book was sunny and sweet while still including the best parts of Christmas!

If you are looking for a delightful holiday, but not so holiday, rom-com full of grumpy-sunshine tropical island wonderful-ness look no further! I devoured this book in one day and enjoyed every moment.

Molly O’Malley has been in love with her brothers best friend for as long as she can remember. But this Christmas she is determined to face it and put it behind her… Right?

She is on a family cruise for the holidays, stopping off on the island that he happens to work on after not seeing him in years. That moment when they first see each other… SO GOOD! I just love the way she has a new found confidence and acceptance of who she is. Her light just shines through this book! And what happens when you let your confidence shine? People begin to see you for who you actually are, instead of who they think you are.

Beckett is all introverted, wounded, grumpiness… but with a inner goodness that doesn’t take too long to show. He gravitates towards Molly‘s light and through a series of mishaps you will see him unravel as a protective and caring soul. I adored him.

This is a sweet story full of representation and beautiful messages on never being afraid to be who you are and letting people love you for that. I loved the epilepsy representation as well and getting to see the side of that many of us never get to see. I applaud Gracie for shedding light on that and humanizing something that we know little about.

I highly recommend this book and Molly and Beckett. They are perfect duo!!!

I’m not sure if it’s just that I have learned I do not like rom-coms as audiobooks, or the true story.

I wasn’t a fan of Molly or Beckett. They both gave me a little “ick” factor. And their relationship was almost painful to listen to. It didn’t feel real or natural or nice.

She did a good job of talking about chronic illness.

This was cutesy, and I liked it for that. What I really appreciated, though I can't personally relate, is the depictions of the FMC's disorder, as well as her realistic portrayal of feelings of self-consciousness, and her quirky personality. This is absolutely all about the CHARACTERS and their personalities. Imperfect, sometimes annoying (but in a realistic way - they sometimes annoyed me the way my real family or friends sometimes do).

This book was super cute, Molly and Beckett were really a perfect pair. The book was witty, but emotionally quite deep. Molly just has to break Becketts barriers slowly to reveal a future for them. The pacing was right and the narration on point.

This was a light (but also not) holiday rom-com with tropes of brother's best friend, grumpy-sunshine, and forced proximity. I thought it was a bit heavy on tropes, but there was enough uniqueness to the storyline to make it work. The FMC has epilepsy, which is something I've never seen before in any book.

Molly is as cute as a button but also fierce as heck (but did her last name really have to rhyme with her first name? Ugh), and Beckett is a real stand-up guy. The audiobook narration was decent.

I ADORE this book! This was the first Gracie Ruth Mitchell book I read so it was so fun to revisit it & fall in love with it all over again. The friends fo lovers, the seizure rep, the holiday island setting - it's all just so stinking perfect!

I didnt read the book before I listened to this story but the narration was on point and the story was amazing and You really just love both people. There is a bit of a seizure scene but it does very well.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a good book! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I loved the main characters! They had great chemistry and worked so well together. I loved how the book just flowed. My first by this author but will not be my last!!

This contains an audiobook review.

This book was part of the Christmas Escape series released December 2023. I had wanted to read all of these so badly. I'm just a terribly slow reader, and even though I had purchased this, I didn't get a chance to read it. I was so excited when I saw that it was being released on audio, my preferred way to read a book. While this is part of a series, the books are not connected to each other and can be read in any order.

I appreciated the author's trigger note/warning at the beginning of the book. Epilepsy is a component of this story, and I really felt the author handled it well. Having dealt with this condition herself, I feel really helped to give it an authenticity that appealed to me. These characters were charming and their banter was quite entertaining.

The dual narrators for this book were very pleasant to listen to. While they didn't read in duet format, I didn't feel that either of them were cringe worthy when reading the opposite gender as is the case on occasion. I am really glad I was able to finally listen to this. It was one of my favorites of this series.

Thanks to Dreamscape Select and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to a copy of this audiobook. I'm happy to leave an honest review.

This sweet, clean, holiday romcom was such a great audio book to listen to! I loved so many things about it. First, I loved that it was an unusual location with forced proximity on an island. Second, I loved that it was a brother’s best friend romance with years of unrequited love on the part of the younger sister. Third, I loved that the heroine was a bit curvy, not a stick thin model. Fourth, I loved that the author was not afraid to delve into showing what an epileptic seizure really entailed. The fact that the not pretty and very uncomfortable reality arose for Molly while she was alone with Beckett put these two in a unique situation. The way he handled the ugly parts of the scenario spoke as to what type of man he was and how he was falling for Molly. I loved the epilogue, too! This entire story just made me so happy! The narration for the audio was really well done, too. I highly recommend both the novel and the audio version.

I received a complimentary copy of this audio book, however, I also own the ebook version. All opinions are my own.

ALC Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The O’ Malley clan has always been tight knit. When the parental unit decided to spice up their Christmas celebration by taking a cruise, their adult children join them.

Taking a brief hiatus from their travels to visit longtime family friend, Beckett, the family visits his place of work. Unfortunately, the O’ Malley patriarch takes a stumble and has to be escorted back to the boat.

Not wanting everyone to miss out on the fun, Molly and Beckett stay back. But when a storm unexpectedly touches down, the pair gets stranded. Will they be able to reconnect with the rest of the O’ Malley family in time, or will they have to celebrate in isolation.

Gracie Ruth Mitchell’s A Not-So Holiday Paradise is just one of seven books in the multi-author series, Christmas Escape. I appreciated that while this is a Christmas story, Mitchell departs from the traditional romcom formula. As a result, it kept things fresh and held my attention.

I had the privilege of listening to this story on audiobook. Since the book is told from dual POVs it is narrated by two voice actors. I thought both Rylee Kuberra and John Rogers did a fantastic job bringing the story to life. The scenes involving Molly’s epilepsy were especially well done. As someone who has witnessed an epileptic episode, it was not only accurate but informative.

I recommend listening to this book if you enjoy:
-grumpy/ sunshine
-forced proximity
-brother’s best friend
-childhood crush

Special thanks to Netgalley, Dreamscape Select, and Gracie Ruth Mitchell for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

A not-so Holiday Paradise.

This was a cute hallmark style, spice-free romance. Brother’s best friend, forced proximity romances are always good. It brought in real-life health issues and awareness of living with epilepsy.

Molly has always had a crush on her brother’s loner best friend Beckett. While traveling with their family for Christmas they will meet again. After a string of bad events, Molly ends up stranded with Beckett for Christmas.

This is a cute YA read to get you in the mood for Christmas.

3 star read for me

I LOVED this book! The majority of it takes place in the space of a few days and it is delightful to see how much they grow together. It was so sweet and how can you not like a forbidden romance! Brother's best friend!? Done! The chemistry was off the charts. I also really loved the end, it was realistic and well done!

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
A Not-So Holiday Paradise was a cute holiday(ish) story about Molly and her big brother’s best friend Wes. Molly spent her entire childhood with a crush on Wes and she’s about to see him for the first time as an adult. Wes is a grumpy loner who has been researching on a remote island for the past year. The two get stuck together in a rain storm that keeps her from getting back on the cruise ship where her family is waiting for her.
This book was okay. I liked the premise, but the bulk of the story happened over the course of three days. I get why Molly was all in, considering her long time crush on Wes, but I was a little less sold that he could be head over heels in a short three days. While the author did write in a bit that was supposed to explain that or strengthen that, I still don’t know that I bought it. Their relationship felt a little rushed to me. The characters were likable enough and this was a holiday book without being heavy handed on the Christmas aspect. This certainly isn’t a book I didn’t like, but it’s not one I will think about in the future.
3⭐️

This was an audio book arc.

I have started getting the Xmas arcs in and I love it!!
This was cute and narrated perfectly.

It was a refreshing Xmas read that was different to your usual seasonal reads.

Best friends sister ✅
Deserted on a island ✅
First kiss ✅

It was a lively read and better than I first thought it would be.

Thank you netgalley, dreamscape and Gracie Ruth Mitchell for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Usually something is enjoy but not so much this time. Couldn't connect to the characters and didn't feel any chemistry.

This was a fun, easy read, but I didn’t connect well with either character. I also didn’t vibe with their so called “chemistry.” I liked the clean aspect to the romance genre, and the story line was cute, but it wasn’t super believable. I love a good “her brother’s best friend” troupe, but this one made it seem like her longtime crush was just kinda stalker-like. There was a point in which Beckett remarks that he “barely remembered her” from their time growing up. Which leads me to believe their interactions were minimal and her crush was all made up in her head. So… there’s that. 3.5 stars

Not so holiday paradise
Gracie Ruth Mitchell
I had privilege to listen this book via Netgalley

Oh, this book was so lovely! I could relate this heroine in so many was; having my own share with epilepsy and in first time of my life I’ll spend my Christmas in paradise (as a Finn, this is so exotic)!

I’d say as first Christmas themed book of the year this was great way to start the season. It was easy to listen, narrators were good match with the characters.

4/5 starts