A review by stephstbr
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren

5.0

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren is an absolute delight. I wanted to read it again as soon as I finished, it's that good!

Not many things in life are going right for Maelyn "Mae" Jones. She hates her job, had to move back home with her mom and her mom's new husband, and just made a huge mistake that might have shattered her chance at a future with the man she's been pining for since she was thirteen. As if that's not bad enough, she also might have just spent the last Christmas at her family's friends' snowy cabin in Salt Lake City, which also happens to be her favourite place in the world.

With Christmas turning out to be the saddest time of year, Mae makes a simple wish asking the universe to show her what would make her happy. To Mae's shock, the universe replies by sending her back in time to relive this Christmas all over again. Armed with the knowledge of what went wrong the first time, can Mae avoid making the same mistake as before and finally discover what would truly make her happy?

I loved everything about In A Holidaze! The prose is utterly charming, the sense of found family and community envelops you like a warm hug on a cold day and the characters are incredibly endearing. Mae is one of the most relatable heroines I've ever read and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her journey. I also adored Benny and all the family friends at the cabin. The reflection on Christmas traditions was so well done and something I'll be paying closer attention to as I set out to celebrate Christmas this year.

I think In a Holidaze is the author duo's best work to date and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

In case you couldn't already tell from my rave review, I cannot recommend In A Holidaze enough! I'm keeping my fingers crossed the film rights get optioned because it would be amazing to have a movie version of In A Holidaze.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Christina Lauren for the chance to read this digital galley.