I discovered Christina Lauren back in August 2019 while on vacation in Los Angeles. My bestie loaned me her copy of their book The Unhoneymooners and I couldn't put it down. I pre-ordered their next book, Twice in a Blue Moon, which also reeled me in immediately.
When I heard they were coming out with a book for holiday season, I squealed! It's titled In a Holidaze and it's about a young woman named Mae. She arrives in Park City, UT for her family's annual gathering at their cabin. She keeps getting into accidents, and when she wakes up, she's back on the plane heading for the cabin again. Basically, Groundhog Day, but Christmas edition.
By the time she's been at the cabin three or four times, the events start to change. Most importantly, a family friend she's had a crush on begins to show interest in her too. His name is Andrew and once Mae can feel their bond strengthening, she wants to do anything she can to stop the trip from starting over again.
I don't want to say too much about the specifics of the plot because you should absolutely read it yourselves, but Mae and Andrew's relationship is one you dream about - a lifelong friendship that suddenly becomes something more. The descriptions of their conversations, body language, secret glances when they're around the entire family - it's all so swoon-worthy.
Here's one small example, "For the first time, I really noticed him - the soft hair at his temples, the increasingly masculine shape of his neck, the perfect line of his nose, how big his hands suddenly seemed. From that moment on it felt like my adolescence was split into two haves: before I fell for Andrew, and after."
The entire time I was reading, I kept thinking, "This has to become a movie!" The opening paragraph of the book is, "Call me harlot. Call me impulsive. Call me hungover." Can't you picture a young actress voicing that over and the camera panning to her, disheveled in bed?
I really hope someone buys the film rights. Maybe Reese Witherspoon and her production company would be interested in some comedic holiday cheer . . .
At the very end of the book, in the acknowledgements section, the authors wrote, "To every reader out there, we hope this book finds you safe and happy. Thank you for picking it up. It's our greatest wish to the universe that Mae and Andrew's story gives you an escape that you choose, but (for your sake) one that you don't need too desperately. It's been a hard year, and we are here sending love and - we hope - a rollicking dose of magical fun."
If you are looking for a light, fun read that will put you in the holiday spirit, this is it.
*Image courtesy of Book Club Chat.
