Maelyn Jones is just finishing up another Christmas vacation with her extended family. That being her mother, her father, their best friends from college and their families. It had been a tradition forever. For all of Mae’s 26 years, she’s gone to the cabin in Park City, Utah for the holidays. Even after her parents divorced and her mother remarried, they still met at the cabin for the holidays with all their friends for Christmas. It was tradition.
This year was no different. There was the sledding, the choosing and decorating of the tree, the snow creature competition, the scavenger hunt, the cooking, the eating, the drinking, the laughing. There was the crush on Andrew that she still couldn’t tell him about. And there was that one, eggnog inspired make-out session with Andrew’s younger brother Theo. And the regret. But other than that, it was just like every year.
And then, on the drive to the airport, where the planes will take them all in their different directions again, a semi runs a red light and smashes into the car. Mae watches out the window, powerless to stop the crash. Not knowing what will happen. Not knowing if she’ll survive to get back to her regular life, working a job she resents and living at her mom’s house after an ill-fated job in L.A. didn’t work out. Mae watches the truck come at them, and then everything goes black.
When she wakes up, she’s on the plane. She doesn’t understand how she got there, but she’s there. Her brother, her father, and her mother are all there too. No one seems hurt. And when she looks at her phone, it’s December 20, not the 26th. She’s on her way to the yearly Christmas trip. It’s like the last 6 days never happened.
So what is happening?
Mae finds herself in a time-traveling holiday nightmare, unable to stop reliving the same day over and over until she figures out what she’s supposed to change. Stuck in this insane situation, Mae finds herself facing all her feelings and fears, but will that be enough to keep time moving forward, or will she just keep starting over forever?
The newest novel from writing team Christina Lauren is a delightful, hilarious, heart-warming novel filled with family and love and everything great about Christmas. In a Holidaze takes the best part of the holidays and mixes it with the best parts of a great romantic comedy and serves it up to us with a big bow on top.
I really loved In a Holidaze. It’s smart and funny and has all the best parts of a good romance without all the cliches. This has fun twists and good surprises, and I really do think it’s the best kind of gift from an author (or two) to readers. And I am so glad for the early Christmas present!
Egalleys for In a Holidaze were provided by Gallery Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
