In a Holidaze

On a mere whim, on 24 December, I decided I wanted to read a holiday romance during the holiday it depicts. Consulting my library, I quickly settled upon “[b:In a Holidaze 50892287 In a Holidaze Christina Lauren https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601590329l/50892287.SY75.jpg 75786905]” by [a:Christina Lauren 6556689 Christina Lauren https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1730746046p2/6556689.jpg] which turned out to be a mixed bag but still effectively did the job. Between holiday chores (when my wife asked me to do something “steamy”, I didn't expect it to involve the steam cleaner!). Late at night today, I finished it (the novel, not the cleaner). Mission accomplished.“Holidaze” started exactly as I hoped it would: Two families coming together in a cabin to celebrate Christmas, lots of holiday cheer, endearing characters—it was fun!The “Groundhog Day” style time loop device was, thankfully, used sparingly, but this still was the first minor gripe of mine: »I believe now that the universe delivers random acts of kindness, and it's on us to decide what to do with them.«Attributing intention, kindness, or actually anything beyond its mere existence to “the universe” is misplaced. What we may interpret as kindness, cruelty, or serendipity is simply the happenstance of nature and probability.Maelyn, the female protagonist, was amusing to read about and I really liked when she started not just going with the flow after a short “learning curve”, but, sadly, out of a sense of fatalism, started stepping up her game, actively taking responsibility not only for herself but also for the people around her.»All I know is that the sound of my loved ones' laughter bouncing off the hillside is the best sound I've ever heard. Another small victory.«In contrast, Andrew, for whom Maelyn has been pining for merely 13 years, stays rather bland and generic. He is obviously into her but also never acted upon it and if Maelyn hadn't taken the initiative, nothing ever would have changed. This is a part I really enjoyed:»A rebellious streak races through me. “It's more like, I see my life stretching out ahead of me and figure, why not go for what I want?”“Jam and applesauce on your blintzes,” he jokes. “Cocktails on the porch. Snowball fights.”The word rockets from me: “You.”[...]Adrenaline spikes my blood. “Yeah. Like that.”«Communication, as always, is key, and at least Maelyn is good at it.»“And if there's one thing that we did perfectly, it was talking and being transparent and honest with each other right from the start. Right away, we talked. I can't think of anyone else in the world I've ever felt that comfortable with.”«Of course, there was the usual, somewhat frustrating, third-act breakup—imagine being held accountable for a drunken dream—and plenty of teenage behaviour.Also, my aforementioned steam cleaner was a lot hotter and far steamier than this novel. Bah!Nevertheless, this was a nice, fun, albeit easily forgettable holiday romcom which garners three stars out of five from me. Happy holidays!Blog Facebook Twitter Mastodon Instagram Pinterest Medium Matrix TumblrCeterum censeo Putin esse delendam