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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Really enjoyed this one, not your typical hallmark-y holiday book (and most of it doesn't actually take place at Christmas). I appreciated so much that the storyline had more depth and took place over more time to feel more realistic.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This is a lovely story about fate, family, and forgiveness. If you like your holiday romances with a bit of an emotionally heavy side, this is for you. After a chance meeting in a coffee shop, Holly and Jack don’t meet up again for much longer than planned. Happenstance brings them together again and pushes Holly to work harder on her own journey with her immediate family and her found family. Overall I enjoyed this book, I struggled with a bit of the pacing from time to time but aside from that, this was a a charming read
Tw: infertility, pregnancy loss, car accidents,
Tw: infertility, pregnancy loss, car accidents,
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
There's not a lot of Christmas in this book but it's a solid story about grief and forgiveness and loss and being vulnerable. I like that Holly and Jack work on their own issues separately. They don't rely on the other to magically erase the pain and regrets and hurt. I really loved Emma and how her story pulls the whole book together.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. I am required by federal law to disclose this.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine and NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. I am required by federal law to disclose this.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, so.
This was a good book… as a women’s fiction. As a romance? Not so much.
Romance was more like the sub-genre for this book. So if you’re looking for a full-on romance, this book is certainly not it.
Although I have to say this:
I got what the author tried to convey through this book. The major theme was grief—how people usually cope by looking for someone to blame for an untimely death. But while I got the message, I still didn’t like how the author made Jack’s mother try to defend herself towards the end there for cutting Emma out of her and Jack’s lives because she blamed Emma. Mind you, it was literally right there FOR ME A READER to see clearly that Richard had been FUCKING DRINKING that day. EMMA TOOK OVER DRIVING TO SAVE YALLS ASSES YOU UNGRATEFUL ROACH. IF IT HAD BEEN RICHARD DRIVING, ALL OF YALL WOULD HAVE FUCKING DIED. AND RICHARD DIDNT EVEN BOTHER PUTTING THE SEATBELT ON LIKE GEE NO FUCKING WONDER HE FLEW STRAIGHT OUT OF THE WINDSHIELD ON IMPACT??? AND YOUR SON KEPT KICKING AT THE BACK OF THE DRIVER’S SEAT SO OF COURSE EMMA WAS DISTRACTED??? WHAT??? I AM SO FUCKING SORRY BUT HOW DID THAT WARRANT EMMA GETTING ALL THE BLAME?? EVEN HER OWN FUCKING HUSBAND BLAMED HER LIKE GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE YOU DIED YOU PIECE OF SHIT. LIKE I REALLY AM NOT SEEING HOW THE FUCK EMMA SHOULD HAVE SHOULDERED ALL THE BLAME HERE. HUMAN EMOTION HUMAN EMOTION GRIEVING MY ASS.
This was a good book… as a women’s fiction. As a romance? Not so much.
Romance was more like the sub-genre for this book. So if you’re looking for a full-on romance, this book is certainly not it.
Although I have to say this:
Also a really sweet read, but it was a little less of something with which I could relate. I love though, about all of Stone’s books, the way I get to travel, at least through the United Kingdom if not other parts of Europe. It’s delightful to know I’ll be “seeing” the world through the reading. And I also wanted to mention that I appreciate the development of the secondary (and sometimes even tertiary) characters. I never feel like they get short shrift.