Reviews - The Holly Dates | The StoryGraph

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748 reviews for:

The Holly Dates

Brittainy C. Cherry

4.09 AVERAGE

hnnh_lntz's review against another edition

4.75

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I LOVED this holiday interracial, dual POV, grumpy x sunshine romance between surly restaurant owner, Kai and Black romance author, Holly who is struggling with writer's block and trying to find love.

Looking for a guy for the holidays, Holly tries online dating apps only to keep getting duds, unable to watch her continue striking out, Kai volunteers to give her some dating tips. The chemistry between Kai and Holly is FIRE! I loved their banter and how quickly they developed real feelings.

Eventually Kai ends up agreeing to be Holly's fake boyfriend for the holidays, coming home with her where there's only one bed and LOTS of family drama. Full of both heat and heart, I was impressed with the emotional depth in this book and loved the narration by Adenrele Ojo and Aaron Shedlock.

HIGHLY recommended especially for fans of authors like Denise Williams or Talia Hibbert. I can't wait to read more books by this new to me author!!

Steam level: slow burn, open door

CW: past partner with cancer, past partner infidelity, toxic parental relationships

thatrealbuffreader's review

5.0

If you don’t read this you suck

britlit's review

2.0

lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

bevpages's review against another edition

4.0

a solid holiday romance, i really enjoyed this and loved the characters too!

alittlewrightreading's review against another edition

5.0

You won’t want to put it down

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book in one day….life gets in the way. I don’t recommend adulting but I do recommend Holly Dates.

Holly Dates is easily a finish in one setting type of book…and I would have but you know work. I flew through this book. It was perfection…so much more than a holiday romance.

And best of all I laughed so much. I loved Holly and Kai and all of their family too. If you only have time for one holiday read definitely pick Holly Dates. You won’t be disappointed.

giiziibae's review against another edition

4.0

Love the story.

Very nice romance story. Lots of dealing with shattered hearts on both ends, and healing. I felt like it went by faster than I’m used to. But overall very great wrapped up story.

eurikahc's review against another edition

3.0

I’d honestly give the story 4 stars but there were a handful of writing/editing errors and just things that made it less fun to read

wvgirl_304's review against another edition

5.0

Kai, Holly and Mano “You want to do something corny that’s right up your alley”

anasatticbookblog's review against another edition

5.0

The Holly Dates by Brittainy Cherry

4.5 Stars
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I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Holly Dates by Brittainy Cherry was more than a light Christmas novella. This full-length romance may be taking place at the holidays, but I think it can be read any time of year. The Holly Dates is my favorite holiday book of 2022.

Holly and Kai had a meet-ugly. She’s a romance writer who had her nose buried in a book while walking when she slams into Kai with some tough results. When Holly starts showing up at Kai’s brand new restaurant with a new date every night, he gets even more annoyed at her every day. So he offers to help her find a better date, just so she will stop coming to his restaurant every night.

“Stop love bombing yourself so that you won’t be alone.”

Holly was left at the altar last Christmas Eve. This year, she is determined to find someone new for the holidays. She is so happy and positive, and she's willing to get right back on that horse. Kai was also burned, but he’s the opposite. Gruff and closed off, he wants no part of love.

But when his coaching starts to work and Holly gets serious with one of her dates, Kai doesn’t like the guy one bit.

“If you need to be scared, then fine. But please, Holly…be scared with me.”

The relationship was interracial. I found that I had some trouble visualizing the characters because there was very little description, just that Holly was a curvy black woman and Kai? Well I’m not sure, but I think maybe Hawaiian or another Pacific island. I would have liked to see this difference explored a bit or even mentioned more than once (unless I missed something).

“When you found a love that allowed you to be yourself fully...Well, that was the kind of love you wanted to keep around.”

Likes:

•I love the cover.

•It’s the perfect holiday romance, but it's light enough on Holidays to be read at any time.

•I laughed and got emotional.

•Diverse characters (though I would have liked to explore some cultural differences more).

•Kai! Yum, he’s such a delicious grumpy book boyfriend.

•I loved Holly, I loved how she just kept trying and was still so positive.

•Holly is described as curvy, but never focuses on her curves, Kai thinks she is gorgeous and lets her know.

•Mano, Kai’s brother, was a fantastic side character.

Dislikes:

•There were an abnormal amount of errors and the timelines don’t work in a few situations. I know it sounds picky but it took me out of the story and should have been caught by editors.

•I would have liked to read about maybe some cultural differences between them at the holidays. This may have been a deliberate choice on the author’s part, but showing an interracial couple on the cover made me expect to read about it a little.

The Down & Dirty:

I read holiday books all of December, and out of the 11 I read this year, The Holly Dates by Brittainy Cherry was my favorite. I think it’s a great grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract romance that you can read any time, but it’s even better during the Holidays.