Reviews with content warning for Grief - A Cross-Country Christmas

Lauren's sister in law is about to have a baby and her brother wants her to come home for Christmas. The problem is that Lauren is terrified of flying. So, her brother arranges for her to get a ride with his best friend Will.

This is a cute book that reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie. She is an uptight planner whose focus is all on her work. He is a shameless flirt who is scared to take professional risks. Lauren hold a massive grudge against Will for reasons he cannot remember and now they are stuck in a car together for a week.

Lauren had an awful childhood and was basically abandoned by her parents. She doesn't trust anyone but herself. The holiday season is especially hard for her.

Will was once a talented baseball player with prospects of going pro. But in college he messed up so bad that he lost his scholarship and his chance at the pros. Unfortunately, Lauren was also an unexpected casualty of his destructive ways.

Being in a car with Will for a week seems like torture to her, and instead of making the best of it she acts like an immature child. Eventually she learns to actually communicate and tell him the truth. Will spends most of the book beating himself up over his past and being afraid of the future.

Tropes: brothers best friend, road trip

Content Warnings

callidoralblack's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

kb33's review

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Good story, clean romance, part grumpy/sunshine, and mild enemies to lovers and brother’s best friend tropes. I liked that we get a lot of dialogue and interaction between Will and Lauren. I think this one would have been better if Will hadn’t flirted with every woman he met while having deep feelings about Lauren.

Content Warnings

abrich's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Look. Lauren sucks. Big time.

She hates on Will for being friendly. Is sexist. Hates women. Hates men. Super judgey. Major pick me. And let’s just mention the major issue she’s mad at Will about is SA and if genders were reversed everyone would talk about it. You can’t know and acknowledge someone is that wasted then make out with them then be mad when they don’t remember it.

Content Warnings

kbairbooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

(Spoiler review) oh my goodness gracious I love this I now need to devour every single piece of work Courtney Walsh has ever put out into this world I even loved the little note from the author at the end of the book! This book made me tear up it made my heart skip it was everything everything everything everything. The only reason I didn’t give it a five star is because there were certain details I felt like I was missing? For example maybe they described how they looked at the beginning of the book but I genuinely either forgot or didn’t pay attention or skimmed over or something I don’t know what these characters look like at all and nowhere in the rest of the book after the point that I realized I didn’t know what they look likeDid she ever mention what they looked like. For example she would flip her hair but at no point when they talk about the color of her hair like she flipped her brown hair over her shoulder or what the fuck ever so I still don’t know what they look like but I finished the book I really loved it I’m going to make this one also a Christmas tradition that I read every year because this was just magical and everything I needed and wanted a more in my life. Oh also there is 0 smut in this book. A smush of kissing but that’s literally it.

Content Warnings

More...