A review by lezreadalot
Holly & Ivy by T.B. Markinson, Miranda MacLeod

3.0

“How is it possible no one saw you until now? You’re beautiful. Sweet. Funny. Caring. Intelligent. I just don’t get it.” 


“Maybe I was waiting to be seen by you.”

3.5 stars. This pretty much perfectly encapsulates the definition of a rom-com. There's comedy, there are steamy scenes, there are hijinks, there are a few shenanigans, and there's a baby goat. And it all works. It's also a holiday romance, which I love. I've been bingeing them throughout the start of this month. To be honest, it's only barely a holiday romance, because most of it takes place before Christmas, or even Thanksgiving, but the fact that the bulk of the plot happens on a remote little island in a small town really helps give it that nice cosy feel that I think most people are looking for when they think of holiday romance. And of course, our main characters are named Holly and Ivy, which is adorable. I really liked both of them for the most part, and their romance progressed in a way that I found both believable and charming. Neither of them fit into any strict character archetypes (though I suppose Holly is a bit of a grump, and Ivy is a little sunshine) but their chemistry was natural and came off the page.  

Some elements of this just didn't work for me on a personal level. This is rich girl/poor girl, which historically I don't love as a trope. When someone in a book is as rich as Holly is, I can never completely turn the left side of my brain off from hollering "REDISTRIBUTE YA WEALTH MOTHERFUCKER!!" It didn't ruin the book for me or anything though, and Holly did come to some realisations that were pertinent and helpful. And besides, the book's natural comedy and charm helped me see past a lot of that. But speaking of the comedy, some of it just wasn't quite to my taste. There's Betty, Ivy's irreverent septuagenarian friend who's scandalous and says whatever she wants. At times she's hilarious, but at other times the jokes fell completely flat for me. Not just her jokes, but some of the overall humour.  

There are several more serious elements to the book which I really enjoyed, and which weren't out of place at all, even given the overall light-hearted nature of the romance. I wish the writing were a little more profound around those issues? The topic, for example, of Holly's depression and burnout were brought up a couple times throughout the book, and looked at more closely near the end, and I just didn't think it was enough. It all felt very surface level;  too shallow. I still think this would have been a great success as a rom-com, even if the authors had let themselves get a little more serious.  

Still, this was overall a winner. If you're looking for a fun lesbian holiday romance, look no further.