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Review: In a Holidaze

Review: In a HolidazeTitle: In a Holidaze
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre(s): Fantasy, Holiday, Romance
Pages: 336
Source: Own
For: Book Club
Rating:
Sexual Content: 3 Flames

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Goodreads Synopsis

It’s the most wonderful time of the year ... but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions. But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world--the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy. The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake, she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again.

My Thoughts

I’ve never been much of a Christmas or holiday book reader. I don’t really even watch holiday movies. Needless to say, I was a little bit hesitant about reading IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren. I decided to give it a go because it was my IRL book club’s pick for December and I really enjoyed THE UNHONEYMOONERS by the same duo.

I’m glad I decided to read IN A HOLIDAZE. I zipped right through it and it helped remind me why I love to read and romances at that. Friends-to-lovers is hands down my favorite romantic trope and Christina Lauren didn’t disappoint. The execution was excellently written, producing a bit of a steamy fast-paced romance.

I adored practically everything about IN A HOLIDAZE. I loved Maelyn Jones and her family, blood and found. I loved reading about their Christmas traditions in their cabin near Park City, Utah (which is only an hour from where I live). Because of the setting, it was especially fun to picture the mountains, snow, Christmas decorations, and the touristy beauty of my home state.

I thought the Groundhog Day-esque “magic” of IN A HOLIDAZE was fun. It was a good reminder to seize the day and live your best life in spite of change, social faux-pas, and tradition for the sake of tradition.

Thanks to how much I enjoyed reading IN A HOLIDAZE, I’ll definitely give other holiday romances a try in the future.

Have you read IN A HOLIDAZE? If so, what did you think?

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Sunday News: Christmas Edition

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.
Feeling

I’m feeling hopeful. I wrote an update on my health earlier this week. The Reader’s Digest version is my arm is much better, not completely healed but manageable. I’m also on a second round of steroids that will hopefully keep my hives at bay. Unfortunately, they came back after the first round of steroids. This round’s stronger and longer. I’ve decided that even if my hives come back, I still want to get back into blogging. I miss the community and reading how everyone’s doing. Bear with me as I try to get back into the flow of things.

We found out in November that Luci had an upper respiratory infection along with feline herpes. She was put on some antibiotics for the infection and the only thing we can do for the herpes is to help her stay calm. She’s vaccinated, but her mom probably passed the disease on during the birthing process. Our vet said she probably had a flare up because of how traumatic being adopted can be (moving from a place they know to the unknown).

Izzy was as sick as she was because of pancreatitis. The vet moved her to a low-fat prescription diet and, thankfully, she’s much better. She’s been on a prescription diet her whole life; the last one just had more fat in it than Izzy’s body could process. We also think she may have feline herpes. We’ve always thought her symptoms were due to seasonal allergies, but since they’re similar to a herpes flare up she’s being tested for herpes in January when she goes in for her pancreatitis checkup. If she does has herpes, it’s not because she got it from Luci. And, if she doesn’t have herpes, then she most likely won’t get it since we vaccinate our cats.

Here’s a picture of Luci and Izzy being their-goofy-selves this week:

Blogging

This week on the blog:

Reading

I actually read a book this week! Woot woot! I read IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren for my December book club. I’ll post my review tomorrow. Look at me go, lol.

I also started reading THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN by Emily R. King. It’s the final book of the year for one of my challenges.

Listening

I’m not a huge Christmas music fan, mostly because Corey’s not. I’m not saying he tells me what to listen to; I just don’t care enough to listen to it on my own. I do have a few favorite songs, though, so I thought I’d share one. It’s “Greensleeves” or “What Child is This” for Christmas. I prefer the instrumental version and I love this arrangement by Michael Dowdle.

Watching

Right now, Corey and I are bingeing DEXTER. He’s seen it before, but I haven’t and he wants to watch the limited series reboot from last year with me. We’re currently on Season 3 and it’s very compelling.

I also watched LEGO MASTERS’ Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular this week. It was one of Leslie Jordan’s last appearances before his passing earlier this year. I had fun watching the challenges, especially the snowmobiles and snow globes.

Loving

I love my IRL book club’s December meeting. I look forward to it every year. It’s so much fun because a lot of the stragglers come and we share treats and do a book exchange. This year’s was especially fun because I hadn’t been to a book club meeting since September. I’ll be posting about it in more detail this coming week.

Wanting

I want to wish a merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Happy holidays to all! And, have a fun and safe New Year’s celebration this coming weekend.

Needing

I need to get my end of year posts ready for this upcoming week. It’s one of my favorite times of year to blog.

How was your month? Anything exciting happen?

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Still Here

Hi there! I thought I’d check in since I’ve been “gone” for a little over a month now.

My arm’s doing much better. My doctor gave me a cortisone shot a couple of days after I decided to take a blogging hiatus. It took a little over a week for it to really do anything. There’s still some pain and tingling below my elbow, but it’s much more manageable and it’s not affecting my sleep anymore. My doctor’s still concerned that all the pain and tingling aren’t gone. I may need surgery if my arm doesn’t completely heal on its own.

For now, we’re focusing on more pressing matters–my hives. We still don’t know what’s causing them. It’s not what I thought it was a month ago–turmeric, ibuprofen, Luci (new kitten). We’ve ruled out fleas, mites, and bed bugs as my doctor thought my hives looked like bites. I started a round of steroids in the beginning of December. My hives began to heal, but they came back immediately and almost worse than before once I was done with the steroids. I started another round a couple of days ago. This time they’re much stronger and I’ll take them for twice as long. We think it’ll help. I hope it’ll help. I don’t want to be on steroids forever.

I haven’t really been reading, although I did start IN A HOLIDAZE by Christina Lauren yesterday. I’ve mostly been watching a ton of TV and movies and playing my Switch. They keep my mind off the itching. I’ve also spent some time with friends when I’m feeling up to it. All these things have helped me keep my spirits up.

I hope I can get back into reading and blogging again soon as long as this round of steroids gets rid of my hives for good. Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

P.S. Sorry this is a duplicate post. My blog feed didn’t pick up my initial post and I tried to do some troubleshooting.

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