*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.
Title: One Sweet Holiday
Author: Lucy Day
Genre: Holiday Romance
Trigger warnings: Death of a Family Member, Emotional Abuse
Rating: ★★★★
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ (Closed Door)
It’s the most
wonderful time of the year…unless you’re me.
Hold the hayrides,
keep your cocoa, and don’t put me within a country mile of mistletoe. This
year, Christmas means chaos. My sister’s getting married and I—Gwen Griffin, perfectionist
extraordinaire—will make sure her wedding is flawless. That includes doing the
impossible: finding myself a wedding date. But in my tiny hometown of Jasmine
Falls, South Carolina, I’ll have better luck winning the lottery.
I may be awesome
at running my cafe, but I’m terrible at men. And after my last epic breakup,
everyone in town knows it. That’s why I need a plus-one—even a fake one—so that
when my sister gets married, everyone’s attention is on her, where it belongs.
The guy next door
is perfect for the job. Gorgeous and charming, Logan Fyfe is only here for a
few weeks. He’s also a hot Scottish bazillionaire who’s totally out of my
league—so my risk of falling into a relationship with him? Less than zero.
Pretending to date
Logan is the perfect plan—until it isn’t. Beneath his devilish smirk and
delicious brogue is a big-hearted man who makes me feel the one thing I never
believed to be true—that I’m enough, just the way I am.
With the wedding
approaching, there’s nothing fake about my feelings anymore. When he slips his
arm around my waist and whispers into my ear? Yeah, I’m a goner.
We may be worlds
apart, but I’m done pretending. It’s time to get real…even if it means risking
my heart.
One Sweet Holiday
is a new cute small-town festive romance novel from author Lucy Day. It’s the latest
instalment in her Jasmine Falls Love Stories series but each book can be read
as a standalone and has a guaranteed happily ever after. This was my first
festive read of 2023 and boy has it got me in the Christmas spirit!
Our story is told
through a dual POV and this worked so well in the story. I loved seeing instant
attraction experienced by both Gwen and Logan and explored in their respective chapters.
I also loved the banter between the two of them. The forced proximity was explored
in a different way to the typical bed/room/house sharing that you might typically
see through Logan moving next door to Gwen and this really made the story feel more realistic.
One of the things
that I think sets One Sweet Holiday apart from other romance novels is the fact
that the characters aren’t who you might typically see in this genre. Both protagonists
are in their 30s and this makes their relationship feel so much more mature. On
top of this, Gwen was the curvy queen that I’ve always wanted in a festive
romance protagonist. I loved that the book celebrated body positivity by acknowledging
her size and it being one of the things that attracted Logan to her. The way
Logan talked about her curves and meeting her for the first time just made me melt.
If you are after male
romantic interest who is the definition of swoon-worthy and will make you fall in
love with him instantly, look no further than Logan Fyfe. He is a
complete gentleman who is so respectful of Gwen and it was amazing to read. At one
point in the story I worried that the miscommunication trope I have a vengeance
against would rear it’s ugly head but Logan being the mature man he was any
chance of this was eliminated immediately. I loved how supportive Logan was of
Gwen, he had an absolute heart of gold.
The book also provided
an unexpected but really interesting commentary on mental wellbeing and
avoiding burnout which is so relevant to so many adult readers. The bakery
setting added a really different angle to the story and we love a female entrepreneur
who gives off total girl boss vibes! The family drama for both characters was also
really interesting and it was great to be able to see how they tackle it as
couple who are still in the early stages of a relationship.
One of the things
that did take away from this being a 5* read for me was that the ending felt rushed.
I felt that Gwen and Logan were owed a little more depth to their happy ending
so this was a shame. I would like to be able to return to their story, ideally
in a sequel but even just briefly as passing minor characters in a later book
set in Jasmine Falls just to check in with them and see where they’ve ended up.
I will also say that
the fake dating trope felt misplaced within this story. There was instant attraction
and a blossoming relationship so having them fake dating for the sake of
appeasing Gwen’s mother, who (potential spoiler alert) wasn’t appeased by it
anyway, felt like an unnecessary way to add in an additional trope. I think the
story was enough on it’s own as a small-town forced-proximity instant-attraction
story. It’s also interesting that the book is marketed as an opposites-attract
story when I found that Gwen and Logan were actually pretty similar apart from being
from different countries. But this is more of an issue with the marketing
rather than the story itself so it hasn’t impacted on the star rating for me.
This is a closed-door
romance and whilst I fully respect that and recognise that not everyone wants
spice in their romance novels, I do wish we’d been given a little bit more and
had even just the indication that sex had taken place. Instead, it was very
much completely glossed over aside from some passionate kissing and this felt
unrealistic.
These things aside, I
still absolutely loved the story and it was the perfect Hallmark-movie style
romance to get me in the festive spirit. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants
an easy christmassy read, packed full of sweet moments, witty banter and relatable
characters.
One Sweet Holiday will be published on 6th November 2023.
