In a Holidaze
I have a very mixed reaction to Christina Lauren's books. They are easy to read, but I have been seriously unhappy with the endings (The Unhoneymooners and Josh and Hazel) and the classification as a romance novel (In a Holidaze), so I went into this one with an open mind, but some trepidation.
I have a very mixed reaction to Christina Lauren's books. They are easy to read, but I have been seriously unhappy with the endings (The Unhoneymooners and Josh and Hazel) and the classification as a romance novel (In a Holidaze), so I went into this one with an open mind, but some trepidation.
Jess Davis is a single mom to precocious child Juno and she manages her life with a great support system around her, including her grandparents and her best friend Fizzy. Fizzy and Jess regularly work at a coffee shop with a regular customer, a grumpy hot guy they nickname Americano after his order. One day they learn that he works on a dating app that matches people based on their genetic compatibility (insert boring science stuff here). Jess and Fizzy both submit their spit samples. Things are going along nicely until Jess matches with Americano with an unbelievable 98. Americano's real name is River Peña and now the romance novel is off and running.
Interesting characters:
Huh. Well, I guess. I mean, I think they're both really forgettable characters, to be honest. I'd rather read a book about how Jess's grandparents got together or how Fizzy sorts out her romantic life. Whatever you want to say about this writing duo, I think they often do a nice job with side characters.
Believable conflict:
Yeah, they both have negative first impressions of the other. I can see how that would lead to this conflict. I will say that the authors do a nice job here of having the couple communicate about things in a way that felt real. When the heroine hears the hero say something somewhat negative about her, she calls him on it. When the heroine finds out some information that calls their relationship into question, she tells him about it immediately. I thought this was well done.
Emotional tension:
I do think this is a pretty good enemies to lovers book. There's lots of time in the beginning of the book when you're not sure either of them is going to get over their first impressions!
Happily ever after:
Hm. Sure. I guess. I think these two will make it.
It's not a perfect book. There's quite a bit of science babble, there's a precocious child (this has ruined many a better book that anything Christina Lauren has ever written - Seven Days in June, I'm talking to you), and the main leads are the least interesting characters in the entire book, but, hey, why am I expecting perfection in a lighthearted romantic novel? I'm not.
3.5/5 stars
Lines of note:
She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror at the end of the hall and wondered how the chaos inside her wasn’t more visible. If her outside matched her inside, she would look like a Picasso sculpture: head sideways, nose where her eyes should be, eyes on her chin. Instead she was still just Jess...(location 1238)
Great analogy here!
Did it make her a terrible person that she was surprised this date wasn’t awful? The conversation flowed, the silences were easy. She hadn’t spilled anything down her shirt, and he’d called her competent. It was the best date she’d had in seven years. (location 1737)
Ha ha ha. *sob* Maybe I never have to date again.
This makes me think of another book about couples being matched based on DNA - The One. Have you heard of it? Totally different vibes than this.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your honest review made me LOL. I've read two books by this writing pair (The Holidaze and the Chip & Joanna knockoff one) and I remember I enjoyed them.
I have heard of The One by John Mars, but I'm trying to limit the number of books I read that are written by men, so this one never really came up on my radar. Should I read it?
DeleteI definitely read this book but don't remember too much about it. I liked it well enough, I think. I have read a few books by CL, and I had their latest book recently but I actually DNFed it. I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called though.
ReplyDeleteHa. I think CL books are generally just fine. They're light, easy to read, and also easy to forget. I'd be curious why you DNFed, though!
DeleteThe premise sounds kind of interesting. I'm kind of curious about it, and the book Kim is mentioning (The One.)
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting because it sounds like they are very different approaches to the same premise. I haven't read The One, but maybe I'll add it to my list.
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