In A Holidaze

In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren is a standalone Contemporary Romance published in October 2020. Maelyn Jones is not having the Christmas she deserved. She's back living with her parents, stuck in a job she can't stand, and she's just committed a romantic blunder she'd rather forget entirely. Worst of all, this is the final year her family will gather at the beloved Utah cabin where three families have spent every Christmas together since Mae was a child - the place that feels more like home than anywhere else she's ever known.

The cabin belongs to the Hollis family, and Andrew Hollis has been Mae's quiet, long-held crush for as long as she can remember. But something goes spectacularly wrong before she even makes it to the airport, and as the car pulls away from the snow-dusted mountains for what should be the last time, Mae does something slightly desperate: she sends a silent plea to the universe. Show me what will make me happy. The universe, it turns out, has a very particular sense of humour. Mae wakes up back at the start of the holiday week - caught in a Time Travel-adjacent loop with no clear exit, and a growing suspicion that breaking free requires her to finally be honest about what she actually wants from her life. The Friends to Lovers tension simmers throughout, while Mae replays moments she'd previously sleepwalked through, each loop nudging her closer to a clarity she's spent years avoiding.

Christina Lauren - the pen name for writing duo Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings - builds the comedy and warmth through an ensemble that genuinely earns its Found Family label. These aren't stock supporting characters dropped in for comic relief; they're people Mae has grown up alongside, whose habits and histories she knows by heart. The Close-Knit Friend Group dynamic gives the holiday setting its emotional texture, and the Witty Banter & Sharp Dialogue between characters keeps the pace lively even as the emotional stakes quietly deepen. Mae's First-Person POV narrative is self-deprecating and warm, with just enough cringe-worthy honesty to make her stumbles feel relatable rather than frustrating.

Tonally, this sits firmly in Comedy territory without sacrificing the romance. The time-loop structure carries real thematic weight - each repeated day becomes a question about Fate vs Free Will, about whether Mae's life has stalled because of bad luck or because she keeps making the safe choice. The Personal Growth arc is the engine beneath the festive wrapping: Mae isn't just trying to navigate a supernatural situation, she's learning to stop people-pleasing and actually choose herself. The Slow-burn Romance rewards patience, building through stolen moments and honest conversations until it lands with the kind of satisfying warmth that makes closing a book feel like setting down a mug of something hot and good.

Readers who reach for holiday fiction that has genuine heart alongside its humour will find exactly that here. The Utah cabin setting does a lot of atmospheric work - snow, pine, board games, and a fireplace - and the romance never loses sight of the people around it. Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and BookPage on publication, and an instant New York Times bestseller on release, speak to just how well this one landed with its audience. It's a story about the life you already have and the courage it takes to want more from it.