katiedermody's reviews
1978 reviews

I really enjoyed this! The Holiday is one of my absolute favorite Christmas season movies and the premise of this book is very similar, so I want on board from the jump. Greta has lived on the same small island in Maine with her big Jewish family (Mom, Dad, two older sisters, her twin, and a younger sister) for her entire life aside from college, and feels stifled under the pressure of staying and being overly involved with them all. There's a moment that is the final straw and she tells her friend Ramona she needs out. Coincidentally, Romona's other friend Truman where she lived in New Orleans just found out his boyfriend was a liar and also wants out of town. The two decide to swap homes for a month, and Truman comes to enjoy the slower paces life as he spends time with (and obviously falls for) Greta's friend Ash, who runs the local flower shop. Meanwhile, Greta meets Carys, a stranger on the street, and ends up in her own love story, and a burgeoning new life and purpose. She also meets Muriel, a glamorous older lady with an incredible garden who she can talk plants and life with. Parallel but inverted stories in a way, with lots of life lessons. I enjoyed how queer this book was and that the holidays celebrated in the book were Chanukah and the lead up to a Christmas. Time to watch The Holiday now!

This was a cute bonus short story about Bennett and Marley's first Christmas together, set after the end of the book. They rescue a dog and her litter, they make some new traditions and he introduces her to some old ones. There's a very brief steamy moment (not really that explicit), and lots of lovey flirting. We also get to see the Hores, Nellie, Teddie, Cass, Izzy & Tom again at a holiday get together. I thought I hadn't read this before but I definitely must have at some point because it started coming back to me as I read. And now I want to reread the two books, but I'll probably wait to do that until closer to when book three is coming out so they're fresh. 

This holiday novella has poly rep, is second gen (I didn't realize until it started that it was third in a series and the first two are about knew character's parents), and has chronic illness/transplant rep. It was spicy, short, and pretty emotional considering one of the MMC needs another kidney transplant. He and his girlfriend hook up with his best friend and it means more to all of them. The book is actually six POV because we get his 3 parents' sides as well. It didn't blow me away so I'm not itching to push my TBR aside and read the rest in the series now, but I liked it enough that I probably will at some point since the earlier ones are about his parents and the one after is about his sister. 

I really enjoyed this! Even though I wanted to smack their heads together sometimes and yell "JUST TELL EACH OTHER HOW YOU FEELN" it was still a fun meet-awkard to friends to fake dating to lovers Christmas story. I am more often a fan of dual POV but this time I liked that it was single because A. Chase was so obviously into Candace that a POV from him would have just been him angsty and probably would have made me love him more, and he's already pretty damn confident; and B. It was almost hard to believe that she couldn't see that he wanted it to be real, but staying in her POV let me suspend that disbelief a little because I didn't get his straightforward thoughts. There's a fun little twist (I say fun cuz I didn't seen it coming, though maybe I should have, not because it's actually fun... It causes problems for them) and her roommate Miles is amazing. Heather Garvin did it again, and my only "complaint" is that it ended and I don't get more time with them together. 

Cute little spicy short story, one year after the end of Jesse's Girl. I enjoyed it! A little Christmas gift from Hannah :)

This was an angsty (in a good way) Christmas novella about best friends who are mutually pining for one another and super convinced the other wouldn't feel the same way. He's been off being a star in Hollywood but is back home in the UK for Christmas and she's been divorced from her awful husband for two years, so he decides to awkwardly make his move. She has a lot of hurt and trauma from her marriage and fights his feelings. There's meddling family, a pregnant cat, a blizzard, the briefest bit of not very descriptive spice at the very end, plus size rep, and a Black FMC. I've liked everything I've read by this author and while I'm not sure this is one I'll want to reread someday, it was cute and emotional and he's adorably dorkily gone for her. I've been meaning to read it since it came out in 2020 or something like that, so I'm glad I have now. 

I think I enjoyed this one a little bit more! There's definitely something about the author's writing style that felt a bit repetitive so I don't think I'd read a ton more, maybe the first one some time. She's lazy with proper grammar but it's not in a way that bothered me much since it felt like it fits the chatacters usually. This time it was the brothers of the leads from book two: Miles's brother Robin (emo-punk star who comes to stay over the holidays for a rest) and Trent's brother Ben (the serious doctor, father of adorably creepy four year olds... Their fave show is LilPoes (as in Edgar Alan), all very Wednesday Addams vibes). The men fall asleep leaning on each other as strangers on a plane and then flirt in the airport, both waiting for their ride, which is the same person unbeknownst to them. Ben is made to take care of Robin, which the burnt out man who has been hurt so many times before needs. They progress to more and more time together, get spicy together, and start to become a little family unit with the girls in the weeks leading to Christmas, all the while knowing Robin has to go back to real life soon. There's some good chronic pain rep (Ben has back pain due to a car accident years ago) and mental health as well (Ben has anxiety that he's been getting help for since childhood and Robin has panic attack and lots of triggers from childhood trauma). The little twist at the end with Robin's manager was fun and getting to see Miles around the brother he missed so much in the last book was nice. The author says we'll be back to Belleville at some point but it isn't clear who the story will be about (unless she starts to go second gen years later, then the possibilities are there for sure). 

I didn't really have any expectations going into this other than I'd seen it included in a list of books with disability rep, and it was a queer Christmas story so all three of those things seemed up my alley. I really enjoyed it! I laughed out loud a few times, let out some tears at one point, and was surprised (in a good way) at how horny it was for a slow burn. Trent has been a slut most of his adult light (affectionate, he was proud of it) but secretly wanted to be wanted and to have a family, he just didn't think he deserved it or could do it. After a disastrous first date with his neighbor, set up by Mile's son Bubba, they eventually end up becoming friends and then more. Even when he doesn't think he's interested, he still acknowledges his attraction (dude is so gone for Mile's butt). Miles has severe anxiety, to the point that he often can't speak around people he isn't comfortable with or doesn't know, and he's had a crush on Trent since they moved in five years ago, which makes it worse at first (there are panic attacks portrayed on page). Their progression is a slow burn but lovely and when it gets steamy it really does (including some primal play later on). Bubba is eleven (seemed a little younger to me what do I know), super smart and science-brained like a kid I know and love, so I appreciated that. He also has asthma but it seems to be under control with an inhaler and figuring out his activity threshold. This is book two of three in the series and I now plan to read book three for sure and maybe go back to book one. 

And now, for what I *think* is my favorite book in the series so far (I think). Book four is all about oldest brother and second child Axel, who is the most reserved out if anyone in his family and intentionally lives on their Washington property miles from anyone else (or did until Ryder and Willa moved to a near-ish by city). In this story, Willa's best friend Rooney goes up to the Bergman's A-frame cabin in the woods for a break after she has to temporarily withdraw from law school after a huge flare up of her inflammatory bowel disease. Willa and Ryder said she'd be alone but she soon realized that it's Axel's turn at the A-frame and just like she's kept her chronic illness a secret from everyone (even Willa), he has kept the fact that the A-frame is falling apart and he is trying to get serious repairs done from his family. He's looking for a way to get an inheritance from an uncle he didn't know well but the stipulation is that he has to get married. Rooney, nursing a massive crush on Axel, agrees to marry him so he can get the money and she can continue staying on the property in his cabin. I loved this one! He has feelings for her but doesn't know what to do with them because his autism (also a secret) doesn't let him express feelings as easily as others, and she has feelings for him but doesn't think the future she's always wanted for herself will happen because of her IBD. As someone with IBS, I appreciated the handling of the topic. Plus, I just loved their interactions and the fact that they sort of rescue a dog and a cat.

Reread 2025: this is one of my two faves of the series. Frankie is my favorite single character and there's something about her story with Ren that is joyful, fiesty, sarcastic, and fun (a mix of their personalities in the best way), plus the chronic pain rep is relatable. But Axel and Rooney? Their love story is, as the author says in the acknowledgments, "a gently-paced and unexpectedly emotional journey" and I sink into the comfort every single time I read it (this is read number 4, I think). I love the mutual pining, made worse by a practical marriage and "forced" proximity. I love that he's rescued a dog and she helps him accept his attachment to it, and that the rescue a kitten. And I especially love the IBD chronic illness rep, and the autism rep. The way they both love and care for each other in the face of their difficulties and vulnerabilities, not in spite of them but as part of them like everything else, is nothing short of beautiful and aspirational. A theme in all of Chloe's writing, that every single person deserves and can have love if they want it, how they need it, is woven into this story and stated plainly as Ax deals with his uncle's inheritance stipulation. I love this book and as someone who is chronically ill and neurodivergent and sees myself represented in these characters, it means a lot to me. 

Mayo Clinic Fibromanual: this was easily the best one. I always appreciate the info the Mayo Clinic puts out, since it's very well researched and summarized for a lay person. I also read the most of this one. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐