The Holiday Trap by Roan Parrish - Review

I bought this book some time in 2025, I don't remember exactly when. I thought it looked like a cute romance book to read around Christmas, so that's exactly what I did. But it took me ages to read and while that always happens in December just because I get busy, it's also because I just didn't get on with the book too much. I can't fully explain why, but maybe it'll be clearer as I write this review. 

So Greta is one of the protagonists. She is from a tiny island in Maine, I guess a bit like Martha's Vineyard, where everyone knows each other. She is one of five sisters and they're are a close knit Jewish family. She is a lesbian. She went to university in Portland, Maine, which did give her some freedom, but she's now back on the island. She's at a festival type thing when her eldest sister Sadie - who is mean and rude throughout the book - puts her up for a dating auction thing, meaning she would be auctioned off for a date with a man. Greta is obviously upset about this because she is gay - and she's mad with her sister and with the rest of the family (her mum is a bit of a nightmare too). She desperately wants to escape Maine for a few weeks over Hannukah and the winter, and ends up looking for a house swap thing. 

Meanwhile, Truman lives in New Orleans. He is gay and he's in a relationship with a man whose name I forget but it doesn't matter as he's not relevant. But it turns out he is married and has a small child, meaning Truman has been the bit on the side all along. Truman is obviously heartbroken and wants to escape New Orleans. 

Enter their mutual friend, Ramona, who suggests they swap homes for a bit. Greta has a zillion houseplants that need babying, so she can't just leave them, and Truman has a dog that he can't leave by himself either. So they swap. Greta meets Carys, who leads ghost walks in New Orleans, on like her first day in New Orleans and they begin a relationship. I found Carys a bit of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl - she's just TOO perfect, including her lovely found family which Greta gets involved with too, and including the way she calls Greta out over one thing in a way that really irritated me - and I didn't love their relationship. Their sex scenese were hot, though, so that's one thing. I actually thought that Greta's relationship with an older lady who introduces her to a bunch of gardeners was more interesting and which brought Greta out of herself in a better way than Carys did I think. 

I did really like the depiction of Greta's family and of New Orleans (a place I would love to go!) but her story arc overall left me a bit cold. 

Truman ends up meeting Greta's friend Ash, who owns the local flower shop (so many tropes). Ash is depressed and struggling to care for his mother, who has dementia. Truman turns up with a bit of colour and a whole load of ideas to improve the flower shop and while it's obviously really sweet, it puts Ash off. I thought this was a much more realistic relationship and they ebb and flow towards each other. Truman learns how to trust himself I think, he's a lot more introspective by the end of the book. Ash is really lovely and I liked how he was brought out of himself too.

But the book dragged a lot for me; I felt it was at least fifty pages too long. I am giving it three out of five and I wouldn't rush to read this author again.  

Only for the Holidays by Abiola Bello - Review

I saw a recommendation for this book on Twitter and bought it when it was 99p. I saved it to read over Christmas but it took me absolutely forever because I just really didn't enjoy it. I'm trying to work out whether it's just me and whether the book just wasn't a good fit for me, or whether it is actually bad. I read a few of the two and one star reviews to see if people agreed with me and actually I think that this is just somewhat of a bad book. 

The book is dual narrative, from the points of view of Quincy and Tia. Quincy lives on a farm in a rural town where his family is basically the only Black family in the area. They run the farm with several holiday cottages and have a fancy restaurant and stuff. Quincy is the youngest of three - his sister Drew is an internet sensation and his brother Cam is a DJ. Quincy is still at college. He had a girlfriend, Kali, but before the beginning of the book he found out that she slept with his best friend Simon and he hasn't spoken to either of them since. He's still heartbroken and concentrating on the horses and working and stuff, but he's pretty miserable. 

Tia lives in Peckham with her mum and sisters. Her older sister Willow and she have the same dad, who now lives in America. Their little sister, Banks, is only four. Her dad, Paul, is still around, but their Mum, Tope, and he are no longer together. Tope lost her job and the family had to move and it's all been a lot of upheaval for Tia. Tia has a boyfriend, Mike, who is a bit of a dickhead. Her best friend is called Remi and I wish we had seen more of her, to be honest. Mike is about to turn eighteen and Tia has been organising all of his party and is going to take the cake. However, Tia is feeling a bit underappreciated by him - he has never told her that he loves her and he's just a bit of a loser. He asks her for some space but she isn't really sure what that is supposed to mean. 

Then Tope announces that she's been given a two week (or even more?) trip to Quincy's farm to stay in one of the cottages. She needs the break so she takes her kids down there. But there's a mix up with the booking and the cottages are all full. Instead, Tia's family ends up staying in Quincy's house itself. Tia is not happy about the holiday and is determined to not enjoy herself - especially as she definitely doesn't like horses or sheep or the lack of internet. 

Quincy's family is holding a ball this Christmas, and it's a big deal because they're the first Black family to do so. Quincy doesn't have a date so he makes up a girl called Leah, but then of course he asks Tia for a favour. She says she will goes as his date if he will help her get back to London for Mike's party to sort everything out. They have to fake it in front of his friends and it nearly all goes wrong, but the two of them find themselves falling for each other anyway... 

I just felt like there were too many tropes in the book, including the fact that Tia loves baking and that they go ice skating and blah blah blah. It needed about half of it cutting out, I swear. 

One of my main criticisms was that this book felt like an American novel that had somehow been transported to the south of England. Some American things seemed to remain, like that every teenager had a fancy car (maybe they were just rich?) and just some other weird stuff. I also didn't get why Tia and her family had to go to the farm like at the beginning of December. Would a mum really take her kids out of school and college for so long? It did give Tia and Quincy time to get to know each other, which is why I suspect it was done, but it just didn't seem real. Maybe I needed to suspend my disbelief for the whole book, though! 

I'm giving this two out of five, unfortunately. Sorry, just not for me. 

Books I Got For Christmas

As is usual for me at Christmas, I got a bunch of books. Surprisingly though, I didn't get any from my friend Laura! Usually we buy each other books but this time she bought me other (lovely!) stuff instead. I bought her The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken though, which I've heard is good; I also bought it for my partner so I can steal it if it's any good! 

I always like joining in with Secret Santas but this year I just joined two, to try to keep costs and stress down a bit in the run up to Christmas. One of them I joined in with was Book Flood by Shuttersandletters, where you send books that your partner can open on Christmas Eve (as is traditional in Iceland). I saved mine for Christmas Day, though. Here's what I got:

Felix Ever After sounds right up my street. Brother of the More Famous Jack isn't something I've ever heard of, but I picked it up early in the new year and will be writing my review soon. Spoiler: I loved it! I'll explain why when I review it. I also got a Joanne Harris book of short stories, which I don't think I've ever read, or if I have, it's a VERY long time ago (I've liked Joanne's books for over twenty years!) I'm thrilled about these books!

I also joined in with The Broke The Bookish's Secret Santa, I've joined in with this for a few years now and also enjoy it. I signed up for 2+ books plus goodies, and I wasn't disappointed by my goodies (although I didn't take a picture, sorry!). Here's what I got:

I haven't heard of the first two authors, but I'm intrigued by the books so am looking forward to getting to them. Tony Parsons wrote one of my favourite books ever - called Stories We Could Tell, it's sort of about his time as an NME jounralist. It's set on the night that Elvis died in 1977, and it's great... So I have high hopes for this one!

I also got a ton of books from other people:

The cross stitch book was from my friend Sarah, and it is so fun and funny. I Know You Did It has been on my wishlist for ages, my friend Sam bought me it and also the one next to it, which is about the Manic Street Preachers album The Holy Bible. Lee bought me Dark and Shallow Lies, I saw it in Waterstones in Lancaster when we were on holiday there in October, along with Ace of Spades, so I asked for him to buy them for me. The next one is a book about Schitt's Creek called Love That Journey For Me; Lee bought me that on request too. The Book of Queer Prophets was from my friends Leanne and Adi - Leanne always chooses books that are right up my street but which I don't already own. My mum bought me The World of All Creatures Great and Small. I'm not sure if you've seen the remake of it on Ch5, but I LOVE it. We were in Grassington when they were filming there in November 2019 which was really cool, so I've liked the series and am looking forward to reading this companion book.

Vegan North was an unexpected gift from my friend Chloe, along with some lebkuchen. It features several vegan restaurants in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, and some recipes from each of those which is very cool. I thumbed through this and was happy to find recipes from some favourite places around me like Bundobust in Leeds. The House on Needless Street was a gift from Lee's mam and stepdad, they also gave it to one of my sisters in law who likes a lot of the same books I do. It's a bit gothic I think, and it sounds great. Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World is a sequel to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe which I read a few years ago. I had heard there was a sequel coming out so when I spied it in a shop while on a weekend away in November I asked my mum to buy it for me. She also bought me Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu which I am so looking forward to!

I try to get through my Christmas and birthday books fairly quickly, so let's see how I get on in 2022!

Christmas Books 2020

I just wanted to share with you the books that I got for Christmas. I was really lucky, I got a load. My friend Laura always buys me books, plus I asked Lee's sister for the Derry Girls book as she never knows what to buy us, plus I did two Secret Santas that were book related. Oh and Lee's brother bought me a book too! I was absolutely spoilt! Here's what I got:

Erin's Diary - a companion book to the TV show Derry Girls. I can't wait to get to this, I bet it's hilaruous. 

The Offing - Lee's brother bought me this - it's set in Durham where Lee's family is from, so that'll be nice to read

FOXES - this is the third in the trilogy by M A Bennett and my mum bought me this. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes

The Long Call - my friend Laura bought me this; I have read a few books by Ann Cleeves and enjoyed them, although not for ages. So I'm looking forward to this, too

The Ghost of Gosswater - I haven't heard of this at all but I do now like gothic novels, so Laura bought this for me too. It sounds good!

Melt My Heart - this came from one of my Secret Santas. I enjoyed Bethany's first book, so I'll look forward to this too

Queer Folk Tales - my friends Leanne and Adi bought this for Lee and I. It sounds perfect for me! 

You Should See Me In a Crown - my friend Lucinda bought this for me, she really enjoyed it and thinks I will too. I've heard good things about it

Radio Silence - one of my Secret Santas sent me this too. I hear so many amazing things about Alice Oseman, but haven't ever read much by her, so it'll be good to read this

Boy Parts - I loved this! So my Santa chose well! I read it on eBook, so I'm glad to own it in paper - I always like to own books in paper even if I read them digitally. Plus it makes it easy to lend to people

The Falling in Love Montage - I'm intrigued by this, and am not really sure if it's my kind of thing, but I'm willing to give it a go. 

Last year, I challenged myself to read all the books I'd been given for Christmas and my birthday, instead of letting them languish on the shelves, and I did pretty well with that challenge. So I'm setting myself the same challenge for this year - let's see how I do! 

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle - Review

Where did I get it? I don't exactly remember, I know I've had it a few years and I know I thought last January "Gosh, I really must read that at Christmas this year", and I remembered this when I was looking at the bookshelves a couple of weeks ago, so pulled it out to read close to Christmas. I feel like someone may have sent me it in a swap, so if that was you thank you very much!

I have, by the way, still got loads of reviews to write for what I read in November and the beginning of December, but I decided to put this review here so that it's timely! 

What's it about? Each author has written a different story in the book, set in the same town which is enduring a huge snowstorm on Christmas Eve, and which are loosely connected and feature some of the same characters. When I started reading it, I didn't quite understand how this worked, but it soon became clear, and I thought it was really clever how it was done. I would love to write a book with someone in this fashion!

So the first story, by Maureen Johnson, concerns Jubilee. Her parents get arrested on Christmas Eve and they decide to send Jubilee to her grandparents' in Florida. She gets on a train and then it gets stuck in a snowstorm in a small town called Gracetown. She leaves the train to walk to the local Waffle House which she can see from the tracks, leaving her new friend Jeb in the company of a bunch of cheerleaders. When they all make it to Waffle House, Jubilee decides to leave with someone she met there, and romance ensues... 

I liked this story, I liked Jubilee a lot, for me this was the best story. 

In the second story, written by John Green, the manager of the Waffle House calls up his friends to come and join him and the cheerleaders, so Tobin and JP and the Duke set off in the storm. They're battling against two other groups, and chaotic events don't stop happening. 

You can tell this is John Green's story, it's got very much a feel of his writing. I liked Tobin and the Duke a lot, I thought this was a funny story and perfect in how it ended too. 

The third story, by Lauren Myracle, is the weakest of the three, and I struggled to warm to Addie. She's in the middle of a crisis because she's split up with her boyfriend Jeb (remember him from before?) after cheating on him. Her friends keep telling her she's very self-involved (which I'm not sure I agree with, but I don't think we got to see enough of her character, really), so she makes a promise to do something on Boxing Day for her friend. Can she manage it and get Jeb back at the same time? 

I do have to say there was some problematic language in this book which probably wouldn't pass an editor in 2018, but clearly did in 2008. I found that quite jarring, but I guess it does show the progress we've made in ten years. 

What age range is it for? 14+ 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No 

Are any main characters people of colour? Jeb is First Nation 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No 

Is there any sex stuff? No 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? No 

Are there swear words? No - I think it's Tobin who keeps using other words instead. 

What criticisms do I have? Use of words like "sp*z" and "r*tard" just isn't acceptable - I don't think it was in 2008 so I'm sad to see them. I also didn't like Addie very much 

Would I recommend the book? Yes, despite my criticisms. It's cute, they're all cute romances, and the snowstorm adds both some danger and some magic. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? Because it's CHRISTMAS!

What other books is it like? Other John Green ones, for sure. I really liked Tobin, I would like a whole novel about him. 

How many stars? Four out of five, more like seven out of ten but even so 

Where is the book going now? I'll definitely keep it and might read it again 

Christmas Swaps and Book Haul

I love Christmas and one of the reasons why is the number of Secret Santas that I join in with. I really like putting parcels together for strangers or sometimes people I know, and hoping that they'll love what I've bought. I also love getting parcels, too, of course!

I joined in two specifically bookish Secret Santas, one organised by The Broke and the Bookish blog and one organised by Rachel. I joined in a Thrifty Gift Swap organised by my friend Janet, and a Stitching Santa swap organised by a craft blog. I got books and goodies galore for all these swaps!

Let's see...

This was the swap organise by Rachel. These books were on my wishlist and I'm really excited to read both of them :) I also really like hot chocolate and chocolate, and while I don't do face masks often I possibly should!

The was the Thrifty swap, and my friend Jane sent me these. The books are both second hand - the one on the left is one of those terrible 80s teen romances that I devoured when I was twelve, and the other looks really interesting, I'll definitely pick up both of these!

This was my Stitching gift, hence the handmade parts. The sender was in Germany and didn't know anyone else she could pass on English language books to, so sent them to me. I've never read Emma so I'll definitely be trying to read that. The other one looks like an easy enough read, the kind of thing that I would pass on to my mother in law after reading!

And here's the Broke and Bookish swap. I signed up to both send and receive "two books plus goodies" and WOW, was I ever spoilt! Look at all the amazing things Sharon sent me! You can't see too well in the picture, but the book next to the pencils is a Book Journal/Log. I've had one before but it got filled up, so I'm looking forward to using this. The book next to that is "Crocheted Scarves and Cowls" - I'm a keen crocheter and I always want to push myself so this will be great. Below that is a Christmas colouring journal, and then on the left are two books from my wishlist and a book about writing Young Adult fiction that I haven't yet read! The wishlist books are We Are All Made of Molecules which sounds SO GOOD, and Gypsies Stop tHere. I am so looking forward to these!

And finally here are the other books I got. My friend Laura bought me The Woman in Black - she lent it to me in 2016 and I loved it, so I'm happy to have this edition with other stories in too. Isn't it a gorgeous edition? My mum and stepdad bought me I'm Not With the Band because as you know I love books about music!

I did well, didn't I? What books did you get for Christmas?

What Light by Jay Asher - Review

Where did I get it? I bought it in Waterstones a couple of weeks ago and decided to read it near Christmas.

What's it about? Sierra lives in Oregon, on a Christmas tree farm. She loves it, and her best friends, Rachel and Elizabeth. But every year, at Thanksgiving, she and her parents go down to California to set up the lot from where they sell Christmas trees right up until Christmas Day. Sierra has a friend there, Heather, who she misses throughout the year. However, this might be the last year that she goes, because the lot isn't doing well and her parents may not open it again, and because Rachel and Elizabeth want Sierra to spend the Christmas of their senior year in Oregon joining in with all the parties and dances that happen. This might be Sierra's last Christmas in California.

So of course, into that, walks Caleb. He's a fairly typical "bad boy". Heather warns Sierra off him, telling her that Caleb attacked his sister with a knife. But then Sierra discovers that he saves his tips from his job to buy Christmas trees for families who couldn't otherwise afford them. Sierra finds herself falling in love with Caleb even though she knows their time is limited and even though she isn't sure whether to trust him.

I'll be honest - I found this book dragged. I started it ages ago and it just didn't grip me. I don't know why, because I liked the setting and I liked Sierra. I felt like her dad was just stupidly overprotective though (every time one of the male workers talks to Sierra, her dad sends them to clean the loos, which I just found absurd) and I felt like Caleb was just.... too perfect? He is flawed (he attacked his sister with a knife, kind of...) but he also does things that I just don't think any 17 year old boy has ever done. He was just so mature and so manly and perfect. I couldn't get on with him at all.

It's weird because I haven't thought about Jay Asher in forever. I read Thirteen Reasons Why about 6 years ago; it was actually one of the first YA books I ever read, and I really enjoyed it. I picked this up, but I'm not sure I'll read anything else by the author. I get that this is supposed to be a cute festive story, but it needed more bite. 

What age range is it for? 13+, there's almost nothing salacious in it. I actually thought there should have been more sexual activity. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No

Are any main characters people of colour? No

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No

Is there any sex stuff? No, just some kissing. As above, I would've liked to see this

Are drugs mentioned or used? No

Is there any talk of death? No 

Are there swear words? Not really. 

Would I recommend the book? Not really. It didn't float my boat. 

How many stars? Six out of ten. Cute, but not good enough.