Title: Three Holidays and a Wedding
Author: Uzma Jalaluddin & Marissa Stapley
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: September 23, 2023

I received a complimentary eARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Warm • Cheesy • Festive

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.

As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.

When Anna, Maryam, Saif, and Maryam’s sister’s bridal party are snowbound at a quirky inn on the outskirts of Snow Falls—a picture-perfect town where a holiday romance starring Anna’s actor-crush is being filmed—chaos ensues. But as Maryam and Anna start to feel the magic of Snow Falls—and find love better than their deepest hopes—they just might realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I have enjoyed several of Uzma Jalaluddin's books in the past, but have yet to read Marissa Stapley. With that said, I was intrigued after reading the premise and interested to see what this writing duo could do with a holiday rom-com. Three Holidays and a Wedding was the only holiday book I put on my TBR this year.

What I like:
• the friendship between Maryam and Anna. Their unlikely friendship was my favourite part of this book. They helped each other and I'd have been completely okay if it had been the focus of the book.
• the combination of the three holidays. I really enjoyed the tri-holiday concept. Learning about the each of the different customs of the faiths was informative and just was a good fit.
• the Canadian setting. The fictional town of Snow Falls was delightful. A little over-the-top but that's to be expected in holiday rom-coms
• the grandfather. My favourite character hands down. His wisdom and appearances always brought a smile to my face.

What I didn't like:
• the romances. There was just so much going on that it took so long to get to the actual romance. Each of the romance plotlines got equal page time, so flushing out two entire romances made the novel longer than it needed to be.
• Nick. He was just awful and I found myself skimming anytime he made an appearance.

It's hard to pin point exactly how I felt about this holiday romance. There were some things I really enjoyed, but on the other hand there was so much going on that it got a little convoluted. It needed some editing, because the writing was choppy at times. This was a different type of holiday read for me, and I would consider picking up another book if this duo teamed up again, yet I cannot say for sure.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Hallmark Christmas movie lovers
• readers looking for diverse holiday rep

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"The world was a miracle, at all times of the year."

"'We're all broken,' Saif said. 'We just make beautiful new things with our broken pieces.'"

"When you lose someone, a 'right time' never really comes. You have to take happiness as it comes to you, while accepting that grief will always live with you, too."