Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley
Thank you Penguin Group, Putnam for my copy! All thoughts are my own.
If there’s one thing I love to read about in books, it’s storms. Storms have always fascinated me and snowstorms always make for great stakes in a holiday story. I also was particularly excited to read this book because as someone who loves Christmas and loves Christmas movies, rom coms, and books, I am always looking to find more stories that feature other holidays. Now, I know that the western calendar doesn’t mean that Christmas is the most important holiday, it’s just what has been prioritized in western culture. But I loved the premise of this book that is based on the year 2000 when all three holidays took place around the same time.
I thought this book was very cute and a perfect holiday read if you like family stories with a dash of romance. It’s got just the right amount of fun, heart, and holiday magic.
Synopsis:
“ 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.
An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.” —NetGalley
What I Liked:
The Story/Premise—I’ve always been fascinated and thrilled when the Muslim and Jewish holidays align with Christmas. Since we live in a country that doesn’t guarantee time off for the non-Christian western holidays (which is a problem in and of itself) I’m always happy to see this time align for families. I loved that this was a little period piece of the early 2000’s and featured a snowstorm. You know I love a good storm in a good!
The Characters—I thought the characters were vibrant and wonderful. I loved their relationships and bonds, I loved the small town and it kind of gave me Schitt’s Creek vibes, where it was a small town but full of accepting, diverse people.
What Didn’t Work For Me:
Wish it was 1st POV—I’m becoming a reader that really prefers first person POV in Romance which is entirely a personal preference!
Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: 0/5 Overall Rating: 3.75/5
Content Warnings:
gaslighting, death of a parent, grief, toxic relationship