Along Came Holly by Codi Hall

Format: Audiobook

Publication Date: 26 September 2023

Author info: Instagram | Goodreads

💭 My thoughts...

3/5 stars

This was a lovely festive romance with good back-and-forth banter between the two main characters. I particularly enjoyed Declan as a character - he was a perfect blend of grumpy, protective and tender and his backstory was very engaging.

I was also a fan of the family dynamics presented throughout the book. Conflicts were handled with care and respect, everyone had genuine affection for each other, and while there was nothing too drastic happening in the background to detract from the mainplot, the secondary characters felt fully realised in their own right.  

I didn't realise that it was the third in a series when I downloaded it from Audible, but it didn't overly matter (the other two books are about Holly's two siblings, and you do get snippets of their relationships in this book, but there is nothing reliant on reading their stories first).

I did struggle with the length of the book, feeling that it could have been about 2 hours shorter (I listened to the audiobook) and still achieved the same things. There was a lot of focus on the pranks they pulled on each other, with several being detailed, but it would have been enough to illustrate a couple and then bring the story to its conclusion more succinctly.

Sweet, easy enough to read, but I feel no draw to read the rest of the series.

📖 Synopsis...

Holly owns the local holiday decor shop, but is unfortunately situated next door to very grumpy hardware store owner Declan. When Christmas rolls around, an unfortunate misunderstanding leads to a series of pranks which lead them to the realisation that they might have more in common than they realised.