The Holiday Honeymoon Switch

August 1, 2024

McKay (a.k.a. Marissa Stapley, author of Lucky) offers dual love stories as well as a tribute to ride-or-die friendships. Holly Beech and Ivy Casey met in college and immediately bonded over their tepid attitudes toward Christmas. They're still best friends eight years later, as Holly is about to marry her college boyfriend. When she's dumped the night before her wedding, the last thing she's thinking about is her nonrefundable Christmas honeymoon trip to Hawai'i. Holly just wants to be somewhere with zero reminders of what she's lost. Ivy has booked a remote, off-grid cabin in the Hudson Valley for the same time as her annual holiday retreat, but she doesn't want to leave Holly alone. When Holly suggests they switch vacation plans, Ivy reluctantly agrees. It will give Holly the space to grieve, and Ivy will have verdant landscapes to paint. Unbeknownst to both, their vacations will also give them romance, a sense of belonging, and the possibility of new beginnings. While the focus is on Holly's and Ivy's separate romances, there are plenty of lovable secondary characters to round out the cast. VERDICT A delightful addition to the holiday romance subgenre.--Heather Miller Cover

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 30, 2024
McKay (Lucky, written as Marissa Stapley) delivers a sweet holiday romance focused on two best friends and how their support of each other leads each to new romance. After Holly’s fiancé leaves her the night before their December wedding, she’s too distraught to go on what should have been their Hawaiian honeymoon alone, but she doesn’t want to waste the airfare and knows some time away will do her good. She and her best friend, Ivy, agree to swap vacations: Ivy will take Holly’s honeymoon, and Holly will go on Ivy’s annual solo art retreat to the Hudson Valley. Arriving in Hawaii, Ivy finds Holly’s fiancé with the woman he left Holly for. To avoid staying in the same hotel as this duplicitous duo, she accepts hot bartender Oliver’s offer of a room in his beachside apartment. The arrangement offers ideal views to inspire her art—and a chance for a steamy fling with Oliver over the holidays. Meanwhile, Holly discovers that her high school academic rival, Aiden, runs the eco-cabin where she’s staying. With the help of his adorable small town, he sets out to change her indifferent attitude toward Christmas and show her what her heart’s been missing. McKay makes both women’s romances heartwarming and the emphasis on their enduring friendship only enhances the plot. This charms.