TESSA TALKS BOOKS

It’s hard to escape your ex when you’re working together over Christmas in the Scottish Highlands, but being stuck together might be the best possible present in this sparkling new contemporary romance.
 
Maya Bashir is dreading her drive home for Christmas and having to explain that she’s just left her high-paying job and a long-term relationship, so a brief detour to her friend’s festive party doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Until Maya walks in to find the last person she wants to see. Sam, the boy who broke her heart eight years ago. And he’s serving drinks. Naked.
 
Sam Holland is working an extra job on the sly to help his friend get by. But little did he expect Maya Bashir to come barrelling back into his life, learning about his secret side hustle and taking back her old job alongside him in his daytime role as a ski instructor on the slopes of the Scottish Highlands.
 
As both Sam and Maya realize that their reason for heartbreak so many years ago wasn’t entirely as it seemed, they must learn to stand up for what they want the most…or else miss their second chance at love.

When an old rival reappears right before the holidays, a professional dog trainer must decide if the melting frost between them can make up for their ruff past, from the USA Today bestselling author of Dog Friendly.

Chelsea Higgins is doing just fine. She’s heading into the holidays at the helm of a thriving dog training business, and she’s got a mellow senior dog at home to keep her warm at the end of the day. What more could she need? Enter certified gym bro Andrew Gibson: Chelsea’s former nemesis, and now the newest neighbor in her business complex, who also wants to expand into the vacant space Chelsea’s been eyeing for months. Who cares if it’s the season of joy? Let the turf war begin.

When an unfortunate (and literal) run-in with Andrew’s lawless dog leaves Chelsea with a bum wrist, the two strike a deal: Andrew will help Chelsea rehab the injury if she’ll work with him to train his adorably uncivilized boxer.

Their typical bickering soon turns to bantering, and Chelsea finds herself inexplicably drawn to the man she thought she had nothing in common with. As she gets to know Andrew and his parents, she realizes she needs to refocus on her own family, especially with a milestone Christmas speeding toward them. But Chelsea can’t help wondering if she and Andrew are training for keeps, or if this unexpected Christmas gift is just too good to be true.

My Review: (3🌟’s) Unleashed Holiday by Victoria Schade is a cute story thanks mainly to a handful of dogs and even some goats with great personalities and charm. There’s not a lot of holiday in this holiday rom-com, but there are plenty of laughs along with some deeper issues the main characters need to resolve to move on.

So many aspects of this story are thoroughly enjoyable. Unfortunately, I struggled with the main character and narrator, Chelsea, which impacted my entire reading experience. Her grief over her father’s passing and her family’s reaction to her reason for being stuck in that grief weren’t authentic to me. It ultimately felt self-indulgent and disrespectful, which made her a difficult character to get behind. Though, Andrew – Chelsea’s second chance love interest – is a character whose situation and reactions felt one hundred percent believable and saved the story for me.

I loved the way Chelsea’s and Andrew’s relationship played out. It is so gradual and subtle, often taking a backseat to their growth journies. I found this to be so refreshing and genuine.

The story’s pacing is very consistent, making its medium pace feel even faster than it is. That’s partly due to the first-person narration from Chelsea’s POV. I don’t know that the setting is significant, but that didn’t significantly impact my enjoyment of the story. I just simply forgot where it was taking place.  

Unleashed Holiday is a lovely choice for animal lovers, particularly those with a soft spot for dogs.

From Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of The Homewreckers and The Santa Suit, comes a novella celebrating love and the warm, glittering charm of the holiday season.

“Nobody does Christmas like Mary Kay Andrews.” ―Debbie Macomber

“Cozy up with Santa’s favorite novelist!” ―Adriana Trigiani

When fall rolls around, it’s time for Kerry Tolliver to leave her family’s Christmas tree farm in the mountains of North Carolina for the wilds of New York City to help her gruff older brother & his dog, Queenie, sell the trees at the family stand on a corner in Greenwich Village. Sharing a tiny vintage camper and experiencing Manhattan for the first time, Kerry’s ready to try to carve out a new corner for herself.

In the weeks leading into Christmas, Kerry quickly becomes close with the charming neighbors who live near their stand. When an elderly neighbor goes missing, Kerry will need to combine her country know-how with her newly acquired New York knowledge to protect the new friends she’s come to think of as family,

And complicating everything is Patrick, a single dad raising his adorable, dragon-loving son Austin on this quirky block. Kerry and Patrick’s chemistry is undeniable, but what chance does this holiday romance really have?

Filled with family ties, both rekindled and new, and sparkling with Christmas magic, BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CHRISTMAS delivers everything Mary Kay Andrews fans adore, all tied up in a hilarious, romantic gem of a novel.

My Review: (5🌟’s) Bright Lights Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews is the perfect holiday story for me because it’s full of authentic relationships and relatable characters. It’s a closed-door romance, but the story is more about Kerry finding herself and getting back on her feet after she unexpectedly lost her job than it is about a romance. Kerry feels she needs to reinvent herself professionally, but she’s unsure what that will look like.

I loved the found family themes, too. Is there anything more heartwarming and Christmas-like than a found family? Not to me, and the one that develops in this story is just right because all the characters are developed so well that it is easy to believe they would come together in fellowship and love. I could relate to the main character and narrator of the story – Kerry, but Heinz and Austin grabbed my heart and wouldn’t let go. Heinz is an older gentleman whom everyone thinks is homeless, and Austin is a seven-year-old boy with an old soul. And when those two come together with Kerry and create a story, I could easily believe all would be right with their world.

Also, the setting is sublime (NYC in December), with a bit of quirkiness provided by Spammy the camper. An adult brother and sister who haven’t spent much time together since their parents divorced when they were young, living in such close quarters is a situation just made for some well-timed laughs. And NYC at Christmas is just magical, so what a fantastic backdrop for the Christmas tree stand. This story made me feel Christmas, and I love that about it.

---

• Facebook
• X
• Instagram
• Goodreads
• Bluesky