Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake Published by Penguin on October 1, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Holiday, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / General, Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780593550595Two exes find themselves stuck at the same house for Christmas in this holiday romance by Ashley Herring Blake.
It's been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she’s doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in, but she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado—it is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet’s upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane’s sister Adele also brought a friend home—and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton.
All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas—and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she’s stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers—which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele’s mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won’t talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did.
After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together—Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin—and it all feels painfully familiar. But it’s all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts...right?
I definitely expected this to be a 4 or 5 star read as I usually rate Ashley Herring Blake’s books that high. But this one was a miss for me. I’m unsure what it was, whether it was the second-chance romance aspect or the holiday setting, but something was just not clicking.
For the story and writing, it’s still the same quality that AHB writes. The characters are still real and convincing and the pacing was well done with all the Two Turtledove events. I’ve read holiday romance books before and loved them, so I have a difficult time saying it was just the holiday part that was bothersome.
Both Charlotte and Brighton were pretty annoying, and I didn’t care for them or their romance. I kept expecting to click with Charlotte, as I definitely relate to the whole horrible mother and needing to be in control cause emotions are terribly embarrassing and inconvenient. For whatever reason, that never happened. I kept getting annoyed with Charlotte instead. As for Brighton, it wasn’t any better. She was so whiny and annoying, I couldn’t stand her.
I was much more interested in the side characters and their stories, both as individuals and romantically (especially Wes and Sloan). This didn’t turn me away from AHB’s books, as I’m still planning on reading Dream on, Ramona Riley when it comes out.
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