Three Holidays and a Wedding: A cosy, festive holiday rom com, perfect for fans of Ayesha at Last and The Matzah Ball
£0.90
‘Magical. The most festive book you’ll read this year’ CARLEY FORTUNE, bestselling author of Every Summer After
One snowstorm.
Two strangers.
Three times the holiday magic . . .
When strangers Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson are seated next to each other on a flight – Maryam travelling to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her wealthy boyfriend’s parents over the holidays – neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. Unfortunately, Maryam’s lifelong crush Saif happened to be sitting two rows behind them and heard it all, including the part where she professed undying love for him.
An emergency landing finds Anna, Maryam and Saif snowbound at a quirky hotel in the picture-perfect town of Snow Falls – 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 an unexpected new love, they might just realise there’s nowhere they’d rather be for the holidays.
What’s everyone saying about Three Holidays and a Wedding?
‘The perfect cosy read’ Amy E. Reichert, author of Once Upon a December
‘A heartwarming celebration’ Jean Meltzer, author of The Matzah Ball
‘My favourite holiday romance ever!’ Sara Desai, author of The Dating Plan
Read more
Additional information
| Publisher | Corvus (28 Sept. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 2091 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 385 pages |
| Page numbers source ISBN | 0593543912 |
by LyzzyBee
The perfect holiday read, escapist and nicely predictable in many ways, it is also diverse in a way many Christmas rom-coms aren’t. The co-authors wrote a main character each in alternating chapters and you really can’t see the joins. Our heroines Maryam and Anna are trapped in a small town in Canada on the way to Maryam’s sister’s wedding and Anna’s newish boyfriend’s high-end festivities, Maryam has her three-generation family and Anna doesn’t even have a proper coat, but they find lodgings at a local inn run by a lesbian couple and start to enjoy their “snow days”, finding the small town has a whole range of inhabitants and the ability to cover Christmas, Hanukkah and Eid celebrations at the same time (the book is set in 2000 when the three coincided, with some poetic licence).
There’s romance and rethinking of priorities, there are laughs and good food, truths and community – a lovely warm book that it would be great to curl up with on an actual snow day.
by Gilbster
Wow, I think this is a book that everyone should read, as it shows aspects of Christmas, Hannukah and Ramadan, and how people from multiple religions can respect each others traditions and live and celebrate together.
All set in a tiny Canadian town that just happens to have an airport. I loved the setting so much, as well getting to know our main characters, and what their holiday traditions would be if they were at home.
And thus how they can be adjusted to the situation they find themselves in.
Add in a Wedding that is due to be at the end of Ramadan, and Maryam and Anna who although from different cultures have far more in common than they first think, and you have a really rather special book.
When I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it. It’s set in 2000 which was the first time in 30 years that all 3 of these major holidays converged over the same time frame. Although Christmas and Hannukah overlap fairly regularly, Ramadan being in the mix too really did add another element to the story that was fascinating.
I really loved every word and I really don’t want to spoil anything for you. There is romance, there are festivities, there is character development, there is wow a boyfriend at the start of the story that I really took an instant dislike to, and a whole lot more besides.
Add in traditional foods, a really multicultural town, a holiday hoopla, and a whole lot more, this was just one fabulous book. Definitely one to add to your festive TBRs this year.
Thank you to Corvus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
by Books_and_a_baby89
Omg this book! My heart dropped in my boots when I read that Saif had heard the whole conversation, I wanted the ground to swallow them up!
A really nice story that really gets you in the holiday / festive mood and not too steamy which is nice sometimes.
by Annette J
Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley is the ultimate in feel good festive reading , perfect for the holiday season. I defy anyone to read this book and not feel the holiday spirit as they turn the last page. The premise of this book is rooted in the idea that Christmas, Eid and Hanukkah all happen around the same time, something that did actually happen in the year 2000.
Maryam Aziz is flying to Toronto with her family ahead of her younger sister’s wedding, as big sister /eldest daughter she is responsible for corralling the family and getting them through the airport , not to mention planning most of the wedding activities. Anna Gibson is headed there to meet her boyfriend’s family, the boyfriend who was hiding a ring box in his drawer and has mentioned numerous times how perfect she is for him , how perfect their relationship is and how she is going to be the hit of the holidays with his family at the numerous events they have planned. These very different women find themselves seated next to each other on the flight. Though their relationship does not get off on the best foot, when turbulence strikes they find themselves confessing their fears, hopes and deepest secrets to each other , including Maryam’s long standing crush on an old neighbour, Saif. To her horror, when the plane is forced to land in the small town of Snow Falls instead of Toronto as planned, Maryam discovers that Saif was sitting just a couple of rows behind her and heard everything.
Snow Falls may be picture perfect, so much so in fact that it is the location for a currently filming holiday romance, but it is not Toronto, and with storms brewing and snow falling it seems increasingly unlikely that either Anna or Maryam and her family will get there. Instead they find themselves staying at the local inn along with Saif and the cast of the movie that is currently filming, including the actor that Anna has a huge crush on .
This is the perfect setting for holiday romance, in fact for two of them , and of course that is what we get here , although we also get so much more. We get a great friendship between the characters, we gain insight into other cultures and their customs and beliefs and we get to laugh along the way – what more could we possibly ask for.
I am so impressed by how seamlessly this book comes together given that there are two different authors, and while I had read other books by Uzma Jalaluddin and loved them, I was not familiar with Marissa Stapley. Having read this book and enjoyed it immensely, I will definitely be checking more of her books out. I loved how each author was able to bring their traditions into the book and show how people of different faiths can have more in common than they ever realised, and can learn so much from one another.
I really loved this book and I already plan to cosy up with it, a big glass of wine and some Christmas chocolate treats as the festive season approaches.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .