Holly's Jolly Christmas

De: Stephanie Alves

Narrado por: Ryan Stone, Andi Eloise

Lesson one: Don't ask a stranger for dating advice while drunk. Lesson two: Don't fall for your dating coach. Lesson three: Oops.

My dating life is a disaster. Getting stood up at a bar was far from how I envisioned my night. But when the brooding yet incredibly hot bartender, Mark, keeps pouring me drink after drink, things take an unexpected turn. After a drunken dance and a broken glass, I find myself asking him to become my dating coach.

Mark is completely wrong for me. He's grumpy, a Christmas scrooge, and adamant that he doesn't want a relationship. He's only supposed to be helping me navigate the dating world. But what begins as "just friends" quickly becomes nights of ice skating, baking cookies, and late-night conversations that make my heart flutter.

The more time we spend together, the more the chemistry between us crackles. And I start to wonder if maybe... Mark might be exactly what I've been looking for all along.

Contains mature content. A complete list of content warnings can be found on the author's website.

©2024 Stephanie Alves (P)2025 Podium Audio

Head scratchers and F bombs messed with the flow

This was cute, comedic and Christmassy most of the time. My favorite moments were the banter at the beginning and the supporting characters that were Holly’s best friend (aka Funnel Cake) and her adoring husband (aka Whipped)

Contrary to the cartoon cover art, however, this was neither cozy nor closed door. The two sex scenes were more detailed than I expected and his predominant exclamation was Fuuudge! (Only he didn’t say fudge). Which might have been more tolerable if he didn’t already drop the F bomb in every other sentence and at completely ordinary observations, like saying ‘I love fudging bunny slippers’ or ‘time to write my fudging grocery list.’ Was this intentional? Or is this author likewise someone who can’t avoid using F bombs all the time? Per Kindle, 257 times, or once every other minute of this 7.5 hr book.

Then there were the random plot points that would be mentioned and then barely factor in. Like, he’s too old for her, or so he keeps saying, but they had the same interests and his age (I didn’t even catch the exact difference) never slows him down. Or how his quasi-mother figure Mia has Alzheimer’s and he has all these interludes with Mia in the beginning, then nothing until a single thirty second meeting between Mia and Holly towards the end. Or the plot threads that should’ve factored in more, like how she’s dating another man while spending an entire day at Mark’s house, with her head on his lap, watching movies or undressing down to her cami … because she’s just that oblivious?

This wasn’t terrible. I adored the concept and overall sunny feel. But, I think the writing could use some smoothing out for consistent tone and tying in the various plot threads. Also, an editor to remove 200 or so of the unnecessary F bombs.