The Holiday Ex-Files

Once upon a time, people called me the holiday queen. But catching my husband under the Christmas tree with another woman kind of did something to me. Like make me digitally crop him out of all our wedding photos and post them online. Who knew that post would go viral? Thanks to all the requests I received to do the same for other jilted partners, I started a new business called the Holiday Ex-Files. And I couldn’t be happier. Well...at least I’m not unhappy.

Then along comes my ex-husband’s best friend, Noah Cullen. Yep, like the vampires. He’s extremely gorgeous like them, too. He has a plan to help me believe in the magic of holidays again. But the more I’m around him, the more I begin to think he’s the magical one, and that perhaps I picked the wrong best friend to begin with. Maybe, just maybe, it will be a very merry Christmas after all.

Get ready for a laugh-out-loud, heartwarming holiday rom-com, perfect for any season, by USA Today best-selling author Jennifer Peel.

©2021- 2121 Jennifer Peel (P)2023 Jennifer Peel

Merry Christmas can that man kiss!

Y'all! I absolutely LOVE The Holiday Ex-Files! It's one of my favorite Christmas books of the year! I laughed, I cried, and I fell in love with all things Cami and Noah. I could NOT get enough of these too! Their story was just what the doctor ordered! I'll definitely be listening to this one over and over again!

Stefanie Kay did a fantastic job narrating this book! She had me busting out laughing and getting emotional several times. She did an AMAZING job portraying Miss Sparkly! All I can say is don't attempt to drink any liquids when Sparkles is around! 😂

This is another home run for Ms. Peel! I'm SO excited to see what she has in store for us next! 😍

Not such a Holiday Read

Based on the cover and title, I expected more holiday focus. While it was talked about through the MC's hatred of the days, it wasn't centric to the plot.
Overall, it's a fast listen and the narrator did a great job. I think she's a good voice for the genre.
I didn't like some of the wishy-washy rationale the MC displayed and her lack of awareness regarding the LI's feelings for her became as frustrating as it was repetitive. I like the author's voice but not necessarily the execution.
Thanks to the author for the alc. All thoughts are my own.

Should I finish it?

Seriously, only 1 hour & 52 minutes left and I’m thinking of not finishing. What started out as cute & somewhat interesting, has turned so monotonous & mind numbing, I don’t think I can go on! Cammy is a big, dull, whiny, can’t let go of the past even for her dog, DUD. At this point, she doesn’t deserve happiness because she is so stupid, she thinks the hot guy is in love with Anika (I NEVER want to hear that name again as it is said more times in this book than has ever probably been said in the history of time.) Also, women writers take note: stop referring to women of a certain age as somehow less capable, physically, than younger women. The main character flat out said that because her former MIL was advanced in age, she’d need a bottle of pain reliever & rest the next day just because she was dancing. Mind you, this woman almost killed herself maintaining a hot bod for her loser husband. Ageism is so 1950’s. In fact, several times, in this book, I thought it was rather prudish & old fashioned. Maybe I’ll take a break & go back. Perhaps she’ll finally merge with Miss Sparkly & become a fun character again?

Funny! Romantic! Interesting! Realistic!

I was very surprised that this audiobook was not rated higher. Some of the reviews were not that good. One reviewer wrote that it was “cheesy.” I disagree! I thought the writing was excellent! The issues that the main character deals with are very real. I have not experienced a breakup, but who doesn’t know someone that has gone through a broken relationship, especially a divorce? Some people have very major issues for a long time, like trusting again. Some people become very bitter. Some seem to never recover and the breakup affects them for a lifetime. I thought this book was very realistic in this regard, in particular. The reader knows every thought the main character has. Cam has a very strong voice inside her head that talks often. One reviewer made a negative comment about that. I once read that people spend something like 90% of their time with the private thoughts in their head. I liked that part of the book! There was still plenty of dialog among the characters. It was an excellent book, in my opinion! I finished it in one day. I could not stop listening. It had lots of LOL humor! Some parts were very heart wrenching, just very sad. It had romance, family conflict, and real life drama. The characters were very real with real problems. I highly recommend this audiobook! I fell in love with Noah, too!

Cute friends to lovers

This was fun, sweet friends to lovers with a lot of laughs. Loved watching Noah love on Cami during her journey to finding herself again.