The Book:
A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh
Published October 26th 2021 by Sweethaven Pres
Date read: November 3, 2021
The Characters:
Lauren
Will
Buy it on Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Lauren Richmond isn’t a fan of Christmas.
Which is why she rarely makes the trip home to the Midwest for the holidays. After all, she has plenty to keep her busy—namely, her duties as a set decorator on a TV sitcom.
But this December, Lauren‘s brother and his wife are expecting a baby, so her brother arranges a ride home for her with his good friend, Will.
Unfortunately for Lauren, she’s been trying to forget college baseball coach and childhood crush Will Sinclair for more than ten years.
Now, thanks to her fear of flying, she’s stuck in a car with him from California to Illinois.
She’s circumspect and organized. He’s flirty and spontaneous.
She’s convinced that people don’t change. He’s trying to prove to her (and himself) that he has.
On this cross-country road trip, they’ll both discover that history doesn’t exactly repeat itself. . . but like any good Christmas carol, it does have a second verse.
The Review:
Thank you to the author for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you seen this one around yet? Everyone’s raving about A Cross-Country Christmas, and it’s with good reason. This is more than just a Hallmark-esque holiday romance–there’s some hard feelings involved, and I didn’t expect to tear up. I love a good road trip adventure, but this book turned out to be so much more.
I liked that this book was a sunshine-and-grump trope, but with the traditional gender roles reversed. Lauren is pretty closed off at the beginning and just wants to get to their destination as quickly as possible, while Will is trying to take his time and enjoy the journey.
Will was the absolute sweetest. There’s just something about the name Will–they always end up being some of my favorite characters. He was so thoughtful and generous, and seems like just what I’d want in a guy. You couldn’t find a more giving person, going out of his way to care for the people in his life. I’m sure many readers will also relate to Lauren and her slightly Grinchy outlook, and it was fun to see her warm up throughout the story.
If there’s one holiday romance you need to read this season, it’s A Cross-Country Christmas. This book is tied for my favorite with The Holiday Swap, but I think it will appeal to a slightly wider audience. Definitely add it to your wishlist!
“Do you know how much you’re missing in the moment by always wishing you were somewhere else?”
Love Christmas romances? Check out my holiday book master list here.
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