The Ex-Mas Holidays
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3.5 • 11 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
It’s hard to escape your ex when you’re working together over Christmas in the Scottish Highlands, but being stuck together might be the best possible present in this sparkling new contemporary romance.
Maya Bashir is dreading her drive home for Christmas and having to explain that she's just left her high-paying job and a long-term relationship, so a brief detour to her friend’s festive party doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Until Maya walks in to find the last person she wants to see. Sam, the boy who broke her heart eight years ago. And he’s serving drinks. Naked.
Sam Holland is working an extra job on the sly to help his friend get by. But little did he expect Maya Bashir to come barrelling back into his life, learning about his secret side-hustle and taking back her old job alongside him at his daytime role as a ski instructor on the slopes of the Scottish Highlands.
As both Sam and Maya realize that their reason for heartbreak so many years ago wasn’t entirely as it seemed, they must learn to stand up for what they want the most…or else miss their second chance at love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Going home for the holidays prompts a second chance at love in this light but frustrating contemporary from Allison (Second Chance at First Love). Freshly dumped, fired from a high-powered job, and homeless, 20-something Maya Bashir reluctantly returns to her hometown in the Scottish Highlands to move in with her parents. En route, she stops in at a friend's Christmas party—where she's shocked to see Sam Holland, her best friend's twin brother and her own long time crush, working as a naked bartender. Eight years earlier, they were on the brink of starting a relationship. Now they hate each other, and they haven't spoken since. What happened? From Sam's perspective, Maya cruelly rejected him; from Maya's, Sam humiliated and betrayed her. It takes until the end of the book for the real truth to come out. As they work side by side as ski instructors at a local resort, resentment and awkwardness turns to friendship—and maybe something more, if only they could learn to communicate. Allison tries to sell this exasperating lack of communication by emphasizing the leads' insecurities, littering both of their internal monologues with extreme negative self-talk. Though the premise is cute and moments of humor and tenderness appeal, it's hard to invest in Sam and Maya's connection. Readers will be disappointed.
