About the book
Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.
As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.
An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, 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 being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.
My Review
Expect the unexpected – at least that’s what Maryam and Anna learn when they attempt to travel to Toronto and get rerouted due to a massive snow storm. The two women meet on the plane for the first time, seatmates who are both anxious to get to Toronto for different reasons. Maryam has her sister’s impromptu wedding to help pull off and Anna is meeting her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time and feels all the pressure to make a good first impression. Maryam’s family is all dismayed at the change of plans when it looks like the wedding might not be able to happen, and Anna deals with her boyfriend’s complete lack of understanding of the beyond-her-control situation. When they all arrive to Snow Falls they find it to be absolutely buried in snow but also a picture-perfect small town – one worthy of being used a filming location for a holiday romance movie. Cue: a perfect setting to fall in love.
Maryam has once or twice believed Saif is the love of her life – and he was on the same flight to Toronto for her sister’s wedding, which puts him stranded in Snow Falls as well. Anna befriends a mysterious man that turns out to be the leading actor in the holiday romance movie being filmed, and the two women turn to each other for not only love advice, but life advice throughout their days together. In a town that embraces all cultures and religions, the women are soon working on celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Ramadan – while trying to re-plan Maryam’s sister wedding and juggle their respective love lives.
Three Holidays and a Wedding was a true rom com charmer, from the setting to the loveable main characters to the slightly chaotic supporting cast. I love the emphasis on Snow Falls being a small town that is 100% open to different cultures, religions and beliefs, and as someone who celebrates Christmas, it was nice to learn more about Hanukkah and Ramadan from the storyline. If you need some cooling off from warm summer weather, this is the perfect escapism read for you.
