Title: The Ex-Mas Holidays
Author: Zoe Allison
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Source: Rachel’s Random Resources
Blurb: 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.
Review: I fell in love with the title and the blurb and, as I adore a cosy Christmassy romance, I jumped at the chance to read The Ex-Mas Holidays. Sadly, I wish I hadn’t bothered.
Firstly, despite the title, it’s not an overly Christmassy story. Secondly, the reason the couple broke up originally was due to a miscommunication that could have been resolved at the time by a simple conversation.
I could forgive these things were it not for the third – and most important – issue: that the love interest Sam is with another woman for most of the book. Of course, she’s the opposite of Maya, being a mean, nasty and shallow woman, which just made me question why the heck Sam was with her in the first place.
Yes, the meet cute was funny. I actually loved Maya and Sam as characters and their reunion, if we ignore the girlfriend, is very believable. However, there IS the girlfriend and just because Sam doesn’t act on his attraction to Maya, I still consider him to have cheated. The external tension of their relationship could have existed had he broken up with her.
Other people might read the story differently, but it was too dark a cloud for me to ignore.
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