Book number 44 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge is The Christmas Holiday by Maxine Morrey.

‘As winter comes to London, journalist Mia Walker is desperately hoping for her big break as a travel writer, dreaming of exotic locations and sun-soaked beaches. When she’s invited to write a romantic travel piece that ends in a huge winter wedding in London, she jumps at the chance. The only trouble is, the photographer is renowned adventure-junkie Hunter Scott, who Mia last saw five years ago when she ended their engagement.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and Mia knows she’d be mad to say no – even if it does mean spending weeks travelling round the world with the one man she never wanted to see again! But as the wedding approaches, and the magic of Christmas begins to take hold, Mia can’t help looking out for mistletoe – and wishing she hadn’t cancelled her own engagement after all…’ (Thanks Amazon)

When I saw this novel was coming out by the lovely Maxine Morrey I was rather excited.  I loved The Christmas Project, and I knew that The Christmas Holiday would be just as good.  I was a little dubious about reading my first Christmas themed novel in September, but I really shouldn’t have worried.  This novel is more about seeing some amazing sights across the world than it is about Christmas, so please don’t worry about reading this novel too early in the year.

Mia Walker is a journalist who despite enjoying her job as the ‘Hatches, Matches and Despatches’ writer, longs to be a travel journalist.  She finds herself presented with the perfect opportunity – her boss asks her to travel alongside his daughter Olivia and her fiancee Sandeep to document the big worldwide trip they have planned before they get married at Christmas.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Mia and she is determined to prove herself in the world of journalism.

Hunter Scott is a world renowned photographer, who also happens to be close friends with Olivia and Sandeep.  Oh, and he’s Mia’s ex-fiancee.  Awkward!

So, Mia and Hunter are forced to embark on a two month journey around the world together, documenting Olivia and Sandeep’s trip with words and photographs.  I really enjoyed getting to know the four main characters of this novel, although particularly Mia and Hunter.  As the novel progressed, I found it harder to understand Mia’s reasons for ending her engagement to Hunter, although it was also quite difficult to understand why Hunter walked away.  These two characters are clearly very stubborn who both had issues that they needed to deal with.

What blew me away about this novel though was the locations.  The travel destinations are described with such vibrancy that it is difficult not to get caught up in Mia’s excitement about visiting these places.  They are colourful places, full of culture and wonder.  They have definitely inspired me to add some places to my ‘to visit’ list!

I loved this novel.  It was light-hearted, even if it did touch on some more difficult topics (I don’t want to give anything away so you’ll have to read it to find out what these are for yourself).  There’s plenty to see with lashings of romance thrown in for good measure.  Go grab yourself a copy, there’s no need to wait until Christmas to experience some Christmas magic!

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this lovely novel in exchange for my honest review.