Holiday Read - Taylor Cole

I was given an advanced copy of Holiday Read by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.. so here goes.

I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it.

The challenge with romance is that it's a very common and intensely saturated genre. Writers have to stand out to make them feel different to all the others. And whilst I can see what Cole tried to do - it rarely missed the mark.

I made the mistake of reading reviews whilst I was reading the book. I got about a third of the way in and, getting quite frustrated with the story in a "Surely not?" kind of way - I took a look at the reviews (something I NEVER normally do). The guilt absolutely took me over so I finished it instead of DNF'ing it.

And I'm glad I did because thankfully, it set itself back on a relatively good course.

In an attempt to set themselves out from other romance writers - there were some seriously unnecessary facts throughout the dialogue which turned elements into a lesson. There were social issues highlighted and discussed purely for the sake of featuring them in the story/book.

There were one or two subplots that were completely unnecessary - trying to tie up the ends just left the final chapters rushed and with no depth or value.

The desire to highlight and include so much of Cornwalls rich and beautiful scenery and history was clear, but it fell short of the mark because it just didn't DETAIL it all. It was spread too thin.

The main romance story - awesome, I love it. The motivating plot behind it, worked. The doubt I felt when I thought it was going to go one way was well done and I'm glad it DIDN'T go there. And had the the writer chosen to strengthen instead of adding in the above mentioned snippets - it probably would have ended up being a relatively decent read.

And I have to say it - the title is misleading. I'm keen to see what the others will say on release.

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