Books & Audiobooks
Picture this: you’ve just arrived in charming smalltown Colorado to spend the holidays with your best friend’s family. A thick blanket of snow covers the ground, the house is dotted with twinkling lights, and you’re looking forward to an escape from the daily challenges of your city life. That is, until you see who will be joining you for the duration of your stay: your ex. Now the holidays will be spent dodging stolen glances and hiding the most painful part of your past from your friends. That’s exactly how main characters Charlotte and Brighton find themselves in Make the Season Bright, a dual-POV holiday romance from bestselling author Ashley Herring Blake.
Charlotte, a world-renowned violinist living in Manhattan is convinced to join her quartet partners in Colorado for Christmas. With an absentee mother and disdain for the month of December—ever since her fiancée left her at the alter during their Christmas wedding—she figures at least they could get some practicing in for their upcoming tour. Brighton, a former musician who was booted from her band just before they became an overnight success, loves the holidays. Unfortunately her parents are on a flight to Europe for a career opportunity and will have to miss their usual family celebrations. Instead of wallowing in her Nashville apartment, she joins her best friend as she travels home… to Colorado.
Neither woman could ever suspect that they were on their way to the same house. Five years after Brighton left Charlotte at the altar, they’re reunited for one week of holiday cheer and forced group activities. As a dual-POV novel, we get to hear from both characters and are provided glimpses into moments of their past before everything changed forever. The characters are likeable but realistic, a little messy just like the rest of us. Their love story, starting as best friends before emerging as each other’s true love, and falling apart only to come back together, is everything you want in an Ashley Herring Blake novel.
Make the Season Bright is filled with humour, a little angst, and plenty of holiday magic. With romance novel tropes like forced proximity, found family, and second chance romance, it’s sure to brighten up your own winter. The picturesque setting and holiday mishaps perfectly balance out the heaviness of Charlotte and Brighton’s complex relationship. It’s the story of finding your way back to your person even if it’s a little messy, and how past mistakes needn’t define the rest of your life.