Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon by Matthew Norman

 

Summary (from the publisher): A sentimental advertising creative and a blunt, no-nonsense bar owner find a second chance at love while binge-watching iconic holiday movies in this poignant and heartwarming romance, from the author of Charm City Rocks and All Together Now.

The new year barely began when Grace White and Henry Adler both lost their spouses. Now, nearly a year later, the first holiday season since their "Great and Terrible Sadnesses" approaches. Although their mothers scheme to matchmake the two surviving spouses, it’s clear that neither is ready to date again. Yet no one understands what they're going through better than each other, and a delicate friendship is born.

When Henry sees an ad for a Christmas movie marathon—once an annual tradition for him and his wife—Grace offers to watch some films with him, despite her aversion to a few of his picks. Her two young kids, Ian and Bella, also join in whenever possible—bedtimes permitting, of course.

With each movie, Grace and Henry’s shared grief eases as they start to see a life beyond the sadness. But as they draw closer, other romantic possibilities leave them both uncertain about their future together. Is their bond merely the result of loneliness and shared circumstances, or have they found something that’s worth taking a shot at . . . again?

Review: My first holiday read this year, and it is going to be hard to top! Such an endearing story with great plot. 

Grace and Henry are both widowed, leading to their mothers trying to set them up. Neither of them feel ready to date, but they ultimately decide to get together to watch Christmas films together as friends - along with Bella's two children on occasion. As they spend more time together, they both privately begin to feel that maybe their friendship could be something more, but worry it is just bonding over their similar losses and loneliness. 

I really loved Grace and Henry and the way this book set the reader up to watch them navigate their grief and moving on. I'm usually not a huge fan of friends to lovers and this did seem to take a while to pick up, but it did make perfect sense for these two people to approach this as friends first. 

I honestly didn't even notice for a while into this book that the author was a man. He did an astounding job at writing a believable and moving rom com and handled the chapters from Grace's perspectives so well. I also thought the characters of Grace's children were well written. It was really sweet to see Henry get to know them and have distinct relationships with them, especially Ian. 

Of course, the crowning glory of this book was all of the many Christmas movie references! I loved that the chapters were named after various books and getting together to watch and discuss the movies was a key part of the book. It was so fun hearing them talk about so many classic movies. 

The one plot line that I wasn't a super fan of was the revelation about one of the deceased spouses. Although I thought it tied it up well in the end, I didn't think the book needed to make the character question the nature of their marriage to be able to move on to a new relationship. 

This was beautifully done on audio with dual narration. It reminded me of listening to an Abby Jimenez or Sarah Adams rom com. My closed-door friends will be pleased as well, as this was kisses only. 

Stars: 4