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The Holliday Girls #2
Santa Maybe
Three girls, two weeks—and the perfect Hallmark Christmas romance for fans of Gilmore Girls, Jenny Han, and Elin Hilderbrand!
Daisy always misses her dad this time of year, especially with the big town festival looming, so she's looking forward to spending extra time with Owen—and hopefully, finally Defining the Relationship. Georgia is ready for a fresh start, but is she brave enough to put herself first? Maybe a surprise (and annoyingly cute) Christmas guest will help. Eden has big plans—and a holiday house guest, now that Leo is joining for Christmas. Can she make the most of the chaos, or does she need a new plan for New Year's?
The perfect Christmas Curl up by the fire and enjoy the sparkling romance and warm family vibes of this Holliday Girls story.Cozy sisterly By the last chapter, you'll feel like a fourth Holliday girl. After all, boys come and go, but sisters are forever.Small town This charming Rhode Island town, with its bustling annual Christmas festival, is straight out of a Hallmark movie.Remember last summer?: The Holliday Girls had a magical lakeside summer with beaches, barbeques, and boys—don’t miss SPARKS FLY by Hazel Henry!
Daisy always misses her dad this time of year, especially with the big town festival looming, so she's looking forward to spending extra time with Owen—and hopefully, finally Defining the Relationship. Georgia is ready for a fresh start, but is she brave enough to put herself first? Maybe a surprise (and annoyingly cute) Christmas guest will help. Eden has big plans—and a holiday house guest, now that Leo is joining for Christmas. Can she make the most of the chaos, or does she need a new plan for New Year's?
The perfect Christmas Curl up by the fire and enjoy the sparkling romance and warm family vibes of this Holliday Girls story.Cozy sisterly By the last chapter, you'll feel like a fourth Holliday girl. After all, boys come and go, but sisters are forever.Small town This charming Rhode Island town, with its bustling annual Christmas festival, is straight out of a Hallmark movie.Remember last summer?: The Holliday Girls had a magical lakeside summer with beaches, barbeques, and boys—don’t miss SPARKS FLY by Hazel Henry!
301 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2026
About the author
Hazel Henry
2 books29 followersHazel Henry lives in New England, where she cozies up by the fire in the winter and sunbathes at the lake in the summer. You’ll normally find her reading, daydreaming about cute boys, and getting in the spirit of whatever holiday is coming up.
source: Amazon
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 6, 2026
Santa Maybe dropped me into the Holliday family without having read Sparks Fly, so yes, I walked into this Christmas gathering with absolutely no idea who had kissed whom at the lake last summer. That part is on me. But within about twenty minutes I understood the current situation: Daisy and Owen need to define whatever they’re doing, Georgia is trying to figure out what she actually wants, Eden has Leo coming for Christmas, and somehow “but are we having sex?” has become the unofficial fourth Holliday sister.
Daisy was easily the girl I wanted to sit beside at dinner. She misses her dad, Christmas is making that absence louder, and she’s also stuck in that awful space with Owen where everybody with functioning eyesight knows there are feelings, but the people HAVING the feelings require several committee meetings to confirm them. And her grief really got me. Christmas can be lovely right up until one tradition hits differently because somebody isn’t there anymore. Daisy’s carrying that while trying to let herself be happy, and that felt painfully true.
Georgia and Eden have their own relationship chaos happening, and this is where I started needing name tags and possibly a whiteboard. Georgia is trying to put herself first while dealing with an annoyingly cute holiday guest. Eden has Leo visiting and is trying to make that relationship fit into her actual life. Meanwhile I’m still trying to remember who belongs to whom from the book I didn’t read, and these girls are changing emotional lanes without signaling.
Now. We need to discuss the sex discussions. And I say this from a sex-positive household: DAMN. Have sex. Don’t have sex. Wait. Don’t wait. Talk about it. Please talk about it! Consent and communication, huge fans over here. But these kids discussed the possibility of sex like they were trying to negotiate a multinational trade agreement. Does he want sex? Does she want sex? Should they be having sex? What does not having sex mean? What will having sex mean? At one point I wanted to slide a plate of gingerbread between them and say, “Nobody has to decide tonight. Santa is coming. Please hydrate.”
And that became my frustration, because underneath Relationship Summit: Holiday Edition, there’s actually good stuff happening with these girls. Georgia is wrestling with identity and belonging. Daisy is grieving. Eden wants to feel accepted as herself. Those are the conversations I kept leaning toward, only to have another romantic crisis tap me on the shoulder and ask whether physical intimacy was an important milestone. YES, WE HAVE COVERED THIS. Where is the tree lighting?
The Holliday girls themselves are why I kept hanging around. Their family dynamic has warmth without everyone magically understanding each other, and I wanted even more of them together. The book is literally called Santa Maybe, these people have a Christmas festival happening, and somehow I became the person yelling, “Can we please focus on CHRISTMAS?” which is not a personality I expected to develop today.
Daisy’s grief is also the reason this never completely lost me. There’s something quietly awful about watching everyone celebrate a holiday you still love while knowing it can never feel exactly the same again. The book lets her miss her dad without making grief the only thing she gets to be, and those moments had more emotional weight for me than all the romantic uncertainty combined.
I landed at 2.5 stars for Santa Maybe. Maybe reading Sparks Fly first would have made me more invested in everybody’s romantic lives, but I still think I would’ve eventually stood up in the middle of the Holliday house and announced, “SEX IS GREAT. COMMUNICATION IS GREAT. NOW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CAN SOMEBODY GO CAROLING?”
Merry Mayhem Prize: For Being So Sex Positive That Christmas Nearly Had to Schedule an Appointment
Huge thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Santa Maybe. You gave me family, grief, Christmas lights, romantic confusion, and enough conversations about relationship milestones that I now feel qualified to moderate a Holliday family group chat. My only condition is that between December 20 and 26, everyone gets one sex conversation per day. Use it wisely.
Daisy was easily the girl I wanted to sit beside at dinner. She misses her dad, Christmas is making that absence louder, and she’s also stuck in that awful space with Owen where everybody with functioning eyesight knows there are feelings, but the people HAVING the feelings require several committee meetings to confirm them. And her grief really got me. Christmas can be lovely right up until one tradition hits differently because somebody isn’t there anymore. Daisy’s carrying that while trying to let herself be happy, and that felt painfully true.
Georgia and Eden have their own relationship chaos happening, and this is where I started needing name tags and possibly a whiteboard. Georgia is trying to put herself first while dealing with an annoyingly cute holiday guest. Eden has Leo visiting and is trying to make that relationship fit into her actual life. Meanwhile I’m still trying to remember who belongs to whom from the book I didn’t read, and these girls are changing emotional lanes without signaling.
Now. We need to discuss the sex discussions. And I say this from a sex-positive household: DAMN. Have sex. Don’t have sex. Wait. Don’t wait. Talk about it. Please talk about it! Consent and communication, huge fans over here. But these kids discussed the possibility of sex like they were trying to negotiate a multinational trade agreement. Does he want sex? Does she want sex? Should they be having sex? What does not having sex mean? What will having sex mean? At one point I wanted to slide a plate of gingerbread between them and say, “Nobody has to decide tonight. Santa is coming. Please hydrate.”
And that became my frustration, because underneath Relationship Summit: Holiday Edition, there’s actually good stuff happening with these girls. Georgia is wrestling with identity and belonging. Daisy is grieving. Eden wants to feel accepted as herself. Those are the conversations I kept leaning toward, only to have another romantic crisis tap me on the shoulder and ask whether physical intimacy was an important milestone. YES, WE HAVE COVERED THIS. Where is the tree lighting?
The Holliday girls themselves are why I kept hanging around. Their family dynamic has warmth without everyone magically understanding each other, and I wanted even more of them together. The book is literally called Santa Maybe, these people have a Christmas festival happening, and somehow I became the person yelling, “Can we please focus on CHRISTMAS?” which is not a personality I expected to develop today.
Daisy’s grief is also the reason this never completely lost me. There’s something quietly awful about watching everyone celebrate a holiday you still love while knowing it can never feel exactly the same again. The book lets her miss her dad without making grief the only thing she gets to be, and those moments had more emotional weight for me than all the romantic uncertainty combined.
I landed at 2.5 stars for Santa Maybe. Maybe reading Sparks Fly first would have made me more invested in everybody’s romantic lives, but I still think I would’ve eventually stood up in the middle of the Holliday house and announced, “SEX IS GREAT. COMMUNICATION IS GREAT. NOW FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CAN SOMEBODY GO CAROLING?”
Merry Mayhem Prize: For Being So Sex Positive That Christmas Nearly Had to Schedule an Appointment
Huge thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Santa Maybe. You gave me family, grief, Christmas lights, romantic confusion, and enough conversations about relationship milestones that I now feel qualified to moderate a Holliday family group chat. My only condition is that between December 20 and 26, everyone gets one sex conversation per day. Use it wisely.
April 19, 2026
It might seem a bit odd to read a Christmas book this early, but I just finished the first book following these characters (which was set in the summer) and really enjoyed it so I couldn’t wait to see how their story would conclude.
I didn’t like this book as much as I liked Sparks Fly. While the first book in the series was full of summer fun, there definitely weren’t as many Christmas elements as I would have liked. There were a few things here and there, and a decent amount at the end, but this was more about each of the girls and the guys they liked.
I wouldn’t have minded the lack of Christmas elements as much if I had been more vested in the characters than I was. I really didn’t like Georgia or Eden’s relationship. The only couple I really liked was Daisy and Owen (though that had its moments as well).
This is just a personal preference for me, but I prefer my Christmas books on the cleaner side and there was a LOT of sex talk in this book. Especially for YA. A lot of the discussion was very frank and ridden with innuendos and I didn’t love that.
This book really handled grieving around the holidays quite well. It was definitely more bittersweet than I was expecting overall.
Still it was a cute read. I definitely recommend both books in this series and will definitely check out what this author puts out next.
I didn’t like this book as much as I liked Sparks Fly. While the first book in the series was full of summer fun, there definitely weren’t as many Christmas elements as I would have liked. There were a few things here and there, and a decent amount at the end, but this was more about each of the girls and the guys they liked.
I wouldn’t have minded the lack of Christmas elements as much if I had been more vested in the characters than I was. I really didn’t like Georgia or Eden’s relationship. The only couple I really liked was Daisy and Owen (though that had its moments as well).
This is just a personal preference for me, but I prefer my Christmas books on the cleaner side and there was a LOT of sex talk in this book. Especially for YA. A lot of the discussion was very frank and ridden with innuendos and I didn’t love that.
This book really handled grieving around the holidays quite well. It was definitely more bittersweet than I was expecting overall.
Still it was a cute read. I definitely recommend both books in this series and will definitely check out what this author puts out next.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5
Santa Maybe by Hazel Henry
🎄 Christmas Romance • 👯♀️ Sisters • 🏘️ Small Town • 💕 Multiple Romances • 💔 Grief + Healing • 🎁 Holiday Festival • 🎧 ALC
📖 Story: 2.75/5
🎧 Audio: 4/5
🤨 YA Marketing Choice: 1/5
🎙️ Narrators: Sura Siu, Caitlin Kelly & Emma Love
Calling this “the perfect Hallmark Christmas romance for fans of Gilmore Girls” while giving me a plot that felt largely sex-driven with an overstuffed cast of extremely immature characters is absolutely diabolical. 😂 Whoever decided to market it this way really needs to rethink that choice, and I say that in the nicest way possible.
I read all kinds of books and every spice level, so the adult subject matter itself wasn't my issue. My biggest problem was how extremely immature the characters felt compared to the very adult relationship and sexual topics the story centered around. The writing and characters often felt incredibly young while the subject matter absolutely did not. Pair that with it being marketed as YA, and I genuinely felt like I hadn't even read the same book that was being described.
There were some cute Christmas moments, sister dynamics, grief and healing, and small-town holiday vibes, but the actual story never grabbed me enough to outweigh my issues with the characters. I kept waiting to become invested and just... didn't. 😬
The narration was fine and honestly probably the main reason I finished. If this hadn't been an ALC, it absolutely would have been a DNF for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperAudio Children's, and Hazel Henry for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. 🎧🎄
Santa Maybe by Hazel Henry
🎄 Christmas Romance • 👯♀️ Sisters • 🏘️ Small Town • 💕 Multiple Romances • 💔 Grief + Healing • 🎁 Holiday Festival • 🎧 ALC
📖 Story: 2.75/5
🎧 Audio: 4/5
🤨 YA Marketing Choice: 1/5
🎙️ Narrators: Sura Siu, Caitlin Kelly & Emma Love
Calling this “the perfect Hallmark Christmas romance for fans of Gilmore Girls” while giving me a plot that felt largely sex-driven with an overstuffed cast of extremely immature characters is absolutely diabolical. 😂 Whoever decided to market it this way really needs to rethink that choice, and I say that in the nicest way possible.
I read all kinds of books and every spice level, so the adult subject matter itself wasn't my issue. My biggest problem was how extremely immature the characters felt compared to the very adult relationship and sexual topics the story centered around. The writing and characters often felt incredibly young while the subject matter absolutely did not. Pair that with it being marketed as YA, and I genuinely felt like I hadn't even read the same book that was being described.
There were some cute Christmas moments, sister dynamics, grief and healing, and small-town holiday vibes, but the actual story never grabbed me enough to outweigh my issues with the characters. I kept waiting to become invested and just... didn't. 😬
The narration was fine and honestly probably the main reason I finished. If this hadn't been an ALC, it absolutely would have been a DNF for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperAudio Children's, and Hazel Henry for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. 🎧🎄
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
a Maybe is the second book in a series that follows the Holliday girls, this time over winter break. Georgia struggles with her identity and belonging, and brings home a foreign exchange student for the holidays, Daisy is especially feeling the loss of her father and is meanwhile exploring the jump from friends to more than friends with one of her high school classmates, and Eden brings her long distance boyfriend with her to her cousins’ to celebrate the holidays where she feels that her family doesn’t appreciate her freespirited ways.
Although advertised as a YA book, there was A LOT of sex talk in this book, especially for YA standards. And although there were glimpses of deeper themes, it almost felt like the driving theme of the book was sex as the building block of romantic relationships, and quickly became a turn-off for me. Because of this, I was hugely disappointed that the underlying, more important themes revolving around identity and self-acceptance were lost in the mix. Henry does do a good job with her descriptions of dealing the grief and moving on, albeit, again, I felt like this got a bit lost in the mix.
2 stars. The plot is too young for adults, and there’s too much sex for a YA audience. This needs to be addressed to find it’s appropriate audience.
Although advertised as a YA book, there was A LOT of sex talk in this book, especially for YA standards. And although there were glimpses of deeper themes, it almost felt like the driving theme of the book was sex as the building block of romantic relationships, and quickly became a turn-off for me. Because of this, I was hugely disappointed that the underlying, more important themes revolving around identity and self-acceptance were lost in the mix. Henry does do a good job with her descriptions of dealing the grief and moving on, albeit, again, I felt like this got a bit lost in the mix.
2 stars. The plot is too young for adults, and there’s too much sex for a YA audience. This needs to be addressed to find it’s appropriate audience.
October 8, 2026
Santa Maybe is the second book in The Holliday Girls romance series. This series follows the lives of three girls and gives the reader snippets of their lives. It is Christmas time and everyone is getting together to celebrate the holidays. As each Holliday girl traverses the season with their family and love interest at their side there they all face choices that could lead the to a magical holiday.
I read the first book in this series so already knew the girls and enjoyed picking up their lives a few months later. I do recommend reading these books in order so you have all the details going into this one. This was a cozy, feel good Hallmark like holiday romance and I really liked those vibes. I liked this book more than the first one and found it easy to fall into and get through. There isn’t much depth to any of the storylines, but I still enjoyed it. This is part of what makes it’s a good, cozy holiday romance. Overall this was a cute romance that was a fun read and perfect for the holiday season.
I read the first book in this series so already knew the girls and enjoyed picking up their lives a few months later. I do recommend reading these books in order so you have all the details going into this one. This was a cozy, feel good Hallmark like holiday romance and I really liked those vibes. I liked this book more than the first one and found it easy to fall into and get through. There isn’t much depth to any of the storylines, but I still enjoyed it. This is part of what makes it’s a good, cozy holiday romance. Overall this was a cute romance that was a fun read and perfect for the holiday season.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
*Received as a Goodreads giveaway* This book was just as cute and age appropriate as the last! I'm not sure what the negative reviews are for? I laughed and cried multiple times during the book. Eden, Georgia and Daisy have really grown on me! Loved how this was Christmas centered and gave it that cozy vibe.
We return to the viewpoints of the Holliday girls: sisters Daisy and Georgia and their cousin Eden. They're all going "home" to Daisy and Georgia's Mom (and now Dave's) house for Christmas. It's definitely cozy with all of them tucked under one roof. Georgia is bringing an unknown international student home with her from college, Eden is bringing her whole family and a special unexpected tagalong, and Daisy is trying to figure things out with Owen who has been a bit aloof. The adventures are cute and I really found myself rooting for these girls!
We return to the viewpoints of the Holliday girls: sisters Daisy and Georgia and their cousin Eden. They're all going "home" to Daisy and Georgia's Mom (and now Dave's) house for Christmas. It's definitely cozy with all of them tucked under one roof. Georgia is bringing an unknown international student home with her from college, Eden is bringing her whole family and a special unexpected tagalong, and Daisy is trying to figure things out with Owen who has been a bit aloof. The adventures are cute and I really found myself rooting for these girls!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Holiday girls are celebrating Christmas together in Maine and there is a lot of healing and growth for them and their developing relationships. Each girl has their own reservations about celebrating the holiday, and they each have a different path with the boys in their life and how they move forward. Their relationships very much focused on sex and intimacy, but I do think for the age of the girls these were very realistic situations and conversations and it was handled very well. Grief was also a major theme that was handled with care, and there was a good balance of emotion and care.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an e-arc of Santa Maybe in exchange for an honest review. There were many sweet moments, emotional situations, and honest young adult confusion woven into this story. I think they'll have many more adventures coming their way!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an e-arc of Santa Maybe in exchange for an honest review. There were many sweet moments, emotional situations, and honest young adult confusion woven into this story. I think they'll have many more adventures coming their way!
September 24, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio Children for this ALC
Release Date: October 6
Let’s start with: what age is Young Adult supposed to be? Because while the writing in this book felt VERY young, the topics absolutely did not. We really need to start appropriately marketing the age ranges for some of these books because the disconnect here was wild.
Second, I’m not sure what book the synopsis was describing, but it was not the book I listened to.
This book was literally about three different people deciding when they should have sex. That’s it. That’s the plot.
There were approximately ten million characters, no actual plot to keep me interested, and I genuinely hated it.
But there was a Christmas tree.
Release Date: October 6
Let’s start with: what age is Young Adult supposed to be? Because while the writing in this book felt VERY young, the topics absolutely did not. We really need to start appropriately marketing the age ranges for some of these books because the disconnect here was wild.
Second, I’m not sure what book the synopsis was describing, but it was not the book I listened to.
This book was literally about three different people deciding when they should have sex. That’s it. That’s the plot.
There were approximately ten million characters, no actual plot to keep me interested, and I genuinely hated it.
But there was a Christmas tree.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2026
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the chance to listen to this ALC for honest feedback.
To begin, the narrators did a nice job at making th characters come alive. They were clear, and well defined.
The story? It was good, not great. Definitely YA, which is fine, but it read too young at times. The topics explored were pretty well hashed out for the ages these girls were supposed to be, and I actually appreciated that the two younger characters talked about not being ready yet.
It's not one I'll be reaching for again, but was also a good, quick read.
To begin, the narrators did a nice job at making th characters come alive. They were clear, and well defined.
The story? It was good, not great. Definitely YA, which is fine, but it read too young at times. The topics explored were pretty well hashed out for the ages these girls were supposed to be, and I actually appreciated that the two younger characters talked about not being ready yet.
It's not one I'll be reaching for again, but was also a good, quick read.
October 24, 2026
A fun YA/New Adult holiday romance featuring three cousins who are all home for Christmas. There's three love stories, family drama/healing, grief rep and more in this light-hearted festive book. It was good on audio and works as a standalone but might be better read after the first book in the series where we are first introduced to the girls. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy. I enjoyed this one quite a bit!
July 26, 2026
After doing her first book on audio, I requested this one. It’s more of the same. Lots of highschool/early college kids and their adventures as cousins, sisters and friends.
I’m not sure what age I would recommend this for even though it is a YA book.
Holiday vibes. But no real sustenance or character development because so much is going on.
Thanks for the ARC, netgalley.
I’m not sure what age I would recommend this for even though it is a YA book.
Holiday vibes. But no real sustenance or character development because so much is going on.
Thanks for the ARC, netgalley.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I really enjoyed Santa Maybe! It was such a sweet, cozy holiday read that had me smiling from beginning to end. I loved the small-town charm, the family dynamics, and the romance. It was the perfect book to escape with during the holiday season, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from Hazel Henry!
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Received from Goodreads giveaway. This was such a fun and lighthearted read. I loved every moment I spent with these characters and in this world. All three of the main characters are so relatable in different ways. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I can’t wait to read more from her.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Too many characters to keep track of. This one just kept going and going.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I'm not too big on Holdiay books, but this one was pretty good. It was sweet, wholesome, and perfect for those in winter!
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. I really enjoyed this book. I fell in love with Georgia and her story. I would recommend this book.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
This was a cute holiday story but I agree with other reviews. The characters felt YA but all the sex talk felt adult.
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