Jackie Lau

Greg Wong hates when things don’t go according to plan, so he definitely doesn’t appreciate it when his mother insists he drive Tasha Edwards back to Mosquito Bay for the Christmas holidays. He likes peace and quiet when he’s in the car, and that’s the opposite of what he’ll get with Tasha, his high school sweetheart. The first woman he ever loved. Not that he has feelings for her now. Of course not. Though while he’s trying not to smile at her laughter and terrible singing, he can’t help noticing how beautiful she is. And then his plans veer further off course when a snowstorm forces them to spend the night in an unheated motel room with only one bed…

A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas

Lauren Sullivan

Yes, it’s another fun Jackie Lau book, once again full of all the tropey goodness (opposites attract, second chance, road trip, snowed in, just one bed) but this time, sadly, without the yummy food (see aforementioned road trip and snowed in).

Tasha and Greg were friends from a young age and started dating at sixteen, but then broke up after they went to university in different cities. But all that was 15 years ago, and since they’re both traveling from Toronto to their hometown of Mosquito Bay for Christmas, it’s natural that their parents will arrange for them to carpool. But how can two so opposite people come out of a road trip, snow storm and a family Christmas together?

“Tasha always looked forward, never back. She tried not to think too much about the past, and Greg was firmly in her past. The only time she’d broken her own rule and given an ex a second chance, it had failed spectacularly. She’d seen it fail many times for her friends, too.”

Greg is such a dorky engineer, and I mean that in the best possible way. He builds model trains, for goodness’ sakes! Tasha’s also an engineer, but she’s much more outgoing. Greg’s idea of a good road trip is leaving exactly on schedule and listening to CBC radio, while Tasha’s more laid back and looking forward to belting out some holiday hits. I loved how they had no hard feelings or angst between them about their breakup since it was mainly due to their geographic distance… something that’s not a problem anymore now that they’re both working in Toronto. While they both believed they had moved on from their first love, a night of reminiscing is perfect for reminding them of what’s been missing from each of their lives. But Tasha has a rule against second chances – for good reason – and it’s up to Greg (with a little help from the rest of the Wongs) to show her that rules are meant to be broken.

“I made the snowstorm happen!” Ah Ma said. “I have magic powers!”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Ma, surely if you had magic powers you would use some of them to improve your cooking.”
She sniffed. “They are very specific magic powers. For love.”

Like the previous book in this series, it’s refreshingly low angst. There’s still plenty of humor, courtesy of their clashing personalities and a particularly amorous older couple in the motel room next to theirs, and, of course, because of Ah Ma. One of my absolute favorite things about Jackie Lau’s books is how well she writes families – they’re messy, they’re annoying, but they’re above all loving. I love the Wongs so much – I love the idea that even though your family might drive you up the wall, they’ll always have your back, and this was especially true in this book.

Overall, this is a delightfully fun, tropetastic holiday read, and I’m very much looking forward to the next Wong book!

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

b.andherbooks

Greg and Tasha were high school and early college sweethearts until they mutually broke up because they were young and the long distance thing just wasn't working out. Flash to fifteen years later, and they are both single and sharing a car ride home for Christmas, until some bad weather and a cold room at shabby hotel bring them together again.

A perfectly sweet "one-bed" holiday novella (with some great steam), I wanted more tension between the two love interests. They are both so very nice and had no baggage between the two of them despite not having spoken for fifteen years that I couldn't believe these two hadn't hooked back up eons ago. 

That said, there is a lot to like here and this is a nice low-angst holiday romance, plus sexy snow forts!

I reviewed from a free copy from the author.

Jo H

4.5 ⭐️

OK, so in the second volume in this super cute but sexy rom-com series, we have I think the most tropey out of them all;
1) A second chance,
2) Stranded with only one bed (in a blackout)
3) Opposites attract situation going on.

Greg is very stoic (and am I the only reader who thinks he is possibly on the spectrum?), dislikes changes to his plans and is strict on timekeeping. He also grunts a lot in place of actual words which his siblings often tease him about. He is not, however, an asshole, he is actually very caring but is very much a quiet and WYSIWYG kind of guy. 

Tasha is sunshine and flowers. She is hardworking, and after having busted a gut and finally overcoming some gender/race-based (she is black) struggles in her career is finally in a position she enjoys. And she is both a talker and a lover of Christmas music. She is also a lover of singing along to Christmas music... just not very well!

The one thing they have in common is that they are both Engineers. Even though I'm scientifically illiterate, I do love a Woman in STEM in romance, so thanks to the author for that. This is not competence porn however as there are no descriptions of Tasha at work, but that was not a problem for me given it is a very short book.

They were teenage lovers for three years and both were really happy in their relationship, and it was really just the distance between their colleges making a long distance relationship difficult to manage that split them apart. And from my perspective, it's so nice that a second change story doesn't begin with antagonism between the couple. Except Greg is very unhappy that when he agrees to his parents request to drive Tasha back home to Mosquito Bay for Xmas from Toronto, she turns up 27 minutes late and makes him listen to Xmas music in HIS car! Despite this, it is clear from the outset that neither of them, but Greg in particular, is over the other even though it has been many years since they were together.

Just... gah. This was so cute, the main (and a little frustrating) tension between them which is strongly advocated by Tasha's close friend, aside. Greg is not the popular and usual type of romance hero and he has some nerdy hobbies, but in no way does it make him any less swoony. He is set in his ways, perhaps has an older head on his shoulders than his 34 years, but in many ways, he is also the most grounded and loveable to me. He has been unattached for a number of years, but has been alone for longer than Tasha at the point this story starts as she is very casually seeing someone. Someone called Crispin... I'm sorry Ms Lau, but where the ever-loving FUCK did that name come from??? Is it a regular and common name in Canada??? Sorry to other owners of that name, but it's another one in a run of such ridiculous names I've come across in the last couple of years in romance. [Oops off topic lol...].

But the culmination of Greg and Tasha's story was soo heartwrenching to me. He was definitely the one who was determined that they should get back together, and he knew very early on that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Tasha. At the end of the book, he gets his family to help him to do the thing that he thinks will win Tashsa over and it was one of the sweetest things ever. And not only that, but when he presents his big surprise to her he has written a speech that he proceeds to read it to her, which I was totally a slush ball for.

Note than an added bonus to this book is the reference to a number of popular Christmas songs, although I'm a bit salty that as a lifelong George Michael fan (RIP), Last Christmas by Wham! wasn't one of them. 

PS Look out for Ethel and Herbie, Greg and Tasha's noisy septuagenarian motel next-door neighbours...!

A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas

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