Cotswolds Holiday by Kasey Stockton
Series: Christmas Escape
Also in this series: Faking Christmas
Published by Self on November 30, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday - Christmas
Pages: 347
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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Some people face their problems head-on, other people run . . .

When my ex-boyfriend sends me his wedding invitation eight months after breaking up with me, and the bride expects me to be in the wedding party, it's time for my tried-and-tested party trick: disappearing.

And nowhere is better to escape to than the cozy English Cotswolds in the middle of December.

Everything goes according to plan until I arrive in the Cotswolds. Snow is more slippery than I expected, my room is nothing like the listing described, and my pub owner landlord—well, he steps directly from my lumberjack fantasies and into my heart.

The only problem? I can't fall for an Englishman who lives on the other side of the world from me. Not even one who has Dr Pepper on tap and kisses like it's an Olympic sport. It's much harder to run across the pond, and all good things must come to an end . . . but what if I can't say goodbye?

Part of the Christmas Escape series, Cotswolds Holiday is a clean Christmas romance where an American girl runs off to England and tries not to fall in love.

Cotswolds Holiday is another book in the series of closed-door Christmas standalone novels called Christmas Escape. I had so much fun reading several of these books last Christmas, and this was one of them! I just didn’t have room in my schedule to post my review, so I delayed it for a year to post now! While not my favorite in this series, I had fun reading it. Luna is a YouTube yoga instructor (ugh), and escapes to the English countryside to get out of having to attend her ex’s wedding. Rhys is amazing. He owns the quaint, cozy little pub that Luna rents a room in for her stay in the Cotswolds. He’s quiet and thoughtful and subtly flirty

There’s a lot of drama surrounding exes, and that did wear me out a little. Luna’s ex-boyfriend is still contacting her, trying to get her to attend their wedding for the sake of his fiance. This entire storyline actually really irked me, and ends up a little manipulative in my mind. Nobody whose ex-boyfriend breaks up with you and then jumps into marrying your best friend within just a few months should have to put up with being made to feel guilty for being upset about it and not wanting to be there to watch. The magic of Christmas just wouldn’t fix that for me, but I digress. Then there’s also drama with Rhys’s ex, another yoga instructor (ugh), and I didn’t like that storyline either. Blergh. Then there was this other storyline with Luna trying to form a partnership with this popular yoga clothing line (ugh), and the people she’s trying to work with suck a lot. The romance was fine, if not a bit dramatic at times. Luna likes to run away from her problems, hence the drama.

What won me over on this book was Rhys and his pub. And Christmas. I loved this pub, and how it was all decorated for the holidays. It sounds so cozy and the regulars there all know each other. There’s a knitting group that meets there, and a book club. The people are all so nice. The pub has a bit of a mascot in this cute dog who hangs out and has adopted everyone. Rhys and his cousin run the place, and I loved the cousin. She was a more interesting and likable character than Luna, in my opinion. Rhys’s cooking sounds delicious. I loved the scenery of the Cotswolds and I even enjoyed their silly rivalry with a neighboring town. I love the little Christmas festival. So all in all, it was a fun read that I made some allowances for because it’s Christmas and I loved the setting. And I want Rhys.