In A Holidaze - Christina Lauren Page 0,92

Earth’s surface is the center of someone’s universe, but this picture gets it right.

The center of my world is right where I’m standing.

acknowledgments

Just a little bit of magic, we said. We can totally do it, we said. It’ll be easy!

It may not have been easy, but writing this novel was certainly fun. We wrote this one before 2020 arrived, before all hell broke loose, and the idea of falling into a romance time loop felt like a perfect, seasonal escape.

It feels even better now when we get to go back and read it. Mae is safe at this cabin, with loved ones and only the requirement that she figure out what path she’s meant to take. If we all had something this simple to focus on, life would be so much easier.

We guess that’s what romance gives us—yes, it’s aspirational and wish fulfillment; it’s fun and uplifting— but this year, it is also a much-needed escape. Romance is here doing what romance does, and we need it now more than ever. So we have to start this off by thanking some spectacular romance creators whose work has pulled us out of reality and into true joy this year: Park Ji-eun (Crash Landing on You), Alexis Hall (Boyfriend Material), Scarlett Peckham (The Rakess), Rebekah Weatherspoon (Xeni), Martha Waters (To Have and to Hoax), Kate Clayborn (Love Lettering and also your Twitter feed), Lisa Kleypas (hi, goddess), and Nora Ephron for, well, everything. We are deeply inspired by you, and so grateful to be able to turn to your creativity and entertainment in these weird, wild times.

Our core team is the best core team: Agent Holly Root is the consistent voice of calm, wisdom, and delightfully timed snark. Our editor at Simon & Schuster/Gallery, Kate Dresser, puts up with a lot, and we mean a lot, of U-turns. Thank you, Kate, for being the CLo enthusiast when we start, the sounding board when we’re stuck, the gentle red flag when we’re editing. Kristin Dwyer is our PR rep and Precious, and even when time stopped and we no longer knew what the world looked like past our own window, it was okay. We did it, we got it done: people found our books. You always do so good, girl.

Thank you to the S&S/Gallery team for hustling their hardest, as always: Jen Bergstrom (we truly adore you), Aimée Bell, Jen Long, Rachel Brenner, Molly Gregory, Abby Zidle, Anne Jaconette, Anabel Jimenez, Sally Marvin, Lisa Litwack, John Vairo, and the entire Gallery sales force and subrights groups. In the midst of a pandemic, the loss of Carolyn Reidy hit everyone hard. She will be greatly missed. It makes us doubly grateful to everyone at S&S for always being amazing and forever being on our team.

Thank you to Marion Archer for reading, and rereading, and rereading. Your notes and feedback are always so spot-on and appreciated. Erin Service, making you swoon is our only goal. To the readers in CLo and Friends, thank you for making us laugh and keeping us company (and, of course, for loving our books). We adore each and every one of you.

To every reader out there, we hope this book finds you safe and happy. Thank you for picking it up. It is our greatest wish to the universe that Mae and Andrew’s story gives you an escape that you choose, but (for your sake) one that you don’t need too desperately. It’s been a hard year, and we are here sending love and—we hope—a rollicking dose of magical fun.

With massive affection,

Christina & Lauren

Keep reading for a sneak peek at the next ‘delightful’ (People) novel from

New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren.

Coming soon from Piatkus!

CHAPTER ONE

Jessica Davis used to think it was an honest-to-God tragedy that only twenty-six percent of women believed in true love. Of course, that was nearly a decade ago, when she couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be anything but deeply and passionately obsessed with the man who would one day be her ex. Tonight, though, on her third first date in seven years, she was astounded the number was even that high.

“Twenty-six percent,” she mumbled, leaning toward the restroom mirror to apply more lipstick. “Twenty-six women out of one hundred believe true love is real.” Popping the cap back on, Jess laughed, and her exhausted reflection laughed back. Sadly, her night was far from over. She still had to make it through the entrée course; appetizers had lasted four years. Of course, some of