A Cross-Country Christmas (Road Trip Romance) Paperback – October 11, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed A Cross-Country Christmas. Imagine having a crush on your older brother's friend when you first met when you were 12 years old, but it didn't pan out as you thought. Then you have no choice but to travel with your brother's friend on a cross-country road trip years later. This was a delightful read with banter, a cross-country road trip, relatable characters with insecurities and regrets, miracles, humor, and forgiveness. Can Lauren, who has made assumptions about Will, see that he's a changed man? Can Will discover the truth why Lauren dislikes holidays? Walsh sure knows how to craft a well-written novel with an engaging plot and realistic characters.

Oh, what a fun book to read! I totally enjoyed all the “adventures” Lauren and Will had happen.I enjoyed the tension between them and how neither one thought the other noticed or liked them. It was a delightful story about two individuals who’ve known each other for a long time and finally realized what had been right in front of their faces this whole time.Courtney Walsh is a skilled author, and her books flow without any bumps along the way. There are tender moments, crazy moments, and sweet moments of romance. Throughout the book, we, as readers, connect to the characters and relate to them. Ms. Walsh has a talent for bringing life to these pages.Now, I’m going to read more of her books.I highly recommend you pick this book up for a charming story to round out your holiday reading. I must admit, I finished this after Christmas, but it was still fun to read and keep me in the holiday spirit.

The perfect holiday romance doesn’t exi —This is hands-down the best holiday romance I have read and I plan to read it every year, it was JUST. THAT. GOOD.Okay, so let me tell you about it.Lauren hates Christmas, but her brother is having his first baby so she decides to make the trip home for the holidays. Unfortunately, her only option is to road trip with her brother’s best friend, Will. The same man who she spent half her life pining over and who also broke her heart.Will is charming, goofy, seemingly carefree, and LOOKS LIKE CHRIS EVANS! *swoon* Lauren is uptight, independent, and doesn’t take chances on love — especially after what happened with Will.But Will can’t figure out why Lauren is so guarded and tries to boost her Christmas spirit by partaking in all of the holiday traditions. There’s a tubing adventure, a holiday parade, a trip to see Santa — it will give you all the holiday feels, without being cheesy.But the best part is that their opposite personalities make for amazing banter and their connection felt so genuinely authentic.And along with being a rom-com, there’s also a lot of depth to this story. Both characters are battling loss, heartache, and healing. And overall, it’s a story about finding peace with your past and giving yourself grace.Overall, I laughed, I cried, I clearly LOVED THIS BOOK and I need you all to read it so we can swoon together.READ IF YOUR INTERESTED IN- Best friend’s brother trope- Scrooge/sunshine- Cross-country road trips- A goofy M lead that looks like Chris Evans- An uptight F lead who’s guarded from love- Holiday activities- Family dynamics- A heart-warming holiday story- 1/5 steam - this is a sweet romcom filled with heart-warming romance

This was a great, gut wrenching story, well written with great characters, except for Lauren, our h. She was truly terrible. I got to 40% and thought surely she'll ease up. By the time the book ends, we understand why she is the way she is. I get it. Crap childhood. Childhood crush didn't like ya back. But that is no reason to be terrible to another human being from actions that happened a decade ago. There is really no excuse for how she treated him. He was doing her a favor and she either ignored him or was overtly mean. It was very off-putting. There was no reason for him to like her. None. He had a very rough patch, that he turned around. Made mistakes, made atonement. I really liked the H. He was extremely personable, likeable. Its really unfortunate that the author paired him with such a judgemental, unforgiving shrew. I don't even care that after 95% she finally came around and acted like a decent person. Way to little, WAY to late.Standalone, no cheating, clean romance told from H and h POV.

A Cross-Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh was a fun and entertaining holiday read. Lauren is a hot shot set decorator for a TV show. She’s constantly busy and has pushed everything else in her life aside including family and love. At first, I couldn’t understand why Lauren was so scared to fall in love or to go visit her family. As the story progressed, I suddenly understood why. Although I will admit, I thought Lauren was childish in how she treated Will. I understand that Will hurt her deeply in college but that was years ago. Her determination to hold onto the old Will was unforgiving. However, as Lauren spent more time with Will we were introduced to a Will who was handsome, charming, charismatic, and caring. Will definitely made me fall for him from the get-go, and I thought it was obvious he was not the same person he was in college.Sidenote: Having the entire story take place on the road was fun and made me want to go on my own holiday road trip. It was definitely a trip to remember!