REVIEW: A Holly Jolly Ever After by Sierra Simone & Julie Murphy
Dear Sierra Simone & Julie Murphy,
I enjoyed last year’s A Merry Little Meet Cute so much it made my Best of 2022 list, so I was keen to read the (second) follow up book about Kallum (the “K” in INK, a boy band featuring Isaac, Nolan and Kallum which broke up some years before). Unfortunately, A Holly Jolly Ever After did not have the same charm for me.
In book one, Bee got the role in “Duke the Halls” when wholesome actress Winnie Baker was stuck at “Unfestival”. A Holly Jolly Ever After brings Winnie back, to star in a Hope After Dark movie, “Santa Baby” with Kallum. The Hope Channel has embraced the success of feel good (and at least slightly ridiculous) movies a la the Hallmark Channel but with Cinemaxx steam (well, nearly). Kallum, of the infamous sex tape, has the opportunity to star with his long time crush, the pure Winnie Baker.
Winnie starred in many Hope Channel movies as well as other movies and TV shows produced by a Christian production company. She grew up on a TV show something like “Seventh Heaven” (but without the underage sex scandal). She was extremely sheltered and raised to remain “pure” until marriage; dating was not allowed – courting (which leads to marriage) was. She married her TV co-star, whose family run the production company. It was not happy marriage. Now divorced, after he cheated on her, Winnie has decided to become “new Winnie” and accepts the role in “Santa Baby”.
Winnie has never had an orgasm so simulating one is a challenge and draws less than ideal reactions from the cast and crew, ranging from guffaws to horror.
Kallum is the “chubby one” from INK. He was the clown but not the heart throb. After the unsanctioned release of his sex tape (he later licensed it) he is praised for his “dad bod”. Kallum’s sex tape involved a bridesmaid who almost immediately found her “one” (not Kallum). Since then bridesmaids and other women want a piece of Kallum as some kind of good luck charm to get their own HEA. Kallum is a means to an end and a good time on the way but he’s not, apparently, soulmate material. Kallum has some baggage about all of this, as one would, but it doesn’t really get much attention in the book. While specifically mentioned, he never has a conversation with Winnie about it. It’s magically fixed by being Winnie’s soulmate I guess.
Since INK folded, Kallum has created a career in Kansas as the pizza king with his “Slice Slice Baby” pizza shops. He loves pizza and his business but he’s also happy to do more acting and not averse to a comeback for INK somewhere down the line. Most recently there has been interest from an investor with deep pockets who wants to look at national and international franchising for SSB. Kallum supports (to a large degree, albeit not entirely) his family with his INK/Slice Slice Baby income. He’s a generous person who is happy to be in a position to help his loved ones.
Winnie has narcolepsy. I know that because the book told me so. So far as I can tell, Kallum still does not know because not only was there no explicit conversation about it in the book between the two, it wasn’t even hinted that one had occurred off page. In the end, Winnie’s narcolepsy seemed like a gimmick – which was disappointing.
Kallum has a sex tape and Winnie finds him attractive. Winnie has never had an orgasm and needs to simulate them successfully to give a good performance in “Santa Baby”. I think we all see where this is going.
After some “sex lessons”, Winnie and Kallum date for real and fall in love. But Winnie has been let down by men before. Her parents aren’t talking to her because she divorced her husband – even though he was a cheating jerk and she deserved better and she’s frightened that good-time, fun-loving Kallum is not responsible enough for a relationship. (IDK, surely the fact that he runs 4 successful pizza stores in Kansas ought to be a clue that he can in fact be responsible?) Anyway, the essential conflict of the story was about this and it took time for Winnie to believe in Kallum. I though it was a bit harsh, myself. I appreciated Winnie’s position but I think she didn’t really give Kallum a chance before she let her fears drive her. Still, it all comes right in the end.
Winnie has baggage from her upbringing and does a great job of letting go of the notion of “purity” and of sex outside of marriage being bad, etc. Perhaps this is unfair but I did not enjoy all the talk about purity rings and courting vs dating, religious and controlling parents and Winnie’s lack of autonomy until she was divorced. The narrative obviously rejects Winnie’s upbringing (and so do I, for the record) but it just didn’t feel fun to read about. It didn’t make me laugh like I did in A Merry Little Meet Cute. It felt heavy and glum and all too realistic and all to present-day. It was a bit of a downer for me. The earlier book had mental health themes but was so positive about the representation it was uplifting. Apart from Winnie getting out there wasn’t anything good about the religious stuff for me.
Between the things unsaid or left out and the religious stuff, I found myself less engaged in the read. A Holly Jolly Ever After was easy for me to put down.I did finish it and there were parts I enjoyed quite a bit. But overall, it was a disappointment compared to the high hopes I went in with.
Grade: C
Regards,
Kaetrin
I really like SNOW PLACE LIKE L.A.—book two in the series—so I’m sorry this one seems a bit of a dud. Anyway, I’m glad I didn’t pay full price. I’ll wait for a sale.
@DiscoDollyDeb: I missed that release. I did love the first book. It was much better IMO.
A Merry Little Meet Cute is $1.99 at Amazon. I’m starting with that after rereading Kaetrin’s review.