Joy To The Girls by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick | Book Review

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Getting the girl was easy, but can Alex and Molly keep each other when they’re both keeping secrets? Find out in this cozy holiday novella companion to She Gets the Girl!

For Alex and Molly, the last three years have felt like Christmas every day. So what better way to celebrate winter break of their senior year than a romantic getaway in a town right out of a Christmas card?

Aside from sampling all the holiday cheer Barnwich has to offer, Alex and Molly have an important mission this weekend: to help their friend Cora get her crush to fall for her. But in between ice skating, snowball fights, and matchmaking schemes, it becomes obvious that Alex and Molly have another mission this weekend: to not reveal the huge secrets they’re keeping from the other. Secrets about their post-college plans that threaten to tear them apart.

Will these two be able to help Cora get the girl and keep theirs—or will this be the last Christmas of Alex and Molly’s love story?

Nothing quite says the holidays like picking up and reading the novella sequel to a book I haven’t read yet. Joy To The Girls by Alyson Derrick and Rachael Lippincott is a novella featuring the main characters from She Gets The Girl and is set in a Hallmark-type village during Christmas. I had no context going into this book except that I was looking forward to a quick, sapphic YA holiday read. This was an adorable story that I ended up enjoying overall — even without the prior connection to the main characters.

Joy To The Girls takes place three years after the events of She Gets The Girl. Alex and Molly are in their senior year of college. They are about to spend a quick getaway for the holidays in the Hallmark-esque town of Barnwich, PA. The two are on the verge of beginning their adult lives. However, before that can begin, both have a secret that could change the course of their relationship and the future. Preventing the story from getting too heavy is the secondary plot with friends Cora and May. May is from Barnwich and her family runs the big Christmas tree farm. Cora apparently is from the first book. There are sparks between Cora and May, but it really is taking forever for them to admit what may be blooming between them.

Joy To The Girls made me want to pick up She Gets The Girl. I quite enjoyed the characters of Alex and Molly. They’re very different but just make sense together. I even liked how they handled conflict with each other. This book is quick — but packs emotions. I found myself wondering how things could possibly play out with Molly and Alex and how they could possibly remain together. FYI — if you are thinking “cheating” that’s absolutely not it. It was a realistic issue I thought.

On A Scale Of One To Buddy The Elf, How Much Christmas Spirit Does Joy To The Girls by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick Have?

This book exudes holiday spirit. I loved the overall vibe of Barnwich. We have a movie theater that plays classic holiday films. There’s many independent businesses along main street. Let’s not forget an epic snowball fight and even more winter things occuring in this book. I wish I had read before Christmas, because I think it would have put me right in the holiday spirit. 

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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