Grace & Henry's Holiday Movie Marathon

Never let it be said that a man can’t write high quality women’s fiction or write a woman’s perspective authentically, because Matthew Norman aced both!

Spunky bar owner Grace White is raising her 11-year-old son Ian and her 7-year-old daughter Bella after losing her husband Tim to cancer. First stop after the funeral? The humane shelter to get a puppy - something that Tim suggested to Grace before his death to help soften the sting for their kids. Let me just say that Harry Styles (the dog) may give the real one a run for his money on cuteness!

A few streets away in this Baltimore suburb, introverted ad creator Henry Adler is also nursing a broken heart after losing his wife Brynn in a plane crash while she was away on business earlier in the year. Childless by choice, he’s now spending significant time at his parents’ house while avoiding the memories in his own. Leave it to a mom to know when their “baby” bird needs a nudge out of the nest. Soon she’s volunteering Henry to help the daughter of her book club friend with a bogus wi-fi issue.

Grace … meet Henry. Henry … meet Grace.

So starts a fun, occasionally awkward friendship between two people trying to navigate their grief and figure out what their futures will look like without the love of their lives. One tradition that remains from both their marriages is holiday movie binges. Outspoken Grace isn’t shy about expressing her opinions on some of them, but Henry enjoys experiencing the movies through her different lens … when the mice aren’t interrupting. (It’s a whole thing, and kind of adorable).

The book presents a number of potential roadblocks to Grace and Henry’s potential new beginning, so expect your obligatory conflict scene, but we all know how these narratives work. What I appreciate is that this story is much more about the grief journey for both MCs than it is about the romance. It’s as fun to watch Henry bond with Grace’s kids as it is to see where things go with them. 

What I most love, though, is all the holiday movie references, and there are a lot of them. In fact, the tool for moving the story along and referenced in the chapter titles are the various movies that Grace and Henry binge over the holiday season, including some classic favorites like A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, Love Actually, The Holiday, Home Alone and yes … even the most debated “is it or isn’t it a holiday movie” of all time, Die Hard. (It’s a holiday movie … Yippie-ki-yay, … you know the rest 😉)

This was an immersion read with my Kindle and the audio narrated by Alex Finke and Jay Myers who both do an admirable job. If you want a little early holiday fun to replace the Halloween spookies, I highly recommend this!

★★★★