Make the Season Bright

Herring Blake (the Bright Falls series) brings all the queer-community-centric charm and sensuality her readers expect to this feel-good holiday outing. Charlotte Donovan, left at the altar five years ago by her fiancée and longtime best friend Brighton Fairbrook, is now a successful classical violinist in New York City, while aspiring songwriter Brighton has yet to find her niche in Nashville. To both their surprise and horror, they meet again for the first time since the aborted wedding at a “cheery, queery Christmas” with mutual friends in Colorado. What follows is an almost Parent Trap–esque plot in which the exes, forced by their friends to spend time together again, must work through the issues that led to their split. Christmas cheer abounds, and the heroines’ vibrant queer friend group—all of whom have their own romantic journeys to undergo—makes a charming supporting cast. Some of the conflict comes down to frustratingly unnecessary miscommunications, but this is a minor quibble with an otherwise cozy and comforting love story. This is destined for many a keeper shelf. (Oct.)