• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • 2022 Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo
    • Completed Challenges
      • Pondathon II
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2017 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas – Jackie Lau

January 3, 2020 Leave a Comment

Review: A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas – Jackie LauA Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas
by Jackie Lau
Series: Holidays with the Wongs #2
Also in this series: A Match Made for Thanksgiving, A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year
Publisher: Jackie Lau Books
Publication Date: November 12, 2019
Genres: Romance
Pages: 94
Source: Publisher

I received an advance review copy of this book from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Greg Wong hates when things don’t go according to plan, so he definitely doesn’t appreciate it when his mother insists he drive Tasha Edwards back to Mosquito Bay for the Christmas holidays. He likes peace and quiet when he’s in the car, and that’s the opposite of what he’ll get with Tasha, his high school sweetheart. The first woman he ever loved.

Not that he has feelings for her now. Of course not. Though while he’s trying not to smile at her laughter and terrible singing, he can’t help noticing how beautiful she is.

And then his plans veer further off course when a snowstorm forces them to spend the night in an unheated motel room with only one bed…

Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Kobo

Goodreads

4 stars icon canada contemporary icon m/f romance icon travel


Yes, it’s another fun Jackie Lau book, once again full of all the tropey goodness (opposites attract, second chance, road trip, snowed in, just one bed) but this time, sadly, without the yummy food (see aforementioned road trip and snowed in).

Tasha and Greg were friends from a young age and started dating at sixteen, but then broke up after they went to university in different cities. But all that was 15 years ago, and since they’re both traveling from Toronto to their hometown of Mosquito Bay for Christmas, it’s natural that their parents will arrange for them to carpool. But how can two so opposite people come out of a road trip, snow storm and a family Christmas together?

“Tasha always looked forward, never back. She tried not to think too much about the past, and Greg was firmly in her past. The only time she’d broken her own rule and given an ex a second chance, it had failed spectacularly. She’d seen it fail many times for her friends, too.”

Greg is such a dorky engineer, and I mean that in the best possible way. He builds model trains, for goodness’ sakes! Tasha’s also an engineer, but she’s much more outgoing. Greg’s idea of a good road trip is leaving exactly on schedule and listening to CBC radio, while Tasha’s more laid back and looking forward to belting out some holiday hits. I loved how they had no hard feelings or angst between them about their breakup since it was mainly due to their geographic distance… something that’s not a problem anymore now that they’re both working in Toronto. While they both believed they had moved on from their first love, a night of reminiscing is perfect for reminding them of what’s been missing from each of their lives. But Tasha has a rule against second chances – for good reason – and it’s up to Greg (with a little help from the rest of the Wongs) to show her that rules are meant to be broken.

“I made the snowstorm happen!” Ah Ma said. “I have magic powers!”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Ma, surely if you had magic powers you would use some of them to improve your cooking.”
She sniffed. “They are very specific magic powers. For love.”

Like the previous book in this series, it’s refreshingly low angst. There’s still plenty of humor, courtesy of their clashing personalities and a particularly amorous older couple in the motel room next to theirs, and, of course, because of Ah Ma. One of my absolute favorite things about Jackie Lau’s books is how well she writes families – they’re messy, they’re annoying, but they’re above all loving. I love the Wongs so much – I love the idea that even though your family might drive you up the wall, they’ll always have your back, and this was especially true in this book.

Overall, this is a delightfully fun, tropetastic holiday read, and I’m very much looking forward to the next Wong book!

Related Posts

  • Holidays with the Wongs Series
  • By Jackie Lau
  • Same Genre
A Match Made for Thanksgiving
Review: A Match Made for Thanksgiving – Jackie Lau
A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year
Review: A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year’s – Jackie Lau
Pregnant by the Playboy
Review: Pregnant by the Playboy – Jackie Lau
Ice Cream Lover
Review: Ice Cream Lover – Jackie Lau
His Grumpy Childhood Friend
Review: His Grumpy Childhood Friend – Jackie Lau
Mr. Hotshot CEO
Review: Mr. Hotshot CEO – Jackie Lau
Heat Wave
Review: Heat Wave – Ceri Grenelle
Elite Starfighte
Review: Elite Starfighter – Grace Goodwin
Amelia Unabridged
Review: Amelia Unabridged – Ashley Schumacher
Perfect on Paper
Review: Perfect on Paper – Sophie Gonzales

You might also enjoy

Fevered StarReview: Fevered Star – Rebecca Roanhorse
The Earl in My BedReview: The Earl in My Bed – Stacy Reid
The ChallengerReview: The Challenger – Taran Matharu
Previous:
Review: Grounded for Christmas – Savannah J. Frierson
Next:
Review: A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year’s – Jackie Lau

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me


READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow

Currently Reading

June Reviews

Oaths of Legacy  by Emily SkrutskieThe Dawnhounds by Sascha StronachSweet Berries by C.M. NascostaDead Draw by Layla ReynePartners in Crime by Rachel BowdlerThe Merciless Ones by Namina FornaAll Signs Point to Yes by Cam Montgomery, Adrianne White, g. haron davis, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Mark Oshiro, Eric Smith, Emery Lee, Byron Graves, Karuna Riazi, Roselle Lim, Alexandra Villasante, Lily Anderson, Kiana Nguyen

Recently Read

Goodreads Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Lauren has
read 7 books toward
her goal of
250 books.
hide

7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo 2022

RB Summer Romance Bingo 2022
June 1 - August 31

hide
3 of 25 (12%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks

Currently Reading

  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in