Book Review: Only For The Holidays by Abiola Bello

‘Only For The Holidays’ by Abiola Bello was released in 2023. It is a New Adult romance novel that follows Quincy and Tia, two teenagers, whose paths cross when Tia’s family book a holiday at Quincy’s family’s rural farm and lodge.

Quincy Parker is well-off. His family run a successful farm, with a popular series of holiday let cottages on site, but his life isn’t all it’s cut out to be: his ex-girlfriend, Kali, cheated on him on his eighteenth birthday, with his childhood best friend, Simon, and in a bid to not ruin their lives, despite his siblings urging him to.

Just to add further stress to Quincy’s life, his family are hosting the annual Winter Ball, the first black family in the village to have the honour. Being the first is not only a huge step in the right direction, but incredibly stressful for the Parkers.

Meanwhile, Tia and her family have been struggling for over a year: when her mother breaks up with her long-term boyfriend, Paul, the father of Tia’s younger sister, Banks, she loses her job soon after. Falling behind on bills, they end up having to leave their home and move into a two-bedroom flat, where Tia and her older sister Willow have to share a room. Tia, and Willow, have struggled in their own ways – Willow is putting most of the money she makes from her job at Nandos and in her wig making side-hustle, and Tia has been trying to hold it together, do her best in school, be the doting, dutiful daughter, but she’s floundering, but is lucky enough to have a boyfriend that supports her and loves her – not that he’s ever said it.

At the start of the book, Mike, Tia’s boyfriend, requests space, and Tia is horrified at the prospect. And on top of that, her mum has a new job, and they’re celebrating this job by upping and leaving for the countryside, without warning.

Too bad, there was an error, and there aren’t actually any holiday lets available. Desperate to avoid any repercussions, Quincy’s mum suggests Tia and her family stay in the spare rooms in the family home, a sprawling farmhouse with beautiful, luxury rooms.

Quincy and Tia are an unlikely match, despite being the same age, Tia is, technically, still in a relationship. While Bello makes the Ross and Rachel joke at the start of the book, I, personally found it astounding that half of the events in the book even took place because I would have never entertained half of what occurred if I was in a relationship.

Saying that, I loved the chemistry between them. Quincy and Tia both need dates to the Winter Ball in order to attend, due to the archaic traditionalist rules in place, so they decide together, and fake date to make it clear to Kali that Quincy does not want her back. The banter, and humour during their fake dating was fantastic. I loved the fact that Tia has an immense fear of horses, and yet, claimed to be into dressage. The humour around that running gag was always great. It always made me snort.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I felt like a lot of the events that took place within it were incredibly convenient. For example, Quincy’s older sister, Drew, and her best friend Regal have achieved celebrity status, and while Bello stresses they are still humble and down-to-earth, they immediately seem to take Tia and Willow under their wings, and actively seek out things that Willow would enjoy. It just seemed a bit convenient that these celebrities, who were in movies, and magazines, are interested in hanging out with someone from a completely different circle.

Despite that, I did like the story, and the developing relationship between Tia and Quincy. I thought it was a fun, festive read with lots of personality. I would have loved to see further consequences, but I understand why it had such an open ending. And, I think it was a great one to read in the lead-up to Christmas.