Book Review: Make The Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake

‘Make The Season Bright’ is a holiday romance novel by Ashley Herring Blake. It was released in 2024 and follows the second-chance romance between Charlotte and Brighton, two queer women in their late twenties, who, once-upon-a-time had been engaged, only for Brighton to leave Charlotte at the altar.

Five years later, they are caught between a rock and a hard place, reunited by two sisters and their determination to ensure their friends didn’t spend Christmas alone. Stuck in each other’s company for almost two weeks, Charlotte and Brighton are stuck, desperately trying to heal old wounds, and get past what happened to them.

Although I have yet to finish Ashley Herring Blake’s pre-existing series, The Bright Falls’ series, she is a favourite author of mine, and whenever I take the time to sit down with her books, I love every minute of it! This book was no different to the other ones I’ve read thus far.

Charlotte was such a compelling character. I sympathised with her immensely, and she broke my heart. I completely understood why she was closed off, but I wanted to throttle her as Sloane and Wes bared their souls to her, and she didn’t take the hints, even though I probably would have done the same. She was an incredibly evocative lead, who built walls up to appear strong after being left at the altar, a harrowing experience for anyone, especially, when the reader is privy to Charlotte’s innermost feelings about a fear of rejection.

I really enjoyed the way that this book was clearly a love letter to queer friendships and the found family units one makes as a queer adult. The way that Sloane and here sister, Adele both curated strong queer friendships and brought them home because they had somewhere to go, and their family embraced their friends wholly. There was so much love there, and it melted me into goo. I loved seeing a friendship group united among mutual love of music and making music as opposed to drinking or school, and the way that, despite the group being a strong unit, especially the Rosalind Quartet, it was clear that Maneesh and Elle were closer to one another than their fellow bandmates.

I loved the theme of forgiveness echoing throughout this book. While Charlotte and Brighton needed to forgive each other for the part they each played in the downfall of their engagement in their early twenties, they both had to forgive themselves too, not just for missing what they had, but because they had to acknowledge the part each of them had to play in the breakup, and acknowledge it.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the silly festive hijinks that took place throughout the story, following the matchmaking event called ‘Two Turtle Doves’, based on ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’ song. The orchestrated dates that proved to only get under characters’ skin were fantastic for heightened romantic tension, and ample opportunities to laugh and improve the mood.

I loved this book! I would definitely recommend it. It was a fun festive story about being true to yourself, and the value of communication and listening. It has taken pride of place as a festive favourite of mine! I could see myself revisiting it in the lead up to Christmas again in the future!

If anything, finishing this festive romance has made me even more excited to finish the Bright Falls series by Ashley Herring Blake in 2025!