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The Holiday Escape

Four Friends Ditch Christmas Chaos for Costa Rican Comedy

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The Holiday Escape

By: Kim Annie Books
Narrated by: Patricia Bullock
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About this listen

Four middle-aged + friends discover that the perfect Christmas escape isn't about running away—it's about finding yourself.

When Ruth, Susie, Diana, and Maggie meet for their usual Wednesday morning coffee in Manhattan, each woman is drowning in holiday dread. Ruth faces another lonely Christmas with her dismissive husband. Susie struggles under the crushing weight of hosting duties for her demanding family. Recently divorced, Diana dreads facing the holidays without her familiar life. And control-freak Maggie feels overwhelmed by everyone else's expectations.

In a moment of desperate inspiration, they hatch an audacious plan: ditch Christmas entirely and escape to Costa Rica.

What begins as a simple getaway quickly becomes a comedy of errors. From airport disasters and lost luggage to language barriers and unexpected storms, nothing goes according to Maggie's carefully crafted itinerary. Thrown together in a tiny beach town during the holidays, these four very different women are forced to confront not just tropical challenges, but the truth about themselves.

As they navigate surf lessons, cooking classes, and the kindness of strangers, each woman begins to shed her old role. The people-pleaser learns to say no. The wallflower finds her voice. The drama queen discovers authentic confidence. The control freak learns to let go.

But when a tropical storm traps them together, years of hidden resentments surface in an explosive fight that threatens to destroy their friendship forever. With Christmas approaching and their bonds tested, they must decide whether their escape was about running away from their problems—or finally running toward the women they were meant to be.

A heartwarming tale of friendship, self-discovery, and the courage to start over, The Holiday Escape reminds us that sometimes the best gift we can give ourselves is permission to change.

©2025 Kim Florich (P)2026 Kim Florich
Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction
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