Tag: holiday romance

ARC Book Review: Merry Ex-Mas by Courtney Walsh

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance
Length: 322 pages
Author: Courtney Walsh
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 25th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I haven’t been home for Christmas in eight years.

But that’s about to change. This year, I’m traveling to my small hometown to convince my producer to make me the permanent host of Good Day Denver.

The plan: Charm viewers by sharing my favorite family Christmas traditions, and in turn, get the likes, clicks and shares to land the job.

Not the plan: Running into my ex-boyfriend.

In my house.

For Christmas.

But here he is, a guest of my mother, who apparently had more trouble letting go of Max Weber than I did.

Unfortunately, he is as handsome and charming and talented and annoying and frustrating and flirty as ever.

Even more unfortunately, he seems to have a plan of his own—to convince me to give him a second chance.

Which is not happening.

There’s just one problem—my viewers love him. More than that, they love us. Me and Max. My ex.

The boy who broke my heart.

The boy I now have to fake flirt with to win over the hearts of my viewers.

But it’s not their hearts I’m worried about. . . it’s mine.

Merry Ex-Mas is a sweet, small town, second chance romance with a dash of not-so-fake flirting, a tiny bit of enemies to lovers and just enough forced proximity to make things sizzle.

Thank you to the author for an eARC.

FINDING JOY.

I love Christmas books, and I love that I can easily add this to my recommendations list for the season.

We’ve got a really great set-up of lovers to enemies to lovers and I enjoyed the banter and rehashing of all the things that occurred then and what was happening in the present. And talk about Christmas CHEER. I LOVED the baking, decorating, picking out trees, walking the town, craft shows, alllllll the things that truly brought the entire spirit into this book. I feel so in the mood for everything holiday based, ’tis the season!

There’s plenty of family drama (but the good kind) and a lot of laugh out loud worthy awkwardness as Marin and Max clash a few times before realizing they love they once shared is still clearly there. I do think the change of heart came a bit late for me because Marin really held on to being stubborn about a tough situation. The resolutions afterwards led to some beautiful conversations that warmed my soul and made me love these characters.

Perfect for the season. Great swoony moments, hilarious banter and just a truly good time of a read.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents (from a car wreck, off page), grief and loss depiction, depression

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Book Review: Christmas As We Know It by Sarah Sutton

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Contemporary romance
Length: 248 pages
Author: Sarah Sutton
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 1st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Christmas as I know it is blown away with the winter wind when my mom drops a bomb the size of the Rockefeller Tree—we’re going to Florida for winter break, AKA the land of no snow. And since this is the last Christmas season of my high school career, my last chance to spend the holidays with my friends before we all go off to college, the news is anything but merry and bright.

There is one silver lining, though. Bentley, the sweet and kind guy I’ve been crushing on for years, is in my volunteer group for the annual Winter Festival. And did I mention his love for Christmas just might rival my own? Even though I’ll be missing out on the Winter Festival, being paired with Bentley almost makes it worth it.

Until something happens with Jason, my best friend since elementary school. Something that may or may not involve an almost kiss. Jason’s the opposite of jolly, the Grinch to my Mrs. Claus, and though every year I have to drag him along for the Yuletide ride, this December, he’s grumpier than ever about the holidays.

But the closer I get to Bentley, and the more it looks like Jason and his ex are getting back together, the more unsure I am about who I want to ring in the new year with.

Maybe all I need is the magic of a mistletoe kiss to make up my mind. Or better yet, a Christmas miracle.

THIS WAS SWEET.

A good young adult holiday romance. It’s a super fast read and bingeable if you’re in the mood for it. I was worried that I wouldn’t like the main character at all, but gave her a chance for growth and it was well received. I thought Mimi was a quintessential teen that caused a few eye rolls, and gratefully a few cheers. I love character growth in books!

I struggled with the way the love triangle was handled. I’m not even sure it was necessary? Or at least to the extent it was drawn out (this is my second book by this author with a love triangle, is this a bad sign?). The friends to lovers was really sweet and I wanted all of the focus on those quiet moments between Mimi and Jason. Jason was a gem.

The Christmas season was in full swing and I love a good snow setting (that I don’t physically have to participate in). The side characters were charming and I love a good group of friends. Things get a bit dramatic at times. I’m not upset with this for a holiday romance though, it’d be one to consider for your TBR.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: head injury from sledding
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent, depictions of grief

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Book Review: (Not So) Alone for Christmas by Jenny Proctor

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Holiday Romance Novella
Length: 95 pages
Author: Jenny Proctor
Publisher: Four Petal Press
Release Date: December 3rd, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Problem number one: Maddy’s family is NOT at home. A surprise Christmas visit to Charleston only works if the family you’re surprising hasn’t decided to spend the holidays in Hawaii.

Problem number two: Maddy is stranded. There is snow on the ground in Charleston, a city that doesn’t even own a snow plow. Flights are grounded, and the power is out. Maddy isn’t going anywhere.

Problem number three: Bo Bradshaw, Maddy’s old high school crush, is stranded with her, and he is hotter than ever.

(Not So) Alone for Christmas is a standalone, sweet romance novella that will leave you craving Christmas cookies and a cozy fire.

ALL THE HOLIDAY SWEETNESS.

This is one of those, sit and read in one evening, kinda novellas. I love reading these sometimes! And this was a fantastic quick paced romance that I thought was well written and gave me all the necessary Christmas vibes.

I like that that this was a childhood friends / second chance-ish romance. These seem to work best for something so short. The immediate need to feel a connection between the love interests was there and I was whole heartedly for Maddy and Bo. I love a good forced proximity moment as Christmas plans fell through and they got a chance to reconnect.

Super short. Super sweet. A great read for the season. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something in that category!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance Holiday Novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: make-outs

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Book Review: A Very Grumpy Christmas by Jerica MacMillan

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 317 pages
Author: Jerica MacMillan
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: November 22nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

My neighbor is a Grinch.

Since I run the Christmas Emporium and sometimes moonlight as an elf, that’s kind of a problem for me.

No surprise, though. When I brought over cookies to welcome him to the neighborhood this summer, he slammed the door in my face.

Until he brings his kid to visit Santa one of the days I’m working as an elf, and I realize there are key parts of their story I’m missing …

1. The little girl is his much younger sister, not his daughter.
2. He’s her guardian since their parents died in a tragic accident.

Now all of his handsome, broody glares make so much more sense. As one of Santa’s elves, I make it my mission to make this Christmas as special for them as possible. Which somehow includes trespassing on his property to hang Christmas lights and braiding the little girl’s hair regularly.

Despite his glares and grumpiness, I discover the soft underbelly of the beast. Will this Grinch’s heart grow three sizes as well? And if it does, will it have room for me?

A Very Grumpy Christmas is a standalone, small town, neighbors to lovers romance featuring a grumpy single dad and the sunshiny neighbor who’s determined to make his Christmas better. Full of heat and heart with an HEA guaranteed! 

IT WAS GOOD.

Three stars is mostly a case of not exactly for me, but could be for you so take this review for what you will.

This was a pretty good holiday romance. I loved the Christmastime set-up with the emporium and that the heroine’s Dad actually plays Santa Claus really added to the spirit of the season. Another sunshine/grump trope (common for the holiday reads) was used here too.

I didn’t love the friends with benefits trope. It’s just not for me. And things were waaaaay past my comfort zone for spice and I had to skip a lot more than I hoped/expected. So if you love both of those things, I would say try this out! The writing is good, and the larger story is very heartfelt.

The moments between Shane, Sarah and Sophie were incredibly sweet. Probably my favorites in the entire book. I love watching them become an unconventional family in the midst of tragedy. Sarah worked really hard to light up there lives in anyway possible and it played out well for the story. The conflict wasn’t overdone and led to a nice ending.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: multiple very open door scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of both parents, depictions of grief (most often in a young child)

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