Tag: holiday romance

Book Review: About Last Christmas by Rachel Scott McDaniel

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Holiday Romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Rachel Scott McDaniel
Publisher: RSM Publishing LLC
Release Date: October 23rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s trying to avoid a holiday disaster. He’s trying to earn his way off her naughty list. Both need a Christmas Miracle.

Greta Carlton is beautifully content running her antique shop in the snow-globe town of Silver Creek, sipping vanilla gingerbread lattes, and staying clear of drama. But a whirlwind encounter with a handsome stranger leads to a whimsical evening, stirring her heart to believe in movie-style romance. That is, until Leo disappears into thin (and snowy) air. Ten months later, he walks into her shop like the Ghost of Christmas Last, needing a favor.

She’s still mad.
He’s still charming.

Greta doesn’t have time for men with dimpled grins and the proclivity for vanishing. She’s got her own holiday project with an approaching deadline. Though the more she learns about Leo, the more she realizes he’s the only thing standing between her and a Christmas catastrophe. They agree to help each other reach their holiday goals. As they untangle feelings as stubborn as knotted Christmas lights, Greta wonders if second chances are like antiques—unexpected, imperfect, and everything you didn’t know you were looking for.

About Last Christmas is a sweet holiday romance wrapped in witty banter, heartfelt twists, and the dreamy thrill of finding love in the glow of twinkling lights.

SUPER SWEET.

Another book I can easily add to my holiday recs list. This was charming and full of all things small town. The quirky personalities, main street and the way the community rallies around each other.

I enjoyed the banter between Greta and Leo. They had a flirty and light vibe. If you love second chance and plenty of forced proximity this is worth the pickup.

And it was FULL of holiday magic. Which is a must for any wonderful holiday romance. After loving RSM’s historical romances I was so excited to see that this holds a magical story too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: loss of a loved one (recounted), strained parental relationships

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: How to Kiss on Christmas Morning by Jenny Proctor

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Christmas Romance Novella
Length: 150 pages
Author: Jenny Proctor
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 25th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s merry and bright. He’s… not. But something between them is warming up.

Megan Sheridan just landed the perfect holiday a quiet week in the mountains house-sitting an event venue while the owners are away. Check the mail, answer the phone, keep the pipes from freezing—easy.

The only trouble? No one told Megan she’d be sharing the farmhouse with a very grouchy, very handsome farmhand.

Noah Hawthorne is a cousin of the owner, so she can’t exactly ask him to leave. But if he scowls at her one more time, she’s tempted to pack her own bags. She’s not about to have her Christmas ruined by a grump, hot or not.

But then a snowstorm knocks out the power, and Megan is forced to rely on her begrudging housemate. She quickly learns there’s more to Noah than terse replies and guarded looks.

But trusting a man with secrets is tough, and Megan isn’t sure she’s willing to gamble on someone who won’t open up.

When the magic of the holiday fades away, will she be holding her future? Or nursing a broken heart?

How to Kiss on Christmas Morning is a standalone, grumpy/sunshine holiday novella connected to the How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother series. Read for forced proximity, snowed in at Christmas vibes and a closed door heat level with chemistry and tension but only kisses on the page.

Thank you Jenny Proctor for the eARC.

WELL THIS WAS ADORABLE.

The holiday season really lends itself towards fast paced novellas in the midst of all of the chaos of the month. I loved picking this up and being back in Jenny Proctor’s universe and seeing all of the connections and moments with previously loved characters.

I loved the banter between Megan and Noah. They have that moment of kismet and were sweet on each other. It was a quiet and soft holiday together and it just makes you feel good. It has quintessential hallmark moments perfect for the season.

Overall audience notes:

  • Holiday Novella
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: My Merry Mistake (Holidays with Hart #3) by Courtney Walsh

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Holiday Sports Romance
Length: 412 pages
Author: Courtney Walsh
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sometimes the perfect gift is standing right in front of you. . . You’re just too stubborn to see it.

I don’t like to make mistakes. Ever.

Especially when those mistakes are witnessed by the same person—flirty Finn Holbrook—who can’t seem to leave me alone. Can I really trust him not to tell anyone that the night we met, I tried to kiss him? Or that I fell apart after I got fired from a job I loved? Or that I’m not as strong as I want everyone to think I am?

The simple fact that he’s boomeranged back into my orbit after all these years feels like a great, big cosmic joke.

Only now he’s a professional hockey player, and while he doesn’t look like the goofy college bartender I met all those years ago, he still acts like one—immature, flirty, and unable to take anything seriously.

Which is why I never, ever fall for his game.

I know better than to get swept up in romance. I don’t have time. I’m busy making myself irreplaceable in my new job with the Chicago Comets. Work isn’t just something I do, it’s who I am.

And while my sisters are constantly on me to slow down and take breaks, those things aren’t on my schedule, so . . . I push on. Do more. Load up my schedule. Overcommit. Until eventually, my stress lands me in the emergency room.

The prescription? A month off. No emails. No work. No distractions.

Unless you count Finn Holbrook, who keeps showing up at my door, determined to leverage his positive, golden retriever energy to show me there’s a great, big world outside that I haven’t bothered to explore, most of it covered with white twinkle lights and Christmas decorations.

I begrudgingly go along with his grand plans, and little by little, I start to see there really is more to life than work—and more to Finn than flirting.

Which makes me wonder . . . how can someone so obviously wrong for me start to feel completely right? And more importantly . . . how do I make those feelings go away?

My Merry Mistake is an opposites attract hockey romance with all of the sizzle but none of the steam. It’s the third book in the Holidays with Hart series, but can be read as a stand alone.

OH, OH THIS BOOK.

While highly relatable on many levels for I’m sure lots of people, this one hit me square in the face as a fellow eldest daughter. DAMN. The amount of times I’ve literally ran myself into the ground and ended up having to rest (which I hate resting sooooo). I GET IT RAYA. I GET IT.

But let me tell y’all FINNNNNNNNNNN? The softest of golden retriever’s EVERRRR. I loved his temperament and the fact that this man has been down bad for YEARS. I LOVE TO SEE IT EVERY TIME. The banter and ridiculous chemistry between Finn and Raya will have you begging them to kiss. The slow burn is torturous.

And there is definitely enough holiday cheer to say this is without a doubt a Christmas book. It had me craving everything December. I’m also obsessed with how close knit both of these families are too. I don’t think that’s written in books often enough and it is one of my favorite tidbits. The sibling dynamics, facetime chats and showing up in the hard moments made me want to sob. THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE.

An official *all time great* for my holiday book recs.

Overall audience notes:

  • Holiday Sports Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: loss of a sibling (recounted), grief depiction

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Wreck My Plans by Jillian Meadows

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Holiday Romance
Length: 301 pages
Author: Jillian Meadows
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A sweet and spicy holiday romance between a spirited artist who returns to her small town for Christmas, and her older brother’s best friend, a serious architect who pushes all her buttons—but whom she can’t seem to stay away from. 

Lena’s plans are simple. Surprise her family for Christmas, don’t tell them she lost her job, and most importantly, spend the week relaxing with the people she cares about.

But when she arrives in Juniper, she discovers she’s not the only unexpected guest this year. Her older brother’s best friend, Gavin, is back after disappearing three years ago without a word. He has the kind of charm Lena has always been drawn to, but she knows he’s also the kind of temptation she needs to stay far away from.

Gavin has built his architecture career out of planning strategies for dealing with the unexpected—but he didn’t have a strategy for the possibility of seeing Lena again. Though he’s been dreaming of her since the day he left, he can’t risk giving in to his feelings when they could upend the only family and home he has ever known.

New try to be friends again. Just friends.

But as the pieces fall into place about why Gavin left, staying friends is the last thing on his mind…and on Lena’s. All the plans they’ve made might end up completely wrecked. And for once, maybe they want it that way.

Thank you LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

EHHHHH.

I feel very mixed about this book. There’s plenty of holiday cheer and it definitely fits that vibe. I loved the rambunctious family dynamics and how much I wanted to be apart of Lena’s family too.

Gavin brought some swoon. I love a man obsessed and from the first chapter you could tell he was gone. And while I loved that, I do also think that angst was trying too hard. I wanted a bit more burn in those aspects and not feeling like I was playing catch-up.

And, as a personal preference, four chapters in a row (+ more later in the book) just really isn’t my jam. Add that in to the lets get it out of our system plot and I struggled with the physical intimacy throughout. Lastly adding in a third act that made me want to shake Lena a bit and it brought this book down for me.

So not all bad, but not all good either. I’m not upset I picked it up, but now I’m hesitant to read more from this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • Christmas romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content Warnings: mentions and recounts of being in the foster system, a car wreck (no one is injured)

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph