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Book Review: The Holiday Club by Ashley Manley

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Holiday Romance Novella
Length: 203 pages
Author: Ashley Manley
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: October 30th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She’s lost the holidays she loved. He never wanted them in the first place. But this Christmas, everything could change.

Hollis Hartwell lives for parades on Main Street, matching pajamas, and small-town holiday magic—until a custody agreement hands every Christmas and town festival to her ex-husband. Now, with her magazine column on festive traditions looming and her heart anything but merry, Hollis is desperate for a new way to celebrate.

Enter Jay Randall. A rugged nonconformist who’d rather spend December riding a horse and buggy with his oddball best friend than decking any halls. When Hollis barges into their anti-Christmas plans hoping to prove that traditions matter, she gets more than she bargained for.

Sparks fly, beliefs are challenged, and amid beertending and unexpected pear trees, Hollis begins to wonder if the best traditions are the ones you create for yourself.

(please note, this title contains explicit language and romance)

OOOH I LOVED THIS.

Who knew that this charming novella would find its way to me this season and totally light up my day? I mean, it does kind of gut punch you in the beginning, but stay the course!!

I think as a parent, the sentiments surrounding creating the “perfect” holiday season and trying to accomplish all the things is what sang to me most. Understanding and realizing what’s actually important and what your children are truly noticing.

And I liked the romance!! For a novella I thought the slow burn was honestly pretty good. It gets a touch spicy for me, but easy to skip over. I loved the unconventional gang between Jay, Marv and Hollis. The core themes of this book just really spoke to me and I devoured this one.

Overall audience notes:

  • Holiday Romance Novella
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 2-3ish open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: cheating (recounted), divorice

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: November 2025

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Celebrating another turn around the sun! I hit it hard with holiday romances and found a couple new gems! Future reviews will be out soon or check my socials to see more breakdowns.

  • Princess of Blood (The Shards of Magic #2) by Sarah Hawley
  • [ARC] We Fell Apart (We Were Liars) by E. Lockhart
  • [ARC] Coldwire (Coldwire #1) by Chloe Gong
  • Check the Halls (The Ottawa Otters #2) by K.M. Gillis
  • The Things Gods Break (The Crucible #2) by Abigail Owen
  • [ARC] The Wild Card (Sheet Cake #4) by Emma St. Clair
  • Soul Searching (Sweetwater Peak #1) by Lyla Sage
  • How He Got the Girl (Sweeter Than Fiction #2) by Amanda Schimmoeller
  • Mate (Bride #2) by Ali Hazelwood
  • Moth Dark by Kika Hatzopoulou
  • My Merry Mistake (Holidays with Hart #3) by Courtney Walsh
  • Thorn Season (Thorn Season #1) by Kiera Azar
  • A Wraith Beneath the Tides (Beyond the Tides #1) by Emilia Jae
  • Smoke and Scar (Shattered Crown #1) by Gretchen Powell Fox
  • The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs
  • About Last Christmas by Rachel Scott McDaniel
  • Never Over by Clare Gilmore
  • [ALC] Arrow of Fortune (The Raiders of the Arcana #3) by Jacquelyn Benson
  • Highland Holiday by Kasey Stockton
  • [ARC/ALC] The Marriage Method by Mimi Matthews
  • That’s A Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You by Elyse Myers
  • Big Nick Energy by Kristen Bailey
  • Sleigh Bells and Snowstorms by Claire Kingsley
  • [ALC] Moms of Mayhem (Mayhem Hockey Club #1) by Aimee Vance
  • Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend (Catching Feelings #1) by Kate Watson
  • Brimstone (Fae & Alchemy #2) by Callie Hart
  • Silent Heist by Jenessa Fayeth
  • [ARC/ALC] Better in Black (Shadowhunter Chronicles) by Cassandra Clare
  • [ARC] The Bodyguard Affair by Amy Lea
  • [Novella] The Holidate Switch by Torie Jean
  • [ARC/ALC] Dawn of the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana
  • [Novella] Mistletoe Fall Out by Larissa Hommes
  • A Little Holiday Fling by Farrah Heron
  • [Novella/ARC] How to Kiss on Christmas Morning by Jenny Proctor
  • [Novella] Merrily Ever After by Catherine Walsh
  • Eclipse of the Crown (Villains & Virtues #3) by A.K. Caggiano
  • Please Don’t Go (Midnight Strike #1) by E. Salvador
  • [Novella] Snow Place Like Home (Home Sweet Holidays) by Laura Pavlov
  • [Novella] Merry and Bright (Home Sweet Holidays) by Ali Rosen
  • [Novella] All Wrapped Up in You (Home Sweet Holidays) by Rosie Danan

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: October 2025

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I had to amp up the reading to combat the fact that I had EIGHT arcs coming out on November 4th. But all is good, all has been read. Reviews will be out over the next few months!

  • Town of Shadows (Slanted London #1) by Jessica Scarlet
  • The Weaver Bride (The Weaver Bride #1) by Lydia Gregovic
  • [ARC] Marriage is Shore Thing (Wilks Beach #2) by Laura Langa
  • Throne in the Dark (Villains & Virtues #1) by A.K. Caggiano
  • Unending (The Unseelie Duology #2) by Ivelisse Housman
  • Our Beautiful Mess by B.K. Clark
  • The Mummy Snatcher Curse (The Wand Keepers #2) by Tiffany McDaniel
  • Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause
  • [ARC/ALC] Secret Haven (Sparrow Falls #6) by Catherine Cowles
  • Ghost Business (Boneyard Key #2) by Jen DeLuca
  • A Steeping of Blood (A Tempest of Tea Duology #2) by Hafsah Faizal
  • The Sound of Summer (The House on Harrison Blvd #1) by Meagan Williamson
  • [ALC] Red City (The New Alchemists #1) by Marie Lu
  • [ARC]The Demon and the Light (The Floating World #2) by Axie Oh
  • House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) by K.A. Linde
  • [ARC/ALC] An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew
  • Summoned to the Wilds (Villains & Virtues #1) by A.K. Caggiano
  • Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
  • The Arrow and the Alder by Barbara Kloss
  • The Last Tiger by Julia Riew & Brad Riew
  • [ALC] The Heir (Crownhaven #1) by Sophia Travers
  • [ALC] Never Ever After (Never Ever After #1) by Sue Lynn Tan
  • Sonnets and Serpents (Casters & Crowns #2) by Elizabeth Lowham
  • [ARC] Against a Crescent Storm (The Balkan Legends #3) by A.L. Sowards
  • For No Mortal Creature by Kenshe Chow
  • [ALC] The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
  • [ARC] The Prince of Mourning by Jenn Bennett
  • [ARC] The Maid of Sherwood Forest (A McQuivey’s Costume Shop Romance #2) by Sian Ann Bessey
  • Every Spiral of Fate (This Woven Kingdom #4) by Tahereh Mafi
  • [ALC] Fallen City (Fallen City Duology #1) by Adrienne Young
  • [ARC] Through Each Tomorrow (Timeless #6) by Gabrielle Meyer
  • A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig
  • [Novella] A Very Merry Matchup by Becca Kinzer
  • [ARC/ALC] A Queen’s Match (A Queen’s Duet #2) by Katharine McGee
  • [ARC] Ship of Spells by H. Leighton Dickson
  • [Novella] Holly (Belladonna #3.5) by Adalyn Grace

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Book Review: Not a Thing (The Seddledown #2) by Susan Henshaw

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 290 pages
Author: Susan Henshaw
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 1st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A small town principal rewriting her future. A big city lawyer running from his past. The secret that could tear them apart.

After getting dumped, Christy Thornbury has zero intentions of setting foot on Seddledowne soil ever again. But when the school board begs her to be their high school principal, she packs up her car and leaves her toxic family in the dry, Wyoming dust.

Serial dater, Holden Dupree, sprints faster than any woman can catch him. But when Christy’s sisters devise a humiliating scheme to find her a husband, Holden breaks the one self-imposed rule he’s lived by for the last decade. And now he’s stuck in a frustrating, all-cuddling, no-kissing, fake relationship with his brother’s gorgeous ex.

With chemistry hotter than a branding iron, can Christy keep her heart on lockdown while tucked safely in a playboy’s embrace? And will Holden finally lasso his demons, fight for the love he never thought he’d find, and come home to Dupree Ranch for good?

Perfect for readers who enjoy a love story with sizzle but no spice. Get ready for fake dating and forbidden love, dark pasts and daring rescues. But always a hard-earned happily ever after.

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS.

This book was maddening to read while also being addictive and I found myself downloading book three immediately after (granted, I have been most looking forward to book three so it tracks).

ANYWHO. My issue here is how immature so many of these adults were. The book is set in high school and it felt like most of the antics were high school based too. And I don’t know how I feel about how some of the heavier themes were used and handled.

There were some good swoon moments and I actually didn’t mind Holden and Christy as a couple. They had this off-beat chemistry that worked well for them. And I can’t deny that I love a great heated make-out scene.

I went up and down as I read on this book and while it’s not my favorite, I’m not upset I read it either.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: heated make-outs; light innuendo
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content Warnings: su!cide (mentioned and brought up throughout), bullying, stalker

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