With the holiday season here, this one is a Christmas edition. This might be blasphemous but I’m enjoying these a lot more than the Christmas movies that have been churning out. Obviously they’re a lot steamier but I swear that isn’t the reason why I’m enjoying these more. Hahaha. For some reason Hallmark and Netflix movies have not been hitting the mark for me lately.

Please share any holiday reads you enjoyed or are hoping to read! I’m trying to really sink my teeth into more holiday reads to get into the spirit of the month.

One Liner: Man unexpectedly meets the one he let get away and refuses to let it happen a second time.

This is a Pippa Grant novel in warp speed. It starts off with a woman forced to dress as a Santa and it’s pretty hilarious. It has her signature humor and romance. I needed this to be a lot longer! A little more angst, some more groveling…and, y’know, 300 more pages to make it a full-length novel would have made this an even better read. It was a fun read!

One liner: Boss asks administrative assistant to pretend to be his fake girlfriend over the holidays.

The book is relatively short at around 250 pages but this works well in its favor. There is no fluffing around, and the story takes off fairly quick. I loved the banter between Declan and Maddie. Declan can come off egotistical and some of the stuff he says are turn offs, but he is actually a bit insecure. He has it pretty bad for Maddie, and Maddie finds him just as attractive. There’s a surprise third narrator and those were probably my favorite chapters. This was another fun read for the holidays!

One liner: Artist accidentally bids on and wins a date with the officer who has a giant crush on her.

This was a cute one and funny as well. Sebastian Jacobs has an enormous crush on Ai Zhao, who pretends to be resistant to his charms. He’s been trying to wear her down, and she refuses to let anyone know that it’s working. Ha! They have great chemistry and Sebastian is a sweetheart who really doesn’t want to miss his shot with her.

One Liner: Cable car conductor on the way to a work party gets mistaken by hockey player as an Uber driver.

Storytime!! One of the first times I used a ride share, I mistakenly thought someone was my Uber driver so the setup here is at least somewhat believable. He politely informed me he was not my driver and I was able to get into the right car right after laughing off my embarrassment. BUT…wouldn’t it have been such a great story to tell if my mistaken driver had been a hot hockey player who pretended to be my Uber driver because he thought I was hot and I was going to be his forever? Hahaha. Have I read too many romance novels? Probably.

This one is short and sweet. In a span of 68 pages, Willoughby manages to create believable chemistry between leads Bailey Peng and Gideon Aguilar. I was completely all aboard this…train (indulge me here). Willoughby notes that a full-length novel may be coming for this couple so I’m excited to see what happens next.

One liner: Company merger also requires a merger between the families involved–the kids have to get married to each other by Christmas.

This one has Hallmark vibes with the merging of two Christmas companies and the understanding that the merger will only stand if Wes and Sophie get married by Christmas. Sophie is nerdy and Wes is a player and they’re both looking for ways to get out of the arrangement, but they have chemistry and are attracted to one another when they meet again. The emails back and forth at the beginning were cringey but then I was hooked when they met one another. Wes ends up being a better guy than expected.