Holiday Romance Wrap-Up Part 1

 Cole - Ellie Devine

This MMF holiday romance is the first in the Naughty List series and follows Cole, Grant, and Arianna. Cole leaves his small town and travels to Chicago for Christmas so he doesn't have to spend another holiday with everyone asking when he was finally going to settle down with a nice girl.  Exploring the Christmas market, Arianna finds him and invites him to get a drink.  But when her husband, Grant, shows up mid-makeout session, Cole finds himself going home with both of them. What starts as just some fun between the three of them quickly turns into more but with Christmas fast approaching, Cole starts to wonder if this might be just a bit of Christmas magic that will wear off soon.  I absolutely loved this read from start to finish.  This read is *steamy*, with more sex scenes than I thought would be possible in a 295 page book - but that's what I was expecting based on what I've heard from other readers.  What I wasn't expecting was how much emotion and character growth we get packed into those same pages.  Devine does a great job at making all 3 of our MCs fully rounded characters, but Cole is obviously the main-main character.  I absolutely loved how much of a cinnamon roll Cole is and how Grant and Arianna make Cole feel safe enough to finally be able to be his true self.  

TW/CW: BDSM, homophobia, biphobia, 

 A Kiss for Santa - Mia Monroe

This MM romance follows Luca and Magnus aka Santa. The two met years prior when Magnus delivered gifts to Luca's parent's house.  The to have seen each other only a few times over the years, but the strong feelings are mutual.  This year, Magnus needs to find a spouse or give up his job as Santa. He hopes Luca shares his feelings and agrees to marry Magus, but that would mean giving up his life in the human realm. This was a really cute romance, but it did feel like it tried to fit too much plot into this novella.  Despite our two MCs both being attracted to the other for years, they never really talked much so now that they're finally spending time together a few days before Magnus needs to be married, this feels more like insta-love.  There's also a small plotline of the attempt to sabotage Christmas but that never felt fully developed mostly because of the shorter page length.  That being said, Monroe does a really great job building this alternate world of Santa's workshop that I absolutely would love to see more of. I really liked the scenes with Luca and Magnus together and I think their chemistry was fantastic. I do think Monroe does a good job of giving us a good amount of character development before the romance began so we had a good idea of who our MCs are. I loved the scenes between the MCs and their families as well.  This was only 134 pages so, again, there was just a lot of plot to fit in.  I did like all the elements we did have in the story, I just wanted more of them or more time to explore them more fully.  
 

 A Merry Little Meet Cute - Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

This holiday romance follows Bee and Nolan as they film a historical romance movie for the Hope Channel.  Bee is a successful plus-sized adult film star with a dedicated fan following on her ClosedDoor account - and Nolan is one of those fans.  Nolan is doing this movie in hopes of rehabbing his bad-boy image from his years as a boyband member.  Things between Nolan and Bee heat up quickly and they soon find themselves keeping their budding relationship a secret.  But when a Hollywood gossip reporter finds the set, their situation becomes more complicated and if the truth of Bee's identity and their relationship is revealed, it might end this budding romance before it has a chance. I absolutely loved everything about this read!  The characters were fantastic and everyone was so unique and well-established that I could keep them all straight.  Bee and Nolan had such great chemistry that really went beyond the physical attraction.  I really enjoyed that we got enough background on the two of them to sort of explain the insta-love feelings that happened over the course of a week.  By far my favorite thing is that Bee's sex work was not the speedbump in the relationship that I was expecting.  Sure, her and Nolan do have to work out their relationship around her main job, but Nolan already knows who she is from the moment he sees her so it wasn't a big secret and he wasn't expecting her to quit that part of her job for him.  I loved the behind the scenes of shooting this low-budget movie and how much character development these extra scenes gave us.  This was a bit of a longer read at 418 pages but I was having so much fun in this world that I didn't mind at all.

TW/CW: mental health (bipolar disorder) of a parent, death of a spouse, death of a parent, fatphobia

 Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC

Publication date was September 20, 2022

 

The Mistletoe Motive - Chloe Liese

 

This enemies to lovers romance follows Gabby and Jonathan.  The two co-manage a bookstore together and have butted heads over the past year with their different management philosophies. But when the bookstore owners tell them that this holiday season will be the make or break time, Gabby refuses to lose the place that has become so special to her.  She proposes a wager that whichever of them sell the most books will be able to keep their job at the store.  At first, she's sure she'll win but as the competition continues, Gabby is sure Jonathan has some tricks up his sleeves.  Afterall, there wouldn't be any other reason for him to be nice or even flirt with her ... would there? This is my first Chloe Liese read and it will certainly not be my last.  I absolutely adored this read from start to finish, top to bottom.  Gabby and Jonathan were such well developed characters and I really liked how they worked to be friendly first.  This was told from only Gabby's POV, which did bother me a little in the beginning.  However, this is the first single POV romance that I've read where I think the single POV was the right decision.  I think Liese had such a fine balance between Gabby's mis-reading of certain situations but showing enough of Jonathan to the reader that we could see what he was thinking without actually being in his POV.  This is a bit of a slow burn romance and Gabby is specifically identified as demisexual and I think that since we had to see them go from butting heads to working together as friends before we got any overly romantic moments was really great.  I also loved Gabby's friends and how understanding and supportive they were.  This was also a low-angst read which I always appreciate.  There was plenty of potential for this to have two really big miscommunication moments but our characters actually talked to each other and knew each other well enough that they were able to discard their initial negative knee-jerk reaction.

 

Santa Daddy: Naughty or Nice - Hannah Murray

This romance follows Nick and Rebecca.  She's been his assistant for 3 years but she finally quit when she realized the job was taking up too much of her time and she didn't have a personal life.  Nick is shocked and disappointed for multiple reasons - she's his best assistant ever and he's been lusting after her for years. Little does Nick know that Rebecca is also attracted to him and the two share the same proclivity for BDSM.  Later that night, they happen to run into each other during a kinky Christmas party and now that they aren't employer/employee they're able to live out their fantasies. I liked this read, but I do prefer more Christmas in my Christmas romances.  This could have been the exact same story set on a random Tuesday and I like some more of that Christmas magic feeling.  But putting aside my own desire for more holiday cheer, this was a pretty fun and steamy read.  This reads more like an insta-love because while our MCs did work together for 3 years, we don't see any of those years on page.  They do both come to the realization that they'd developed feelings while working together so I guess it isn't ~techinically~ insta-love but it sure feels like it.  I also wanted some more character details from both of our MCs.  Outside of their shared kinky side, I don't think much else was given to the reader.  I fully acknowledge that I might have been expecting too much out of a 170 page novella - I understand that there's only so much plot and character development that can fit in those pages and novellas aren't my go-to reading length.  So I would recommend this for readers who want a well done BDSM novella with some holiday elements. The chemistry between Nick and Rebecca was spectacular and I loved how the BDSM elements were handled from the initial negotiations to safewords being used and respected, to aftercare. 

The Toy King - Adriana Herrera

This is the second book in The Toy Runners series and follows Valente and Kessina.  Valente is on a run delivering toys and finds out that his father wants him to pick up Kessina and bring her back home to marry his brother.  Valente is initially annoyed with this surprise duty - until he walks in on her using one of the adult toys she designed. The two have a mutual attraction but have to leave before the snow storm outside gets worse.  They didn't make it out in time and end up stranded by the storm in the middle of the Andes for 2 nights.  Luckily, Valente's vehicle is well stocked for emergencies ... now they just need to find the best way to pass the time.  I read the first book in this series last year and I really loved the world building that Herrera did and this book is no exception.  I think a lot of the little details were great and I loved how easily the reader is able to settle into this world.  I thought Valente and Kessina were great together and really felt like they were kindred spirits.  This read is 85% sexy-times but there still managed to fit in a good amount of character exploration which I appreciated.  Another low-angst read that was just great.

 Small Packages - Drea Braddock

 This novella follows Bex and Matthew.  Bex is a navel intelligence officer and she's autistic.  Matthew is an engineer working for NOAA and he has some physical traits that makes dating challenging.  What starts out as a one night stand quickly develops into a relationship as the two find friendship, comfort, and lots of steamy time.  However, as their relationship progresses, Bex realizes Matthew doesn't let her touch him below the belt, she begins to worry he's keeping secrets that could ruin their relationship right as it is starting.  I really liked this read, but I do think it tried to cram in way too much into the 108 pages.  This takes place over the course of a few months and because of this, we get a lot of summarizing of events that I would have loved to see on page.  I did love the chemistry and connection between the characters and how we got to see them hanging out and having fun outside of the bedroom.  I also liked how we saw Bex's autism treated in a few different ways throughout this shorter read (acceptance and adoration by Matthew and her friends, not so nicely by other characters) so it didn't feel like a one-dimensional character trait.  We get a good amount of side characters as well which I always like since it gave us a little different perspective.  I loved that Matthew wasn't 'fixed' by love but rather Bex accepts that part of him and they have a supportive and open discussion.  There was a lot of great communication in this read and while the main conflict is due to Matthew not being able to communicate in the moment, I think they still come together in the end really well.

 

The Naughty, The Nice, and The Nanny - Willa Nash

 This is the first book in The Holiday Brothers series and follows eldest brother Maddox and Natalie.  Natalie is a last-minute replacement nanny for Maddox and when they meet she immediately recognizes him from high school and the massive crush she had on him.  He's now a divorced, single dad to a spunky 7 year old daughter and he's looking to move back home to Boseman, MT.  The job is only for a week but when Natalie takes on all the challenges of the Holiday family without batting an eye, she feels like she's been a part of the family for years.  This was such a fun romance and I loved Maddox and Natalie.  Obviously, with the story taking place over the course of a week, this is solid insta-love territory.  However, the characters did have some backstory and since Maddox had been married previously, it felt like he could identify his feelings for Natalie faster because he could compare them to his ex-wife. We get a good amount of side characters and while Boseman, MT I think would not qualify as a typical small-town romance, we do get a lot of the typical small town romance vibes.  I also loved that Maddox's daughter wasn't one of those extra-cutesy kids that show up in a lot of romance books - she reminded me of some kids I babysat for back in the day. I would have liked some more scenes with Maddox and Natalie together, just the two of them to help flesh out their relationship a bit.