Tag: Holiday Romance

[New Post] ARC Review: Forbidden Flame by Lea Coll

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Title: Forbidden Flame

Author: Lea Coll

Page count: 288

Published: April 16th, 2024

Publisher: Self Published

Genre: Christmas Romance

Received: From the Publisher/Author in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

Why do forbidden flames always seem to burn brightest?
Daphne Calloway is off limits. Our families have been bitter rivals for years. I shouldn’t want her.
But I do.

Which is why I bid on her at the bachelorette auction. Letting some other guy get his hands on her was…unthinkable.
Then she suggested our date take place in a hot tub and everything got harder. Literally.

See, as a single mom with a new business, Daphne was in desperate need of a fun, sexy, one-night stand—and I was more than happy to deliver. That should’ve been the end of it.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

Because now that I know how amazing she truly is, now that I’ve started fantasizing about being there for her and her daughter in a happily-ever-after kind of way, I have a huge problem.

Choosing Daphne could cost me everything I’ve been working so hard for. What remains to be seen is whether any of it will be worth a damn thing if I lose her…

This is the last of the brothers that we got to meet, Lea has saved the best for last. Cole and Daphne have instant chemistry that we get to see in the previous books. They are from the opposite sides of the track having a Romeo and Juliet vibe to their story having their family’s being both against them being together. Despite the odds and certain circumstances, they had faced along the way. One of the things that I loved about them together they were always wanting to have the best for one another and having to make things work. I can’t wait to see the next books that Lea releases.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Snowed In by Cathrine Walsh

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Title: Snowed In

Author: Catherine Walsh

Page count: 384

Published: November 1st, 2023

Publisher: Netgalley

Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 4/5

Megan is dreading going home for the holidays. She’s the village pariah, the she-devil who left local golden boy Isaac at the altar four years ago and ran away to the big city. She could really do without the drama. Particularly as he’s engaged again, and she’s just been dumped for the fourth time this year.

Christian’s fed up of being on his own every Christmas. He doesn’t mind being alone , but he hates his family’s sad eyes and soft tones as they sit around coupled up. Because he’s actually, totally, fine.

So when Megan literally bumps into Christian in a Dublin pub, they come up with a pact to see them through the holiday season. They’re going to be the very best fake dates for each other, ever .

Rules are drawn up, a contract is signed on a wine-stained napkin. They will sit through each other’s family gatherings and be outrageously in love until freed from their annual obligations. After all, it’s only for a few weeks.

But with everyone home for the holidays, two big families to deal with alongside old friends, old flames and old feelings, things are bound to get messy. And when a snowed-in cabin and a little Christmas magic are added to the mix, anything could happen…

A swoonworthy and utterly gorgeous romantic comedy that will make you laugh out loud and fall completely in love. Fans of Emily Henry, Sophie Kinsella and Abby Jimenez won’t be able to put this down!

Holiday romances are a favourite genre of mine because I like to get into the Christmas spirit. This was fast-paced funny with great chemistry. This is the perfect book to read by the fire and have a cup of coffee and read.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Recipe for Mr. Christmas by Anni Rose

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Title: Recipe for Mr. Christmas

Author: Anni Rose

Page count: 307

Published: October 31st, 2023

Publisher: Netgalley

Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 3/5

Sometimes second chances take a little time . . .

Susie Keane is mourning the death of her husband. They had a wonderful forty years of marriage, but now she’s unsure of what to do with her life.

Then the arrival of the annual Christmas card from the oh-so-perfect Bailey family gives Susie the push she so desperately needs. Next year, she’ll be the one with the exciting stories to gloat about.

Hello cooking courses, motorbike-riding lessons and pole-dancing classes. Goodbye moping about and feeling sorry for herself.

But then something happens that Susie isn’t prepared for. A school reunion.

And she definitely isn’t prepared to meet a man who does the impossible. Bob Diamond is the first person to put a smile on Susie’s face.

Bob lost his wife eighteen months ago and knows exactly what Susie’s going through. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s a singer and guitar player in a band. Together, perhaps they can fall back in love with life?

With Bob by her side, Susie discovers that, sometimes, the most unexpected gifts of all are the ones that bring two lonely hearts together . . .

This was a great easy Christmas read. Susie and Bob were loveable characters and were able to fall into this Christmas love story.

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[New Post] ARC Review: Finding Sunshine by Lea Coll

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Title: Finding Sunshine

Author: Lea Coll

Page count: 280

Published: December 12th, 2023

Publisher: Self Published

Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance

Received: From the author in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5

A rugged mountain man was the last thing I’d tick off on my Christmas checklist.As a single mother I’m used to counting only on myself. Imagine my surprise when I arrive home to find my porch decorated with holiday lights. I didn’t expect Knox’s kindness, or the way he makes my heart skip a beat. He’s handsome, sexy, sweet, and attentive; everything I want under my Christmas tree.

I’m 100% focused on my daughter, I don’t have time for socializing, dating, or falling for a grumpy mountain man whose family owns a Christmas Tree Farm. But Knox is constantly there, offering support and friendship and unknowingly reminding me that I’m still a hot-blooded woman and not just a mother.

Because Christmas is his job, Knox has completely lost his Christmas spirit, but in return for his generosity, I’m determined to help him find it once more.

From cutting down a Christmas tree for my home and decorating it with my daughter, to including us in his family’s Christmas celebrations, I’m soon drawn into the magical spell of a Christmas romance. This year, Christmas seems to have brought us both some unexpected surprises. He adores my daughter, and she adores him, just like I do.

Every day I fall a little more in love with Knox, his family, and their farm. But Knox’s priority is his family and the Christmas tree farm. Can he ever put me first?

Will the magic disappear after the holidays, or will this love last forever?

Knox and Sarah have a story that had me gripped from the start with the connection they had. Sarah is a single mother with an adorable daughter named Addy and Knox is a grump on the outside when he’s actually a sweet and caring guy. Sarah and Knox are really cute together and have a perfect Christmas love story.

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[New Post] ARC Review: The Grumpiest Elf by Jerica MacMillan

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Title: The Grumpiest Elf

Author: Jerica MacMillian

Page count: 318

Published: November 21st, 2023

Publisher: Grey’s Promo

Genre: Contemporary Christmas Romance

Received: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 3/5

The last thing I need is to be trapped in a snowstorm with a pretty girl who can barely stand me … while I’m wearing an elf costume.

The elf thing started at birth, since my parents portray Santa and Mrs. Claus for our family business every year. You could say being an elf is in my DNA, and everyone in our small town knows me that way.

Except, I’m so tired of it.

I mean, did my mom really have to give me the elf name of Elfie Tinselbottom? Not terribly masculine, if you ask me.

To make matters worse, my very existence seems to piss off the newest elf—a gorgeous girl named Lydia who’s just moved to Arcadian Falls. She’s as sunshiny and filled with Christmas cheer as everyone else—except when she’s with me. I seem to make her as frosty as an icicle.

But an off-site party and a snowstorm traps us alone at the event space. How are we going to survive a whole night stuck together?

Will I be able to break through the cold exterior she keeps up only around me? Or will I be doomed to be Santa’s grumpiest elf forever?

The Grumpiest Elf is a low angst Christmas rom com featuring a grumpy elf who just wants to be a normal guy and the new girl who cures him of his Grinchy ways. Light and fun and full of all the holiday feels!

Dylan is the grump of the story he works at his family business as an elf and hates it. The family hires a new employee and it’s Lydia who is the complete opposite of Dylan, she’s happy and in the Christmas spirit mood. They had a rocky start, but they were able to find their way and apologize for the misunderstandings that happened. This is a good book to get into for this holiday spirit.

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