Holiday Book Recommendations!

Tis the season to curl up on the couch, under a blanket, with coffee, tea, or hot cocoa, and enjoy a book while the chaos of the world continues around you. As a frequent 'reading on holidays' person (Maggie) and 'reading to recover from the holidays' person (Allison), we wanted to give some recommendations of books that can get you in the holiday spirit whenever you need it.

The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

I've talked about this book a few times on the blog the past few months. I absolutely adored it.

The Prince of Christmas, Coal, doesn't want to go around with his dad's plans to have him get married to the Easter Princess before the holiday. When the Prince of Halloween moves in, to try to show an 'openness to competition' the plan starts to get blurry when Coal finds Hex more and more intriguing, and attractive.

Now they can't seem to keep their hands off of each other, and risk exposing themselves and the faults behind the holiday houses.

This one is a fun, queer romance that hits all the feelings in the right way.

The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore

Kira North hates Christmas. Which is unfortunate since she just bought a Christmas tree farm in a town that’s too cute for its own good. Bennett Ellis is on vacation in Dream Harbor taking a break from his life in California. And most importantly, taking a break from his latest run of disastrous dates. The more they try to stay away from each other the more they seem to run into each other.

When a snow storm means Bennett has to stay over at her cold cabin in the middle of the tree farm, they start to realize their mixed feelings might not be so mixed at all.

This book is definitely a spicy one, so more for the adult crowd. It does have a great Hallmark movie/cozy Christmas vibe.

The Christmas Notch series by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

What if a porn star was cast in a "Hallmark" movie? This is the initial question that makes up the world of the Christmas Notch series by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. This 3-novel, 2-novella series includes reformed celebrity good-girls, BDSM costume creators, former boy band members, and so many other memorable characters. It is a great combination of silly holiday cliches and spicy, SPICY scenes. It is fluffy fun, incredibly predictable, but somehow equal parts endearing and sexy. You should probably read them in order- at least the novels- as some of the character arcs might be spoiled for you in subsequent installations of the series. A Merry Little Meet Cute is the first in the series (see picture), and the third book, A Jingle Bell Mingle, came out this past year. Check the series out today!

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.

Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:

She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.

He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.

She hates his guts.

He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)

But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself. That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.

She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?

How My Neighbor Stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn

Storee Taylor returns to a tiny, Christmas filled town in Colorado to help her aunt, who has recently had a fall and needs help. When she gets there, she is thrown into a 'Kringle' competition, that her aunt usually does, and immediately feels in over her head.

Cole Black lives next door, and hates Christmas. He remembers Storee from their childhood, and can't help but have a need to beat her in the Kringle competition.

But the competition turns steamy as they start to have their feelings change from hate to something more. This book definitely has a lot of spice but is overall a really fun story with a lot of Grinch references.

Will you be reading any of these festive novels by your fireside this holiday season? What books will you be reading this yuletide? Comment below to let us know!