All 5 (+1) Holiday Romance Books I Read This Year | 2023

Small town, Hallmark-type stories hit different this time of the year. While I usually just indulge myself in tons of those in movies, this year I wanted to see how many romcom holiday books I could go through. 

I did observe that these stories have some sort of pattern in them - we have big men, feisty or fun (usually redhead?) women, nicknames, best friends, etc. For the Christmas themed ones, just throw in those same patterns and a thousand more mistletoes.

I initially planned to read at least seven but after the fifth book, I was already drunk in the genre that it was so difficult for me to get past the 10% mark of the books I tried to read after that. This is not the genre I usually read so it got too much too fast. Five may not be many, but here are the five (+1 from last year) that I read...

The Clause in Christmas (Poppy Creek, Book 1) by Rachael Bloome

This is only an honourary addition to this list because this was actually last year's read. I started the second book for this reading project thinking that all the books in this series would be Christmas-themed but I was wrong. Anyway, let's get into it.

The story. The Clause in Christmas has elements that a thousand other books may also have - we have Cassie our Grinchy anti-Christmas character, Luke who is a very character who's very into Christmas and a small town that's overflowing with the holiday spirit. So, Cassie came into town wanting to claim her real estate inheritance so she could sell it because she was in desperate need for the money. She meets the town lawyer Luke who was also the executor of her grandmother's will. Turned out, Cassie had to finish a series of tasks as part of a clause in the will. She ended up having to stay in town much longer than expected and seeing for herself what she might be missing all along.

My thoughts. I honestly thought I would get cheesed out by this book because of the plot alone though I don't mind cheesy Hallmark-type reads especially during the holidays. BUUUUUUT. Hear me out. This book is actually so much more than that. The characters are very likeable and just like Cassie, I ended up falling for the charm of Poppy Creek. While they still have the very cliche Christmas elements, the writer effectively makes it work in this one. The premise of fulfilling holiday quests for an inheritance is an odd one but was a very fun way to bring everything together.

★★★★☆ | Amazon Kindle Canada non-affiliate link

The Truth in Tiramisu (Poppy Creek, Book 2) by Rachael Bloome

As I mentioned book is not the Christmas-themed one that I'd hope but since I started out this Christmas romance reading project with this, I might as well add it to the list.

The story. With Cassie and Luke (from book #1) planning their wedding, we have a couple of Poppy Creek prodigal sons returning and one of them is Eliza's first love. Things did not end well for them and seven years later he's back...and it's messing up with Eliza's head more than she'd hoped. It was not easy rekindling the old flame considering that she has now a son and that she's keeping a very dark secret that could topple over the peace that she's been keeping for so long. It got harder as they were drawn closer and closer together. Eliza is now in a dilemma of whether or now this time, it would be worth taking the risk and fighting for what she really wants.

My thoughts. I had high hopes for this since I really loved the first book but The Truth in Tiramisu fell short for me. This was a fast read, but I struggled connecting with the characters especially in the beginning because everything just felt so forced. There are also multiple times that the plot just does not make sense. I still have one more book in this series which is for sure holiday-themed so I gave it one final shot.

★★★☆☆ | Amazon Kindle Canada non-affiliate link

The Meaning in Mistletoe (Poppy Creek, Book 4) by Rachael Bloome

I was gonna alternate the reading list with another book but I thought since I was already in the Poppy Creek train, I figured to just get on for another ride.

The story. In this book we have Kat who's desperate to save the women's shelter where she lives and work and comes to Poppy Creek with the hopes of selling a valuable item for that cause. Then we have Jack, a diner owner who's had numerous presence in the previous books, who's fearful of falling for women who might just leave Poppy Creek. Well, Kat came without the intention to stay but as the circumstances forced her to stay just a little longer, she finds herself falling for Poppy Creek and that one diner owner.

My thoughts. This has the really good Christmas story themes of family, community and love. I actually like this so much though it still fell on the same bar as the second book. The characters are likeable but not very much interesting. It's actually a great holiday book. It's fun without being cheesy. I like the chemistry between the characters.There are eight books in the series but this will be the last Poppy Creek book that I'll be reading.

★★★☆☆ | Amazon Kindle Canada non-affiliate link

Along Came Holly (A Mistletoe Romance, Book 3) by Codi Hall

This is set on a town named Mistletoe. We have a young woman who's first name is Holly and her last name is Winters. She's also known as adventurous elf who owns a holiday shop. If all that does not set the Christmas to this story, I don't know what else will.

The story. A Grinch meeting a very Christmas-y character is a tale told for so many work of fiction but in this case we have Holly, a fun yet feisty lady who immensely loves the holiday season. On the other hand...or shop...we have Declan, a very bitter young man who seems to be too big for their small town. They obviously did not get along at first and that started a history of prank wars between the two. When Holly had no choice but to seek for Declan's help for the holidays, they started to see there's more than meets the eye.

My thoughts. After like a number of kinda cheesy holiday romances, I admit I was starting to get overwhelmed. Surprisingly, this was a very entertaining book. I thought I'd be annoyed by Holly. However, it was Declan's character that was a little too much - still very tolerable though. Maybe it's just me but the whole prank thing seemed childish and just did not make any sense. Their banters are at times not enough to convince me that they really hated each other. Even with that, I still like how the story what paced and it was in many ways very festive and entertaining.

★★★☆☆ | Audible Canada non-affiliate link

Christmas in Eternity Springs (The Eternity Springs, Book 12) by Emily March

Unintentionally, I found myself in another shopowner-handyman small town romance with a (god forbid) red-haired gal. This is my third book in a matter of weeks with a redhead character that I'm beginning to wonder if there's really that much of them in America. Having known all that from the first few minutes, I wanted to skip this one...but I'm so glad I didn't.

The story. Claire and Jax met at what could have been the most mundane days of their lives. They had a good wholesome conversation and just instantly clicked. Both carrying baggages of their past and with Jax on to a fresh start with his son who's had a traumatic experience, it seemed to be the right person at the wrong time. However, when they're brought closer together, the attraction was just inevitable. Will this be enough to hold on to something more permanent?

My thoughts. Okay. This one surprised me. I thought this was going to be another cheesy romance, but I was wrong. This was much deeper than what meets the eye. Nicholas (Jax's son) was a very key character to how the story played out and drove the strongest emotion to the story. This book still brings out the values that most Christmas stories highlight like love, family and most especially healing. It is nothing short of beautiful. It may lack the usual intensity or the general stereotypes in small town romances, but in this case it made the story seemed so real.

Note: I do have qualms with Jax's name. My apologies to those who are named Jax, but listening to the name so many times in the audiobook made me think of the name Jack...but plural. 

Another note: My actual rating for this book is 3.5. I do not know how to type nor can I find a half star icon I can copy and paste so I decided to round it up to four.

★★★★☆ | Audible Canada non-affiliate link

Falling for Christmas by Kate Hewitt (Falling for the Freemans, Book 1)

Okay. Now we have a city girl falling for the huge, single handyman. At this point, I just thought...it is what it is.

The story. Hannah Ford for some reason drove into a snowstorm after running away from a very uncomfortable Christmas party instead of going home. 300 miles later, she was stuck in a strange place about to freeze to her demise when a huge man named Sam with a truck came to her rescue and took her in. The place was very snowed in for days so Hannah and Sam had to spend Christmas together. 

My thoughts. After reading a handful of these books continuously, it did not take much to guess everything that happened in the book. This is a very short read/listen - the audiobook was only 3 hours long and might be faster if I sped it up. But I still willingly gave this a chance. 

First of all, I might have been listening to too many Rotten Mango episodes but getting rescued by a huge man in a snowstorm and getting taken into his cottage raises a parade of right flags for me. I think the chances for this to be a romantic escapade would only be 1%. Anyway, despite the predictability of the story and with a pretty linear plot, I still think this isn't a bad book at all. It just felt like a short story that's three hours long. It's not a boring book at all and the characters are somehow still likeable. I think this would be a great short listen/read if you're doing some holiday chores or driving somewhere.

In conclusion...

I initially wanted to read seven holiday romance books this year but I had to stop at five. By the end of this short project, I couldn't take in any more of it. I tried reading more of this genre but my brain was just repelling it already. It feels like that one guilty day of having too many dessert. Even with just these five books, I still enjoyed the experience. For someone who used to devour many Precious Hearts Romances in the past, this made me realise how much I have outgrown that practice. 

Well, as I used to just watch those cheesy Hallmark movies during this time of the year, I think is a great addition to the tradition. Still cannot wait for what Netflix brings out for the holidays.

Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas season!