Holiday Romances to Warm You Up
There’s something about the holiday season that just makes us crave romance. As the weather outside gets colder and maybe (hopefully) we start to see snow fall, we all get a little bit more sentimental. We want to watch all the Hallmark Christmas movies. We’re here for every single seasonal romance and heart-warming love story. At this time of year who among us doesn’t crave a warm and fuzzy rom com with a happily ever after? Here are a few great holiday romances to warm you up and make you feel just a little bit cozier this holiday season.
When your holiday rom com takes place in Mistletoe, Maine, you know the Christmas sparks are going to fly. And yes, Mistletoe is the setting of Belle Calhoune’s No Ordinary Christmas. Local celebrity turned Hollywood hunk Dante West has just returned home to make his next movie. Everyone in town is excited to have Dante back. Well, everyone except for librarian Lucy Marshall. Back when Dante took off for LA, he left without telling her goodbye, leaving her completely heartbroken. But now that he’s back, and with the magic of the holiday season, Dante’s hoping he might have a second chance.
Dante is thrilled to help boost his hometown’s economy and finally begin making amends to the people he hurt years ago when he left, starting with Lucy. But seeing his former best friend on set every day feels a lot less like closure and more like a fresh start. It’s one thing for Dante to fall for Lucy all over again, quite another for a famous movie star and a small-town librarian to find lasting romance. Can the magic of the holiday season give Lucy and Dante’s first love a second chance?
Craving a Jewish holiday rom com? Seasons of Love will absolutely warm your heart this holiday season. Miriam Blum has finally got a thriving art career when her great-aunt Cass passes away, leaving Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, a Jewish-run Christmas tree farm. The business is at risk of going under, and if Miriam wants to have any chance at turning things around, she’ll have to learn how to work alongside the farm’s grumpy manager Noelle Northwood. Meanwhile, Noelle wants nothing to do with Miriam, even if Miriam is charming and has really good ideas. But saving the Christmas tree farm will require Miriam and Noelle to learn to trust one another.
A BookPage Best Holiday Romance of 2022
A PopSugar Best Holiday Romance of 2022
A Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Best Read of 2022
Miriam Blum has no choice but to face the past she thought she’d left behind when she inherits her great-aunt’s Christmas tree farm in this witty, glittering, heart-filled romcom with “all of the warm, queer, Jewish holiday vibes you could possibly want” (Jen DeLuca, USA Today bestselling author of Well Matched)!
Thanks to her thriving art career, Miriam Blum finally has her decoupaged glitter ducks in a row—until devastating news forces her to a very unwanted family reunion. Her beloved great-aunt Cass has passed and left Miriam part-owner of Carrigan’s, her (ironically) Jewish-run Christmas tree farm.
But Miriam’s plans to sit shiva, avoid her parents, then put Carrigan’s in her rearview mirror are spoiled when she learns the business is at risk of going under. To have any chance at turning things around, she’ll need to work with the farm’s grumpy manager—as long as the attraction sparking between them doesn’t set all their trees on fire first.
Noelle Northwood wants Miriam Blum gone—even if her ingenious ideas and sensitive soul keep showing Noelle there’s more to Cass’s niece than meets the eye. But saving Carrigan’s requires trust, love, and risking it all—for the chance to make their wildest dreams come true.
You know what always makes a Christmas romance just a little bit better? Cats. In A Cat Café Christmas, Kara Ingalls is realizing a life-long dream when she opens up the Meow and Furrever Cat Café. But business has been slow lately. If Kara can’t find some way to get it out of the red before the holidays, the café might just have to shut it down for good. That’s when marketing guru Ben Reese swoops in to save the day. Ben has the perfect plan to get the café back in the green, but will Ben and Kara be able to keep things professional and get the job done when there’s so much romantic tension between them?
Veterinarian and animal lover Kara Ingalls needs a Christmas miracle. Opening the Meow and Furrever Cat Café to find loving homes for adorable, adoptable cats was a dream come true—but with more cats than customers, it’s quickly turning into a nightmare. If Kara can’t figure out some way to get the café out of the red, it won’t last past the holidays.
Marketing guru Ben Reese may be annoyingly smart and frustratingly bossy, but when he hatches a plan to put the café in the “green” by Christmas, Kara realizes that she’d be a fool to turn down his help. And so what if he turns out to be an excellent problem solver and nerdy-hot—he can’t even handle fostering one little kitten. She needs to keep their relationship professional and focus on saving the cafe.
But if Ben and Kara can set aside their differences—and find homes for all the cats by Christmas—they might discover that, by risking their hearts, they’ll have their own purr-fect holiday . . . together.
Yes, we love Christmas cats, but how about dogs? Enter Lizzie Shane’s The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, a delightful holiday rom com set in the small town of Pine Hollow, where the holiday vibes are on point. Snow is falling, and Ally Gilmore is excited to spend some quality time with her family. That is, until she learns a Grinch by the name of Ben West has pulled the funding for her family’s rescue shelter. Suddenly, she’s scrambling to find a new home for twelve dogs. Ben feels guilty about the shelter closing, and so he agrees to help Ally adopt out the puppies. Of course, as the two spend time together, they realize they have more in common than they originally thought.
If you’re looking for some good old-fashioned cowboy Christmas cheer this holiday season, check out Wishing on a Christmas Cowboy by Sarah Richardson. Pediatric nurse Kyra Fowler has just lined up her dream job at the most prestigious children’s hospital in London. But there’s one problem; she’s just inherited the small Wyoming town of Star Valley. Kyra is confident that she can sell Star Valley by the New Year, and so she heads to Star Valley for the holidays. But ex-Navy SEAL Aiden Steele has other ideas. His plan? Show Kyra the sights and let the Christmas spirit work its magic. By the time he’s done with her, Aiden is certain Kyra will fall in love with Star Valley.
Pediatric nurse Kyra Fowler is finally going to realize her dream. She’s got a job lined up at the most prestigious children’s hospital in London. There’s only one little snag—first she has to sell the Wyoming town she’s just inherited from her estranged father. After a little fixing up, the place should easily attract a buyer. Hopefully she’ll be celebrating the sale by New Year’s.
Ex-Navy SEAL Aiden Steele couldn’t save his brother-in-law on the battlefield, but he can save his sister’s ranch and give his nieces the life they deserve in the town they love. He’s not about to let some outsider make a mint selling to a ruthless developer. Operation Save Star Valley is foolproof: show Kyra the sights, let the Christmas spirit work its magic, and bam! She’ll decide not to sell and he can ensure his family is taken care of. Except as he tries to make Kyra fall in love with the town, Aiden starts falling for her.
Christmas at Fireside Cabins is a heartwarming holiday story all about finding your home away from home. Lila Evans is having a hard time with the holidays coming up, but the countryside retreat of Fireside Cabins sounds like the perfect place to create new holiday traditions and memories. But Lila isn’t getting the warm welcome she’d expected from the small town of Pinewood Hills. Especially not from Theo Perry, the gruff owner of the local coffee shop. But there’s more to Theo than meets the eye, and the more Lila and Theo run into one another, the more Lila begins to thaw his icy heart.
Christmas is tough for Lila Evans. She’s all alone, left with only memories of the heartbreaking time when she lost her father. But this year, Lila’s in search of a home away from home––and the countryside retreat of Fireside Cabins sounds like the perfect place. Yet Pinewood Hills, tucked in the snow-topped Tennessee mountains, doesn’t offer the small-town welcome she’d been expecting. And when Lila stops at the local coffee shop for a much-needed peppermint latte, the rugged, surly owner Theo Perry gives her a reception as icy as his piercing blue eyes.
Unfortunately, avoiding each other in the quaint village is impossible, which means Lila is soon bumping into Theo everywhere. To her surprise, Lila discovers there’s more to Theo than his frosty demeanor . . . and when Lila sees him smile, it feels like sunshine on a cold winter’s day––like coming home. To chase away her holiday blues, Lila makes it her mission to warm up Theo, even if the town warns her that it would take a Christmas miracle.
Emily Martin has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. She’s a contributing editor at Book Riot and blogs/podcasts at Book Squad Goals.