Holiday Reads 2025
In which I share some recommendations and plans for this year...
Last December, I decided that most of the books I was going to read were going to be holiday-themed because, well, why not? There’s a ton of holiday romance books that come out every year and quite the backlog from previous ones, so it’s not as if I was going to run out of books to enjoy. I plan to do the same this year, starting with holiday books available via my Kobo Plus subscription with some reads from the library thrown in if they become available.
2024 Holiday Reads
Let’s start with a quick run-down of what I read last December. I’ve listed these in order of my star rating for them, highest to lowest. All links are affiliate links to Bookshop.org unless they’re only available via another site which I’ve noted; if you buy something after clicking a link, I may get a small portion of that sale back from the company.
4.5 Stars and Above
Handmade Holidays (Nathan Burgoine) - 4.75 stars
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year (Ally Carter) - 4. 5 stars
A Christmas Caroline (Camilla Isley) - 4.5 stars
My Christmas Number One (Leonie Mack) - 4.5 stars
Snow Days with You (Leonie Mack) - 4.5 stars
Santa Maybe (Carla Luna) - 4.5 stars
4 Stars
Fool Me Twice (Camilla Isley)
Hot Mall Santa (A.J. Truman)
Upon the Midnight Queer (Nathan Burgoine)
Wrapped Up in You (Talia Hibbert) - Only available via Kobo
Less than 4 Stars
Holiday Hire (Maggie Cole) - 3.75 stars
Holiday Hoax (Maggie Cole) - 3. 5 stars
Single and Ready to Jingle (Piper Rayne) - 3.5 stars
Recommendations from Natasha
I know Natasha from work, one of several folks I’m constantly chatting with books about. She recommended a couple of books she’s enjoyed in previous years that fit the holiday theme.
You’re a Mean One, Matthew Prince (Timothy Janovsky)
The Merriest Misters (Timothy Janovsky)
The Nightmare Before Kissmass (Sara Raasch)
What Child is This? (Bonnie McBird) - not romance but a mystery
Holly Jolly Diwali (Sonya Laili) - not Christmas but Diwali
2025 Plans
I’ve got a few books already queue up for this December. I can’t promise I’ll read all of these and am likely to add a few more before then. All those listed here are available via Kobo Plus unless marked by a *. No links because, well, I’m lazy this far into a post.
Grump Hard (Lili Valente)
Mall I Want for Christmas Is You (Sarah Robinson)
Catered All the Way (Annabeth Albert)
This Is Not a Holiday Romance (Camilla Isley)
Mistletoe Motive (Chloe Liese)
Murder Most Actual (Alexis Hall)
Lovelight Farms (B.K. Borison)*
The Matzah Ball (Jean Meltzer)* [Kobo Plus does have this in eBook form]