As expected, my December reading recap is dominated by holiday romance books. I read across a variety of genres including contemporary romance, monster romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and historical mystery. I’ve got three non-Christmas reads too. Two were part of my Ten Before the End list (I carried a few titles over into the new year; I was on a roll with the spicy Christmas reads), and one was part of a series I can’t resist.
I’m pretty happy with my December. I read a lot of really great books and discovered some new (to me) authors whom I want to read more from. The only thing that would have made it better would be if I had had the time/energy to gush about more of these books in individual reviews. But, I get to do it here, so here we go!
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December Reading Recap — Holiday Romance Books
Contemporary Romance
Only One Bed by Keira Andrews was the first of three books I read by her. Since the title is my all-time favorite trope, I just had to grab it. It’s set in Canada and is a friends-to-lovers forced proximity bisexual awakening journey between competitive figure skater Etienne and his “straight” best friend Sam. It’s a novella, so it’s short and sweet (and steamy), and it put Keira Andrews on the map for me. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Kiss and Cry, about Sam’s older brother Henry and his figure skating rival Theo.
Only One Bed by Keira Andrews (Love on the Ice)
Since I was on a roll with Keira Andrews, I gave The Christmas Deal (book one of the Festive Fakes series) a try and I loved it! It’s one of my favorite reads this month. It’s a holiday fake dating, bi-awakening, strangers to friends with benefits to lovers romance which also has an ‘only one bed’ scene (giant grin). Logan is down on his luck. He’s out of work, faces eviction, and is a single father to a stepson who hates him. Seth is a shoo-in for a promotion at his office, except the eccentric billionaire who took over the business favors employees with families. After a quick-thinking move by Jenna, Seth’s co-worker and Logan’s sister, the two are fake engaged. Ahhhhhh this one is so good! I’ve got to do an in-depth review at some point, put this book is pure joy. The characters are amazing, the development of Seth and Logan’s relationship is amazing, as is Logan’s evolving relationship with his stepson. So. Good.
Because I loved The Christmas Deal so much, I kept going with the series and bought book three, The Christmas Veto, which features Connor (Logan’s stepson) and his wealthy best friend’s brother and a fake dating arrangement. I fully intend to go back and read book two at some point, but I couldn’t resist a fake dating story with a grown-up Connor. The Christmas Veto is a wonderful book and it was great to see how Logan and Seth were doing in the future. But if I’m picking favorites, The Christmas Deal wins. (BTW, I’ve read another two Keira Andrews books in January, so there will be an author spotlight or multiple reviews coming in the near future.)
Festive Fakes series by Keira Andrews
Another author I’m quickly becoming obsessed with is Con Riley. I picked up His Last Christmas in London as part of September’s Stuff Your Kindle event and it was love at first chapter. The writing is gorgeous and immersive and I made so many highlights. It’s an age gap, enemies to friends-with-benefits to lovers romance with hurt/comfort between a struggling photographer Ian and a famous food critic, Guy, who trashes restaurants in his column. I loved every moment and immediately bought book two, We Only Kiss at Christmas, featuring Ian’s flatmates, gym-bro Patrick and tempermental law student Sebastian (who are essentially in a relationship together even if they are the last to realize it). It was equally gorgeous and emotional (shhhh, I may have teared up a bit). I’ve preordered book three, His Until Christmas, which releases in November.
Con Riley’s Christmas Collection — His Last Christmas in London, We Only Kiss at Christmas
I also read Merry in Spite by Irene Bahrd, which is a small town (set in Canada) second chance friends-to-lovers romance with Christmas shenanigans between an ex-hockey player and successful entrepreneur who returns home after many years away. It was part of a limited-time-only multi-author smutty Christmas novella collection and is no longer for sale (but I’ll link to the Goodreads page).
Taboo Christmas Romance Reads
There were two taboo Christmas romances I couldn’t resist. The Naughty List by Sara Cate is a freebie novella given for signing up for Sara Cate’s newsletter (you can find it here). As far as taboo romance goes, this one is fairly tame and perfect for those wanting to dip their toes into the genre. It’s a coming-of-age age gap holiday romance between law student Audrey and her new step-uncle, Grant. There’s no blood shared and they’ve never met before (he’s her mom’s new husband’s step-brother). There may be (approx) twenty-five years between them, but Audrey and Grant are drawn to one another like a moth to a flame.
Unwrap Him by Nyla K is an age gap guardian/ward holiday romance between Jesse and James. They do not share blood, but they have had a father-son relationship since Jesse’s parents died when he was two. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but it was done really well with excellent emotional transitions (angsty AF) and I loved it! You can read my mini review here. Nyla K has an even more taboo romance only available through her website (it was too taboo for Amazon) called Double-Edged, and I may give that one a try in the near future. But I also have a few more of her books in my kindle library, so I may read those first.
Monster & Paranormal Romance Christmas Reads
I have been gravitating towards Vera Valentine’s backlist ever since I read her novella in the Creepy Court Anthology. The Stockings Were Hung is a Christmas novella co-authored by Vera Valentine and J.L. Logosz featuring a Christmas-loving woman in an abusive relationship who is rescued by her kind-hearted neighbour, Christmas magic, and three stocking shifters. It’s clever and spicy with lots of fun details (and I can see myself making this an annual holiday read).
The Stockings Were Hung by Vera Valentine and J.L. Logosz
CM Nascosta was one of my most-read authors of 2023 (I read eight of her books) so of course I couldn’t resist A Holly Jolly Mess, featuring some of Cambric Creek’s lesser known characters. I enjoyed every moment of these interconnected short stories and now I need to read the rest of Nascosta’s books. You can check out my mini review here. I think Tris is my new favorite character 😉
A Holly Jolly Mess by CM Nascosta
When I was putting together my Orc rec list I lamented the lack of sapphic orc romance novels. It’s as though Rose Santoriello heard my silent plea. Hook-up to Holidate is a fun and spicy sapphic romance between an orc and an elf set at a magic university (you can find my full review here). I loved this one so much and I can’t wait to read more in this series (more is coming at a future date).
Hook-up to Holidate by Rose Santoriello
After reading and loving Lilith Stone’s Motham City Monsters series starter Mail Order Minotaur, I couldn’t resist book two, The Gargoyle Grinch. Lilith does an excellent job with the world-building and I loved both the main characters (Maisie and Grayson) so much. I’ve become addicted to this series and can’t wait for books three and four (coming in January and March). You can read my mini review here (complete with all the gushing).
The Gargoyle Grinch by Lilith Stone (Motham City Monsters Book Two)
Love Lights by Emily Antoinette is a fated mates holiday romance between a grieving human and a mothman bartender. There are some very cute moments here (especially the mothman being attracted to the bright Christmas lights adorning the house). This novella is available for FREE by signing up for Emily’s newsletter, or you can purchase it via Amazon.
Love Lights by Emily Antionette
Technically this is an Urban Fantasy with a MF romantic subplot, but I’m sneaking it into this category because I’m too lazy to give it it’s own category. I first read Caedis Knight when I was obsessively reading everything mermaid for my Mermay rec list. There are also mermaids in Goblins of Lapland, but mostly there are witches and goblins and shifters and a grumpy owner at the falling apart Crazy Reindeer resort. Saskia de la Cruz is one of my favorite characters ever and she’s in fine form in Lapland. You can read my mini review here.
Goblins of Lapland by Caedis Knight
I’m such a fan of Kate McDarris’ rockstar/bodyguard/manager Christmas romance Tinsel and Tentacles, that I nearly lost it when I found out there was a sequel coming. Yes, I dropped everything and preordered and squeed with delight when it showed up in my kindle. Diamonds and Tentacles is everything you want from a sequel. It’s spicy and swoony (these three have come so far in a year) and hits all the right notes. This one is more PWP than the first, but it’s amazing and I loved it. Mini review here.
Diamonds & Tentacles by Kate McDarris (A Monster Smash Holiday Story)
December Reading Recap — Everything Else
I have not done a review for it yet (one day I will) but I loved Lev Rosen’s Lavender House so much that I eagerly anticipated the sequel, The Bell in the Fog. Set in the 1950s, this detective series explores period-typical homophobia in post-war San Francisco. In Lavender House, cop Evander Mills’ life is over when he’s caught in a raid and found out to be gay. He’s fired and on the verge of suicide when he’s given an opportunity to solve a murder at Lavender House, an Art Deco-styled home owned by the late Irene Lamontaine, head of a famous soap empire. In The Bell in the Fog Evander is caught between his past and the future when his ex-lover hires him to solve a blackmail case. I enjoyed The Bell in the Fog a lot (as with the first book, I didn’t figure out the culprit) but Lavender House is still my favorite.
The Bell in the Fog by Lev Rosen (Evander Mills)
I enjoyed Kathryn Moon’s Games with the Orc so much that I just had to preorder the sequel. As much as I loved Games, I loved Howl for the Gargoyle even more! Who can resist a rockstar romance with a newly turned werewolf who’s afraid of her monster and a sensitive and gorgeous gargoyle sex worker who cooks her vegetarian food (because she refuses to eat meat)? Check out my full review here.
Howl for the Gargoyle by Kathryn Moon (Monster Smash Agency Book Two)
Last but not least, I read Valhalla is Full of Hunks by C. Rochelle (another most-read author of 2023 with six books read). This can be read as a standalone but follows the Herculeia duet. This one is a Why Choose? monster romance between human seer Iola (Herculeia’s niece, but they are like sisters) and a werewolf, a giant, and a snake; creatures of norse mythology. As expected, this was filled with plenty of plot and spice, unhinged sexy monsters, and was an all-around good time.
Valhalla is Full of Hunks by C. Rochelle (Monstrously Mythic)
Final Thoughts: December Reading Recap
A had such a blast reading this month. While I didn’t get as many reviews done as I would have liked, I really enjoyed reading and leaned into the spicy holiday books. As I’m posting this super late (I’m off to a chill new year, everything happens as it happens) I will say I’m still very into Keira Andrews right now and I’m also eyeing more of Con Riley’s books. I have a number of arcs I’m reviewing in January and can’t wait to dive into more monster romance series.
What were your favorite holiday reads?
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