Snowed In with Benefits by Misha Horne

Title: Snowed In with Benefits

Author: Misha Horne

Publisher: 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 427

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Kindle

Spice Rating: 5

Austin Ash is famous for trashing things. Hotel rooms, relationships... his career.
After his latest public meltdown, he's desperate to reclaim the spotlight— and get it off his ex's embarrassing revenge album. Presenting at The Snowglobes and owning the legendary afterparty is the perfect plan... Until he parties a little too hard and wakes up trapped in the middle of nowhere with the one guy alive who's not charmed by his chaos.

Marco Palmer is music royalty. And he's about to renounce his title.
Music is his family's legacy and all he's ever known, but an award-winning role on a hit tv show changed everything. A secluded mountain cabin is the perfect place to make the most important decision of his life... Until he ends up with the world's most obnoxious, attention-seeking rock star throwing a tantrum in his guest room.

Stuck together at the worst possible time, tensions get high, tempers get hot, and the tabloids see something that just isn't there. Right?
Austin is definitely not interested in the old school know-it-all who torpedoed his splashy comeback. Even if Marco makes him feel safe for the first time in years and is tapping into some embarrassing secret desires.
Marco is definitely not interested in the jaded, burnt out rock star who trashed his quiet weekend. Even if Austin is sweeter and smarter than he acts, and is clearly in need of a firm hand and the kind of attention fame can't provide.
But the photo breaking the internet that's hot enough to melt all the snow outside?
That says different.
And that kiss they're not talking about?
That says different too.

A random read on my Kindle. I was hoping for a fun holiday read. Instead, I got a very serious, repetitive holiday read. Within about 50 pages, I could just tell that I was going to be “treated” to Austin repeating himself ad naseum about his fuck ups and insecurities. I enjoyed Marco, but at times, he was very flat. I do wish that this book was about 100 pages shorter. I think I could have dealt with the internal monologues if they weren’t quite so long. As it stands, this was not the fun holiday read that I was looking for…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Kringle Down by Shane Lacy Hensley

Title: Kringle Down (Kringle Down #1)

Author: Shane Lacy Hensley

Publisher: 2020

Genre: Horror

Pages: 41

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads; COYER

Where I Got It: Kindle

1990, Red Onion Mountain, Southwest Virginia. A bright flash of light slashes through the night sky. Something crashes on the mountain near the infamous "pot mine," where two tired ATF Agents and their cleaning ladies have just finished scrubbing up a gruesome crime scene. What they find on that snowy Christmas Eve is more murder, mayhem, and mystery than you can shake a bloody candy cane at.

J picked up this collection for me thinking it might be a fun read for my trip. And I sped through the first one in no time at all. This is an action-packed horror take on Santa and his elves. I loved this slim story as an alternative to the sweet holiday romances I have read this year.

Title: The Revenge (Kringle Down #2)

Author: Shane Lacy Hensley

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Horror

Pages: 34

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads; COYER

Where I Got It: Kindle

ATF Agent Max Harkins survived a bizarre encounter in Kringle Down. Now cartel czar Ernesto Cabeza wants to make him pay. But Max has a plan. If he can just get "Santa" to go along with it.

Not quite as successful as the first story, but a strong action horror story to further the adventures of Max Harkins. We finally get to the meet the drug cartel boss and see hime deal with Santa and the elves. We also get to see a new Santa emerge from the chaos.

Title: Krampus (Kringle Down #3)

Author: Shane Lacy Hensley

Publisher: 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 43

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads; COYER

Where I Got It: Kindle

Little Jose Salazar is a monster. Now he’s missing, and his father, the new head of the Gulf Cartel, thinks a certain evil spirit of Christmas is behind it. To get his son back, Hector needs an army, a plan, and the help of a very reluctant Agent Maxwell Harkins.

Another episode in the unusual adventures of ATF Agent Max Harkins. This time, we get a very spooky appearance by some old friends, a new mission, and some glorious creepy fun. I really enjoyed this fun story to bookend the adventures. And the big reveal of the elves was just the absolute best. Overall, I really enjoyed this short series of gory fun.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

Title: The Wedding Witch (Graves Glen #3)

Author: Erin Sterling

Publisher: Avon 2024

Genre: Romance

Pages: 279

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4.5

Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way. But when his friend Colin—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees. 

Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life.

But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1958. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches…oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love. 

The conclusion of the Graves Glen trilogy of romance and I liked it but didn’t love it. My biggest complaint is the severe lack of Graves Glen. I wanted a return to our witchy little town and the quirky inhabitants. Unfortunately we move across the pond in a boring castle for our setting. The plot is fun with some time travel hijinks, but I felt like we could have increased the suspense even more than we got. As for the characters, I enjoyed Tamsyn and her offbeat humor and spirit. She was a great main characters. Bowen just didn’t do it for me. I wanted to see more from him. At times, he really was a wooden board. More would have been nice.

Graves Glen

• #1 The Ex Hex

• #2 The Kiss Curse

• #3 The Wedding Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

26 Ways to Come Home for the Holidays by Jennifer Joy

Title: 26 Ways to Come Home for the Holidays

Author: Jennifer Joy

Publisher: Foxburg & Stern 2023

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 164

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Goodreads Contest Winner

Spice Rating: 3.5

It’s Thanksgiving 1942, and Stella West, the first-ever head of holidays for Hanover's Department Store is left in a bind when her lead window designer runs off days before the grand unveiling of the store’s Christmas windows—the city's most-beloved holiday tradition. With only 48 hours left until the windows' ribbon-cutting ceremony, Stella scrambles to gather together a rag-tag team of store employees to finish the job, including their picky luxury stylist, two flirtatious personal shoppers, a handful of delivery boys, and Stella's best pal, Hector.

As the group races to complete the store's twenty-six 'Home for the Holidays'-themed Christmas windows, Stella is stunned to discover that Hector is newly single and realizes the feelings she’d buried for him long ago may run deeper than she ever imagined. Dodging a baker who's sweet on her, the store kiss-up who's after her job, and the store owner who wants an early preview — Stella has more than enough to worry about without her love life adding to the mix. But with the ribbon-cutting approaching (and the news of Hector's epic bachelor status swirling through the store), Stella realizes that telling him how she feels might be now or never—even if it means risking losing him entirely.

I won this book through a Goodreads contest. It’s a cute very sweet holiday romance novella. We follow Stella as she deals with a massive problem at her department store job. We’re taken back to the 1940s as we see the characters overcome the problems and come together for Christmas. Overall, it was a cute story with light romance. I did find it slightly odd that there were a few sexual scenes that seemed strange within the tone of the book. But it was a decent read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Jingle Ale the Way by Sarah Everly

Title: Jingle Ale the Way

Author: Sarah Everly

Publisher:

Genre: Romance Short Story

Pages: 75

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Kindle

Spice Rating: 4

All I want for Christmas is the day off, a pint of Jingle Ale the Way, and Jason Fowler

Spending the holidays in Franklin Notch this year doesn't feel very merry. I'm stuck at work, there’s no snow, and not a single present under my tree. Until Jason Fowler comes back home.

My longtime crush magically appears, delivering drinks? It's a long fall from grace for the celebrity chef. Doesn’t matter. He's back home, helping his sick father, and I've got a plan to make him stay.

Coming home for Christmas wasn't my plan

But couple my unemployment with my dad's failing health and instead of spending the holidays cooking, I'm slinging beer across New Hampshire. The only good news about any of this is Stephanie's working the holidays, too. Our all too friendly, and often flirty, relationship has grown over the years, but living hours apart and only seeing each other occasionally, I've never worked up the nerve to ask her out. Maybe this Christmas I can convince her to be mine.

A cute Christmas themed short story romance. The beginning was a tad slow in that I felt like more exposition was needed up front to establish our characters. Once we got going, I enjoyed this little story of a sorta second-chance romance between our main characters. Nothing too crazy happens here but we do get some swoon vibes and a grand gesture. It was cute and fun, but ultimately was a little too short. I didn’t really get to know these characters and wanted more.

Next up on the TBR pile:

All I Want is You by Falon Ballard

Title: All I Want is You

Author: Falon Ballard

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2024

Genre: Holiday Romance

Pages: 256

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads RC

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Meter: 5

Exes. Professional rivals. Just one bed. What could go wrong?

All Jessica has ever wanted is her own happily ever after. But until that happens, she spends her days as a small-time romance writer, penning satisfying Happily Ever Afters to soothe the heartache left by her ex-boyfriend Nick—also a romance writer and now her biggest rival—who has found success writing love stories without happy endings. It’s what he’s good at, after all . . .

So when their professional obligations bring them to a remote inn a few days before Christmas, they’re a little more than peeved, especially when they get trapped sharing a room in a snowstorm. But what’s more fitting for two romantic writers in a slump? Realizing the friction between them might be the only cure for their writer’s block, they decide to turn their frustration into fiction . . . and the pages start flying. But will Jess’s heart soar, too? Nick is the last guy on earth she should love . . . but what if he is really all she wants for Christmas?

This one started out well and then we get to the end and I really dislike it. My main issue with this story is that, even at the end, Nick still blames Jess for part of their breakup. His entire defense that emotions are hard and that he was doing it for her was bullshit. I was still so mad at him at the end of the book. Just because she had some doubts that he overheard, he expects her to take part of the blame when he just straight up walked out. Um no. She wasn’t even given a chance to talk about any of those issues. I really really dislike the “I’m doing this for you” trope in romance. Blergh. Let the characters make their own decisions please. This book is probably fine for other readers, but did not work for me. Thankfully it was a quick read.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Holiday Honeymoon Switch by Julia McKay

Title: The Holiday Honeymoon Switch

Author: Julia McKay

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 2024

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4 (couple of explicit scenes, but short and easy to skip)

Holly Beech and Ivy Casey are bury-the-body besties. They’re so in sync, they even look alike. When Holly’s fiancé jilts her, leaving her in shock and with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Holly convinces Ivy to switch places. Ivy will go on the Hawaiian honeymoon her best friend can’t bear to take alone, while Holly escapes to Ivy’s rented Hudson Valley cabin to binge-watch holiday movies and heal.
But Holly’s wallowing is interrupted when her rugged Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival who’s had a major glow-up. Meanwhile, Ivy’s (now Hawaiian) annual solo art retreat is upended when Holly’s ex-fiancé checks into the honeymoon suite—with a new woman. Raging and bed-less, the last thing Ivy expects is for the hot hotel bartender to come to her rescue. Against all odds, this Christmas might prove the most magical yet.

Decent little holiday themed romance to kick off my month. I wanted something fairly easy and breezy and that’s exactly what I got. Holly and Ivy are those super annoying best friends who are complete ride or die for each other. Thankfully, we don’t have to suffer through too many scenes of them together. Mostly we get to see how each friends deals with their issues across the country from each other. I loved Ivy’s of facing her fears and finally pursuing her dreams all while getting to know the hot bartender. I felt like Ivy was the story that exhibited all the character growth and change. Meanwhile, Holly is just there and coincidentally finds her person that also happens to have been the one person from high school. Pretty cliched! Thankfully Aiden helps overcome the super cheese to round out the story. Nothing too life-changing, but a fun holiday romance.

Next up on the TBR pile: