As mentioned in various other posts, I have read *a lot* of Christmas books for this post. More than I was expecting because it turned out that I didn’t like a bunch of them enough to recommend them – even from authors who I usually find reliable. So that was disappointing. But here we have it at last – a shorter list than I was hoping for – but Christmas recommendations from this year’s festive-themed new releases.
Wrapped Up In You by Jill Shalvis
Ivy is a food truck owner who’s never known stability and doesn’t trust anyone. Kel is a rancher and a sheriff with trust issues on visting San Francisco after his life exploded. They start a fling, but when it seems set to turn into more, will their histories get in the way of a future together? This is the eighth Heartbreaker Bay novel – and if you’ve read the series, there are familiar friends here as well as it being the story of someone you’ve been getting to know as a side character in the other novels. I really liked it – it’s got a great mix of reasons why the characters don’t think they can be together, and although some of it could be solved by having a conversation, you completely understand why that conversation isn’t happening!
It Happened on Christmas Eve by Kirsty Greenwood
Fun and fast Christmas-themed romantic comedy short. Phoebe is a bit of a grinch about Christmas – after she broke up with her boyfriend last Christmas Day. In fact, she’s not the most happy go lucky person in general. So when she has to spend Christmas Eve with her boss’s son, she’s not exactly overjoyed – especially when he turns out to be the most charismatic person in the world and a bit of a flirt. But is this going to turn out to be more fun than she expected? I know Kirsty in real life and she’s as funny in person as her writing is.
Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian
This was a BotW pick, so I’ve already told you about it, but it bears repeating – this is a really fun tangentially Christmas-y story. It’s a murder mystery romance, with a country doctor and a very secret squirrel operative who met in shady circumstances in WW2. You know that I’m a big fan of Cat Sebastian‘s historical romances already – and she’s just as good at this more crime-y stuff too.
So there you are. I’m sorry it’s a bit late – but I started writing this post in October – that’s how hard it’s been to find stuff that I liked enough to recommend. All of the recommendations were either bought or came from the library (although a couple of the also read list came from NetGalley) – you should be able to get them from all the usual sources. Coming up next is the Christmas books not from this year – where I have seen more success thank goodness.
Happy Reading!
Also read (you can find reviews of all of these over on my Goodreads profile should you be so inclined): A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan; A Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory; Seduction on a Snowy Night by Madeleine Hunter, Sabrina Jeffries and Mary Jo Putney; The Christmas Invitation by Trisha Ashley; Christmas Calamity at the Vicarage by Emily Organ; 25 Days ’til Christmas by Poppy Alexander
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 
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