Christmas Novellas
Quick bites to sink into the season
Not much to say for the intro this week except, it’s December! And soon I will be driving away from Southern California to my home state of Colorado for some actual season changes. Will I get a white Christmas? Probably not, climate change has been a bit of a drag, but it’ll at least be cold and that will have to suffice. In the meantime, since you’re all probably still doing your holiday shopping (free idea- send the romance reader in your life this newsletter!), you might not have much time to read, so for this week we’re just talking about novellas to get into the spirit! Then next week I’ll give you three full length Christmas books. All the following books I’ve rated 4/5 stars and two spicy peppers.
A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant. For folks who find this time of year a little less than magical, this is the solidarity novella for you! I first sought it out on the recommendation from Kate Clayborn’s newsletter this time last year, and while I don’t know if I love it quite as much as she does (alas, I love this season), it was incredibly cozy and Christmassy and will get you in the mood for love and trimming the tree. We follow Andrew Blackshear’s disaster of a road trip to get a hunting falcon and make it home for one of the last family Christmases as he currently knows them (his sister’s getting married soon, change is scary, etc). Along the way he ends up traveling with the feisty daughter of the falconer, Lucy, who needs a ride to a house party. It’s one calamity after another, which of course makes it all the more romantic that at least they have each other to lean on.
Missing Christmas by Kate Clayborn. Speaking of Kate Clayborn, if you loved the Chance of a Lifetime series, you may remember Jasper and Kristen. Jasper was meant to be Ben from book 1’s business partner before Ben falls in love and moves home, and Kristen steps in to take his place. This novella is set not long into their business’s life, when they must travel to meet with a prospective client during the holidays and end up getting snowed in and unable to make it home. Truly, snowed in is my favorite holiday trope, possibly one of my favorite tropes period. In fact, my very first published piece of writing was called Snowed In at 11 years old, in an anthology for middle schoolers. But this isn’t about me, it’s about Jasper and Kristen and Jasper being a Grinch and both of them reeling from an ill-timed kiss just before their trip that has thrown their friendship and business partnership into chaos just in time to be stuck with one another for an extended period of time. It’s cozy and Hallmark-y in all the best ways.
Merrily Ever After by Jenny Holiday. An accidental pregnancy, marriage-maybe-in-trouble novella set amidst one of my favorite series! Elise and Jay are newlyweds enjoying a holiday getaway when Elise discovers she’s pregnant against all odds (her fertility concerns were a big subject in the novella where they got married earlier in the series, which actually isn’t really a required starting point because this was the first book I read with the two of them together) and is invested in keeping it. Unfortunately, Jay is petrified of parenthood and adamantly against it (hashtag tragic backstory), which is of course a source of stress neither of them need during what should be a jolly season. A surprisingly comprehensive and complete story about parental trauma and changing priorities for a novella, that still manages to be cozy and warm for the holiday season.
Next week, I’ll be recommending full-length Christmas romances, and I’ll also be home in Colorado cuddling my dog. Subscribe to get cute pup pics next week!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for sharing! I'm trying to diversify my reading for the #23for23 initiative, so I'm currently reading Christmas Kisses by Farrah Rochon and Danielle Allen's Hot Holiday novellas that are available in KU :)