We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is a Freebie.
It’s that time of year again, my friends. Even though I live in the tropics and my family personally doesn’t celebrate the holiday season, I’ve come to love the festive atmosphere, music and general good vibes. I know this doesn’t apply to everyone and the holidays are harder for some and to you, I send big hugs and positive energy. I hope you take care of yourselves this season!
It’s somehow become a thing for me to post a holiday reads (mostly romances) list as I’ve done it for the past couple of years. I gotta be honest and say I don’t get around to reading most of the books mentioned during the holidays (lol) so it’s not easy making a list of new books each year. But this year there seem to be plenty of new books on my list to choose from. And on that note, let’s get to the books. ❄️


Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert
📖 SYNOPSIS
William Reid is nothing special, except for his billion-dollar acting career and his, you know, face. (Apparently, it’s a good one.) Winning ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ was nice, but this Christmas, he has more important goals in mind… like finally winning over his best friend’s little sister, the super-smart and kinda-scary Abbie Farrell.
When a blizzard leaves Will and Abbie alone at Grandma Farrell’s house (if bunking with 27 pets counts as ‘alone’), it’s the perfect opportunity to pull off a Christmas miracle. Convincing clever, frosty Abbie to give Will a chance will take more than mistletoe, but hiding his lifelong crush on her is no longer an option.

The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese
📖 SYNOPSIS
From the author of THE BERGMAN BROTHERS series comes a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers holiday romance, perfect for fans of THE HATING GAME and YOU’VE GOT MAIL.
He loathes the holidays. She loves them. She’s full of festive cheer. He’s brimming with Bah, Humbugs. Besides unreasonably seasonable names, the only thing Jonathan Frost and Gabriella Di Natale have in common is a healthy dose of mutual contempt. Well, that and the same place of employment at the city’s most beloved independent bookstore, Bailey’s Bookshop. But when the store’s owners confess its dire financial state, Jonathan and Gabby discover another unfortunate commonality: the imminent threat of unemployment.
With the Baileys’ requests to minimize expenses, win new customers, and make record sales dancing in their heads, Jonathan and Gabby conclude—barring a financial Christmas miracle—one of them will soon be cut from the payroll. Neither are willing to step down from their position, so they strike a bargain: whoever has more sales in December gets to stay on in the new year; the loser will resign. With a lifetime’s worth of festive tricks up her sleeve, Gabby should easily outsell her nemesis, except the unreadable Mr. Frost’s every move seems purely designed to throw her off her game.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabby’s deceptive ex won’t quit pursuing her, and her anonymous online friend suggests they take a break. Worst of all, as the pressure mounts to save the bookshop and her job, Gabby meets a new, tender side of Jonathan. Is this the same man she’s called her cold-hearted enemy?
Maybe he’s got a motive she just can’t figure out—or maybe Jonathan Frost isn’t as chilly as she once thought. Maybe Jonathan and Gabby already know—and love—each other in ways they never thought possible.
This is an #OwnVoices story for its portrayal of autism by an autistic author.

A Festive Feud by Maren Moore
📖 SYNOPSIS
My family is famous for two things in our small Our annual Christmas party And…. Our feud with The Pearce family. Our families hate each other. It’s a tale as old as St. Nick himself. So, imagine what happens when a harmless little argument with Jackson Pearce ends with us both behind bars for the night. As if that wasn’t bad enough… The punishment for our crime? The only Christmas party we’re allowed to have is one together. At Town Hall. But… It gets worse . That means that I’ll be forced to spend time with Jackson and his enormous ego while we plan this party and somehow keep our families from strangling each other with tinsel this holiday season. It doesn’t help that he is annoyingly attractive and goes out of his way to push my buttons.
With his old, dirty, work boots, and his stupid veiny forearms, he works his way into my perfectly organized life and leaves everything in disarray.
Will we actually be able to survive this… Festive Feud, or will we end up back where we started?

Three Holidays and A Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin & Marissa Stapley
📖 SYNOPSIS
Three times the holiday magic. Three times the chaos.
As strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.
An emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.

Love, Holly by Emily Stone
📖 SYNOPSIS
A young woman tries to heal a rift in her elderly pen pal’s family in time for Christmas, all while falling in love—and maybe even reuniting with her own family—in this dazzling romance from the author of Always, in December and One Last Gift.
Sometimes it takes a stranger to bring you back to yourself.
Ever since a car accident tore her family apart, Holly has been part of a lonely-hearts holiday letter–writing club. Each December, she writes to a stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another lonely person in return.
Usually, the letters go unanswered. That’s the point—the letters are anonymous, and the senders write whatever is in their heart. But this year, the letter Holly receives is different; not only is the letter full of a grief she knows all too well, but its writer, Emma, mentions a place that Holly has visited. When she realizes that she might actually be able to find the letter’s author, Holly becomes determined to reunite Emma with the estranged grandson, Jack, with whom Emma is desperate to reconnect.
When Holly finally tracks him down, she remembers that she’s met Jack once before . . . and the connection was electric. The spark between the two of them is still there—until a misunderstanding risks their burgeoning romance and his strained relationship with Emma, too. But Holly is determined; if she can fix Emma’s family, she might also be able to fix her own. Though as it turns out, Holly might have less time to put things right than she thought.

The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
📖 SYNOPSIS
With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.
But when Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life’s ups and downs. But Hattie can see they’re also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs. In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?

Snowed in For Christmas by Jaqueline Snowe
📖 SYNOPSIS
Sorority mom Becca Fairfield is used to guys not taking her seriously. She’s too blond, too quirky, or Just. Too. Much. So she’s ditched dating to focus on her job and a house filled with drama and plenty of tea. Now with the holidays and a major blizzard on her doorstep, Becca has everything she needs to survive the next two weeks on her own. Hot cocoa, plenty of books . . . and the memory of a steamy kiss with a certain sexy, grumposaurus next-door neighbor to keep her warm.
Only Becca’s seriously underestimated this Snowpocalypse. So when the power goes out and Harrison Cooper—football coach, master crank, and the guy who acted mega-awkward after said steamy kiss—offers her shelter, it only makes sense to accept. They’ll just be Blizzard Buddies. Hang out, stay safe, and maybe indulge in a little R-rated cuddling . Becca knows that Harrison isn’t the dating kind, and what happens during the storm lasts only as long as the storm. But are they keeping warm . . . or playing with fire?

You’re A Mean One, Matthew Prince by Timothy Janovsky
📖 SYNOPSIS
An “effervescent” (Rachel Lynn Solomon) stand-alone Christmas LGBTQIA+ New Adult RomCom, perfect for fans of Schitt’s Creek and Red White & Royal Blue.
BRING A LITTLE JOY TO THE WORLD? NOT TODAY, SANTA.
Matthew Prince is young, rich, and thoroughly spoiled. So what if his parents barely remember he exists and the press is totally obsessed with him? He’s on top of the world. But one major PR misstep later, and Matthew is cut off and shipped away to spend the holidays in his grandparents’ charming small town hellscape. Population: who cares?
It’s bad enough he’s stuck in some festive winter wonderland—it’s even worse that he has to share space with Hector Martinez, an obnoxiously attractive local who’s unimpressed with anything and everything Matthew does.
Just when it looks like the holiday season is bringing nothing but heated squabbles, the charity gala loses its coordinator and Matthew steps in as a saintly act to get home early on good behavior…with Hector as his maddening plus-one. But even a Grinch can’t resist the unexpected joy of found family, and in the end, the forced proximity and infectious holiday cheer might be enough to make a lonely Prince’s heart grow three sizes this year.

Masters in this Hall by K.J. Charles
📖 SYNOPSIS
John Garland was in love: now he’s in disgrace. He’s jobless, alone, and determined to avenge himself on the thief who ruined his life. All he wants for Christmas is to see Barnaby Littimer in gaol.
Barnaby has secured a job running the extravagant traditional Christmas at a rich man’s country house. John intends to thwart whatever he’s up to.
But amid the festivity, the halls are decked with unexpected dangers. And John will need to decide if he can trust Barnaby one more time…

A Holly Jolly Ever After by Sierra Simone & Julie Murphy
📖 SYNOPSIS
Kallum Liebermanis the funny one™. As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He’s living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends’ weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.
Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself—and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?
With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars…especially Winnie who can’t seem to fake on screen pleasure she’s never experienced in real life. She’s willing to do the pleasure research—for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there’s no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.
They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?

Have you read any of these books or do you also have them on your TBR? Are you a fan of holiday romances/reads or is it not for you?

My holiday reading tends to go down a similar route – lots of holiday/ wintery stories, but realistic I’m only going to manage a couple.
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I hope you enjoy the couple you manage to read! 😍
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I loved Snowe’s and Liese’s books. I read a handful of holiday books each year and I agree that it is hard to make lists with them.
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I’m kinda surprised I haven’t read either of these books yet cos I love these authors, lol. It’s sometimes a struggle to not add all the holiday books to my TBR cos I always love the covers 😍
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I sometimes read the holiday books year round.
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I haven’t read any of these yet, but Wrapped Up in You and The Mistletoe Motive look adorable!
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I read the Mistletoe Motive since posting this and really enjoyed it. A super cute and fun novella that’s a perfect way to kick off the holiday season 😍
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Ha-ha! Hilarious heading “Tis the Damn Season”. Hope it goes better for you than that.
My TTT topic: Christmas Playlist
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Thanks! I’d been listening to a song with that title when I made the list and it just fit so perfectly 😂
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Your confession made me chuckle.
I don’t read all of the books I put in my TTT lists either. 🙂
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
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Haha, a never ending bookworm problem, me thinks! Thanks for stopping by, Lydia 🙂
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I don’t celebrate the holidays either, so we have that in common. 🙂
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
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Thanks for stopping by!
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I always have a ton of holiday books I want to read this time of year and I usually don’t get to them all either! 🙂 I love the look of Mistletoe Motive, and Holly Jolly as well.
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I ended up really enjoying Mistletoe Motive and I can’t wait to check out Holly Jolly 🙂 I hope you enjoy the holiday books you do end up reading, Greg!
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We did the same topic. Great minds…. I thought I read more holiday books this year until I did this post. I spy three I read up there. Love, Holly was probably my favorite. I like to shed those tears.
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I’ve heard so many good things about Love, Holly. I feel like I need a book to make me cry so I can get all my emotional frustrations out so maybe I’ll pick that one up sooner rather than later 😂
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Great topic this week! I adored The Mistletoe Motive and Love, Holly. Happy reading, Dini!
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Ooh, I still haven’t read one of Stone’s books but I’ve hard lots of good things about them. I enjoyed Mistletoe Motive a lot as well 😍
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I’ve read over 40 holiday reads this season and only 1 of these, although 2 are on my TBR. I hope you enjoy any you do finally pick up, Dini.
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Ooh, I definitely hope I can get through most of these this season. I’m not much of a seasonal reader but I do love the holidays 😍
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I might need to look up the Book Club Hotel because that sounds interesting.
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It sounds great right? If you do pick it up, I hope you enjoy it! 😍
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I’ve seen THE MISTLETOE MOTIVE on a few lists today. It looks super cute!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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I read it and it was super cute! 😍 I’m glad I finally picked it up!
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Love all these holiday book covers! I’m like you, I never get through all the holiday books I plan to read lol.
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Happily, the holiday books list doesn’t get *that* much longer each year but gah, why is it always so hard to read what I (say I) want to read when (I say) I want to read them?! 😂 Mood reader problems, for real!
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lol I get it!
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[…] #TopTenTuesday: ‘Tis the Damn Season! […]
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Great list! I love reading festive books in December, it always makes me feel cozy ❤️ Three Holidays and A Wedding sounds interesting! I just finished A Merry Little Meet Cute, so I need to read the sequel 😊
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