Where I Left Off

The Christmas Book Extravaganza - AKA - A Bunch of Holiday Book Recs

• Kristen Bahls • Season 2 • Episode 35

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Holiday Picks:

  • Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger
  • The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
  • Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
  • Emergency Contact by Lauren Layne and Anthony LeDonne
  • Cabin Mate by Leah Brunner
  • Season's Schemings by Katie Bailey
  • Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
  • All I Want is You by Falon Ballard
  • A Risk Worth Taking by Jessica Joyce
  • Merrily Yours by Rachel Lewis
  • Christmas by Design by Allie Samberts


Books mentioned in this episode:

  • Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger
  • The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
  • The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter
  • The One With the Kiss Cam by Cindy Steel
  • That Fine Line by Cindy Steel
  • Double or Nothing by Cindy Steel
  • DC Eagles Series by Leah Brunner
  • Holiday Hostilities by Katie Bailey

For links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list.

For episode feedback, future reading and author recommendations, you can text the podcast by clicking the "Send us a message button" above.

For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.

Speaker 1:

Today's episode of when I Left Off is brought to you by the new novel Now you Owe Me, written by debut author Aaliyah Wright. Now you Owe Me is the tale of twin serial killers, ben and Carinthia, who spend years abducting college co-eds. Racked with guilt, they vow to take their last victim, till one night they snatch the wrong one. Read why Library Journal recommends this riveting debut for fans of Tana French, gillian Flynn and Karen Slaughter. Pick up your copy wherever books are sold and if you love it, don't forget to leave. I Left Off.

Speaker 1:

I'm Kristen, your host, and today we are talking all about Christmas books. These are my Christmas slash holiday book recommendations. Spoiler alert it is all romance. Yeah, it's all romance, sorry, so if you wanted, well, there aren't really that many like Christmas thrillers or Christmas fantasy novels. It's a lot of romance, and every romance author this year said I'm going to come out with a Christmas book. Like this must have been six months ago, a year ago. That they're like you know what I need to do in 2024? I need to write a Christmas book. And I said, okay, I'm going to try to read them all. Did I get through all of them? Definitely not, but I got through a lot and let me tell you, the research for this episode was extensive. I read a lot of Christmas books. Some were better than others.

Speaker 1:

I've compiled my favorites to talk to you today. All about them. It's a mix of open door and closed door. A lot of the main books are going to be closed door and then a lot of the novellas are open door, but I do have a mix. I do have some full length novels that are open door as well. So stay tuned for all the books.

Speaker 1:

And before I get into romance books, because you're already here, anyway, if you said you know what, my Christmas reading wouldn't be complete without a serial killer and a Santa mask, I've got you covered. So the first book I am going to be talking about is a thriller, but after that it's all romance, I swear. So okay, here is this one. It's called Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger. So I listened to this on audiobook and this book came out a year or two ago. It came out a couple years ago and I've wanted to read it since, and then it was available on my Hoopla, so I decided to give it a shot. Like I said, it does feature a serial killer and a Santa mask. So there's that.

Speaker 1:

Lisa Unger wrote Secluded Cabin Sleep 6. And she also wrote this year's book was the Couple the New Couple in 5B, I believe. Pretty sure it's a new couple. In 5B I did like I liked Secluded Cabin Sleep Six I there was one part that slightly bugged me a little bit, but overall, like the reading experience was good. It was twisty, it was creepy. Again, they're all like in a cabin and people are dying off. So it's kind of one of those. And then there were none retellings kind of thing. So I always like those and I like the cabin setting. So I would say, possibly give Secluded Cabin Sleep 6 a try. The couple the new couple in 5B wasn't my favorite, but there are a lot of people that liked it. So you know, if you tend to not like my Thriller Rex and we're on the opposite side of things, then maybe give that one a try too.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, but Christmas presents that's what we're talking about right now. So, okay, it's not exactly dual timeline, but there are several flashbacks throughout. Our main character is the only living witness to a crime committed by her high school ex-boyfriend, who is currently serving a life sentence for the crime. She now owns a bookstore and she ends up crossing paths with an author slash true crime podcaster who comes on the scene and is doing a deep dive on the case. He is also trying to solve the recent string of disappearances in neighboring towns. Will solving one case lead to the other? Will the killer take another victim before it can be solved? You would have to read to find out.

Speaker 1:

So that is Christmas Presents, and I thought it was at least like a good, well-written, fun, christmassy thriller. Was it maybe the most entertaining thriller I've ever read? No, it was a little bit slow in parts, but the ending really grabbed me and it was unique. So I would say, give this one a shot. If you were looking for a Christmas thriller, there aren't that many out there that are full-length books, so I would recommend this one. If you do tend to like thrillers, and especially if you like Lisa Unger, then go ahead and give this one a shot. It was, it was decent, it was pretty good. So, anyway, that is rec number one. That's a thriller. Next up is all romance, all romance. For the rest, don't worry, first up is my OK.

Speaker 1:

So I read this book this year. It actually came out this year and I am now going to be doing a reread of this every year. It is a must read now. I loved it. It is Closed Door and this is the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Allie Carter, and this I would classify as more of a rom-com mystery. And before I get into a little bit more about the book, it was sent to me by HarperCollins in exchange for my honest review, so thank you to HarperCollins for sending this my way. Oh my gosh. Like I said, I loved this book.

Speaker 1:

Also, I would also like to say that I've convinced several friends to buy this book. You know how, whenever you love a book and you immediately have to get everyone that you know to also read said book. That's really where I'm at with this one, and everyone that I've recommended it to has also loved it, and I have honestly not heard a negative review. I've even like, recommended it in the comment sections on Instagram and other people have liked and replied with how much they loved it. So I have not heard a single person say that they do not love this book. So, basically, don't take my word for it. Just take everyone's word for it and, if you need it, just a little bit more convincing to give it a try. Sarah Adams also loved this book, so, basically, you just need to read. It is what I'm saying.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so this is Ali Carter. She wrote the Blonde Ambition and I need to read that one now, after having read this book, this was my first Ali Carter and this will not be my last Ali Carter, so let me go ahead and tell you a little bit more about this book. Okay, this book starts out as a mystery and for a second I was kind of wondering should it be in the mystery genre. But then she drops a plot twist in the middle and you realize exactly why it's a romance novel. She, she wins, she just wins. Okay, before I get into the plot synopsis, I just wanted to point out one more thing. I know I'm gushing, but you know what? It's fine, it's the Christmas episode, so I'm allowed to gush about Christmas books after I've read so many in preparation for this episode.

Speaker 1:

So this is one of those rare books that is actually amazing, in both audio and physical. I started out with the arc on my Kindle that HarperCollins sent me and I was reading that, and then, to be able to get through all the Christmas books, I had to switch to the audio book, and I will say that switching between the Kindle and the audio book, so I basically kind of tandem read this there. It's both amazing in audio and the physical. It's one of those rare books because I feel like a lot of books are either really good as an audio book or really not, and this one, honestly, you could consume it either way and I think you'd have pretty much the same reading experience. Ultimately it's.

Speaker 1:

It's kind of hard to put into words, but I think it's the pacing of the book that just really makes it special. And when I say the pacing, I really mean like the formatting of the sentences, and it just makes it feel like a really punchy, funny, entertaining read that you're going to fly through. It's like the way that the sentence structure and the formatting of all the sentences are done to create a specific pacing that translates both written and then also on audio. Because I was a little bit skeptical. I liked the written version so much I didn't want to switch to the audio, and then I did and I really enjoyed that way too. So, okay, I'll actually tell you what this book is about now.

Speaker 1:

So Maggie and Ethan are rival mystery authors. Ethan's basically like a James Patterson, and Maggie writes cozy mysteries about a cat that sniffs out poison. They start out at their publisher's office Christmas party and are invited to the home of their mysterious biggest fan for Christmas. The two rivals are forced to solve a crime that unfolds when they get there, as things start to take a turn in the snowy mansion. And that's all I can give you without any spoilers in the book.

Speaker 1:

So I'll say a couple more things about it. But oh my gosh, ethan, he I'm trying, I'm trying to tell you, but I'm already laughing. So at the most random times, whenever they're both alone, at the most random times whenever they're both alone, he I don't you know, I think that he realized Maggie's disdain for him based on her comments, but I don't know, sometimes I can't tell, like I'm going to have to reread this already to see what his level of awareness of her disdain for him was. But anyway, whenever they were alone, he would say something like I want to make out it would just annoy the snot out of her and she was so bothered by him and it was hilarious and it was like a little side joke that Allie put in there the whole time those like I want to make out is what Ethan would say, like every time they were alone in there the whole time. Those like want to make out is what Ethan would say, like every time they were alone. And it was just hilarious how like absolutely enraged Maggie was by that statement.

Speaker 1:

And also I did want to point out really quick that the clues are Christmassy as well. Like, some of the clues are Christmassy, which I thought was a really fun twist. I mean, there are Christmas mysteries, but again there aren't. I feel like in the mystery thriller genre in general, there aren't a lot of, there really aren't a whole lot of options for Christmassy, and so I liked how this one. Of course it does have the romantic elements in there, but the clues were actually Christmassy and the plot twist there were some plot twists that I didn't see coming. I was able to guess a couple, but I was not able to guess all of them. There are enough in there to where it doesn't feel overdone, but it gives you something to look forward to. So even if you guess one like, you're not going to guess another one, and so it was just a really fun like whodunit mystery with some romance, and it had a lot of banter and I just found myself laughing and just genuinely enjoying the ride.

Speaker 1:

So, like I said, I'm going to be reading this book every year. It's definitely going to be a must read every December. I loved the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ali Carter, and it and the next book I'm going to be talking about are my two favorites. So, if you take my advice at all, read the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Allie Carter. And then I'm about to talk about Faking Christmas by Cindy Steele, which you, if you listen to the podcast, you probably know how much I love that one. But those, those were my two favorites. Those are my two absolute stand, standouts, and all the other books in this episode are so, so, so good. I would recommend all of them, but I think that the most wonderful crime of the year and fake and Christmas are my two favorites, so I cannot wait to talk to you about both of those.

Speaker 1:

Before I get into fake and Christmas, I did also want to say that Harper Collins sent me a second book. It was was A Jingle, bell, mingle, and this is by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, and this book was too spicy for me. So I am not including it in my wrap up because I did end up DNFing it because it was too spicy. But you know me, I'm pretty like. For the most part I'm pretty tame on my spice preferences. So if you wanted something spicier, then this definitely may be the book for you. It does have a really cute cover, so I would suggest reading the blurb to see if it is for you. So a Jingle Bell Mingle was too spicy for me, but that means that it may be perfect for you. I have a lot of friends that if books are too spicy for me, they immediately want to know which book it is and will try it out in five seconds. Also with that one, though, it does take place in the beginning at the wedding of one of the characters. So you may want to read A Merry Little Meat Cute as well and go ahead and grab that one too, just to give you a little bit more context, unless you don't mind and you just want to go right into A Jingle Bell Mingle. But those are the two books that I was sent, and the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year for me was just a perfect hit.

Speaker 1:

Okay, next up. Was just a perfect hit. Okay, next up, faking Christmas by Cindy Steele. So this is also a closed door book. Okay, this is this is my favorite Christmas book, and Cindy Steele has a special edition of this one, which I honestly want. So bad, but I just haven't done yet because I'm trying to be better, but I may have to. Yeah, but I may have to. Yeah, I may have to break down and get the special edition of this book. It's so cute.

Speaker 1:

Okay, this is one, if you remember correctly that I started out on audiobook, loved it so incredibly much on audiobook that I actually ended up ordering on Amazon the physical, and I had to finish it with the physical because I was just afraid that I was going to miss out on any detail at all and I just needed to read the rest with my eyes to capture every single moment and savor this book. And I have the page flags to prove it. You can see where they literally start, like almost halfway. So, and also, as I was waiting for my book to come in from Amazon, I was dying and really, really, really wanted to hit play on the audio book, but I said, no, you're not, and so that was a little bit of torture until it came in. So that's how much I love this book. Ok, this is what it's about, and then I'll just tell you more about why I love it.

Speaker 1:

Ok, it's almost break for high school English teachers Olive and Miles. Olive sees Miles as enemy number one and after an incident at a teacher assembly, she just needs a break from him. She's traveling to Vermont, to a ski resort, with her family for the holidays and her mom thinks that it's a great idea to invite her ex-boyfriend and his family, hoping that they'll reconnect. Panic leads to Olive lying and saying that Miles is her boyfriend to get everyone off her back. But it's fine until they get to the lodge and find out his family owns it. So now they actually have to fake date to solidify the lie, because of course, he's there for Christmas break as well. Can Olive convince her family? Her arch nemesis is actually her boyfriend? Read to find out.

Speaker 1:

Okay, if you have not read a Cindy Steele book, what are you doing? I don't care if you read Open Door. I don't care if you read Closed Door. You doing? I don't care if you read Open Door, I don't care if you read Closed Door. Cindy Steele is one of those authors that she's just a romance author. If you read Open Door I read Open Door a decent amount and I didn't notice like I just don't really notice that her books are closed door because they just have so much banter. They have so much like steam and pining and just everything and laughs that you're not even going to notice that they're closed door. And for those readers that won't close closed door, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Cindy Steele just hits it out of the park. Even she said I did have her on the podcast and even she has said that several open door readers have come to her and said I, you're one of the only closed door authors I read.

Speaker 1:

So if you have not read Cindy Steele and you want a Christmas book Faking Christmas is fantastic If you want a book from her regular grouping, I would suggest the one with the kiss cam. You've probably heard things about that. It is fantastic. I mean, she doesn't miss. I have not read a bad Cindy Steele book at all. But I also really like that fine line yes or wait. Was it Double or Nothing? Oh, no, no, I can't remember if the one I liked slightly better was Double or Nothing or that fine line. I think it was that Fine Line? I'm pretty sure that Fine Line was my favorite so far, but Double or Nothing is still also really good. So, anyway, you cannot go wrong with any of Cindy's books.

Speaker 1:

But back to Faking Christmas. So this book it has the banter You're going to laugh. It has a lot of depth. That's one thing that Cindy also does fantastically well. She has a lot of depth in her books, but they don't necessarily come across that way. They still come across as fun rom-coms, but there's a lot going on underneath the surface for all of these characters that will unfold throughout the story. And this has one of the best third act conflicts that I've ever read. Notice I did not say third act breakup, I said third act conflict, and I don't like third act breakups.

Speaker 1:

But the way that this was done was honestly just masterful. It was masterful. Everything about this book is great. I could not enjoy it more. I finished it and immediately wanted to reread it, and I don't tend to reread books. So just take that for what you will. This book is just pure gold. Like. If you trust my recommendations at all, just read this book. It is so good. Faking Christmas is I really. It's my top. It's my favorite Christmas book. So read it, love it. You're gonna love it if you read it. Everyone that I've recommended this to that has read it has really, really enjoyed it. Again, I don't think I've heard a negative review of this one either. I cannot remember hearing a negative review of Faking Christmas. So if you needed an excuse to start Cindy Steele, let this be your excuse. Read Faking Christmas. Okay, up next this I also listened to this one on audiobook and I did love the audiobook.

Speaker 1:

This is Emergency Contacts by Lauren Lane and Anthony LaDonna, and with this they are actually high school sweethearts and they're married in real life. So I thought that was kind of fun. But they wrote a romance novel together. This one is also closed door, but with all of these so far that are closed door, I honestly, again, just didn't really notice that they're closed door. Like, I just didn't notice there was so much banter. The plot moves so quickly. There was so much pining, so much banter, the plot moves so quickly, there was so much pining and it just I honestly didn't notice that these were closed door. But they are. They are closed door there. There is no spice. So, okay, this book. Let me give you a plot synopsis and then I can talk a little bit more about it.

Speaker 1:

Catherine is a workaholic attorney who hates Christmas. On her way to work, she has this accident and she forgot to change her emergency contact. So her ex-husband, tom, is notified and ends up going to help her, only to find out that she has nowhere to go for Christmas and she can't take care of herself because she's injured. He decides to take her out to his family, even though this is the Christmas Tom is going to propose to his girlfriend, and now the two exes, tom and Catherine, are stuck on the trip from heck to get back to his family. Okay, so, like I said, I listened to this on audiobook. I laughed the entire way through.

Speaker 1:

They this is just like forced proximity at its finest and the way that they are just stuck together and they just gripe at each other the entire time. It is hilarious. So if you want a lot of tension and a lot of bickering, then you're going to have to read this book. So it's forced proximity and second chance romance and honestly, this was just so fun from beginning to end. It did have a really sweet ending, but it's one that's going to make you laugh, and especially because Catherine hates Christmas and Tom loves Christmas. They just could not be more opposite. Like this is also grumpy sunshine at its finest as well, so you have forced proximity, second chance and grumpy sunshine, so I would recommend this one. It was so funny. I really enjoyed it. All of these books I've talked about so far are just completely different from each other. They're really unique, they're really fun and they just stood out to me and made me laugh and were just honestly, a fantastic time. They were everything that a Christmas book should be.

Speaker 1:

Up next I have Cabin Mate by Leah Bruner. This one is also closed door and this is the friends to lovers trope. So this is technically the fourth book in the series, the Under the Kansas Sky series, but it is an interconnected standalone so you were totally fine to read it first. So Brooks is the immature playboy. Throughout the books we find out that he's actually been in love with his best friend, molly, who has been with her long-term boyfriend, and this long-term boyfriend is actually like the scum beneath your shoe. He is just the worst. Like go, go away. They break up from his stupidity and her parents are absolutely devastated because they're rich and he was of their caliber, so in need of a fake, brooks agrees to step in and the two spend the holidays together with her family. And will this ruin their friendship? Read to find out. So this has the friends to lovers trope. This is actually also millionaire to billionaire and it is forced proximity as well. This one was so fun. I loved the friends to lovers. That's my favorite trope, obviously, friends to lovers and it is done really well, really well here. They actually run a business together, brooks and Molly. So they already have constant forced proximity and they're really close. But you know Molly hasn't seen Brooks in that way because she's been with her long-term boyfriend who sucks. So you know you'll see everything start to unfold. This is classic, amazing, leah Bruner Also.

Speaker 1:

I just have to make a plug for the DC Eagle series. If you have not started you need to. Desire or Defense is book one, flirtation or Face Off is book two, and Betrothal or Breakaway is book three. This hockey it's a closed door hockey series which is one of the best hockey series I've read, just FYI, and so anything Labor to Rights, I'm going to read it. This is no exception. I enjoyed Cabin Mate so much. It is adorable. So I would highly recommend this book and up next I have Seasons Schemings by Katie Bailey. So this is closed door and if you like Sarah Adams, then you're going to like Katie Bailey. Their styles are very similar. They're not exactly the same, of course, but they are very similar. So I do think that if you like Sarah Adams, you will like Katie Bailey. I've enjoyed every one of Katie's books I've read so far and I'm pretty sure I've read all. I was going to say all but one, but now all but two, because she just released another Christmas book called Holiday Hostilities, and that one is also a Christmas hockey romance and I've heard from friends that it is fantastic. I didn't get to it yet but I am dying to, but also I want to savor it. So I would recommend possibly checking that one out as well. But this is Season Schemings. In this one it is Maddie is the main character and she is working in broadcast journalism.

Speaker 1:

She's actually in Anchor and she anchors like happy news and she had a really tumultuous breakup not that long ago and this ex-boyfriend is getting married, and so whenever they get an invitation from the ex-boyfriend, that's when Maddie is like, oh, I don't want to go to her wedding. That's when Maddie is like oh, I don't want to go to her wedding but enter Bastion Slater in NHL. Well, I mean, of course he's a hockey player if he's in the NHL the NHL's most infamous player, some would say. And she, of course, had already kind of had a crush on him because he's super attractive and she's like this is not a good idea because I'm gonna be the one to get my feelings hurt. But they agree to fake date. And so they agree to fake date. But they fake date and it actually ends up leading to a marriage of convenience through interesting circumstances is the best way I can describe it. I'm trying not to ruin things, so that's the hard part is like I'm trying to tell you things without ruining it. And so, anyway, it does lead to a marriage of convenience. This was so cute. Just the way that Sebastian or Zeb, he sticks up for her is adorable, adorable.

Speaker 1:

I loved this book. It was so cute, it was so good. Like. It's hard to describe again. I'm trying not to spoil it, so I feel like I can't give you all the details, but it is really, really fun. Everything Katie Bailey writes is really fun, and the cool thing is that Katie and Leah are friends and so they actually have like tie-ins to each other's books because they both have hockey teams. So one hockey team is called the DC Eagles and then one's the Cyclones, and so I'm pretty sure it's in Season Schemings, this book, where the Cyclones actually play the Eagles in one of the games, and I was like, oh, look at that, how cool. They kind of like tied their books together with an invisible string a little bit. So anyway, fun, random tidbit. But Season Schemings by Katie Bailey is super fun and of course, if you want to read her latest holiday hostilities, you could do that as well. I'm stoked to read it. And if I had all the time in the world to read all the Christmas books in the world, I would have already read it, but I did not.

Speaker 1:

So next up we are crossing into Open Door Territory, so this book is Open Door and it is. All I Want Is you by Fallon Ballard. This is actually my first Fallon Ballard. I do have all of her books on my shelf. I just have not gotten to them yet, so this was my first one on my shelf. I just have not gotten to them yet, so this was my first one.

Speaker 1:

All I want is you, and again, this is Open Door, it's Second Chance and it's Forced Proximity and Romance Writers. So really, what more could you want? Let me just say that, like, Second Chance is not my go-to trope, it's not really one that I thought I tended to enjoy, but somehow authors, as of late, have been doing a really great job with Second Chance. So now I've been reading more of that trope than I probably ever have. Like it's. It's been done really well lately. So thank you to all the authors that are writing it well, because I didn't know I liked this trope, but yet again Fallon's helping change my mind, in addition to Jessica Joyce and Lorne Lane and all those others. So anyway, ok, let me tell you a little bit more about the book and this one. I said it was open door.

Speaker 1:

It does have like several spice scenes. They're not like super descriptive. So I would say maybe this is like a 2.5 to 3 on the scale, like if you read I mean, if you read just like standard Berkeley romances, then you're good. This is no more than those. So, but it does have several spice scenes. So also just putting that out there. But it really is not like super descriptive or anything. So it's kind of been like the light to medium range of spice, like just kind of your, your typical spice level of you know, just like general Berkeley romances. So not anything crazy, ok.

Speaker 1:

So Jessica and Nick are both romance writers. They had a tumultuous breakup in the past and they're forced to be in the same room when one of them has to present the other with an award. At a publishing Christmas party. Set at a winter lodge, they get trapped together thanks to a snowstorm and they end up working on a project. Will they be able to complete the project and will they ever get out of the snowstorm, out of the lodge, away from the snowstorm? You will have to read to find out. I can't tell you much more than that because then I start running into spoilers, spoilers. But I could not put this book down. The pacing was really fun and the book was a really good mix of Christmassy, but of course it also had a good plot. It moved really well. I really loved the whole like rivals to lovers aspect and of course it was second chance and forced proximity as well. But it's definitely like rivals to lovers. The banter just between the main characters was great. But also there's this friends group chat which, like she, has author besties and they're all in this little group chat and so you get some of their text chains and those were just pure gold and I laughed so much.

Speaker 1:

The only thing that bugs me a very small, like a tiny bit, not enough to not include it on the list, but I just wanted to point it out in case this is something that you don't want to read or that drives you crazy or whatever. So ultimately it's kind of like miscommunication adjacent. It is a miscommunication. It is yeah, yeah, now that I think about that, it is a miscommunication, which I really don't like miscommunication. But the reason why they broke up is not revealed to the female main character. For a while, like he just kind of broke up with her and will not tell her why, and I felt like it was just dragged out, maybe a little bit too long, to the point where I almost just kind of like wanted it out so that way they could deal with it. I was almost like I don't care, I'm done with hearing about this, like either just tell us or just don't tell us. So I felt like maybe it could have just been revealed a little bit earlier and then maybe they worked with like the repercussions of what it ends up being for the rest of the book and maybe that could have lasted like the second half. So, anyway, it just takes a while for the male main character to tell the female main character why they broke up, like what his reasoning was, which just sounds kind of crazy. So, yeah, that that is a miscommunication. That's in there. Um, I definitely don't think it ruined the whole book by any means, but it it's just. It was pretty strong for a large majority of the book. So I just wanted to give you a heads up in case that matters to you. But it was really, really fun and I enjoyed it. So, basically, if you finish the most wonderful crime of the year and you need something more that has rivals to lovers with authors and you want the same kind of you know, quick pace with rivals to lovers that are also authors, then read this book. I thought it was really fun and I enjoyed a lot.

Speaker 1:

Up next we have a classic. Uh, so this is Love Light Farms by BK Borison. You've probably heard of it, you've probably read it. This is open door. This is an open door book. Love light farms by bk borison is open door.

Speaker 1:

I feel like I have to say that and I'll tell you in a second more about why it is friends to lovers and of course, it's a holiday classic, if you didn't know, just because I feel the need to explain. If you didn't know, the love light series takes place in a town called love lights and each book is fitted to a different season. There are four books in this series and so they are all very atmospheric because they all relate to a specific season, so they put you kind of in that specific season. And this is actually the first book in the series and and I obviously really enjoyed this book. It's one of the best friends to lovers books that I've read. But again, I really love the trope Stella. I just want to point this out again. I loved the book, but Stella might bug you a little bit because you're like Stella, he likes you, I promise, so just keep that in mind. But her and Luca are just so adorable that it's going to be worth it and I I really love this book and I need to do a reread because I read this last year and I need to reread it for this year.

Speaker 1:

But here is my little plot synopsis. So Stella owns Love Light Farms, which is a Christmas tree farm. She enters a competition that would be great exposure for the farm and drum up some business. She ends up filling out the form saying that she runs it with her boyfriend and then, when she's picked yay, she has to find said boyfriend. Luca, her longtime best friend, decides to pose as her boyfriend for contest officials. But will things start to feel real? You'll have to read to find out.

Speaker 1:

That being said, like I've pointed out several times already, this book is open door. So it's actually kind of comical how many conversations I've had with both readers and authors who didn't realize that this is open door. So I think a lot of people just tend to think that it's closed door, and I've had a lot of my friends that read closed door come to me and go hey, should I read Love Light Farms? It's closed door, right, and I'm like it's not Mayday, it's not closed door, it is open door. This is an open door book. So that's why I keep saying it, because I've had this conversation over and, over and over again. It is an open door book.

Speaker 1:

It it's pretty descriptive, to be honest. I read it last year when I was not reading as spicy of books so this seemed pretty spicy at the time. So I don't know what I would rate it now that I have read a lot spicier. But it is pretty descriptive. If you can handle Allie Hazelwood, you're fine. It's not as if it's super intense or anything, it's just this level of description like it's not as intense as Allie Hazelwood, it's a little bit more poetic, but it's just very descriptive. So you're going to know what's going on. So just keep that in mind.

Speaker 1:

And so far from what I've read in the series again, I'm just letting you know in case you do only read closed door books and this matters to you or if you like to keep kind of mild spice so far from what I've read of this series it seems to get spicier in subsequent books. Mixed Signals was extremely spicy and that is book three. I have not read Business Casual or In the Weeds. So the series goes. Love Light Farms is book number one In the Weeds. So the series goes. Love Light Farms is book number one. In the Weeds is book number two. Mixed Signals is book number three and then Business Casual is book number four. So I've read one and three but I have not read two and four. And yeah, three was pretty spicy for me Again. I read it at the very beginning of this year, like it was the first book I read this year, very beginning of this year, like it was the first book I read this year. So I've read spicier since, but just know that like it is decently spicy, it is decently spicy. So know that going in Love Light Farms is always a classic. I would always recommend it. I really enjoyed this book and I need to do a reread. So those are my recommendations for full length books.

Speaker 1:

Now I have three novellas to point you towards. So Christmas novellas. I was hoping to get to a couple more but I didn't. So I have three that just they've stood out above the rest so far and I'm really glad that this didn't turn out like my fall. I meant to do a whole like fall video and fall post of fall books, but every time I read a fall book it was just it was literally like stinker after stinker after stinker. I just could not find a fall book that I liked. It was almost comical, but if it was fall, I just ended up not liking it, which was so sad. So luckily, with Christmas there were so many books to choose from.

Speaker 1:

All the books on my list just kind of won out over some of the others a little bit, and these novellas are really, really good. They may be short, which is actually kind of great for this time of year, because things are super busy. You may not have time for a full length Christmas book and if you don't, these novellas are great. I gave you relatively tame recommendations above and for some reason I just decided to do the complete opposite for the novellas. All of these are open door and varying levels of spice, but they are all spicier than any of the books that I. Uh, there's maybe one that might be on par with the others in spice, but two of them are spicier than what? Than what I told you up above. So these novellas are short, they're spicy and they are really, really fun. They're perfect if you don't have time for a full Christmas book, but they're really well done and they're really complete, and kudos to these writers that can take something like a novella and just write the crap out of it, because all of them really did so okay.

Speaker 1:

Ok, here we go. First up is A Risk Worth Taking by Jessica Joyce. Technically, this is not so much of a Christmas book, because it's kind of more holiday, because Claire and Connor end up meeting on New Year's Eve. So this whole book kind of starts out more around New Year's. So you may want to wait a second and read a little bit closer to New Year's. I need to do a reread. I read this earlier in the year and I'm already going to be rereading it. Jessica just came out with paperback copies of A Risk Worth Taking, so you better believe I'm going to reread my paperback copy.

Speaker 1:

Ok, this is what that one is about. So Claire and Connor meet at a New Year's Eve party. He's there for work and she's kind of working the party more as like I'm pretty sure she's a bartender, or I don't think she's a caterer, but she's a caterer. No, I'm pretty sure she's a bartender, not a caterer. Anyway, she is working the party and they see each other across the room and they've kind of been like checking each other out a little bit. And then whenever she goes to empty the trash, she ends up running into him because he needed to get out and get a break and thus starts their whole like whirlwind little romance.

Speaker 1:

And I'm trying to like, I'm trying not to spoil this for you. The one thing that I love about this book Risk Worth Taking is that the character development is insane. It's not it's not really insta love, it's more like insta infatuation. And especially in a novella you don't have time for anything else and this one's pretty short for a novella. I think it's like only 74 pages, but I feel like I read a complete novel. After reading this. Like this feels so incredibly complete. I just have no idea how Jessica did that, but shocker not shocker, because it's her she did and it was just fantastic.

Speaker 1:

The chemistry and tension between Claire and Connor, it's just palpable. They do go back to their place and yep, that's that's where the rest of it kind of takes place. There's a lot I'm trying not to spoil it there's a lot of talking about next steps and like if you have a big decision in your life and if you should go forward with it. And Connor, he says this thing, and now I can't remember the exact words, but it's something like the risk of indecision or something like that, and it is so true and it kind of just hits you. It hits you in the heart Like you're expecting that you're going to get this really cute like steamy little rom-com New Year's Eve thing, and then there's so much depth in this that it kind of it took me by surprise and it just feels really applicable to life in general. And I think that's one of the best things about Jessica's writing is that not only do you just feel viscerally what her characters feel, but there are all these hidden messages and she'll just say something and you're like, yeah, that's exactly how that feels, or you know, I really needed to hear that, or I've been going through that as well. So if you're kind of at a crossroads in your life, if you feel like maybe things didn't turn out the way that they should have, then this book is for you, because not only does it address it, but it kind of comforts you and the conversation that Claire and Connor have about this is just really astute and well done and it's just going to give you a little bit of peace and it's going to make you think but in a good way like you're going to walk away happy that you read this little novella and this conversation. So anyway, I loved A Risk Worth Taking. I thought it was fantastic.

Speaker 1:

Next up is Merrily Yours by Rachel Lewis, and I did get to talk to Rachel Lewis on the podcast. I believe she is on in the next. Yeah, she's going to be on in the next episode. We will be talking more about Merrily Yours. So if you want to hear a little bit more about Merrily Yours, then definitely listen to that episode if you want to hear kind of like more from her writing side of it. But I wanted to include it on my list because I really love this one. I flew through this book so, okay, I did get an ARC from Rachel, but merrily yours.

Speaker 1:

So the first book, this is a standalone. It's a standalone to where you could read it if you haven't read the other book, but it's a nice kind of like. Yeah, it's a really nice tag along to yours unexpectedly and yours unexpectedly is book one and that covers Bex and Anders and then this is kind of like the bridge novella slash, a little kind of like extra teaser and that's all Christmas themed. So basically in this book oh and warning, this book opens on a spice scene. It is, it is relatively spicy, so a risk we're taking in Merrily, yours are the two that are. They're a little bit spicier and Christmas by Design does have some spice, but not not necessarily to the level that I would say that like A Risk. We're Taking and Merrily Yours does so with Merrily Yours by Rachel Lewis.

Speaker 1:

It's the Bardot family and you know them, you love them. It's the Bardot family and you know them, you love them. If you haven't read yours unexpectedly yet, add it to your TBR. It was so fun, so like the pacing was just so quick and it was so funny, and that one is also pretty spicy. So if you do just need like a spicy, quick, fun read, read the first one, yours unexpectedly. Or you could start with Merrily Yours. So okay, with Merrily Yours.

Speaker 1:

The Bardot family is home for Christmas and each chapter of this book is actually a different character's POV. So you get everyone's POV. You get all the siblings. You get also Anders I mean technically he's married into the family now and then you even get the mom and dad. So you get Elaine, and for some reason I am blanking on what her husband's name is, but you get all of their POVs and they're all home for Christmas. So they all kind of connect and intertwine and this book is going to make you slightly mad in the fact, or this novella that you're going to want all of their stories immediately and you're not going to want to wait for the rest of the series.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so in book one Yours, unexpectedly you feel like you know whose story is coming up because of course, there's kind of like a thread that is unraveled that you feel is going to be the next book and you're excited for it and it sounds good and you want to know what the heck is going on. Well, in this novella, each character's POV basically sets up like kind of what their love story is going to be. You're not getting major spoilers, but you're kind of getting just enough of a tease to know, like what tropes are going to be involved and you meet some of the love interest for them. So I am now dying to read the rest of the series and as soon as Rachel Lewis publishes them I will be reading them. Oh my gosh, she's gonna have. Well, no, I don't want to tell you because I don't want it to spoil the book, but there are some really amazing tropes in here. There are some really, really fun interactions and it is a really good book.

Speaker 1:

I will warn you that it does end slightly abruptly on purpose, because it goes into the female main character for whose book is going to be next. So it sets up the female main character, but you don't know for sure which guy she's going to go with. You could really probably use process of elimination, but yeah, so that's why it kind of cuts off in the middle of hers, because you're not to their story yet. It's coming out next. So this does leave on a very slight cliffhanger, but I would not let that deter you from reading the book. This is going to make you want the next one even more. I do know whose book is coming up next. I don't know that. I've seen Rachel announce it, so I'm going to hold off on that. In our episode we're going to announce it, so it'll be up. So if you want to know whose story is coming up next, uh, definitely listen to our episode because we do talk about it and she spilled it. She told me so she told me on air and she said I could use it and let everyone know, so you will get to know whose story is next.

Speaker 1:

Um, I really love the whole series and the bardo siblings. And's just. It's warm and fun and Christmassy and they have, like this outdoor lawn decorating contest between the family members and it's just really fun and there are a lot of cool traditions and it's just gonna give you the warm and fuzzies, so Merrily Yours. I would highly recommend as a novella. And then rounding us out in novella land is Christmas by Design by Ali Sanberts. I also read an arc of this one. It was a very, very cute and very fun and really unique for a Christmas book and just a book in general.

Speaker 1:

So okay, anyway, gemma and Beckett, they work at the same architecture firm and they have a project coming up, and Gemma is a single mom, she has a daughter and she could just really use the extra money for Christmas, and so Beckett decides to take on the project, really kind of to help her out. But Gemma does not need help from anyone, she is an independent single mom, and so she ends up going up with Beckett to work on the project, but of course they get stranded because of a snowstorm so many snowstorms going on, but anyway. So then they get stranded because of a snowstorm, and will they be able to complete the project and will their feelings for each other change over the course of it? You'll have to see. I would classify this as maybe kind of rivals to lovers. They're not totally in the same position per se. He's a little bit higher up than she is, but I mean they're still kind of rivals because, you know, within the company I mean, everyone's somewhat competing. So I would say it's like a light kind of rivals to lovers thing. Gemma does not like Beckett. It is definitely grumpy, sunshine and then also you have some forced proximity as they work on this project up until like Christmas and there's so many cute moments. Gemma's hilarious, beckett's really funny too. He's he's gonna give it back to her, like she's gonna give it to him, but he is gonna give it right back to her.

Speaker 1:

So it was really fun to read and again, this was another novella that felt like a really complete story. I mean it just it felt like I had read a novel. You know, which is great when an author can do that in a novella. Of course you always want more of the characters and you want it to be longer, but everything tied up really there was a lot of character development going on and I just felt like I went through the full journey of a book in this novella and it was highly satisfying to be able to read something so short and get really a full-length story. This one does have some spice in it. It is not like anything crazy, but it was, it is, it does have spice and it is open door.

Speaker 1:

So anyway, I would recommend all three novellas A Risk we're Taking, merrily, yours and Christmas by Design. They're all so different, they're all so fun. In their own ways they all have a very unique take Jessica's being at New Year's, rachel's having all the different POVs and then Allie's having that architecture aspect was really really unique and fun. So I enjoyed all of those and, of course, any of the books I told you about on the list. I would recommend them. I thought they were so fun.

Speaker 1:

You know there's so many Christmas books that it can just be overwhelming to know which ones to pick, and some are really good and some are just not and they're going to fall flat. So to know which ones to pick and some are really good and some are just not and they're going to fall flat. So in my opinion, if you read any of these books, you're going to have a good time and you're going to enjoy yourself for Christmas. So thank you so much for joining me and happy holidays. Enjoy your family time, read a lot of good books and meet some new book boyfriends. This has been Kristen Balls on when I Left Off. Stay tuned for the next episode.