Back of Book: 

After a devastating breakup, a sunny veterinarian goes home to the mountains to lick her wounds—and savor a holiday snack—in this heartfelt story from Laura Pavlov, author of the Blushing series.

At her brother’s wedding, Goldie Jacobs brushes shoulders with Ace Bonetti, his childhood best friend turned Hollywood hotshot. Ace has been crushing on Goldie ever since high school, and seeing her again reminds him exactly why. They spend one toe-curling night together, then part ways, expecting nothing more. But when those moments under the mistletoe felt so right, how can they ever let each other go?

Laura Pavlov’s Snow Place Like Home is part of Home Sweet Holidays, a cookie-sweet collection of holiday romances sure to bring color to your cheeks. Read or listen to each story in a single heart-fluttering sitting. And to fully immerse yourself in the charm of the season, don’t miss a special message from each of our holiday heroes! 

Book Number: One 

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Short Story 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟 

A wholesome holiday romance featuring a Christmas wedding and the best friend's little sister trope. 

Goldie Jacobs has recently moved back to her hometown after a devastating breakup. Now, she is celebrating her brother Jack's wedding on Christmas day. Her brother's best friend, Ace Bonetti, is serving as Jack's best man and Goldie is serving as the maid of honor, so they will be seeing a lot of each other this holiday season. Unbeknownst to the other, they have both been crushing on one another for years, and now that they are both finally single at the same time, it may just be their chance to confess their feelings once and for all. 

This one was a pretty cute holiday short, though it was little more than that. The wedding party attends a holiday celebration on Christmas Eve which is truly filled with holiday spirit. Everyone had to dress up in holiday themed costumes approved by the bride and groom, so it's no surprise that Jack and Holly take Christmas very seriously. Therefore, this short is brimming with holiday cheer. 

I am coming to realize that I am a big fan of the best friend's little sister trope. I think a big part of this is the fact that the characters have usually known each other forever and have a ton of history with one another, which makes it much easier for me to believe their chemistry from the start. I think history between characters makes romances featured in short stories that much more palatable because the reader has to get hooked on the couple's relationship in just a few short pages. I definitely found myself believing that Goldie and Ace have a future with each other. 

I feel I may have enjoyed this one if it would have been expanded on a bit more. I think seeing more of the actual wedding day would have made for an even better story, but it is what it is. I get that writing short stories can be a big challenge, but I still felt this one could have greatly benefited from a few more scenes with these characters. 

This short story was clean though, unlike Amazon's other holiday collection "Under the Mistletoe," which gives me hope that I may enjoy these stories more than I did those ones. Only time will tell though. 

Overall, "Snow Place Like Home" was a festive holiday short story featuring an eccentric Christmas party and a wedding on Christmas day. This one was certainly cute and featured a ton of fun tropes, but it just didn't sparkle in any way for me. I am looking forward to checking out the rest of this collection in the near future and seeing how the rest of them compare. 

Back of Book: 

What starts as a Hail Mary fake romance scheme turns into the real deal in this delightful story of holiday deception from Ali Rosen, author of Alternate Endings and Recipe for Second Chances.

Miriam Brody is dreading Hanukkah with her overbearing family in Charleston. Ditto for dreamy pro football player Cal Durand and Christmas. After sharing a few flirty drinks on the flight there, the strangers conspire to tackle the holidays together, posing as a couple. But as shenanigans unfold, Miriam realizes her feelings are anything but fake. Uh-oh. Are they headed for a holiday miracle—or a holiday disaster?

Ali Rosen’s Merry and Bright is part of Home Sweet Holidays, a cookie-sweet collection of holiday romances sure to bring color to your cheeks. Read or listen to each story in a single heart-fluttering sitting. And to fully immerse yourself in the charm of the season, don’t miss a special message from each of our holiday heroes! 

Book Number: Two

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Short Story 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A fake dating Christmas meets Hanukkah romance featuring two people who could really use a miracle this holiday season. 

Miriam Brody isn't looking forward to spending eight days with her family that constantly ignores her for Hanukkah. Cal Durand would do anything to escape the pitying smiles he'll receive over Christmas. When the two happen to be seated next to each other on their flight home, they learn of one another's holiday plans and decide to act as each other's plus one. As the two spend almost two weeks together, they begin to develop not so fake feelings for one another. Will this holiday season end in disaster... or was their chance meeting a blessing in disguise? 

I have followed Rosen's newsletter for a while now, but I haven't actually read any of her work prior to this. I do own one of her books, so I was hoping that this story would be good. I'm happy to report that I was not disappointed! I truly found this story to be such a feel-good holiday romance, and it was really cool that it combined Hanukkah and Christmas into one sweet read. 

Miriam and Cal both have their reasons for avoiding their families. I found it so cute how they both strove to protect the other one during the family gatherings. Cal would go out of his way to make Miriam feel seen in a setting in which she is usually ignored. Miriam in turn tried to lighten the mood in an overall dreary household that was tainted with bittersweet memories. I found their willingness to help a near stranger inspiring, and it was so cute seeing them fall for one another. 

This story features some familiar tropes such as fake dating and there's only one bed. Both of these tropes can often lead to sticky situations, but they were honestly pulled off in the most wholesome ways possible. 

Overall, "Merry and Bright" is a sweet, fake dating holiday romance that features both Hanukkah and Christmas. I love the dynamic between Miriam and Cal; the lengths that they go for one another is so sweet. I must say, I would have read a full-length novel about these two. This gives me hope that I will adore other of Rosen's works, so maybe I'll have to bump some of her work up my TBR. I would definitely recommend this short tale to lovers of clean holiday romances! 

Back of Book: 

Holiday magic helps two oblivious neighbors discover just how close they are in bestselling author Rosie Danan’s cheerful short story about big comedy, small tragedies, and the gifts found in between.

When stand-up comedian Piper has a panic attack outside the club, it’s not funny. But Scott, a handsome ER doctor from the crowd, gives her something to smile about as he calms her down. Turns out they’re neighbors—they just don’t know it yet. When Christmas Eve presents an opportunity for them to get even closer, Scott and Piper realize they share much more than just a wall.

Rosie Danan’s All Wrapped Up in You is part of Home Sweet Holidays, a cookie-sweet collection of holiday romances sure to bring color to your cheeks. Read or listen to each story in a single heart-fluttering sitting. And to fully immerse yourself in the charm of the season, don’t miss a special message from each of our holiday heroes! 

Book Number: Three

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Short Story 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

A stand-up comedian and an ER doctor find themselves running into each other again and again in this holiday romance.

When Scott meets Piper outside a club while she's having a panic attack, the two forge an instant connection. The two keep inadvertently running into one another, so it's no surprise that their feelings for one another keep growing. However, they are both simultaneously crushing on their next-door neighbor that they have been texting with for months. The two eventually learn that they are actually each other's neighbors and it feels a bit like a holiday miracle.

This was another sweet story that felt as though it ended too soon. It certainly lacked some depth, but it is a holiday short story, so not too shocked about that fact.

Scott and Piper do have a pretty sweet meet cute. Scott stumbles into her on the way to the bathroom at the club and helps her calm down from the panic attacking that she is having. When he returns to the stage, Piper ends up being the stand-up comedian that Scott went to go see with his friends. The two run into each other again after Piper has a little accident that lands her in the ER. The final time they encounter one another is the time that finally pushes them together. This felt like a pretty natural trajectory that didn't seem rushed, I just wish there would have been a few more cute moments between the two.

I think my favorite part about this story is the fact that Piper is a little bit quirky. She dresses up her grandparent's ceramic goose fo the holidays, after all. I felt she had way more personality than Scott. Pretty much his entire vibe is that he was a tired doctor that is coming to regret all of his life decisions.

The Christmas vibes weren't overly strong in this one either, but it is cute how Piper tries to honor her grandparent due to their love of the season. However, beyond a Christmas tree in the corner and a few holiday jokes surrounding mistletoe and Santa, the holiday feel is mostly absent from this story.

Overall, "All Wrapped Up in You" is an okay read that I'll probably forget momentarily. It wasn't a bad read, it was just super basic and didn't contain anything that made it special. The writing was pretty solid though, so I'd definitely give more of Danan's work a chance in the future. 

Back of Book: 

A freshly broken-up couple agrees to grin and bear it for their family’s sake in a story about the healing power of the holidays from Mia Sosa, USA Today bestselling author of The Worst Best Man.

Juliana and Eric called off their engagement—but Christmas with the family is just around the corner, so things are going to get awkward, fast. Unless, of course, they pretend the wedding is still on. But the holidays are gonna holiday. And the only thing harder than pretending they’re still in love is trying not to fall for each other all over again.

Mia Sosa’s You Better Not Pout is part of Home Sweet Holidays, a cookie-sweet collection of holiday romances sure to bring color to your cheeks. Read or listen to each story in a single heart-fluttering sitting. And to fully immerse yourself in the charm of the season, don’t miss a special message from each of our holiday heroes!

Book Number: Four (Last Book) 

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Short Story 

Review: 🌟🌟

A fake dating romance between a workaholic woman and her ex-fiancée. 

Juliana and Eric have recently called off their engagement. Juliana doesn't want to break the news to her family over the holidays, so Eric agrees to accompany her home for Christmas in the hope of keeping the ruse alive. Once there, the two begin to realize that maybe they are just in a rough patch and that their romance may be meant to witness many more holiday seasons. 

I honestly was pretty bored by this one. I didn't really vibe with Juliana or Eric as characters, so it was hard to get myself to care about the struggles they were having. In a story like this, there is absolutely no surprise that the couple is going to end up together and it seems a tad petty to write a story about two people breaking up over Christmas and then having them get back together in like forty pages. Also, the humor style wasn't to my liking, so this alienated me from the story. 

The positive takeaway I have from this one is the fact that Juliana and Eric are both Latinx, so this one is a cultural Christmas story at least. Most Christmas stories I've read features little to no diversity whatsoever, so that was a nice change of pace. 

Overall, "You Better Not Pout" was a holiday romance that I didn't particularly enjoy. It felt a little cheap to write about a couple that decides to break up and then pretend to their families that they aren't. Honestly, it felt more like two people were in conflict, but it never truly felt as though they weren't together. The short nature of this story and the fact that the fake dating felt real the entire time completely deflated any stakes that this story could potentially have.