December is here (and nearly half over...how...), and this time of year, I love winter holiday romances. There's just something even more heartwarming about a holiday romance, you know? I thought I would do a few book rec posts of holiday romances—there are so many wonderful holiday romances that it's been difficult narrowing down my choices, but I've done my best. Today's post includes holiday romances that are fantasy or paranormal.

Happy New Year, my darlings! I'm not entirely sure where the end of 2021 went, but that's beside the point because we're now in 2022, a new year with hopefully lots of good things for us all and lots of good books to read. I did a 2021 wrap-up post last week in which I talked about some of my favorite reads from last year (you can find that here), and today, it's time for my monthly reading report. I read mostly holiday stories last month, as I often do in December—there's something about holiday romances that give me an extra fuzzy feeling on top of the usual one that comes with a HEA. I had a little trouble getting into some of them this year; I think because I've been having trouble reading contemporaries during the pandemic—I really want the extra escapism of fantasy/paranormal/historical reads. That all said, here are some books I enjoyed in December:

Strawberry Moon by Sam Burns and WM Fawkes: The only thing I read (other than an audio reread I finished) that wasn't a holiday book! I believe this is the last book in the Wolf Moon Rising series, and though I liked some books in the series more than others, I enjoyed this shifter series. Probably best read in order, since, though there is a new couple in each book, there is an overarching plot.

Only One Bed by Keira Andrews: A tropey (only one bed! friends to lovers!) Christmas novella with sweet, likable characters. This novella isn't my favorite holiday story by Keira Andrews, but it was enjoyable and it set up another story between two supporting characters that I'll be waiting for.

Hold Me Closer, Tony Danzig by Laura Henry: I listened to this short audiobook through Audible Plus (it's an Audible Original) on a whim. It's a cute f/f romance that includes the one night stand turns out to be a colleague trope, if you enjoy that one. There is a very big toxic ex-girlfriend plot in this one and some conflict between sisters that felt unnecessary to me, but it was a cute, short holiday listen.

The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert: Probably my favorite new Christmas read of the month. An opposites attract romance between two neighbors, one grumpy and the other sunshiney, as they fall for each other while decorating the grumpy guy's house for his brother's unexpected holiday visit. Full of so much sweet, fluffy Christmasy romance.

The Best Gift by Eli Easton: A quiet, lovely, emotional Christmas romance between two men dealing with loss and grief and finding each other maybe through fate. It's also set on a Christmas tree farm in snowy New England for extra Christmas vibes.

Checking It Twice by Lucy Bexley: I've never read anything by Lucy Bexley, but I saw this on twitter and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be so cute! An opposites attract romance between the hyper-organized wedding planner and the something-of-a-disaster maid of honor set at a Christmas Eve wedding that was funny and sweet.

Mr. Jingle Bells by Leta Blake: This is the third book in the Home for the Holidays series, but I think can be read on its own. I loved the characters in this book and loved them together, but I almost put it aside to read later because I was in the mood for fluffy Christmas stories and this one has much more angst than I was looking for at the time (I could see the big fall out coming and was dreading it!). Mr. Jingle Bells was good, just maybe not the right book for me at that time.

On a Midnight Clear by Lily Morton: Such a lovely, magical Christmas story! Literally magical, as it involves a statue brought to life by the Holly King as one of our main characters. A wonderful romance full of Christmas cheer and fanciful magic based in English folklore and a really perfect happily ever after. Loved it.

​What have you read and loved lately?

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today! This has been a long and difficult year, and I know this holiday looks different for all of us, but I hope today is full of warm and joy and peace. Much love to you. Stay safe and well.

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating today! And Happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating this week! And whether you're celebrating a holiday or not, I hope your day is filled with love and joy and laughter. 

I'm going to admit right now that I meant to have this post up days ago, but between day job work, editing, and holiday prep (including baking...so much baking...see below), it didn't happen. But I usually try to do a holiday book rec post, so I wanted to do it anyway. Anyone else like me, and reading holiday books starting at the beginning of the month and reading all through New Year's? If so, maybe you'll enjoy some recs. And if you have some for me, please share!

I love holiday romances because they take all the joy and hope of other romances to a whole other level. They just give me a warm, cozy feeling I want to wallow in all month. Some of these books are old favorites I return to year after year, and some are new books I read for the first time this month...and are destined to become favorites to reread in years to come:

The Christmas Deal by Keira Andrews (and a bunch of her other holiday books too!)
One More Yule Log by Julia Talbot
Hometown Christmas by Garrett Leigh
The Winter Spirit by Indra Vaughn
Holiday Outing by Astrid Amara
Lone Star by Josh Lanyon (also Icecapade)
Merry Christmas, Mr Miggles by Eli Easton
North Pole City Tales series by Charlie Cochet
Love Around the Corner by Sally Malcolm
Holly and Oak by R Cooper
Wrapped Together by Annabeth Albert

​

​I'm absolutely positive I'm going to start kicking myself for not listing so many other books as soon as I post this (because there are so many good ones!), but that's a few anyway.

I haven't written a holiday romance yet, but if you're looking for a warm and cozy fantasy romance set during fall/winter/winter holidays, try The Merchant's Love. It's a warm hug of a book in which a bookish royal and the merchant awkwardly, endearingly besotted with him fall in love over books and baked goods.

​Happy reading, all!

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating! I hope you have a holiday filled with love and laughter.

I thought I'd share some favorite holiday romances with you, though I'm getting to it later than I meant. Every December almost everything I read is a holiday romance—I like to wallow in the warm, happy feelings that holiday romance especially provides. This year has been no different, though I've been busy and I haven't gotten as much reading in as I hoped. I'll keep reading holiday romances through New Year's, so I hope to get in a few more. This list includes a few that I read for the first time this year and some old favorites that I tend to reread over and over.

Mr. Winterbourne's Christmas by Joanna Chambers: I loved this sequel to Introducing Mr. Winterbourne. It really gave us a solid HEA for these two during a snowy Christmas.

The Magician's Angel by Jordan L Hawk: I've read a few of the books in the multi-author Christmas Angel series, and this is my favorite so far. Of course, there is a murder mystery running through the story (it's Jordan L Hawk!), but the romance was just lovely too.

Love Around the Corner by Sally Malcolm: This book managed to be both friends to lovers and enemies to lovers at the same time. Two men are falling for each other online without realizing that they don't get along at all in real life. A really enjoyable Christmas romance.

And some old favorites (that I'm sure I've talked about in previous book posts somewhere):

Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles by Eli Easton (librarian heroes!)
Holly & Oak by R. Cooper
The Winter Spirit by Indra Vaughn
The Holly Growth Green by Amy Rae Durresson (and her other Christmas stories)
The North Pole City Tales by Charlie Cochet (fun fantasy romances about elves at the North Pole)
Wrapped Together by Annabeth Albert
Icecapade by Josh Lanyon (probably my favorite of Lanyon's holiday stories, but Lone Star is great too)

Do you have any favorite holiday romances?

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating! I hope your holiday is filled with laughter and love, family, friends, and good food. 

I'm celebrating with family today (and there will be lots of food!) after spending the last week baking cookies and wrapping gifts, listening to Christmas music, and reading lots of holiday romances. Well, I've been reading those all month, and I'll continue reading them straight to New Year's. I've posted some favorites before (check my November reading post for links), but here are a few I've enjoyed since, if you need some more holiday reading:

The Glow of Luminiferous Aether on Tinsel by Jana Denardo: I don't think I've ever read a steampunk holiday story before, so this felt really original.

Eight Nights in December by Keira Andrews: This is a revised version of a previously released novella, which I didn't read so I can't tell you how different it is, but I enjoyed this one.

The Holly Growth Green by Amy Rae Durreson: This was lovely. If you like a little magic with your holiday stories, read this one.

Once Upon a Christmas Eve by Elizabeth Hoyt: Part of the Maiden Lane series, but you don't have to have read them all to enjoy this. (It's a great series though!)

Poison Marked by TJ Nichol: A bit different, as it's set in a fantasy world, and just so good. I think this would work for you even if holiday romances aren't your thing.

Miracle on Ladies' Mile by Joanna Shupe: I enjoyed this Guilded Age novella so much. The characters pulled me right in.

A Holiday Crush by CJane Elliot: For those who like a little politics with their holiday romance, try this short.

New Game, Start by CS Poe: So adorable and sweet!

Ok, that was a bit more than a few! Enjoy your holiday, everyone!

​Today I needed a little cheer so I decorated the Christmas tree. I meant to do it last weekend right after Thanksgiving, but I didn't get to it. But it's decorated now, and I'm not horribly traumatized by the trip up into the attic (The big spiders live up there. I try to stay out as much as possible.). I've shared some of my interesting ornaments with you in previous years, but I got a couple new ones this year. My parents brought me back a cable car from San Francisco, and I was so excited to a Fox Robin Hood and Maid Marian ornament. And other Fox Robin Hood fans here?

Of course, I spent the day decorating and didn't get any writing done. But now I get to do that tonight near the Christmas tree. Soon the holiday baking will begin too...

I feel a bit like the holiday season snuck up on me this year, and in truth, I'm struggling some for the holiday spirit—the past couple of months have not been the best for any of us. But I'm trying because I really do love the holidays, and I love the feeling of joy and wonder and peace and hope that they bring. I could do with some of all of that.

The tree has been up since the Saturday after Thanksgiving and everything is decorated, gifts have been bought and wrapped...and I'm still baking and will be probably right up until Christmas Eve morning. I've made so many batches of Christmas cookies, from old family recipes and newer ones that I've found myself and made into new traditions. Somewhere in there, I've made time for reading (often curled up near the tree with a cup of hot chocolate, which is often spike with peppermint schnapps). You may recall that I love holiday romances. I told you a bunch of my favorites in a blog post last December, and I thought I'd do another this year to tell you about some good ones that I've read since that post that I haven't mentioned elsewhere. 

Take Me Home by Lorelie Brown - This is a Thanksgiving to Christmas novella in which one of our main characters decides she needs to bring a fake girlfriend to Thanksgiving to annoy her aunt and cousins. Only she starts falling for the fake girlfriend. There's also an adorable dog.

Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins - The story of two grumpy loners who don't realize how lonely they are until they're thrown together and begin to fall in love. It's a lovely Christmas romance.

Wrapped Together by Annabeth Albert - Oh my gosh, I loved this book. It gave me all the warm, happy feelings I want from a holiday romance. Christmas reminds Hollis too much of his parents' deaths a few years ago, so he tries not to participate in the season, but Sawyer, whose brother is married to Hollis's sister, makes it his mission to give Christmas back to Hollis. I only read it a couple weeks ago and I already want to reread.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles by Eli Easton - A Christmas romance between librarians. I loved this, and I loved Sean Miggles.

The Ugliest Sweater by Gillian St. Kevern - This was a very cute, sweet short story in which an ugly Christmas sweater brings two people together. I only wish it had been longer, but then I tend to prefer longer reads so that might just be me. If you're looking for light and short, this might be perfect.

Of Christmas Past by Teryn Day - This is a lovely, poignant Christmas story. Jon can see ghosts, and Cecil is one of the ghosts haunting an old mansion that belongs to Jon's family. I loved learning Jon's and Cecil's stories and watching them grow closer. My one issue with this story is that asexuality seems to be equated with having a low sex drive, which is not the same thing.

The Mistletoe Effect by Cate Ashwood - I just finished this one, and it was warm and sweet and all the good things about holiday romance. Danny and Merrick are just such good guys, and the snowy little Colorado town was the perfect setting for a Christmas romance.

I'll stop there, even though I could probably list a bunch more. I tend to binge read holiday romances this time of year anyway, but 2016 has left me especially needing the particular joy a holiday romance brings. I'm not even finished with my stack of new stories to read and old favorites to reread. I think I may be reading them through New Year's this year. I'll tell you about everything else I read in this month's regularly scheduled reading post.

Do you have favorite holiday romances? Or any wonderful ones that you've just discovered? Tell me (because apparently I can never have enough holiday romances to read!).

And, just for laughs, have a picture of me wearing reindeer antlers while I helped decorate my parents' tree.