Artist and semi-recent transplant to Seattle, Joy hasn’t been in a relationship in the year since she found her previous significant other cheating. With a string of one night stands, she hasn’t really considered it. At least not until a chance meeting on the bus introduces her to harried personal assistant Bec. They quickly form a rapport and Bec soon works up the courage to ask her to lunch. When casual dates nearly turn into something more, Joy suggests taking things slow and seeing where things go. As Christmas nears, neither can expect that an unexpected meeting and a misunderstanding might ruin their chances at happiness together. Can they make this work, or will Joy and Bec be spending the holidays alone?

In a lot of ways Jodi Hutchins’ Yule Love Her just feels like it doesn’t have enough space to develop the characters or to build any sort of conflict. It’s just one of those stories that really isn’t served by being as short as a novella is, especially with how much of the story’s content is covered by the blurb. It quickly becomes pretty obvious where most of the story beats are going to hit, if not exactly how, while leaving the characters oddly naked of development.

Put bluntly, there’s more built up to the sex scene than there is to the story’s climax. And that bothers me more than a bit since this is billed as romance rather than erotica. There are a lot of places where it feels like there should have been more. More build between Bec and Joy. More build up for the antagonist as the antagonist. That one especially seems like it had a skeleton in place that just never really got fleshed out. The lack of extra space to buff that out made the climax feel badly placed, like the antagonist wasn’t built up to that level of reaction.

More of the legitimately cute moments between the protagonists would have been fantastic. Or more character moments, show the two of them opening up to each other more. Joy could have talked to Bec about her art more or the kinds of people who order commission work from her. Bec could have talked more about the job she’s hoping to get or more about her boss beyond the aggressive need for control and being mad at her for being late. Because I wound up kind of feeling like these two got together because the story needed them to. Which is a shame, because with a little more time on page out and about doing things together Joy and Bec could have been a really fantastic couple. But it felt like it kept getting sidelined by physical attraction, which fair, but I still found myself wanting more meat to the relationship itself with the physical bits as a sort of dessert to that.

The pacing is what makes most of the problems I have with Yule Love Her. Like a lot of novella’s I’ve read, it feels like there was meant to be more but it needed to fit a word limit. So important things might have gotten cut. Which is a shame because I think this could have been a really nifty romance if it had been given twice as much page space so things could be built up better. And it isn’t bad, I would read a different book by Jodi Hutchins, just preferably a novel length one. I want to see what happens when she has space to dig in and do more with the surrounding plot rather than needing to dance around a reveal.

So yeah, there were definitely parts to Yule Love Her that I enjoyed. There were parts I would have liked to see more of, mostly character stuff. Joy and Bec dating and Bec and her job or her boss kinds of stuff mostly. There was some stuff that made the end feel not entirely genuine that could have been worked around a bit more. But, overall, it has a lot of promise and I want to see more of Hutchins’ writing to see her live up to the promise that Yule Love Her shows. So it gets a three out of five from me. Worth checking out if you want a quick read between celebrations.

3 stars, nice short read, but superficial, maybe because of its length. It was an entertaining Christmas story, could have been longer

I was looking for a nice cozy holiday read, and it seemed like this one would fit the bill. Unfortunately, it just didn't grab me. I found the characters and the writing to be a little flat. Not compelling enough to keep me reading.

A fun book to read for the holidays. The main characters Bec and Joy are fully fleshed out and there are no holes in the plot. Great read for the holiday season.

This was a cute little romance. I knew i'd have to read it soon as it's a Christmas read and the holidays are an intergral part of the story. The characters, Joy and Bec, were a sweet couple but i did find it a bit daft the 'twist' that Hutchins sets up. I spotted it when the topic of family was brought up. I liked seeing them as a couple together and it met my expectations of it.

This was a cute holiday story perfect for this time of year.

Bec Strom and Joy Stevens meet by chance while riding the bus. Attraction is there from the beginning and it only gets stronger as hey get to know each other more. Then, right before Christmas, they are both forced to decide if their happily ever after is with each other.

The characters were both likeable and their love story was cute. This was a short story, so character development wasn't great but it was enough to get you to understand the characters.

Overall, it was a fast pace, quick easy read, sweet holiday romance story.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Yule Love Her by Jodi Hutchins is a beautiful romance about two women, Bec Strom and Joy Stevens, who accidentally meet on the metro bus when Bec is late to work one day just before the holidays. This chance meeting is the beginning of a heartwarming love story as the two become closer over this magical holiday season. The story is charming, the characters are well-developed, the setting is gorgeous, and there are enough questions and angst in the plot to keep you reading until the end.
I really liked this story. It is sweet and sexy and at just over seventy pages, short enough to read in a couple of hours. It makes the perfect novel to read on a wintery afternoon in front of a fireplace with a nice cup of hot chocolate. I recommend this lovely novella to all who love a sensual romance.
I received an ARC from Net Galley and NineStar Press for an honest review.

Yule Love Her by Jodi Hutchins is a one hour read about Bec and Joy who meet on a city bus in Seattle while Bec is running late to work due to flooding in her apartment from the above neighbors. There is instant chemistry between the butch and the femme, so they both decide to ride the same bus the next couple of days until Bec works up the nerve to ask Joy out on a date. The story that follows is a sweet holiday romance that could easily play out on the Hallmark Channel. There are some complications to the story mainly driven by Bec's boss, Chris.

I'll definitely look for more books from this author.

I received this book from Netgalley and NineStar Press in exchange for a fair, honest review.

This is a really sweet and sexy holiday short. Bec is having a rough morning with a flooded apartment, a missed bus and an angry boss. One bright moment is that she meets Joy who engages her in some light hearted conversation. The following day she’s late again but sees Joy again.

Both Joy and Bec are likeable characters in this uncomplicated romance set in Seattle. The writing is good, the characters have great chemistry and there’s some wonderful humour in the brief moments with Bec’s parents. Bec was raised Pagan so there’s also a different aspect to the holiday season.

It’s a really enjoyable and easy read. Perfect for the holidays.

Book received from Netgalley and NineStar Press for an honest review.

This was a cute holiday romance.

Bec is a assistant to a boss who not so great. When Bec meets Joy on the bus her life becomes brighter as they get to know each other they are thrown for a loop when they found out someone might destroy there happiness.

This book could easily be one of the holidays movies on Hallmark Channel but it's seem never going to happen it's 2018 going on 2019 and still same movies with a woman and man. I just don't get why they can't switch woman and man with two men or two women it's not that hard because let's be honest every holiday movies on air have basically the same premise. So wouldn't be know difference if it was two men or two women being romantic leads.


I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.