This book was super good. It was super original and I flew through it. It didn't feel like anything I've read in the past. Can't wait to read more from the author!!

I love Jenny Holiday's books for their honest emotion, friendships, and character growth. This book had those things but at the same time, had a different feel from what I've come to expect from her books. The author's stated intention was basically to present a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form and I'd say she succeeded admirably. The book is set at Christmas time with engaging, likable leads, a meet cute between a princess and a "commoner" in NYC, a sassy, intelligent, growing up too fast younger sister, back stories of grief for both characters, settings both in NYC and in an almost fairytale looking, tiny, Alps principality (think Liechtenstein), and it includes a happy, all problems solved, fairytale ending. True to real life? Not at all! But who cares when the journey to get there is so much fun. However, don't make the mistake of thinking this book is G-rated as it definitely isn't. There's plenty of heat on the page between Leo, a New York cabdriver, and Marie, the princess of the aforementioned country. It's basically Hallmark for adults. It's the perfect escapism for our current times and will definitely get you into the holiday mood.

Full disclosure: I am a sucker for Hallmark Christmas movies, so a royal Christmas romance was an easy sell to me to want to read it.

I feel like this definitely hit the typical Hallmark-esque tropes: princess in an unfamiliar situation; working class man comes to her aid; quirky side characters; something in their way; love conquers all!

But the overly-sweet Hallmark style is definitely balanced by the super-naughty: some definite steamy scenes & blush-worthy language.

For libraries: Do you have people clamoring for more holiday romances? This is definitely a worthwhile purchase. Readers of the genre/author won't be disappointed.

I love a good holiday romance! A Princess for Christmas has romance, a cocoa festival, a princess, New York City, snow, and a castle located in a small village in the Alps. So many fun, sweet things!

In this story, Princess Marie of Eldovia, travels to New York City to do some work for the family business (Eldovia is known for manufacturing high-end watches). While in NYC, she meets Leo Ricci and his sister, Gabby. Marie asks Leo to drive her around the city for the next few days while she works with different businesses. As Leo drives Marie around, they develop a friendship and don't want to say goodbye at the end of the week, so Marie invites him and Gabby to Eldovia for Christmas. In Eldovia, Leo and Marie spend lots of time together and this is when the friendship that they developed turns into more.

A Princess for Christmas is the perfect book to cuddle up with as we kick off the fall season! I really enjoyed reading about the small village of Eldovia, the snow scenes, and the touristy attractions in NYC. I liked all of the characters in the story (I'm hoping to read Kai's story!) and thought they were realistic, relatable, and funny. The book moves at a good pace and kept me wanting more. Although it has Christmas in the title, I didn't feel that it was over the top with Christmas references, so you could definitely enjoy this book any time of year.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

Thank you to Net Galley and and Avon publishing for a chance to read this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book was cute and humorous. I love the Princess theme and love a good book that also takes place in New York. I also love that it really played on the Hallmark Christmas card picture and often mocked it in a jovial way. The characters are great and I felt invested in Leo and Maria’s story. I felt like the cursing picked up around at 70% and by the end of the book I hit my threshold. There is also bow chicka bow wow in the book, but that can be easily skipped if you are bothered by those things.

A Princess for Christmas is a packaged romance. Marie meets gruff cab driver, Leo, who quickly comes to her Rescue. A rapport develops between these two unlikely partners, she a princess, and he struggling to make ends meet. I liked the chemistry between Leo and Marie. I like the character development of both. It's a cute, sweet, light read. The cover is inviting.

Loved this fun Christmasy romance! It's very much like a Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movie but a little spicier/sexier. Jenny Holiday's books always make me smile, laugh, and swoon, and this was no exception. Looking forward to a reread during the holiday season!

If you love holiday books and Hallmark movies, this is the perfect book for you! Oh and it's got more romantic times than your typical Hallmark movie. ;)

Princess Marie of Eldovia is in New York City for meetings and when she is late for a party and her car service falls through, she does what any good tourist in NYC does and tries to hail a cab. When a cab pulls up, it's not only got a driver inside, but also a preteen and a dog!

Leo Ricci is a cab driver and building superintendent that had aspirations of being an architect, but when his parents were killed in a car accident, he was forced to drop out to care for his sister, Gabby, who is 14 years his junior. While he's doing everything he can to make ends meet, he still wishes he could do and be more for his sister.

After Leo gets Marie to the party on time, she ends up hiring him to be her driver for the duration of her time in the City. And before you know it, Leo and Gabby are headed to Eldovia to spend Christmas where they will experience the Cocoa Ball, the Christmas festival and all of the other things this quaint town has to offer.

I loved how strong Marie was and how she was finding her footing and figuring out how to stand up for herself and what she wants out of her life. I also liked Leo a lot, as he was a stand-up guy who was trying to be the best he could be for both he and his sister. Gabby was wonderful and I liked how she was able to bring so many people together.

This was a great holiday novel and one that I would recommend. I am hoping there will be more where this one came from!

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This is exactly what I needed right now. I love Christmas time and I've been needing some of the good Christmas time feeling that happens that time of year and this one helped me get some of that back.

Leo and Maria while both from very different walks of life have both suffered loss of a parent and that's one that helps bring them together. We see them bond over many things throughout the book, but that is one that they both fully share and is one that has left both of them with vast amounts of responsibility. For Leo that responsibility is taking care of his sister and making sure she still gets to be a kid, while for Maria it means running a country alongside her father who is not the man he used to be.

I loved seeing them learn things about each other and change as people as they learned more about each other's lives and how they could possibly fit into them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and it made me feel happy. I loved the way Maria found ways to bond with Leo's little sister and made sure she was as involved as she could be in all that was happening alongside still following royal protocol to a certain extent. I think the author accomplished her job of making a Hallmark Esq Christmas book. A Princess for Christmas has so many different emotions covered in it, but the overall one that I felt was happiness and love. Love for family and love for friends, that help bring us happiness.
I was not expecting the sexy time scenes but they weren't the main focus of the story so it was easy to ignore them (I'm sure lots of people will love them, they just weren't for me).

Do you enjoy those Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movies about fictional European countries whose princes or princesses fall in love with commoners and require Christmas magic to sort it all out? Do you 'ship those movie couples with much more swearing and sex? Then this is your book! The slightly awkward princess of Eldovia has a fateful meeting with a handsome young NYC cabbie and his kid sister and a dog (there's always a dog) at the UN and eventually they end up in her country for Christmas. Typical plotlines ensue, with a lot of, ahem, adult moments as well. Candace Cameron wouldn't star in this one, but Lacey Chabert might.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

This book it a hallmark christmas movie in book form. It has all the things you love about those movies with one improvement: character growth and backstory. I am a hard-core Hallmark and Lifetime channel Christmas movie fiend and my biggest complaint is always that everything happens too fast without enough buildup, but this book balances that perfectly. And yes its silly and fun and flirty and Christmas-y, all the things it's supposed to be and I loved every single minute of it.

While it was enjoyable for me to read it did feel just like an amalgamation of 5 or so christmas movies I've seen, which might bother some people. I merely took it for what it was which was fun and sweet.

3.5 stars.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

If you are looking for a smutty Hallmark Christmas movie style book, look no further! This book has a little bit of everything. We've got Leo the cab driver who gave up everything to take care of his much younger sister after their parents passed away. Princess Marie lost her mom as well and is trying to stand up to her father the King of Eldovia. Throw them together along with his younger sister Gabby who is a chatterbox and we've got an excellent Hallmark movie. I loved that it started in NYC because the holiday season in NYC is pure magic and then Jenny Holiday took it to a new level with fictional Eldovia! I pictured a super charming European village with a gorgeous castle up on a hill.

Jenny Holiday writes fantastic romance novels and this one is no exception. I think I would have liked it more if I read it during the winter time instead of in the middle of a heat wave.

I have really enjoyed Jenny Holiday's books in the past, so I was excited to try something new for her. Unfortunately, this one was just 'meh' to me. I liked all of the characters just fine and I liked the twist on the classic princess story, but I found that it just didn't grab me.

Really cute book. It’s perfect for the upcoming holiday season. If you’re a fan of the Hallmark type of love then this is for you.
I love a good royal romance and this one was great. The two main characters some how work even though they are very different. I love how they meet and then get to follow their story in both of their hometowns.

If you like cheesy Hallmark movies, you will enjoy this book (they actually mention Hallmark movies and moments). Leo takes care of his sister Gabby. Their parents died and Leo dropped out of college to take care of her. Princess Marie of Eldovia is in New York City to help her father’s watch business and giving a speech at the United Nations. Leo and Marie meet while she is trying to hail a cab that he is driving. Sparks fly. I enjoyed reading this Christmas book. It’s a little far fetched but cute story. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins (Avon) for the E-ARC. This is my own opinion.

CW: [parental death (Leo's parents died in a car accident and Marie's mom died from breast cancer) (hide spoiler)]

My three star rating means that I liked the book; it just didn't rock my socks off! Not a meh reaction. My main issue is that I'm uninterested in NYC touristy scenes, and most of the first 40% of the book features NYC touristy scenes. I became significantly more invested in the story once they packed up and traveled to Fake Genovia (I kid, I kid. Marie hails from Eldovia, a tiny watch-making country tucked between Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. As is the norm for fictional European countries ending in -via).

***

“Christmas is big business in Eldovia. We have an annual Cocoa Fest on Christmas Eve day. Restaurants and pubs participate, and so does the palace. We make big cauldrons of different kinds of cocoa and serve them outside on the grounds.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gabby demanded.

Marie laughed. “I am entirely in earnest. And there’s a Cocoa Ball in the evening—though that’s not for children.” She wasn’t sure why she added that qualifier. It wasn’t as if Gabby, whose eyes had grown comically wide, would be around to be told she couldn’t attend the ball.

“Oh my god, you are from a fake Hallmark country,” Leo deadpanned.

***

I would recommend A PRINCESS FOR CHRISTMAS if the following factors interest you:

- Hallmark/Netflix Christmas royalty movies, plus fucking and swears. This is a high compliment.

- Dutiful Royalty + Grumpy Commoner pairing (Oh no, he's so unsuitable and my asshole dad won't let me marry outside my station! Also my marriage to a duke's son has been arranged since birth!)

- Both Leo and Marie have parents that died near Christmas. This follows the grand tradition of Hallmark movies with tragic Christmas backstories. They better get married next Christmas, since clearly important life events can only happen in December.

- Eldovia is basically Christmas HQ, with Cocoa Balls and artisan snowglobes and gingerbread houses. Eldovia also has chocolates everywhere, and people are constantly eating them (and occasionally mistaking soap for chocolate). How do I apply for citizenship?

- A sad, asshole king who discovers he has a heart with the help of Christmas magic and his daughter Marie.

- The hero Leo is a single parent to his very adorable, precocious eleven-year-old sister. Gabby is my favorite character in the book.

- A more-than-passing discussion of the European refugee crisis and Eldovia's responsibility to help. This was surprising but welcome!

- Very silly, meta references to Hallmark movies and other things. I laughed at the celebrity name pun that's obviously a reference to Angelina Jolie.

- Sex in an abandoned cabin in the woods... what else can one ask for?

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

A fun Hallmark-style Christmas book (I'd give it 3.5 stars). A sweet story about a commoner and a royal, set against the backdrop of Christmas. But in true Jenny Holiday style it also has some not-so-sweet sexy times parts....so get ready for a Hallmark movie with dirty talk. Bottom line, it's a fun and enjoyable Christmas book!

Also, I'm a sucker for a good setting and this book made me want to book two December trips...one to NYC to do some ice skating at Rockefeller and one to someplace in the Alps for a magical European Christmas!

I absolutely loved this book. I was a little worried/curious about Jenny Holiday writing a Hallmark-style book - Jenny is usually too steamy for Hallmark! How was this going to work?

Well, it works perfectly! Jenny gives us the sweet, fun, fluffy Hallmark moments that are so perfect at the holidays with perfectly created and detailed characters and the Jenny Holiday steam we all know and love.

Marie and Leo are just perfect characters. They've both been through a lot and have so much to learn about each other and themselves. Jenny has crafted these two characters, and honestly all of the other characters as well, so perfectly that you just can't help to root for them and love them.

I definitely recommend this book - I think it will be one you read again every holiday season.

I devoured this book! Holiday’s premise is for Hallmark lovers but I honestly loved it more than the channel’s Christmas movies. It is cozy, steamy, and sweet. The perfect blend! Nothing felt too cheesy or forced like other fairytale-esque books.

Marie and Leo have heart and depth to them & there’s layers to both protagonist’s storylines; especially when it concerns Gabby— Leo’s sister. I read the entire novel in one sitting. I was that hooked! It was like drinking Christmas in a cup. And who doesn’t love that?

I love a good holiday romance in any format including books and Hallmark movies. Finding a super charming novel by an author I already love that is essentially a Hallmark movie but better ramps up my excitement for the holiday season even though it is still 90 degrees outside.Finding out it is the first book in a trilogy makes it Christmas in August.
A princess and a cabbie from the Bronx have no chance at a real future together but they can share Christmas at her castle with the younger sister he is raising and her curmudgeonly father, the king. I especially loved the first part of this book as they spend time together in NYC and Marie throws herself into embracing the city and Leo’s life from pastrami on rye sandwiches to shoveling snow. They were two very real seeming characters with affection for each other that grew on every page. I loved Marie’s consideration for Leo’s sister almost as much as I loved the attentive way Leo approached parenting a preteen.

After the fun epilogue I am already looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.