If you're given the choice of watching 3 Hallmark Christmas movies back to back or reading BSB's "All I Want For Christmas" novella anthology - pick the anthology. Don't get me wrong - I"ve lost more than a few Sunday afternoons watching a marathon of feel good seasonal movies. But if you want something that reflects your own idea of feel good seasonal joy and romance - BSB has delivered three sweet, funny and just cheesy enough to satisfy that need for a sugary sweet HEA complete with mistletoe and jingle bells that I think everyone needs this year.

Triple Dog Dare by Georgia Beers is a smart and snappy take on fake date trope when Sasha succumbs to sibling rivalry and agrees to bring her (fictional) girlfriend home for the holidays. Enter Kennedy - her next door neighbour who happens to be a drama teacher and, surpisingly gorgeous and single. This has all the fun you'd normally find in a fauxmance and the overlay of the rather sweet and poignant sub-plot around Sasha's family dealing with her father's death the year before gives this a nice balance. Ms Beers creates two particularly engaging characters and some memorable secondary characters in a novella - not an easy thing to do. There's a fantastic chemistry between the mains - and the romance moves fast but stays pretty PG. It's sweet and sassy - and I could see it on Hallmark or Lifetime quite easily.

Hustle and Bustle by Maggie Cummings is a bit of a slower burn romance than the other two novellas- but remember this is a Christmas romance, so it still moves at a good pace. This is a friends to lovers romance between police officer Toby and vendor Hannah at a New York Christmas Market. There's a strong sense of New York and Cummings builds the romance between the two starting as friends (who are attracted to one another) and building from there - with lots of pushing from Hannah's friend.

Christmas Miracle by Fiona Riley is pretty much what you would expect from Ms Riley - a smart and steamy story with some off the charts chemistry and lots of great banter. This is a bit of a whirlwind romance but there's enough development of characters that you can't help but be invested in their relationship. Courtney is planning her office Christmas party as a means to land a position as an event planner. When she walks into the bar she's booked for the party and starts up a ridiculously flirtatious conversation with a woman at the bar. Of course, the Mira is actually the bar owner and a bit of a grinch - but the insta-attract makes her start to reconsider her ambivalence around Christmas. There's a nice contrast with Courtney's absolute love of Christmas and Mira's humbug attitudes and you know damend well that a conveniently timed blizzard will give the two the chance to finally send some uninterrupted time together. There's a nice build of character and plot that makes this fun and flirty - and definitely not PG.

The three novellas are a great little treat to read over the holiday season - quick reads that give you all the things you want in a Christmas romance. Are they a bit cliche - sure. But have you never seen a Hallmark movie - they hit the mark and will make you smile as you take another sip of eggnog.

This was a nice, funny anthology of three holiday romances. I'm not sure how is it addresed correctly, but this was my first FF read in my life and I loved it! I didn't know any of the authors but for sure, I will look them up!

While I enjoyed all three to get me in the holiday mood, the best one for me was Triple Dog Dare by Georgia Beers. I loved their chemistry and slow paced story, and I loved Yorkie! It wasn't that emotional that I had a feeling at the beginning and I was relieved it was all fun and games. And the scene on the Christmas day- awwww, so cute!

Second story "Hustle and Bustle"- I was confused because of the name Toby, but I quickly found out it's about a girl cop and seller at the Christmas booth. I didn't feel the connection at first, but slowly I was cheering for them and hoping they will beat their shyness and make first steps.

Third story "A christmas miracle" was my least favourite off all three- girls were really flirty and confident in one another and I liked their positive attitude.

Those three romance stories will get you into the holiday mood and make you smile and happy all day.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute collection of three sapphic Christmas novellas, really enjoyed all all three. Triple Dog Dare was definitely my favourite, I am a sucker for fake dating and the interaction with Sasha's family were actually very amusing.

I triple dog dare you not to like these light holiday romances. Three novellas make up "All I Want for Christmas". All were able to have good characters and develop a full story in a limited amount of writing.

(5 Stars) for Triple Dog Dare by Georgia Beers. I love a fake romance trope. Sasha, real estate company owner from "16 Steps to Forever" lies to her family saying she has been involved with someone for six months. Now her sisters insist the new girlfriend come with her for Christmas. Sasha has just met her next door neighbor who teaches drama at the community college. But maybe they can come to an arrangement. Extra bonus stars for this story for cameos of Brooke and Macy.

(4 Stars) for Hustle and Bustle by Maggie Cummings. Hannah owes a skin care line and is selling from a booth at the Christmas Holliday Market in NYC. Toby Beckett is a NYC cop assigned duty at the market. There is a meet cute as a shop lifter Toby is arresting stumbles into Hannahs booth. I enjoyed the feel of Christmas in NYC.

(3 Stars) for "A Christmas Miracle by Fiona Riley. Mira owns a bar hot spot bar in Boston. She also happens to hate Christmas. Courtney loves Christmas and is handling the details for her company party which will happen at Miras bar. Courtney is hoping that if the event is successful she will secure the promotion she has been wanting.

Christmas romances should leave you happy and feeling love during the holiday season. I read all three with a smile on my face. I related more to the first two stories and wished Sasha got a full novel. The leads were realistic, all working jobs or owning small businesses. And Riley's book brings up lgbtq issues and race stereotyping. If you read "16 Steps to Forever" you won't want to miss this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

All I want for Christmas is the go-to book if your guilty pleasure is to watch Hallmark Christmas movies. More than that, all the three stories in the book are about lesbian romance, which is something Hallmark movies won’t give you...
Triple dog dare by Georgia Beers is witty, ironic and fun (my personal favourite), I honestly wish someone will make a movie out of it.
In Hustle & Bustle by Maggie Cummings, you’ll find all the corniness (a lot of it) and too-good-to-be-true romance you look for in Christmas movies, New York Christmas setting included.
Christmas Miracle by Fiona Riley spices things up with a story on an instant attraction...but remember: it’s a lesbian story so of course love and feelings are involved...
All the book is sprinkled with Christmas references that overall make it very festive. There was something I didn’t like, for instance how fast and predictably things were going in the second and third story, but it’s a good book. It’s the perfect reading if you want to “make the Yule-tide gay”.

All I Want for Christmas is a short and sweet holiday collection for any fan of WLW. It was the perfect cozy read for the sudden cold, snowy weather where I live. Definitely recommend it for anyone who needs a quick, uplifting read!

All I Want for Christmas
Three Novella collection written by Georgia Beers, Maggie Cummings and Fiona Riley

Overall, 4 Stars, because of the strength of Georgia Beer’s story.

5+ Stars for Georgia Beer’s Triple Dog Dare. Another excellent story by Beers. In lesser hands the common trope of going home for Christmas with a fake girlfriend would be nothing special, but this was wonderful. Add a slow burn romance and this story made it on my annual Christmas story re-reads list. Heck, I’m going to read it again before this year is up, for sure.
Sasha Wolfe is the owner of a very successful real estate company and is the single middle daughter in her family. Her recent widower mother, Maggie, her older sister, Melody and younger sister, Cat still live in the small town where they grew up. Tired of the three of them asking her when she was going to get a girlfriend, Sasha did the next best thing. She made one up aka “Jennifer”. For months she had been appeasing them by telling them about Jennifer. Only her skeptical sister Melody saw through Sasha and insisted Jennifer was fake. “Well, Melody said, if she is real then bring her for Christmas. I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!” Without thinking, Sasha agreed to bring Jennifer. Now she just had to find a girlfriend, named Jennifer. Sasha must’ve been good that year, because she recently met her neighbor, Kennedy Davis who agreed to play Jennifer. Kennedy, is an actress, teaches Drama at the community college, is active in LGBTQ organizations and is in a financial bind. So Sasha told as much family info and facts to Kennedy (aka Jennifer) on the long drive home. It was a slow burn romance for the couple and for the family. But how long can they keep up the subterfuge? Kudos for the excellent epilogue.

<Note: Sasha is also in Georgia Beer’s latest novel, 16 Steps to Forever which features her friends, Macy and Brooke who make a cameo in this story.>

3.5 Stars for Maggie Cummings’ Hustle and Bustle, the second story in this collection. The story begins in early November and Hannah Monroe is setting up her booth in the annual Christmas Park Holiday Market in New York City. The Market runs from November thru to Christmas. Hannah owns Gaia’s Glow, a natural skin care company. She doesn’t have a storefront so she sells online and at various retailers. So she hopes her booth will bring in new customers. NYC cop, Toby Beckett has been assigned the Holiday Market and it suits her as she enjoys walking this beat, amongst the shoppers, venders and helping to keep them safe. Their meet cute happens in the first days of the Market when a teen shoplifter Toby was bringing in for questioning, crashes into Hannah’s booth. Toby returns later to apologize to Hannah for any damages the teen may have caused. And so begins a sweet friendship to lovers romance. But how will they solve the problem that Hannah normally lives in Hudson, NY, hours away from NYC? I liked one year later epilogue.

3 Stars for Fiona Riley’s A Christmas Miracle, the final story in this collection. Mira Donahue owns the bar, The Mirage, which has been voted the best bar in Boston. One of the busiest times of year is the Christmas holidays, which brings in many private party bookings. Unfortunately for Mira, her events coordinator, Kelly is out on Maternity leave earlier than expected. Leaving Mira to coordinate the various Christmas parties along with managing the bar. Although, Kelly left Mira detailed notes and information for each client, Mira felt overwhelmed, add to the fact that Mira HATED Christmas she was not a happy camper.
Courtney Rivers on the other hand LOVES Christmas. She is an administrative assistant at her company and is thrilled to be assigned as this year’s Christmas Party coordinator. She’s hoping if it goes well, she would be hired to the Events Coordinator position that is currently open. As luck will have it, because of a cancellation she was able to book The Mirage. Mira and Courtney clash over Courtney’s party plans to impress her boss. Will Courtney be able to perform a miracle and change Mira’s attitude towards Christmas? Throw in “stranded in a snowstorm” troupe, anything can happen.
It’s frustrating that I can’t explain exactly why, but I felt this was the weakest of the three stories.

Because this is the season for love.

3 delightful mix of novellas to warm hearts for the season. Readers can expect warm fuzzy feelings as a result of the sweet stories. I especially enjoyed the fake romance between Kennedy and Sasha. What started out as Sasha’s ploy to outwit and put one over her elder sister developed into a endearing affair. The pair was a fit right from the get go and their chemistry so powerful it was tangible.

I just reviewed All I Want for Christmas by Georgia Beers, Maggie Cummings, Fiona Riley. #NetGalley

‘All I Want for Christmas’ was the perfect Christmas themed anthology to bring me into the holiday spirit. It has three novellas written by some of BSB’s most popular authors right now.
‘Triple Dog Dare’ by Georgia Beers, 4.5 Stars
This is a slow burn and fake dating romance with Sasha, who is dared by her older sister to bring her girlfriend home for the holidays. There’s one small problem, she doesn’t have a girlfriend. She hires her neighbor, Kennedy, to be her girlfriend for the weekend with her family.
This brought out all the sap and feelings I want with my holiday stories. Sasha and Kennedy are practically strangers when this starts but their connection and chemistry is noticeable from the beginning.
It’s told in first person POV and kind of goes between present and past tense, which is explained in the epilogue. I really liked how this was set up and that there aren’t “I love you’s” issued after three days together. The epilogue really worked here and left me feeling happy for these two.
‘Hustle and Bustle’ by Maggie Cummings, 3 Stars
This one was a cute and steamy friends to lovers romance set in New York City. Hannah is the owner of a small business that has a pop-up shop in Central Park’s holiday market. Toby is a police officer who volunteers to work the market for the holiday season.
This had an adorable meet-cute and only got cuter from there. Toby and Hannah are both very sweet but are a bit cautious of starting a romance knowing Hannah will be heading home, in Hudson, after the holidays are over. They start hanging out as friends, with some assistance from Hannah’s nosy best friend and co-owner, Priya.
The reason it’s rated a 3 is because I think Cummings got a little heavy with police talk and I didn’t think a holiday novella was really the space for it. I also thought the “I love you’s” came a little too early for me to really believe it. Though the epilogue was a nice touch and left me feeling better.
‘A Christmas Miracle’ by Fiona Riley, 4 Stars
Mira is the owner of a popular bar and Courtney is in charge of planning her company’s Christmas party at said bar. I wouldn’t consider this a work place romance as they don’t actually work for the same company, though their jobs is how they meet.
I thought this was one was very sexy and sweet. It starts off a little slow but really takes off once Mira and Courtney meet. I really enjoyed how fun and flirty this one was. It really doesn’t go into feelings or emotional depth to believe in a happy ever after so it may feel more like a happy for now to some. But I was left smiling and really believed this was only the beginning to their happily ever after.
I would recommend this for anyone wanting a few fun holiday novellas.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in an exchange for an honest review.

This is a feel good trilogy of novellas. The first one by Georgia Beers, features Sasha who has been telling her family about her fake girlfriend, Jennifer. Her sister goads her into bringing this girlfriend with her for Christmas. Sasha enlists the help of her neighbor, Kennedy, whom she has just met. She needs a girlfriend and her neighbor needs the money Sasha is giving her for playing the part. It sounds like the perfect plan, but will her family believe it?
The next one is by Maggie Cummings. Hannah has a pop up business in New York City. She keeps having run ins with NYC's finest, Toby. Toby wants to spend more time with Hannah and invites her to friendly gatherings. That is until they both realize that these get togethers are more like dates. Will these dates continue after the pop up business has closed?
The last one is by Fiona Riley. Mira owns one of the hottest bars and is beginning to host many company holiday parties. What no one knows is she hates Christmas. Mainly due to the fact that her birthday is Christmas and she has had to deal with Christmas overtaking her birthday as long as she can remember. Courtney has taken the reins for planning her company's parties and she loves Christmas. She wants Mira's bar to be the place for the party. She wants Mira to make the whole bar a winter wonderland for the party and Mira is reluctant to go all out. Will Courtney be able to show her that she should give Christmas one more chance?
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This a perfect collection of Christmas stories to take with you to your in-laws or families' houses for the holidays. The stories are all sweet and sexy and full of good-natured Christmas charm. Each story had its own feeling but the set of three felt coherent. The perfect Christmas collection for your stocking!

This was a nice, fun filled trifecta of holiday romances. While I enjoyed all three to get me in the holiday mood, the clear standout was Triple Dog Dare by Georgia Beers. The fake dating story just set the standard for the novellas. The chemistry in this slow burn romance between Sasha and Kennedy (aka Jennifer), just sizzled. Add to the dynamic the laugh out loud interactions with Sasha’s family and this novella was the clear favorite.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Georgia Beers knows how to make me chuckle and there are plenty of them in Triple Dog Dare. I think the opening scene is hilarious and who has not been there?! Total popcorn moment. Beers provides plenty of popcorn moments. Dare is a sweet slow burn romance that happens around family so it is a tame one (laugh). Beers does know how to do more with a grazing of the hand or a touch on the thigh than most women I know. I won’t dare you to read this romance, I don’t need to because who doesn’t love puppies, family, and rollerskating? I had you until the roller skating didn’t I? (laugh) Read it!

New York City at Christmas is a perfect time to fall in love and that was something I thought before I read Maggie Cummings’ Hustle & Bustle. Cummings has a multicultural and diverse cast to celebrate the holiday with. Two people who do not want to have a holiday romance, but cannot seem to stay away from each other. Cummings deals head on with preconceived notions and prejudices regarding police work in a non-preaching way while also sharing the difficulties of living as a non-white in America. Mind you this is very much a romance. I love it. The heat of first lust combined with the Christmas holiday makes Hustle & Bustle a story you will be re-reading every year.

My favorite scene in the whole book is in this story and it involves mistletoe. A girl walks into a bar and wham chemistry flairs. Mira and Courtney are great together. Courtney brings out the best in Mira. Their connection and conversation is fabulous. Courtney’s sense of adventure and fun is the perfect way to end this anthology. Riley gives us a good old-fashioned holiday romance to celebrate Christmas with.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I was in need of some Christmas reading, but was feeling saturated with the traditional m/f romances.
This hit the spot.

Familiar with Georgia Beers' writing, I knew it would be a winner, and am delighted to have discovered two more writers of lesbian fiction.

Festive, cosy, romantic, relatable !

This is a heartwarming collection of romance stories that will get you into the holiday mood and make you smile. In our current situation of avoiding gatherings, it is also a welcome escape to read about a time before COVID during the holiday season.

Description: All I Want for Christmas is a collection of three short novellas looking at new love that happens during the Christmas season.

Triple Dog Dare by Georgia Beers features Sasha who hires a neighbor, Kennedy, to be her fake girlfriend for the holidays to appease her family’s pestering. She had no idea she might fall for Kennedy.

Hustle & Bustle by Maggie Cummings is about Hannah, a small-business owner in New York City for the holiday season selling her skin care line at a pop-up holiday market. Police officer, Toby Beckett is assigned to the holiday market and keeps bumping into Hannah.

A Christmas Miracle by Fiona Riley is set at the bar Mirage, a hot bar in Boston. The bar owner, Mira is working hard to manage all the Mirage’s holiday parties despite hating the Christmas season. She especially hates her birthday being on Christmas Day. Courtney is planning her company party at the Mirage and is full of Christmas spirit. She wants the party to go without a hitch to impress her bosses and land a promotion she applied for. Will Courtney’s Christmas spirit make Mira a true Christmas believer?

What I liked:
•These novellas were just what I needed to get in the mood for the holiday season. It makes me want to put up the Christmas tree, hang some garland, and kiss a cute girl under the mistletoe.
•I loved that these stories focused on women who had successful careers mainly as small business owners.
•I loved the different settings of these stories – New York City, Boston, and a small suburban town. I felt like all three authors made these places come alive. I loved the roller-skating rink in Triple Dog Dare, the Rockefeller Tree in Hustle & Bustle and the Mirage in A Christmas Miracle.
•For being novellas, I was surprised by the supporting characters and their development. While not perfect, I got a real good sense of these character such as Melody and Priya.
•The length of these stories was perfect for the amount of plot they had.

What I didn’t like:
•It would have been nice to have a little bit more conflict or uncertainty on whether the characters would get together. In all three stories, it starts out as a matter of time before they are together.
•This criticism is more aimed at the publisher/editor. These three novellas were incredibly heart-warming but they lacked any diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health and in sexuality. These three stories feature white middle-class cisgender lesbians who fall in love with other white cisgender middle-class lesbians. I really wish that one of these stories could have been written by a BIPOC, featured BIPOC characters, or featured more diverse sexualities such as bisexuality, aromantic or asexuality, or featured more diverse genders such as trans or non-binary. The queer community is diverse, and I feel that it is our responsibility to represent that diversity as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something to get them in the holiday mood. These are like Hallmark movies in novel form.

ARC provided to me by Bold Strokes Books, via Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.

I don't normally like to read short stories - they aren't long enough to give me time to get into the story or the characters - but I wanted to read this one for several reasons. One is that Georgia Beers is one of the authors, the other is that I was interested in reading some Christmas-themed stories.

This is a cute, heartwarming book, perfect for the Christmas theme. No drama, no heartbreak. Just three short romance tales to read in front of the fire with a hot cup of cocoa.

This was such a fun collection of Christmas romance novellas. I chose it because I love Christmas romance, and I’m struggling with concentration at the moment, so novellas are really helpful.

I absolutely loved the first story. It was funny, and charming, and full of sweetness. The characters are all well described, and it seemed very real to me. A lot of story crammed into a novella, and the epilogue was just perfect.

The second story was also really great. I thought New York and the Christmas market came across really well. The characters were great too. I loved Toby especially.

The third story took me a little while to get into, the office life description just lost my interest. Once I got past that though, it felt like the story got properly started. The snow storm was great fun. A good story, but not as much to my taste as the other two.

Overall, this was a great collection. Plenty of romance, plenty of Christmas atmosphere, plenty of fun.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

I needed to bring some holiday cheer, or actually just general cheer into my world. These three short stories by some of my favourite authors hits just the spot.

My favourite story is actually the first one, for me it would have been best if the first and last story would have been swapped. Now it goes from a really good and funny story to an ok one, to a mediocre one in my opinion. In Triple Dog Dare Georgia Beers introduces us to Sasha. Sasha has been lying to her family about dating someone for months. When she hires her actress neighbour to go home with her for Christmas Sasha's sisters are ready to find out what is going on.
Story 2: Maggie Cummings' Hustle & Bustle. Hannah has set up her Christmas pop-up shop for her skincare company. She meets an NYPD officer on the first day. Pushed by her business partner Hannah sets out on friendly dates, only to find out there might be more.
Story 3: A Christmas Miracle by Fiona Riley. Mira owns the hottest place in town to throw parties, when a new customer wants to throw her company's Christmas party at Mira's bar she is immediately enchanted.

The banter and the characters in Triple Dog Dare by Georgia Beers are the best ones for me. I feel like I could have read an entire book about these two. The secondary characters in that one were also a great addition to the story. It might be because I really enjoyed the first story I had high hopes (and expectations) for the next two, they didn't pan out for me the way I'd hoped. Hustle & Bustle is still ok, some real worries and emotions there. But A Christmas Miracle, it is cliched and more of a fling story than a love story, at least in my opinion and compared to the other two stories. All 3 of the stories are pretty cliched, but in the first 2, it didn't bother me. All 3 authors know how to write a story and develop characters, even in these short stories it shows. I'd recommend reading the stories in backward order. It's lovely light and joyful reading, just what is needed for a little (holiday) cheer. It's a solid 3.5 stars (4 rounded up because of Georgia Beers)

I like that this collection of wlw Christmas novellas exist. However, I think the first novella is the best out of this collection. The other two just don’t match the level of charm or romance.

Three romance novella that resolved around Christmas time.


Triple Dog Dare/ is about Sasha who been getting tire of her family interfering in her love life decides to fake having a girlfriend but when her sister dares her to bring her home she has to find a girlfriend fast and when she meets cute neighbor Kennedy she thinks she can pull it off what she didn’t think is even though their faking it feels right somehow.

Hustle and Bustle/ is about Hannah who decides to take advantage of the holidays to boost her business what she didn’t expect was to fall into officer Toby arms as she and her best friend and business partner Priya work their booth. Toby barely notices it’s the holidays but all she want is protect and serves but with the holidays keep putting her in Hannah path she might get into the holiday spirit.

A Christmas Miracle/ Bar owner Mira hates Christmas but her spot Mirage is the hottest place to be. When she has to work with Courtney to throw party for her company they clash and sparks fly but not in a good way at first but when they get stranded all they have is time to get to know each other.

I enjoy all three novella this could easily be a movie on Lifetime or Hallmark three stories in one but my favorite is Triple Dog Dare because I love fake romance that can turn into a real romance.


I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.