Half-baked Holidays: A Romantic Comedy Holiday Collection
I received an advance reader copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of 5 short stories all with a holiday backdrop that each feature a different couple (the stories are not at all connected.) Due to the nature of the short story romance, all of these are very heavy on the insta-love, very light on the relationship development. So if that's not your jam, you probably wont love this.

I had differing levels of enjoyment with these. The first and last were the weakest for me, while the middle 3 were more engaging and I thought had a lot of potential if given more time to breathe. I did find the writing to be too choppy, and the typos were a bit distracting.

Overall, this was really cute and sweet. It was too short and fast for me to really get into, but I thought there was a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing what the author writes in the future!

Great snack size holiday stories. Perfect for getting into the holiday spirit at the busiest time of year.Full of cute moments and romance, if you like holiday TV movies you’ll love this collection.

If you ever wished your holiday movie or book main characters could just cut to the chase and say "Hey, you're pretty cute in that Santa hat, let's smooch!", this is the collection of short stories for you!

With a variety of merry holiday settings, old flames, new friends, and perfect strangers all find their happy ever after. I liked that the stories alternated between male and female perspective. There are some really cute stories here; but there's not a lot of comedy. Still, it's a fun read for December.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.

These were a delightful series of stories, based around Christmas. Enjoyable characters and amusing and absorbing story lines.. I wouldn't mind some full length stories with some of the characters. Great read.

I loved the 3rd abd last story the most. All the novellas have love at first sight concept which in some story worked other not so much.
All the stories are well written with gallons of holiday cheer and celebration.

No cheating and epilogues where amazing especially the 4th story’s.

Holiday romance wrapped up in short story form is the perfect way to get ready for the holidays. A nod to Hallmark movies in each of these love stories. I loved each little rom-com with old love and new love. And a bit steamy too! Quick reads to come back to when you need a little holiday spirit!

We open with "So NOT A Silent Night," with former high school crushes causing family chaos. Amanda was hesitant to visit her hometown after years of estrangement, and in this novella, she visits two: a friend's home with four young kids where Trey is the fun uncle of the household, and then her mother's chaotic household with multiple younger siblings from subsequent marriages and a menagerie of pets. She had run, thinking there was no place for her in town, and that Trey had his own future without her in it. Surprise! Both have a need for and joy in a hectic and full household, and a continued attraction with each other.

"Enticing Wrapper Number 9" follows Hope, looking to romance a firefighter working as a volunteer holiday wrapper. Miguel is grumpy due to breaking his arm and putting further training on hold, so he's trying to avoid her as much as she's trying to catch his attention. Of course, we want them to get together, and there's nothing but his own bad mood preventing the hookup and potential for a relationship.

In "Give Me A Break," a businesswoman ditches her stressful family while they're all at a Hawaii resort for a yoga instructor. Brooke is tense and uptight at the start, while Koa has her pegged from the start as Little Miss Attitude. As he puts it, "Can't escape what you bring with you." He's the calm to her frustration and emotional turmoil; he knows what he wants out of life, but she had suppressed her dreams to make her family happy, and now is cracking. It's a whirlwind fast relationship, with Brooke taking a leap of faith she was more than ready to make.

The title story includes a duo creating a baking contest; anyone loving baking shows will love this one. It's easily my favorite of the bunch, with Anna sneaking into a Queen Anne home intending on using the massive kitchen to bake cookies and treats to bring to a care home. Jonathan happened to see her and snuck in to see what she was up to and helped her with her task. Both had their own plans and hopes for the future, and wind up working together and learning about each other as they did so. It's a connection that is a great foundation, and the promise for a future together feels the most realistic to me.

"Billionaire Bash New Year’s Crash" stars a law student crashing a party. She's understandably worried about her future in law if the "borrowed" dress and party-crashing are taken as theft and trespassing; Dali's hard-won grades would be worthless if she's barred from practicing law. Logan is grieving and only threw the party as a way to appease friends, so he doesn't care about Dali's transgressions and is drawn to her quiet dignity.

These are quick and fun reads, a dash of fluffy cheer that are as light as a sugar cookie. Structurally, they seem like fleshed-out outlines, so we're not really seeing deep motivations or strong attachments other than initial attraction in most of these stories. Also, they're interracial romances, and race really doesn't come up as a potential barrier. If you're looking for deep, introspective kind of romances, this isn't the book for you. This is meant to be fluffy and a diversion on a chilly fall day as you prepare for holidays, and it hits that mark beautifully.

A fun collection of holiday stories.

I enjoyed these a lot and appreciate what they are - a great way to get into the holidays with a collection of short stories.

This book is perfect for Christmas time. There are multiple stories to get you wrapped up in and are easy reads. Each story gives you the warm fizzes. Loved Half-Baked Holidays.! perfect for anyone who wanted to get into reading.

Heartwarming collection of short Christmas romance stories. This book consists of four stories--So Not A Silent Night, which is based on two high school crushes, Enticing Wrapper Number 9 about a girl trying to fall in love with a firefighter, Give Me a Christmas Break is about a Wharton MBAer falling in love with a Hawaiian dude, Half Baked Holidays is about two college students entering into a baking contest and the fifth and last one, Billionaire's Bash New Year Crash, when a law student falls in love with a billionaire during the New Year party.

What I like about this book the romances are all multicultural and the author has written beautifully, capturing the moments of Christmas, giving the reader a Christmas feeling. My favorite short story was So Not A Silent Night as there were some funny parts in the book that made me laugh out loud and the writing was really great. I don't think I have the least favorite story but I think Half Baked Holidays is my least favorite. Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading this book that I couldn't wait to finish the book and just write the review on how much I really enjoyed reading this book!

Overall, for ones who like to read a good Christmas romance filled with short stories and multicultural interest, then this book is one for you!

Thank you Netgalley and Kat Bastion for providing me the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

This was a fun holiday-themed anthology with short sweet stories of true love. It was a very quick read, but even so it was satisfying. I will say that there were several I would love to see expanded into fuller length stories so we can get more of the back-story.

Overall, a great option if you're looking for something to jump-start your holiday fun.

This was a holiday collection of short Christmas love stories. Each story had a lovely beginning, middle and end to them. My only complaint was they were not memorable. And I love Christmas stories, I’m a sucker for Christmas stories but these didn’t reel me in. Though if you love Christmas romance you may love these stories.

I received the ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

These are five multicultural romantic holiday comedies.

1. Family chaos erupts as former high school crushes toss mischief into their first Christmas in… So NOT a Silent Night

2. A sweet volunteer bedecks herself in Christmas trimmings to lure a dreamy firefighter in… Enticing Wrapper Number 9

3. A Wharton MBAer ditches her trying family for a spontaneous Hawaiian yoga instructor in… Give Me a Christmas Break

4. Two daring college students engage in breaking and entering—a personal baking contest—in… Half-baked Holiday

5. When besties con their way into the ultimate party, a law student finds herself caught in…Billionaire Bash New Year’s Crash

So NOT a Silent Night- I liked this one a lot. I loved that they were exes. One of my favorite tropes. I didn't 100% get why they were hanging out. It kind of starts in the middle story. I thought they had a lot of chemistry.

Enticing Wrapper Number 9- I loved this one. I teared up. It made me laugh. It was so cute. I loved this couple so much. I would have loved this as a full book.

Give Me a Christmas Break- This one was a little odd but I liked it. It felt very rushed. Some of the things they said to each other were a little much for having just met.

Half-baked Holiday- This one was so boring and just plain weird. They had no chemistry to me. Really didn't like it.

Billionaire Bash New Year’s Crash- No chemistry here either. There was a ton of focus put on her looks and that's about it. Also didn't like it.

Overall I wish the first 2 were whole books. I didn't love the choppy way she's writes but I could get over it if I liked the story enough. I didn't feel like they were really comedies either as the second one was the only one that made me laugh. The stories felt like they went from 0 to 60.

5 super cute romantic holiday stories all wrapped up in one special book!

🎄🎄🎄🎄/5

Thank you to NetGalley for accepting me to read this newly released book!

If your a fan of hallmark movies like I am you will love this collection of short holiday stories! They all have their own unique spin on them and they all made me smile! They will definitely get you in the mood for the holiday season!

Cute, quick stories that warm the heart. Great for any time of year but especially the holidays. It has just enough character detail to make it interesting without weighing it down. The epilogues are a perfect bow on the top of this holiday present!

I thought these were the perfect short stories to read on a cold morning! They get you in the holiday spirit

This one was a bit hard for me to review. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I’m not your traditional romance reader. Standard romances just aren’t my thing, but I’m a completer sucker for holiday themed rom-coms. As for short stories, well short stories tend to work better for certain genres than others. But being that I do love holiday theme romances, I was more than happy to give Kat Bastion’s Half-Baked Holidays collection a go. Well I can safely say that, at least for me, the short story is not my preferred format for these types of tales. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed each of the 5 tales. My problem is that I wanted more. Being short stories, they were just snapshots in these characters lives/romance, and while each story included an epilogue (one of more than one) to let us know how things turned out, I was left wanting to know more of the earlier parts, to get to know the characters backstories. So while not totally what I was looking for, I did enjoy the stories, and they were a fun quick distraction for me as I wait for the weekend to arrive and for the latest Hallmark holiday films to premiere. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an eARC of Half-Baked Holidays.

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Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

If you are looking for a quick, fun romance read to get you into the holiday spirit, then consider picking this book up!

This is the first time I have read a book with a collection of romance Novellas. I whipped through it in less that 2 hours and found myself smiling the whole time. (And wanting some holiday baked goods).

I also loved that the story included a little touch of New Years to round out the holiday season feeling. Definitely a fun, light read for the holidays

This was a cute and festive holiday collection. The novellas are quick and quirky. These will definitely get you moving to the Holiday spirit. Each story features multi-cultures. These are sweet romance, insta-love, no-conflict, light-hearted stories. The stories are mostly Christmas, but one of them is about a New Years Eve party.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book.

The concept of having five different Holiday stories sounded super cute to me. I stopped reading at 25% after the first story because I knew the book wasn’t for me. I could not connect to the characters in such a short amount of time. The first story also tried to introduce over eleven siblings by name, which I felt was extremely unnecessary in a story that’s already so brief. The sentences were also extremely short and choppy, so I felt like nothing flowed.

In theory, I’m always down for a cute and quirky holiday novella, but I just feel like there were too many different stories in a short book.