This was a fun collection of short holiday rom-com’s. I kept thinking as I was reading, that this would be the perfect book during the craziness of the holiday season when there’s not always as much time for a longer book. I loved how they were all so short and sweet, basically like little hallmark movies all on their own. A perfect read to get into the holiday spirit :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Kat Bastion for the ARC in exchange for my review. I will be sharing my review on my Instagram blog (Instagram.com/books_by_the_bottle) soon!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of Half-Baked Holidays in exchange for an honest review.

I love novellas and when I saw that Half-Baked Holidays was a collection of Holiday theme romance short stories I knew I had to request on NetGalley. I thought each story was short and sweet. I loved that they were stand-alones and featured a different couple in a different setting. Each story was unique and felt original.

Unfortunately, I was not the biggest fan of this writing style. The sentences were short and felt very choppy. I didn't feel connected to the writing and therefore wasn't able to get fully invested in the characters and their stories. There seemed to be any emphasis on the environment and setting. I found the descriptions took up most of the short story and therefore left what little room was remaining to have well developed characters and relationships.

Although the stories were cute, I found it hard to get invested in the relationships because they went from zero to one hundred. I understand that in short stories and novellas there needs to be a relatively quick pace when it comes to the development of the relationship. I just wish it was a build up to when the couple decided to get to together as in date and not necessarily saying that they were going to spend the rest of their lives together at the end of eight chapters. This is mostly a personal preference in terms of pacing and realistic relationship development but some might find this exciting and gravitate towards it.

If you're looking for something short and fun to read for the holidays this may be a good pick for you.

These stories were absolutely ridiculous, love simple doesn’t doesn’t happy that quickly. That said, these were such fun little stories! These all gave me the warm and fuzzies as I read them; all I wanted to do was snuggle with hot cocoa and keep reading.

So NOT a Silent Night is a cute story that gives that warm and fuzzy Christmas feeling. I would’ve liked to have seen this one as a much longer story so that I could have built up and had more time to savor the characters and relationships.

Enticing wrapper number nine really tugs at your heartstrings. I laughed, I cried, it was better than …well it was a nice holiday read. Works as a short.

Give me a Christmas break was a cute story. I wasn’t as invested in this one. I didn’t get the holiday feels. The ending was really one of two options that you imagined while reading.

Half baked holiday was ok.

Billionaire Bash New Years took a very long time for anything to happen. I would say I’m well introduced to the setting! The end was very cute. It certainly redeemed the short.

A collection of novellas sure to put you in the Christmas spirit: from a reconnection with a childhood sweetheart, to a wild and crazy costume sure to catch his notice, to a holiday vacation with the family you'd rather avoid, and more. This book has a little bit of everything.
I received an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Oh my goodness, so fun!! Five short romantic comedies themed around the holidays; five beautiful whirlwinds that will warm your heart in the chilly seasons. I absolutely loved the style of this book and can't wait to read more by Kat Bastion. Her writing style also so perfectly captures the trains of thought of her protagonists. Lighthearted and exactly what I was looking for.

Many thanks to Kat Bastion and NetGalley for this ARC! This was the first work I've read by Kat and I cannot wait for more.

I enjoyed this book. Inside you get five fun holiday stories. Cuteness, holiday charm, humor, emotion and romance make an effervescent combination that delivers some very delightful feels. Yes, the pacing is fast, yes, everything is very instant and yes, these stories are quite short, so if those things don't appeal to you, this book will not do it for you. Myself, I enjoy a good of instalove when time is short, I require a mood boost, I just want something lighter to clean my palate or I desperately need a quick burst of intense romance to satisfy my addiction and this book fits those parameters to a T.

3.5 Cute Feels All-Around Stars
* * * 1/2
The team of Kat Bastion put together a cute grouping of tales to bring the readers into the holiday season. Each story has that Insta-Connection and then the characters were off to the races. It works basically due to the idea of a quick read.

A unique collection of Christmas stories. They are all so different, but perfect little holiday reads. It's an interesting concept of a single author compiling short stories - usually when I read a book like this, it's a group of authors.

Fun, romantic, short stories for the holiday.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Christmas is a time for relaxing and remembering what the spirit of season is all about. Whether you are traveling, just settling down to bed, staying in the house or having your loved ones visit you to your place, small chunks of time are perfect for reading short stories.

Here’s a collection of cute and heartwarming Christmas novellas with great storytelling written by #katbastion. It’s a hidden gem in #Netgalley I’ve found which I am thrilled to devoured this book overnight.

These short stories are feel good romance. It’s fast-paced and lots of insta-love romance trope. I could not hardly put this down. It’s a delightful book to me, where I can picture these leading men and women as I escape between the pages of these Hallmark-ish movie feels in a book form.

Thank you so much @netgalley and #kastbastion for this opportunity to enjoy a good read ARC in exchange of an unbiased feedback. I am so grateful for the auto-approval privilege as well.

I love novellas just as much as I love full length novels, because sometimes you’re just in the mood for quick pick me up and Kat Bastion provides exactly that with these heartening holiday stories.

There are five charming, independent tales, each one with its own romance. Because of their short length nature, the romance is on the insta-love side and because I love Kat’s wonderful writing, I wish I’d gotten the full length version of each. Yet they’re all full of fun and holiday cheer providing warm fuzzy feelings. Perfect to get into the holiday spirit.

Half-baked holidays is a collection of novella by author Kat Bastion. They are light and heartwarming short standalone rom-com stories with happy endings.

Half-Baked Holidays was a perfect book filled with short, festive romance themed stories. Perfect Holiday Book! 5 stars!

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This is a great quick Christmas romance anthology. Each story in this book is entertaining and steamy. It is such an enjoyable read. I definitely highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. This ebook will be in stores on November 7, 2021 for $5.99 (USD).

Half Baked Holidays was a cute short read. I love how fast paced it was. I had never read a collection of short stories before so this was a nice change especially with how quickly it was to get through these vs. a novel. I think my favorite short story would have to be the college bake off one.

That cover is also super adorable too!

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review. This was a three star rating since I wasn't able to get into all of the stories, but most were still good. A three star rating still means that the book was good.

This review will be up on my blog within a week or so.

This was a great compilation of holiday themed stories. I really enjoyed diving into one before bed or at a drs. appt. perfect for when you don’t have a lot of time to read or really get invested in a story. Perfect to pick for a book blurb or to share with your girlfriends.

I loved this collection of short, festive reads. All stand alone stories set around Christmas.
Looking forward to more from this author!

The stories were cute and it was interesting to see so many character backgrounds and relationship dynamics explored. However, I did find myself wishing that each story was a bit more developed than it actually was. I know with anthologies like this that can sometimes be the case… but I felt like these were almost glimpses instead of short stories. There wasn’t enough time for me to be truly invested in the characters so my interest was driven more by curiosity than anything else. There were stories where the writing was so well-crafted that I craved to have an entire story told that way and others where all of the sentences were super short/not expressing complete thoughts. Overall, a good pick if you’re wanting to read snippets rather than commit to a full novel. It’s a quick read for sure.

Rating: 3.5 stars

This is a collection of holiday stories all in one book. They are cute, albeit a little fast moving, holiday stories of love. Basically, short and sweet Hallmark movies but in writing. Great if you’re looking for a quick, fast paced romance to get you in the holiday spirit.

Thank you Kat Bastion for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book! If you are looking for cute and heart warming Christmas romances then this book is perfect for you! It is a short compilation of romantic comedies that would for sure keep you up at night.
This book is also great if you want to read something short and easy, especially if you are not up to reading a whole book about one romance. The positive about this book is that you get more than one romance story. Now isn't that a bonus!

I really liked the characters. The author's use of short sentences and chapters made it easier to read through the story, and let me tell you, reading Billionaire Bash New year's crash made me get a hot chocolate and snuggle up against a fluffy blanket.

A quirky set of five unique and unconnected holiday stories. Each one has a fun story leading to romance, almost an instalove type. My favorite is So Not a Silent Night, the crazy little hellions, the old high school crush and hysterical shenanigans. The others involve crashing a holiday party, baking in a historical home, Hawaiian Christmas and volunteers for a toy drive. It was a joy to read such different stories and be taken away somewhere exciting. I was given an opportunity to review and provided my review voluntarily.