Received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This was a fun time. Maybe a little closer to a 4.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because Bee got to hook up with the boy band member of her dreams...living the life I tell ya. I love that this was spice meets Hallmark. As someone who spends most of their October-December watching Hallmark Christmas movies, this one got me right in the feels and made me wonder about what goes on when the cameras aren't rolling. Add in some fun secrecy and some hot spice and you have a rollicking good time.

I think I appreciated these two characters and what they were going through, but I was a little disappointed they chose to keep it quite. I understand why they did it (with Nolan needing to reform his image), but it still felt a little shameful for Bee. At the same time, she knows what's at stake if there's even a whisper of her not being this fresh-faced ingenue.

The love scenes were nice and spicy and we got some nice resolution for all the characters involved. I liked this hybrid Murphy/Simone book.

i loved thiss and a romcom from a favorite author of mine teaming up with a new author to me.. this worked!!
this is a story about a adult film star with a onlyfans vibe (i actually dont know what that looks like but i feel thats what they are describing)lands a normal film role where she is the MC of sweetness, virginity and kissing is naughty and she is trying to keep her two film lives seperate. the male role is also book boyfriend goals !!!
this was a perfect little christmas book for me!!!

This is one Christmas romance that is unlike any other. The premise alone is hysterical – a female adult film star is accidentally cast in a cheesy Christmas movie. As Bee tries to keep her identity under wraps, she falls hard for reformed boyband member, Nolan.

The kinky things these two get into while working on the film made me blush. Add in a film crew that is half regular industry and half secretly adult film industry and you have a book that is absolutely hysterical.

Do NOT read this one if you are faint of heart. It’s definitely not a romance for your grandma…or maybe it is for the right grandmom. 😉

A fun adventure take on a hallmark Christmas story with a side of steam! This one was enjoyable and sex positive if you like you’re hallmark movies with more spice than you get on TV!

I knew if Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy were writing a book, I instantly needed it. The spicy and plot were some of the best! I’m already planning a reread this holiday season!

Thank Harper Collins for providing me with ARC to read and review.
This is not your everyday holiday book, or romcom by any stretch.  It starts off as if it might be.  It's a story about two people who are trying to take their careers in new directions.  Nolan Shaw was in a boy band in his youth but his wild lifestyle and shady manager halted his career.  He's hired a publicist and has been given an opportunity to star in a Christmas Holiday story on Hopeflix.  Bee Hobbes is a porn star and run her own ClosedDoor account which has been successful.  She is a plus sized actress and didn't expect to ever act in mainstream movies until she got cast in the story.
I was expecting a holiday romcom, but this is not that.  This is a very steamy book and is the steamiest book that I have read in a very long time.  This is definitely a very open door book, with multiple points of view.  The story itself was a sweet story about many marginalized groups.  My only wish for this book was that it was heated as it was.  I would recommend this book for those that like spicy reads.

When I first started this book, I was absolutely not in the mood. A cheesy Christmas romance story featuring a Hallmark-esque film where the actors are a porn star and an ex-boy band member? So I took a break. And when I returned, I was so glad that I did. Despite being over 400 pages long, this romance was a breeze, and kept me turning pages well into the night. In fact, once I hit the final third of this book, I found myself staying up until 3am to finish it.
This book gave me a lot of feelings. A fat positive romance, set in Vermont (the state I've lived in for the last five years), featuring a porn star and is therefore sex-positive, with both main and side queer characters. Now mix that slurry into the set of a Hallmark film and you have a delightful playground for interesting scenes and character development. The authors do a fantastic job of highlighting how even actors can have messy lives. I loved how many facets there were to this story, and what a great job of balancing all of it the authors did, so that it never felt extraneous or overwhelming. Each challenge was meaningful to their story arc and enhanced their romantic relationship with one another over time.
Even though I've finished the story, and have even given myself days to let the story percolate, I still find myself thinking about it. Not that there are mysteries left unsolved, but more so that I enjoyed spending time with the characters and hope they are doing well in their Happily Ever After.
P.S. This story was very explicit, in case you didn't gather that from the porn star actress. If you're not interested in full detail sex scenes, this is not the book for you - despite the cozy and innocent looking cover.

Dear Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone,

What a delightful surprise this book was! The blurb gives a really good overview of the story – it really is a case of “says what you get on the tin”. I’ve come to look askance at most books labelled “rom-com” – too often they’re filled with very heavy topics and aren’t all that funny (at least to me). I tend to go in thinking of a book as a straight up contemporary and if I get a laugh out of it, I call it good. It helps to manage my expectations.

A Merry Little Meet Cute does fall squarely into the “rom-com” genre however (bearing in mind that humour is subjective not universal). There is some slut-shaming, some fatphobia and misogyny and Nolan’s mother has bipolar disorder so there is also mental health representation. But they’re handled with a fairly light touch. I found the mental health representation very positive:

It was the cruelest thing about bipolar disorder, I thought; there was never one thing that worked forever. No one med, no one dose, no one routine. My mom said it was like walking on a rope bridge, where every step was slightly different from the last and sometimes you had to stop and just hold on until you could find your balance again. But she also liked to remind me that sometimes the views from her bridge were incredible too.

Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) is a sex worker and adult film star. She has a “ClosedDoors” account (which I understand to be something like OnlyFans) and many loyal subscribers. Happily, her work at Uncle Ray Ray’s (the adult film production company) is not at all predatory and she has freedom to choose her work and keep her ClosedDoors account (and all the income that generates) without any threat from the owner, Teddy Ray Fletcher. Bee was not forced into porn; she’s happy with her career; she even has the support of her parents, but she also realises it has a use-by date.

Teddy has two adult children he’s trying to assist – one through an expensive art school and the other with her line of eco-friendly sex toys and this stuff is EXPENSIVE. So he’s decided to branch out into wholesome Christmas movies for the Hope Channel (think Hallmark). The book hilariously points out the genuine similarities between porn and Christmas movies. Teddy’s kept the two production companies very separate and his plan is that the streams will never cross (yeah, like that’s gonna happen Teddy). He needs the money and he knows that the Hope Channel will not approve of Uncle Ray Ray’s. Unfortunately, his plans are thrown into disarray when two days prior to production his female lead and a number of the crew are injured in an “UnFestival” accident and he needs to recast immediately or miss the filming window in Christmas Notch, Vermont. A series of unfortunate (or fortunate?) events occur and Bee is cast in the lead (she has always wanted to act in mainstream media) and other crew from Uncle Ray Ray’s are co-opted to help on the film as well.

Bee is sworn to secrecy. Bee is to be as pure as the driven snow (she has a list of instructions, most of which can be boiled down to “no fucking”). There is to be no hint of Bianca Von Honey in Vermont and the Hope Channel and everyone else involved in the production (including the director) are not to know about her other career.

Nolan Kowakczk (aka, former boy band bad boy Nolan Shaw) has been cast as the male lead and also has reasons (involving finances and a need to look after his mother – who is unable to work – and his 17-year-old sister). Nolan was a bad bad boy during his heyday and after an orgy at the Olympics which tarnished the image of the country’s sweet darling ice-skating champion, his own image desperately needs rehabbing.

As it happens, Nolan knows Bee instantly – he’s a “Honey Pot” level subscriber to her ClosedDoors channel and a devoted fan. But his agent has warned him – keep it in his pants and don’t get into any trouble or she will, literally, have his guts for garters. Given Nolan’s pre-existing attraction and the reality that is Bee, this is extremely challenging.

I couldn’t fuck this up.

As Bee was looked over one final time by the hair and makeup artists—and Pearl reemerged from a centering meditation somewhere—I popped a breath mint and tried to imagine I was the duke. A Hope Channel duke who’d never had sex and who never thought about sex and who’d never even seen two horses doing it in a field or whatever.

The duke of no boners. The softest duke who’d ever softed. That was me.

As a young teenager (and still) Bee had a major crush on Nolan Shaw from boy band INK. Working with him is a dream come true. We therefore have a couple who are prone to attraction from the very beginning and who have very good reason to stay away from each other. It’s delicious. (Also, they don’t manage this very well – happily for me!)

The writing is seamless – there is no obvious change from one author to another – and funny, from the hilarity which ensues from having a costume director used to working in porn suddenly thrust (pardon the pun) into a time travel Christmas movie involving a duke, period clothing, the efforts the porn crew and Bee make to keep their other jobs secret and Nolan’s attempts to not let on that he knows who Bee is, to the metaphors used.

Bee shook her head, dropping her hand from my face so fast you’d think my jaw was made of exploding phone batteries.

And, once the couple start hooking up, there are laughs from the pair having to sneak around. This is where the pathos also comes in though. For this to work, Bee and Nolan can’t date openly. Bee is vulnerable here. She’s a fat actress and some porn stars won’t work with her because of their fatphobia. Also due to her porn work previous boyfriends wouldn’t take her home to meet their parents. Being a “dirty little secret” while it may be necessary, doesn’t sit well with her. The book does a great job of having good reason for the secrecy and the hiding. The stakes are high here.

The story is also extremely sex and sex work positive which I loved.

It didn’t bother me that she was sharing her body; even if I hadn’t known about her sex work, my own sexual history was hardly a study in monogamy. But knowing that she might be falling for someone else, that someone else might be making her light up with laughter and might be occupying her thoughts . . . that imaginary person I was jealous of.

I loved that Nolan had no issues with Bee continuing in whatever career she wanted after Duke the Halls wraps.

Spoiler: Show

I loved that the predatory nature of some porn was juxtapositioned with a very positive representation – the way Teddy runs Uncle Ray Ray’s, Bee’s mothers’ approval of her work, the way ClosedDoors was represented as being a safe and income-producing option, as well as Nolan’s acceptance of it.

Added to that, consent was also a focus (both in Bee’s work and in Nolan’s and her relationship) and the way it was presented when it came to sex between the love interests proved (not that I needed proof) consent is sexy:

I dragged in several breaths to claw back some control, although I didn’t stop fucking. I couldn’t stop. Short of Bee telling me to knock it off, nothing could have stopped me from sinking inside her over and over again. The literal bed could have been on literal fire, and I still would have been there, pumping into my girl like a man possessed.

Both Nolan and Bee are openly bisexual and the bi representation was also very positive.

You did a great job of making me wonder how a HEA could possibly happen and then, when it did, of making it entirely believable and not as difficult as I thought it might be.

The characters are endearing, some quirkily so, and well-fleshed out. The story moves at a good pace with no real slow points and I pretty much felt good all the way through. I knew from the prologue I was going to enjoy this read. (I suspect those who won’t will also know from the prologue – humour is subjective after all.)

Those who are not sex positive will not read this book – it will not be their jam – but I have a feeling that this book will hit the spot for many who are (the sex puns are impossible to avoid I’m afraid – as readers will find should they read the book).

I only had two issues with the book. One I’ve hidden behind a spoiler tag above. The other is that epilogue is from Teddy’s POV, just like the prologue. While it’s a nice bookend to the story I’d have preferred a little more of Bee and Nolan. However, those things are minor in the big scheme of things and A Merry Little Meet Cute is a book I’m happy to recommend.

Grade: A-

Regards,
Kaetrin

Thank you Avon for my advance e-copy of A Merry Little Meet Cute.

I will never look at gingerbread scented lotion the same way again. But ohmygod, if I hadn't had to sleep and like do other human things, I would have read this in a day. I'll have to settle for two days instead. Julie's and Sierra's writing and voices blended so seamlessly, you would have thought that this was written by only one author. I had the time of my life. This incredibly sex-positive book embodied my favorite aspects of a raunchy rom com: lovable cast, off the charts chemistry and heat, hilarious friend group, and a winter wonderland scenery to boot. While there wasn't much in terms of holiday cheer besides the appropriately themed town areas and the setting itself, I found I wasn't wanting to be "put in the holiday" mood as the story and the characters did not need that kind of support for me to love the book as much as I did. I had too much fun with this book and I will probably be rereading it closer to the holiday season just for kicks. Joy Nash and Sebastien York did a phenomenal job with the audiobook and are half the reason I enjoyed the comedy aspects (as well as other asspects ;). When the holidays roll around, this one will definitely be on my lists of recs. Nolan and Bee have stuck (iykyk) themselves to my heart and I hope we get more time in Christmas Notch.

If you've always wanted spice with your holiday reads, then A Merry Little Meet Cute is for you! It was nice to finally read a holiday book that didn't fade to black and would definitely make the Hallmark Channel blush. The representation in this book was incredible with both main characters being bisexual, Bee is a fat heroine who is comfortable in her body, the mental health of all characters plays a huge role in this book, and so much more.

I did find the story a little long, while I enjoyed the time that Bee and Nolan were spending together, some parts for me dragged a little bit. I also wish they would've communicated better with each other at times, but of course if that happened, there would be no conflict. I just felt for their character growth, they needed to communicate better.

Received an advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

I had a lovely time with this book! It made my Hallmark-loving heart happy and had big Rosie Danan sex-positive sex work-positive vibes. I loved Bee to death and Murphy and Simone really managed to create a conflict between her and Nolan who otherwise communicated well and really wanted to be together.

My one gripe is the timing -- you don't film Hallmark movies AT CHRISTMAS for release.... THAT CHRISTMAS? The calendar was a bit perplexing. But I just set it aside because I enjoyed the ride.

I loved this book! This is not your average Christmas story. A washed up bad boyband member and a porn star find love while filming a Christmas movie that’s similar to those on the Hallmark Channel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this e-arc! A Merry Little Meet Cute has the right amount of spice. ❤️‍🔥

This steamy romcom has so many good things going for it such as body positivity, staying true to yourself, and being supportive to those you love. I adored the characters in this book and I'm hoping there will be more to come! I also listened to the audiobook and the narrators Sebastian York and Joy Nash did a fantastic job.

I wanted to like this one, but I didn’t really care about the love interests and if they ended up together or not.

Here are some things I liked:
- plus-sized representation
- queer representation
- unique premise
- holiday theme
- movie set setting
- celebrity romance
- dual POV

I loved how supportive Bee’s moms were! Her friendship with her best friend Sunny was also great and seemed genuine. I liked that Nolan cared so much about his family. All that being said, I wish the romantic relationship was as believable as the friendships and family relationships

This book had a good amount of spice! I just didn’t feel connected to the main characters at all. It was a fun idea that they fulfilled some sort of fantasy for each other, but it didn’t seem like their relationship had a lot of substance. I get that Bee is a sex worker, but I feel like the book was a little too hyper-focused on that. I didn’t need to be reminded every couple of pages about what she does for a living.

I like what this book was trying to do, and I think some people will really enjoy this book. In the end, it just wasn’t for me!

I'm so sick of reading Hallmark Christmas books... and so this caught my eye immediately! I loved the departure from do-good characters for the less-than-squeaky-clean-but-have-to-be-better-for-their-career type. It always leads to hilarious moments and characters that finally feel real! Their lives aren't spinning out of control exactly. Sierra Simone just landed herself on my list of favorites and anyone who desires a little naughty holiday romance, pick this one up immediately!

A Merry Little Meet Cute
By: Julie Murpy and Sierra Simone
⭐️⭐️⭐️/2.6 stars rounded up

Summary on Goodreads:
"A steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with."

Sometimes books are just not your cup of tea (although I prefer coffee ☕️🙃) and this was one of those for me.

I could not fall in love with really any of the characters. Especially because it's a different lifestyle than I choose to live and that's ok! To each their own and I respect that everyone has different preferences, believes, views, opinions, et cetera.

I couldn't really relate to much going on in the story nor did it have any impact when reading it. Although, I do think the authors are very talented writers. Some books just don't click with certain readers and I struggled to finish it. No biggie! I'd be open to trying other books from these authors.

3.5/5 stars

The cover and title make this seem like a sweet rom-com. But this book is extremely steamy!!

This book features a plus-size female porn star who stars in a Hallmark Christmas movie with a bad-boy former boy-bander.

This book is about a Christmas movie, set in a Christmas town during Christmas-time. But it actually didn't feel that holiday-ish to me.

The book has both the male and female POVs. And I did love everything to do with the Hallmark movie. But it was just way too sexy (for me). The characters were always talking about sex, thinking about sex or having sex. But I definitely think that this will appeal to so many romance readers.

This was truly such a fun idea for a romance story. Much raunchier than I was expecting. The plus-size porn star aspect was original and funny. However I personally would have preferred an actual Hallmark style story.

Oh my goodness, this was just about everything! Christmas in the bestest way! And naughty to boot, which, who knew we needed! Bee and Nolan give us ALL the vibes (and I do mean all lol) in the most perfect Christmas town imaginable (I so wanna go there!). I loved loved loved everything about this, and I can’t wait for more!!

This book takes place in a small town in Vermont where Christmas is celebrated all year long, making it a popular location for filming Christmas movies. Bee Hobbes accepts an offer for a leading role in a traditional Christmas movie set in the late 1800's - quite a change from her usual style. She is an adult film star whose performances have a dedicated following. Since this is a squeaky clean movie created for a PG channel, Bee's other work has to be a deep dark secret or she may be fired (and sued). Unfortunately for Bee, her costar recognizes her since he is a fan of her site.

Her costar, Nolan Shaw, was a teenaged rock star who crashed and burned early. Now he is in need of money to support his mother and young sister, so he is thrilled to be chosen for a part in this movie. Other than the money, it will also offer him an opportunity to mend his reputation and attract more work.

Nolan recognized Bee soon after meeting her since he is a fan of her site, despite her efforts to appear less like porn star Bianca. Even though both Bee and Nolan need to improve their images, they are so attracted to each other that they begin to find every opportunity to be together - no matter what their contracts said.

I didn't realize when I started this book that both Bee and Nolan were bisexual, although it made no difference to the romance. Two of my favorite characters were Bee's two mothers, a married couple. I don't think I ever figured out who the birth mother was. This is a funny and romantic story, and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys contemporary romance with star-crossed couples.

My thanks to publisher Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon, and NetGalley for providing me an advance reader copy of this book. It was a pleasure to read and review.

This was such a fun holiday rom-com that was heavy on the steam - dirty steam! haha. Loved it. I actually felt embarrassed reading parts of it, and I'm NOT a prude and don't shy away from steam! Characters were amazing. Loved the body-positive, sex worker positive, non-binary positive message. Strong 4.5 stars. Would have easily been a 5 star except I felt the ending wrapped up too quickly - I wanted a little more. However, I highly, highly recommend this for anyone who's looking for a fun holiday romance that isn't TOO sweet. (wink).