I really wanted to like this book. Loved the premise but I just couldn’t finish it. DNF this book at 40%

This holiday romcom between a plus size and a former boy band member with a story within a network holiday romance movie, was quite funny and original. Definitely nothing that I expected it to be in the good way, I always go in blind on my books, so the plot line and characters were a nice surprise, these authors are fantastic on their own, combined they knocked it out of the park.

***Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for sending me an advanced reader copy of A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone! All thoughts are my own!***

A porn star gets last minute cast for a cheesy holiday movie and meets a former boy band member who end up being her costar.

I devoured this book! I loved the amount of irony in this book considering they both knew of each other in their separate outlets for years and the moment they met their connection was instantaneous.

Both characters had a lot at stake, Bee keeping her porn star identity a secret as well as the producer's identity who runs the porn studio she performs under, and Nolan who is trying to put his career back on track after a scandalous situation and keep his family supported.

This is THE holiday 2022 romance that you need to pick up. If you like steam in your romance, you will love it. This is one of those books will think about for days to come. A Merry Little Meet Cute is out now!

Absolutely loved this book! A perfectly executed mash-up of feel-good holiday movie vibes and steamy romance. I also appreciated the sex-positive, body-positive, and mental health rep woven through the story.

Nolan and Bee’s relationship seems inevitable from the get-go, and watching them fall for each other was a delight to read. I loved that Bee prioritized herself and her needs throughout the relationship, even when things go sideways. And Nolan’s grand gesture is swoonworthy goodness.

The supporting cast is really well done too. I especially liked that both Nolan and Bee have healthy family relationships and supportive friendships. (I tire a bit over every romance featuring main characters with toxic parents, dead parents, fraught family dynamics; all of that is in a category of overused mechanisms for creating drama, and it was refreshing that it wasn’t employed here.)

I did wonder why Bee and her producer thought they could keep her more “salacious” film and online content under wraps when she takes a lead role in a very PG holiday movie. They assume that “wholesome” holiday movie viewers and consumers of adult contents are nonoverlapping groups and I just didn’t buy that. But I suspended disbelief on their optimism that they could pull this off, because I was so into the story.

I hope we might get more collaborations between these authors. I’d especially love if this continued as a series; Nolan’s band mates and Bee’s friends and adult film colleagues would all be great characters for subsequent books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC I received.

This was such a fun book. I’ve been a fan of Julie Murphy’s books since her debut back in 2014, but I’ve never read anything of Sierra Simone’s, even though I have a couple of her books on my Kindle. A Merry Little Meet Cute features Bee, a plus-size adult film star, and Nolan, a former boy band member. When they’re hired to co-star in a holiday movie for a network that produces squeaky clean ‘family-friendly’ romances, they both see it as an opportunity: for Bee, it’s a chance to try something new and see if she can have a career in acting, and for Nolan, it’s a chance to rehabilitate his bad boy image while providing for his struggling family.

There were so many things that appealed to me about this book. I loved that both Bee and Nolan are bisexual. I loved that Bee is fat and completely owns it and her sexuality, making for some fantastic commentary about body positivity and sex positivity. As a huge fan of holiday movies (especially Hallmark ones), I appreciated that aspect of the storyline and enjoyed the scenes of them rehearsing and filming. Also, as someone who grew up obsessed with boy bands, I liked the fantasy-come-true element of Bee falling for Nolan after being a fan of his for years. I also appreciated that it wasn’t one-sided and Nolan knew who Bee was and had crushed on her for years too.

If you’re like me and you like your Christmas books to actually be Christmassy, this one didn’t really have all the holiday feels I love, despite the title, cover, and setting. It did have some fun festive moments, but I wouldn’t call it a ‘Christmas romance’, so much as Christmas adjacent. That being said, if you’re looking for a fun, super steamy, escapist romance with a wonderfully diverse cast, A Merry Little Meet Cute should definitely be on your TBR.

3.5 stars rounded up

A Merry Little Meet Cute is a fun romantic comedy with two disaster bisexuals falling in love. It is very steamy and also absurdly wacky at times. The premise is excellent- a plus-size porn star accidentally gets cast as the lead in a family-friendly holiday romance film, playing opposite a former boy-band star who was her teen crush. And as it turns out, he's also a big fan of her NSFW work. But for reasons, both of them are supposed to keep things under wraps and absolutely NOT heat up this PG movie set...

I had a good time with this, although you definitely have to suspend your disbelief and just go with the ridiculous things that happen. And the things that wouldn't fly at an actual movie set. But if you can do that, it's a fun and sexy romance with a great setup, body positivity, casual queerness, and positive depictions of sex work. Definitely worth a read if this sounds like your thing! I do wish it had been a little less over the top and a little more slow burn with the sexy times, but overall I liked it. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This is a brilliant premise for a romance novel. Bee is a plus sized porn star attempting to break into main stream film. Her co-star is Nolan, a former boy band star trying to rehab his image by doing this wholesome Hallmark Channel type film. The producer also works in porn but is trying to keep all of that a secret and it's utterly hilarious.

The book tackles some heavy topics such as slut shaming, fat shaming, and the reality of conditions for many sex workers. It's also funny and sweet at times. I loved the contrast between those elements.

The writing is sharp, and the cast is full of diverse characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

This story is told in dual first-person point of view from Bee and Nolan. I knew from the moment that Bee started packing her suitcase full of sex toys and her BFF threw in the Sugar Cookie flavored lube that this was going to be my kind of raunchy romance, “Hallmark” movie or not. A porn star and an ex-boy band member, famed for his orgies on trains and the Olympics, cast in a family-channel-style Christmas movie? It was very spicy and full of hijinks with a mixed set of regular movie extra staff and, unknowingly, porn movie staff. However, like the aforementioned Christmas movies, it was predictable. It was also about 50-100 pages too long for my taste and I found myself skimming the same thoughts in the main characters heads over and over about how they could possibly move forward in their careers IF anyone found out.

Recommended as an alternative to those sugary sweet Christmas romance reads (or movies).

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

I will preface this with a five is rare for me but this book deserves it and will live in my brain rent free forever.

To start- I love Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. Separately and together. Both are authors I have read broadly from so seeing this coming out was a delight.

The story centers on Nolan and Bee and a Christmas film they are making for a tv provided à la Hallmark channel. The problem- that really shouldn’t be a problem- Bee is an adult film star and the Hope channel is exceedingly family friendly.

I just cannot get over how wonderful this was. Every detail was a delight and a pleasure. I loved that the main characters and side characters had deep internal lives and I wanted to know more about them. This is filled with gems in dialogue and humor, and tastefully smutty.

I honestly wish I could go back and read this again with fresh eyes because it just made me happy the entire time I was reading it.

Thank you so much Avon and NetGalley! This was so beyond amazing and I cannot wait for a sequel to see where some of my favorites end up!

That was f---ing good. Like, I need more of these characters and the side characters and the world DESPERATELY!!! (pretty please Julie and Sierra give us the INK love stories)

Bee is an adult actress whose producer calls her to star in his mainstream movie for the book's equaivalent to Hallmark. No, they do not know she stars in porn and has a book-equivalent OnlyFans (and highly successful at that). To top it off, she is staring opposite her teen crush, ex-boy band bisexual bad-boy Nolan, who is trying to rebrand his image to pay for his mom's healthcare and teen sister's education. Little did he know that his crush would be staring opposite him (him a loyal top-tier subscriber for 6 years).

With them both on a sex-ban for the two weeks of filming to seem squeaky-clean, they, unsurprisingly, can't help falling for each other.

"God, the beautiful, horrible irony. My dirty dream girl showing up in Christmas Notch, Vermont, of all places, ready to spend the next two weeks wearing corsets in front of me (!!!), and instead of taking her out for drinks and then proposing marriage, I had to keep everything zipped up tight. And not even zipped up in a sexy 'Let's pretend we're in high school and do it over the pants' kind of way, but in a 'My manager will fire me and I'll have no money to take care of my family' kind of way."

I loved the pining, the fact they were both each other's dream partner, the self-knowledge and reflection to get the happy ending, and the spice! Bee is a plus-sized sex worker and he ADORED everything about her. The discussion and facts shared about both these identities, and the realities they meant for her, were well done. In an enjoyable romcom, it added value to the story and helped make the ending even more satisfying.

And what an ending. I loved the self-growth and a man learning and being better. I have felt warm from the ending for a week. The heartwarming and funny notes came together perfectly. One of my favorite romcoms in a while with the balance of smut, humor, and romantic relationship (chemistry, development, and future happiness - they'll make it).

I cannot stop raving about this book and recommending it to everyone for the individual characters, the romance, the body and sex positivity, and overall delightful story. I hope we see more from these authors because a series on the side characters would be great! (or even a bonus chapter going into the suitcase ;)

5 stars
2.5 spice

This was definitely not your Hallmark Christmas read. Wowsa! Soooo much delicious chemistry and dirty talk - definitely warmed my cockles 😉 This book had everything I love realistic heroine, fantastic sexy times and Christmas. Romance Trifecta!

This is one of those books I wanted to love and it didn't quite work for me. While the premise is cute (a porn star doing a hallmark movie with a disgraced boy band member) I never really got into the story and lots of aspects of the book felt really forced.

I love Julie Murphy and will already read her books, Sierra Simone is on her way to becoming a new favorite of mine.

3.5 stars
I should have know how spicy this was gonna be considered Sierra Simone is a co-author. I did not anticipate all that spice!! Multiple scenes, decent length, VERY explicit.

Intriguing storyline, no epic plot. Characters did not get exposed like I had guessed- somewhat anticlimactic.

Several aspects that I appreciated being represented (body positivity, sex work, bisexuality, gay/lesbian).

I am curious about what happens to multiple characters after this book. I get the feeling there will be more from these characters.
Definitely more from Julie and Sierra (they have a website now).

Some parts might be considered unnecessary to the overall plot. Book is slightly longer than I think it needs to be.

Complete story with HEA.

18+ always check content warnings

Special thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this digital ARC.

A Merry Little Meet Cute was an INSTANT cover request for me - the art style is just so elegantly and prettily illustrated that I knew I wanted to read it. Once I learned it was a collaboration between Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, I became even more excited to pick it up! I’m so glad that I did because it was such a wonderful (and spicy!) holiday romance!

This book is just so much fun. You have a Hallmark-esque movie being made by undercover porn stars and a reformed bad boy - what else could you want? The setting’s proximity forced our characters to get to know each other quickly and, while insta-lust sometimes bothers me, it worked so well here. I was rooting so hard for Nolan and Bee the entire time. They had incredible chemistry from their very first scene together and it just amplified from there. I loved Nolan’s character development throughout the book and him continuing to learn how to balance being himself and being who his family/agent need him to be. And Bee is one of my favorite heroines - she’s confident, sexy as hell, sex-positive, and unapologetically fat.

I ended up having a really good time with this book and I can’t wait to see what else this author duo comes up with. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

These 2 creative and kinky authors collaborated beautifully to bring us this early Christmas present!
Sizzling hot, kinky and super sweet, this fun read had smart sexy characters with so much chemistry, I thought the pages were gonna set on fire.
This is a fun read rom com with tons of steam, and a healthy dose of body positivity!!
Ho-ho-ho!

4.5 stars! This has to be the funnest book I’ve read this year! The story was incredibly original and surprisingly emotional, full of great characters and inclusivity. I adored how fiercely Nolan loved his family and how protective he was of them. Full of amazing wit and banter, this was the perfect amount of cheesy and had incredibly explosive spice. Loved every bit of this book! *I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

'A Merry Little Meet Cute' is a perfect mix of sexy, sweet and heartwarming. The set up of our main characters as a former boy-band member and a secret adult film star is immediately fun and tropey. Set against the backdrop of a Hallmark-esque holiday film, it's very much heartwarming but with so much additional sexiness, which is what I expect of both authors and they absolutely delivered. Truly delightful!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ever wanted a book that is Hallmark channel wholesome with a generous helping of Bellesa style socially conscious, body positive raunch? A book that is sweet and sinful and emotional and smexy and wonderfully silly through it all? If yes, this book is your guy. We all love sugary sweet holiday movies with guaranteed if impossible HEAs (okay, I don’t really) but what do we think about scorching hot, sex positive raunchcoms with healthy queer rep where everyone (or almost) is delightfully, unselfconsciously slvtty? We love them, duh!

Bee (my second heroine named Bee in a row, what a weird little coincidence) is a plus sized bi goddess with a lucrative ClosedDoors (ahem) account and a successful career as an ~adult movie~ star. And our girl’s about to get a chance to…umm diversify her filmography with a lead role in the next Hopeflix holiday hit. You’d think there’s no way the twain shall meet, but you’d be surprised. Nolan is a boy band has been, with many a shenanigans and debauchery behind him and a desperate need to turn over a new leaf. Also a bi icon. Both of them need this break for their careers for different yet equally compelling reasons, but what happens when that need is derailed by a greater need for each other?

He’s her childhood celebrity crush, and he’s also her biggest fan. Neither can keep their eyes, or hands off each other, and thus begins a memorable few weeks of Christmas mayhem. These two are combustible together, but you knew that since Ms Simone is involved. Both her and Ms Murphy are formidable writers on their own, and together they’re a rip roaring delight. We are introduced to a big cast of characters, all a little bit crazy and a whole lot of fun. Some of them I hope will get books of their own, but obviously, obviously I have a great need for sad boy Isaac’s book. I am who I am.

It’s like a Hallmark movie and a smut book had a baby and this is what the result was. I loved it!! I have read books by both authors, so wasn’t sure how this would all come together, but it did - in one pretty little wrapped package and a shiny bow on top! The setting was so cozy and idyllic. It truly set the scene and was the perfect background to our fun-loving and adorable characters, Bee and Nolan. I had such a fun time reading this, I didn’t ever want it to end. The chemistry was off the charts, Murphy’s cute and sweet writing mixed with the wonderfully steamy style of Simone created the perfect holiday Rom-Com that would fit in with any Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie!

I love Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy, and their first book together s no exception. Merry Little Meet Cute has Julie’s sweetness and Sierra’s steam.

I love both Nolan and Bee. I also loved the setting. I love Hallmark Christmas movies, so how could I not? There were many great things in this book, like a fat female main character working in porn. While trying to hide her porn past to be more of a mainstream actress on the Hope Channel, I loved that Bee was never ashamed of her work. Instead, she was proud of what she did and loved the confidence it gave her. Merry Little Meet Cute was a fat and sex-positive book, and I loved that!

Nolan, however, was trying for some major image rehab, and though it took me a bit to w3arm to him, I loved how he saw Bee. Getting Nolan’s POV, as well as Bee’s, really made this book for me. We quickly saw that he was a nice guy but that people expected the worst from him.

I did feel like the story was maybe a little too down out. I know we have to set the stage, but the other shoe had to drop sometime, and I would have liked to have dropped a little sooner. Other than that, though, this was a fun read!