We've written several times about how we love made-for-TV (or should that be "made-for-streaming" these days?) Christmas movies, but that they can be a little too chaste for us. So we are probably the perfect audience for A Merry Little Meet Cute, featuring two decidedly unchaste characters currently starring opposite each other in "Duke the Halls." Nolan is a washed up former boy band member trying to clean up his act so he can earn enough money to support his family. Bee is a current sex worker - both as an adult film star and by running her own "ClosedDoors" fan account. Of course Bee is one of Nolan's OG fans, and Nolan is one of Bee's current fans.

As we read, it was fun to imagine that Bee and Nolan exist in a slightly skewed version of our reality, one in which the Winter Olympics took place in Duluth and boy bands created by reality TV shows actually made it big. Also one where our two lovable doofases of main characters actually believe that the holiday movie aficionado fanbase doesn't interact at all with the adult industry fanbase. Look, it is ridiculous that they believe they're going to get away with making a completely chaste Christmas movie without a single person recognizing Bee from her (quite popular!) CloseDoor account, much less her (even more popular!) adult films? YES, it is ridiculous. But it's ridiculous in the same way that a time traveling ducal romance that teaches you the meaning of Christmas is.

All that is to say we had a TON of fun reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone who can suspend their disbelief for 25 chapters. It's truly an Xxxmas book for anyone who loves romance AND the holidays. (Yeah we've been trying for 3 paragraphs to work that pun in, sorry if it doesn't land.)

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

A Merry Little Meet Cute is a captivating rom-com that I loved. It was a fun holiday read that was steamy and humorous with fun characters and gave us tropes of childhood crush, forbidden love and workplace romance. I loved that the FMC was plus size. I love that the story gave us insight into mental health, and body positivity and I loved that Bee knew what she wanted both inside and outside the bed room and did not settle for anything less.
I enjoyed seeing Bee and Nolan fight their attraction to one another but these two were perfect together. The chemistry between them was intense and undeniable and I loved that they both had crushes on each other. Of course what was supposed to be a secret romance soon turned in to so much more. Although this was Nolan and Bee's story the supporting characters were highly entertaining especially the p0rn staff and added so much to the story. This was a great spicy holiday romance and I would highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and the authors for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

Sadly this was not the book for me. You know you've got a problem when you're more interested between the attraction budding between Teddy, Bee's erstwhile porn producer, and Steph, Nolan's ballbusting manager, than you are between the main characters.

Both the main characters are allowed to have preexistent crushes on the other and therefore their romance trajectory feels both immediate and shallow, overshadowed by lust. I STRONGLY QUESTION that fact that Bee/Bianca Von Honey would not have been recognizable to *anyone*. I mean. Come ON. Yes, she was a performer on OF, I mean, Closed Doors, but she was also a frequent performer in adult films. Why did anyone think they could fool Hallmark Channel, I mean Hopeflix, at all? #FACEPALM. Just be honest! And Nolan. Nolan, Nolan, Nolan, come ON, with the phone, ugh. I understand his rationale but the miscommunication/lack of communication was epic.

There were many other mistakes and dumb decisions (photograph in a strip club, perhaps?) and the story overall was rife with miscommunications. One particularly bothersome scene was when Nolan promised to "take care of Bee" while she was horseback, and then his phone rang, so he left to answer it. SOMETHING ELSE startled the horse (I believe it was wind, but I can't be sure) and the horse shied and threw Bee. And somehow, this is ALL Nolan's fault, because he promised he'd be there. How the hell is he going to stop the horse from shying? What exactly was he supposed to do? by the time he jumped down, Bee would already have been on the ground. So then everyone treats Nolan like a grade A Jerk. Yes, definitely, for answering his phone during a scene (again). But for the horse throwing Bee? yeah, no.

Ugh.

I wanted to like this. It seemed cute. I just wish the two MCs had more chemistry than heat in the bedroom.

Just adding, every character in this book is LGBTQAAI+, if that's something you look out for. There's also body positivity, mental health awareness, privacy awareness, sex worker positivity, social media bullying, etc etc etc. It's nice that all that was included but it seemed a little like a bingo card. I would have liked a couple of those issues to have been given a deeper look rather than so much of it covered shallowly.

YMMV as I see this book was a big hit. It just wasn't my cuppa.

"Five out of five yule logs. Would costar again."

This book was just so much fun, and that's honestly the best work I can use to describe this book. Sexy is also probably a good word, but I found myself laughing and smiling throughout my read.

Bee Hobbes has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star under the name Bianca von Honey. She's thrilled when her favorite producer wants to cast her in a Christmas movie for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, but she has to keep her previous career a secret. When she discovers her costar is Nolan Shaw, infamous bad boy of former boy band INK, her task at keeping quiet becomes much easier said than done. He needs a career rehab in order to help out his mother and sister. But their apparent mutual attraction will make behaving nearly impossible.

The chemistry between Bee and Nolan is instant and the tension leading up to their first encounter is absolutely delicious. This is not a slow burn, which I loved. They each have prior knowledge of each other so it felt natural that their relationship progressed quickly. Getting POVs from both Bee and Nolan is excellent, and we can see that their feelings are genuine and not projections of their previous fantasies.

The overarching premise does feel just a bit far-fetched, but it also fulfills fantasies I'm sure many people have had when it comes to celebrities. Everything happens very quickly. This also isn't a super deep story and the focus is more on their relationship than other smaller plot points. The side characters are really great and I would have liked to see a little bit more of them to feel that found family connection.

I was also happy to finally get a book with supportive parents. So many books recently have relied on parental dysfunction as a subplot or motivation for the main characters, and it feels stale after a while. It was refreshing to see supportive parents all-around and not feel bogged down with unnecessary tension.

Overall, this was a sweet, spicy read that's perfect for Christmas!

This is not your typical Hallmark-esque rom com for Christmas. It's so much better! Bee Hobbes has her own porn website but gets an offer to star in a Hallmark style Christmas movie. She jumps at the chance to branch out and to do something different.
Former boy band member Nolan Shaw gets the opportunity to rehab his bad boy career and star in the same movie. Bee has a crush on Nolan, Nolan is a subscriber of Bee's. Obviously, sparks are going to happen. How will Bee keep her other career quiet so that she is able to take advantage of this opportunity? How will Nolan keep his desire for Bee under wraps so that he can rehab his image and save his struggling family?
This is a heartwarming tale about two different protagonists than I would normally read about in a holiday story. I loved the sex positive way that their desires were addressed.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This was a fun read and different from other Christmas romcoms I’ve picked up over the years.

I enjoyed both Bee and Nolan's characters, and the side characters too. It was definitely spicer then I expected out of a romcom and based on the cover. Not that I’m complaining, gimmie all the spice.

I don’t know how I felt about Nolan and Bee hooking up and Nolan not letting Bee know that he’s not only aware of her work in the adult film industry and but that he also SUBSCRIBES to her page! I dunno, something about that part just gave me icky vibes. It was also a little too “insta-love” for me but I guess that’s probably expected in a Holiday romcom.

I loved the body positivity and the sex work positivity in this.

If your looking for a book with Hallmark movie vibes and spicy, this ones for you! Thank you to HarperCollinsCA for this advanced copy.

I loved the unique plot and the body, sexuality and sex work positivity in this holiday romance! I also loved the small town devoted to Hallmark movie production concept and the reinforcement that people can enjoy those movies and sexy times. I'm not one for reading holiday themed books before say, November, but though there were lots of Christmas themed things in this it really felt more about the characters than the holiday so it didn't bother me to read it in mid-September.

I liked both of the main characters individually however I did feel like the connection between them relied heavily on the fact that they both already had long-term crushes on each other from their public personas long before they met. They didn't have many on-page scenes together building an actual relationship/emotional connection, so I didn't really feel it between them when they were professing them/angsting over them.

There were a few brief-to-medium sex scenes and while far and away more than you would get with a typical fluffy rom-com (or Hallmark movie, ha!) they weren't really that steamy on my scale or what I have come to expect from Sierra Simone (I have not read Julie Murphy books before to compare in that regard). It seemed like more jokes or narrative statements about steamy or non-ultra vanilla sex & toys were made than actual raunchy sex (as advertised for the book) was had, though I recognize this is a very subjective element.

I enjoyed the writing style and the witty sentences throughout. As I previously stated, I have not read Julie Murphy before but Sierra Simone is one of my all-time favorite authors and though I recognized some of SS's style for the most part I didn't notice different authors as I read so it blended well. I was definitely in the mood for this kind of low-key, lighter book and I liked the side characters too so I would be interested in reading more, especially about Nolan's brooding widower friend.
3.5-3.75 Stars, rounding up

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and authors for this ARC.

I knew from the description that this book was going to be a wild ride. A porn star and a former boy band bad boy come together to film a Hallmark-esque Christmas movie? Literally no way this wasn't going to be hilarious.

And A Merry Little Meet Cute lived up to my expectations. This book was hilarious, sweet, sexy, and spicy - not to mention extremely festive. It poked fun at Hallmark and the porn industry equally, without undercutting either. And it was packed full of delightfully layered characters, all of whose past and present troubles and successes were treated with equal respect. There were a lot of ways this plot could have gone wrong or veered into uncomfortable territory, but the writers handled everything lovingly and with grace.

It didn't come as much of a surprise that the spice level of this book is EXTREMELY high, but it does bear reiterating. Bee and Nolan have great chemistry and their scenes together are always steamy, even when they're filming a chaste kiss for their Christmas movie. And yeah, they have a lot of sex. Of course they do.

On occasion, the pacing was a little awkward, and I found myself wishing we got to see more of the movie making process, but overall, this was such a fun read that it feels silly to have any complaints. A great spicy treat to keep you warm around the holidays!

4.25/5

Nolan is an ex-boyband member who needs to clean up his image, and what better way to do that than as the leading man in a hallmark-esque holliday romance movie? Bee is a plus sized adult film star who is looking to break into mainstream acting roles. The two of them are under strict orders to behave themselves during the filming, but what they never counted on was finding each other.

This book checked all the boxes for me. It has all the spicy goodness that you'd expect from Sierra Simone, and all the sweetness we expect from Julie Murphy. Total win! I'm not sure how any other holiday book this year is going to top it for me.

I absolutely loved it for the body positivity, for the sex positivity, and for the spicy goodness of Nolan and Bee's love story. Can't rave enough about it!

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of this book!

A Merry Little Meet Cute is a steamy and delightful read. Bee is successful in her career as an adult film star and she feels fulfilled. But when she tries to expand her portfolio, she is cast in “Duke the Halls”…a family-friendly Christmas movie. Her co-star is Nolan Shaw, previous boy band member and Bee’s childhood crush. Unbeknownst to Bee, Nolan immediately identifies her through her adult film work because he’s a fan. Holiday themed chaos and forced proximity ensues as the two get to know each other and keep their secrets from the studio.

I really enjoyed A Merry Little Meet Cute! Bee and Nolan had great chemistry. Both of them have crushed on each other for years without truly knowing each other and I think the authors pulled it off. I would highly recommend if you enjoy (ex)celebrity romance, inclusive writing, and glorious bisexual disaster characters. This book would be perfect for fans of Olivia Dade, Rosie Danan, and anyone who ever wished a Hallmark movie could have some more spice. Thank you to Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone, Avon, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, Wordpress blog, and Barnes & Noble etc

Ever thought about a porn star being cast to star in a wholesome channel’s holiday feature?
That’s the premise Of A Merry Little Meet Cute. Bee has made a name for herself as a porn star and this is her chance to break out into a different role. Her love interest, Nolan, recognizes her and Of course sparks fly.
I thought all the backlash was predictable and believable.
I wasn’t convinced of the relationship between Nolan and Bee, despite his assurances.
Try a more naughty Christmas instead of pure and nice.

What a fun and entertaining Christmas read! Equal amounts spice and cheese, A Merry Little Meet Cute is the Christmas story you didn’t know you needed!

Things I liked :
* Sex positive
* Plus size rep
* Over the top Christmas themes

While I really wanted to love this one, there was just a few things that fell a little flat for me. I found the story to feel a little bit dragged out in the middle and even though Bee and Nolan had amazing sexual chemistry, I just didn’t quite feel like we got to see their emotional connection as deeply.

If you’re looking for a classic heartfelt Christmas story, this one may not be for you. But, if you are looking for a light and funny Christmas read that’s full of smut then, A Merry Little Meet Cute is exactly what you may be looking for!

Overall the story was a quick and fun holiday read and I did enjoy it!

If you're ever looking for a holiday steamy romance read, then this book is the one. It’s the perfect holiday theme yet steamy romance to read as well. It has the perfect combination. It’s not too steamy from what others are saying. It’s the typical romance book with steamy scenes. It won’t shock you.

Bee is more than ready to change her career path when she gets a big opportunity to film a holiday romance movie that’s not porn. It may shock some people, but Bee is a plus-size porn actress as the main character in this book. I don’t find it shocking. I think everyone is entitled to do what they want as long as they are safe and consensual with each other and with others. And I find it liberally true that Bee wants to step out of her comfort zone and explore other options. It also doesn’t hurt when she gets to co-star with her childhood crush, Nolan.

Nolan has been through the wringer in his personal and professional life. He is more than willing to fix his professional life when he gets a big opportunity to film a holiday romance movie. He just needs to keep his hands to himself. It won’t be easy when his co-star is his favorite porn star online. It’s hard to fight his attraction with her. But he has more at stakes when his mother's health is declining.

4.5 ⭐️ What a combo; Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone have brought out the best of each other with their dynamic duo writing in A Merry Little Meet Cute. This book gave everything I was hoping for with Murphy’s sarcasm and wittiness and Simone’s sexually charged encounters with seamless storytelling. This is also a narrative I have never seen before in a romance, and boy did it deliver! All it takes is the perfect chemistry between two seemingly mismatched leads for the up-and-coming squeaky clean Hope channel’s new holiday movie to get the story moving.
Bee Hobbes, known to her ClosedDoor fans as plus-sized adult film star Bianca von Honey, is cast as the lead in Duke the Halls after a freak accident leaves the movie’s producer (himself a name in the adult film industry) desperate for immediate replacements for the lead amongst other roles. Knowing she will be cast with her boy-band childhood idol and crush Nolan Shaw, Bee is nervous about making a good impression while also keeping her other career tightly under wraps. But unbeknownst to her, Nolan does know who “Bianca” is and has in fact been a paid subscriber to her page for quite awhile.
Nolan himself is attempting to cure his bad boy image by appearing in the super sweet and chaste Hope channel movie after a few incidents have left him without many prospects for a future in singing or acting leaving him without a way to take care of his mother and sister. The dual perspective between Nolan and Bee from their meet-cute all the way up until they each admit who they are to one another is perfection. Bee and Nolan have undeniable attraction for one another, but it’s from over the course of several years and from afar. Seeing them learn about one another as real humans to so well written, taking them beyond their career images.
A Merry Little Meet Cute LIVES in the judgment zone and forces the reader to face his or her own prejudices about the adult film industry and sex workers because Bee defies any preconceived notions a reader could possibly have. Likewise, Nolan’s whole career has been in the spotlight and the reader is asked to consider how we judge everything read in the media about those who live in the limelight. But this book does not dwell on tough topics because it is so funny! The town of Christmas Notch is a nod to all things ridiculously Christmas, the staffing and production team for Duke the Halls is a combination of porn crew meets Hallmark-like casting, and there are so many tongue-in-cheek adult references that just made me laugh out loud. Will Bee and Nolan be able to make this movie without anyone finding their little secrets? Will they be able to act on their physical attraction without ruining the movie’s squeaky clean image? Readers will delight in this sweet, sexy, laugh-out-loud story that will definitely put you in the Christmas Spirit. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. And a big thanks to Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone for teaming up to write this fun Christmasy story.

A merry little meet cute sounds so cute and sweet, and while there are some cute and sweet moments it’s also a lot more intense than the title suggests. This romance is hot, heavy, and will have you fanning yourself.

I think if you loved The Roommate you would love this book. I loved the body positive, sex positive aspects, and even the disaster bisexual reps (their words not mine), and these two are just so hot and steamy together! While set up like a Christmas book and even at Christmas time, you could truly read this anytime!

In A Merry Little Meet Cute, a plus-size adult film star is accidentally cast in a wholesome Christmas movie alongside a former bad-boy pop star attempting to revamp his image. Both are trying to stay out of trouble (Bee so that her career as a porn star is not found out by the family friendly network and Nolan so that he can have the image reset he is hoping for), but as sparks fly between them, it becomes harder and harder to hide their romance from others.

I loved the message behind this of owning your sexuality, and that everyone (not just those who fit a wholesome mold) deserves a magical Christmas and love. Talk about an empowering and feminist take on those holiday movies from a certain channel that we all know and (at least I) love. I loved all of the important topics this tackled: not jist sex positivity but also body positivity, mental health, tabloids, and biphobia. Each of these topics was handled with such care and really added to the story.

The romance was amazing…so steamy and the chemistry between Bee and Nolan was off the charts. And they had some very sweet moments together as well. I loved them as a couple and how they each fangirled and fanboyed over each other in their own ways.

This was another winner to keep in mind for your holiday reads this year!

Thanks to Avon Books for the advance copy!

This was such a cute holiday romance, but don't let that and the cool have you fooled! This one has its steamy moments. I enjoyed seeing how all of this played out. The pining for your celebrity crush part was so entertaining when these two ending up working together! This was just a fun holiday read and I'm glad I picked it up. I will probably do a reread in December!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (0-5) (I just want all my friends to be ready for a little interaction with the porn industry but not much really).

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Let’s just say steamy, spicy holiday romcom! If that’s your thing, I bet you’ll want this!
🤩 Lusty steam in all the right places and yet all the other feels too—laughs, love, and longing.
🤩 Christmas movie making setting—Christmas Notch, Vermont is holiday romcom paradise.
🤩 Two worlds collide: the adult film industry and the clean holiday film industry.
🤩 Plus a bit of a third world: celebrity trope! Nolan is a former bad-boy pop star.
🤩 Unique, fun, and funny side characters. One of my few book highlights gives a spectacular sneak peek of this: “He nodded vigorously. “Oh, Uncle Ray—Teddy—has already been very clear that if I am to do costuming for Duke the Balls that I have to be, like, as vanilla as an insurance adjuster.” I giggled as his forehead tightened with confusion. “Oh. I thought that—you do know it’s called Duke the Halls and not Duke the Balls, right?””
🤩 The love and care these MCs have for and from their families is the perfect heart for heading into the holiday season.
🤩 Gorgeous (inside and out) plus-sized representation from our female MC Bee Hobbes.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 Absolutely Nothing! Except, I do wish I had more notes. It was the perfect back-to-work week escape from stress. I read it in bed every night that week and so—no notes.
🤩 It will be the perfect holiday season escape you need!

Oh my gosh, I ADORED this book. It’s the perfect combination of spice and character. The idea of a porn studio producing a certain kind of Christmas romance movie (you know what I’m talking about) is brilliant. It’s hilarious and I loved Bee and Nolan. They absolutely spark together and it’s a joy to read. It talks about sex work, the double standards of fame, celebrity in the digital age, and fatness in the public eye. This is the holiday raunch-com.

I’m usually not a fan of insta-love romances, but this one was really cute. This book had a lot of funny and steamy moments. I really enjoyed the queer and plus size representation. This didn’t really feel like a Christmas-y story, or was a story that happened to take place during Christmas. Overall, a fun read and I’m excited for this series to expand. Thank you Net Galley and Avon for this ARC.