A festive and steamy romcom! Perfect balance of steam and holiday fun. I hope to read more from the author duo of Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone.

"A Merry Little Meet Cute" is the absolute delight of the 2022 holiday season, and this is a writing duo for the win! I loved Bee and her sweet nature, unapologetic adult film work, and real curves, and boy-band bad-body Nolan and his jaw-dropping infatuation with the actress of his dreams, along with his love for and commitment to his mom and sister. The picturesque film-set setting of Christmas Notch, Vermont, and the supporting cast of characters really round out this world, and it's a joy from start to finish, a perfect mix of angsty and sexy, with scenes hot enough to melt any Northeastern winter wonderland, which I really appreciate in a Christmas title since love scenes in the holiday genre are very often watered down, fade to black, or even nonexistent. Even better is that with confirmed sequels featuring Nolan's former boy-band members, each with their own fascinating stories, we're going to have more to come in this finely balanced and rich world, and I can't wait for Kallum and Winnie's story!

Don't let this title and cover fool you. This book is NOT a sweet, "Hallmark" romance! It was pretty raunchy from page one to the end.

The main character, Bee Hobbes, is a plus-size adult-film star, Bianca Von Honey. She's highly successful at what she does but when one of her favorite producers offers her a starring role in a movie he is making for the Hope channel, she figures her regular consumers wouldn't recognize her in a sweet, clean film. An added bonus for her: her co-star is Nolan Shaw, the boy-band star of her teenage dreams. (Her childhood bedroom is still wallpapered with posters of his face - even on the ceiling.) Can she really pull this off, when their onscreen chemistry steps into offscreen shenanigans?

Nolan Shaw is doing what he can to clean up his act so that he can better support his mother and young sister. When he learns that his co-star is his favorite online drool fest, he's concerned that he won't be able to "keep it zipped", which was his manager's one requirement. Working with Bee is by turns delightful and steamy, but Nolan holds it together until .... Well, read it to find out.

I listened to most of this and really enjoyed the voice of the male lead. Most everyone involved in the story falls into the LGBTQIA+ category, so in some ways, it's surprising that Bee and Nolan end up together. The only thing merry and cute in the story is the location of the movie being filmed. I wasn't a fan of this story, but it did have some pretty humorous moments. I really struggled to complete it, though.

Unfortunately this is a case of the book being very interesting, but the execution wasn’t really for me. I didn’t really like the way the character development was done, but the plot also wasn’t catching my attention either. I definitely think the holiday aspect was cute.

Thank you Netgally and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this book!

Not going to lie, the cover was a little deceiving. I thought this was going to be a cute winter romance but this book was all over the place. It wasnt bad but it wasnt good. The concept was good but the execution was not. Just wasnt my type of book

Is it February? Yes. Do I still have a couple of Christmas trees up? Also yes. Is this book a perfect blend of cute and spicy? Absolutely!

I didn't know much about this one going in, but from the cover I expected a cute Christmas rom com and the spice level was a nice surprise!

I would recommend this one to people who like a Hallmark channel read but with some spice.

Basically- a porn star and former boy band member are filming a holiday movie in an attempt to change public perception about them.

Thank you to @netgalley for a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

Cute story! Definitely has the Julie Murphy touch for making the characters terribly likable. I would super recommend this for anyone who loves a little holiday romance.

An absolutely hilarious meet cute that will charm you from the beginning until the end. Such an a,amazing holiday story that will touch your heart.

Although I enjoyed this book, the title and cover are a ~little~ deceiving, this is a full on erotic romance that almost skips over a 'merry little meet cute.'

The things I enjoyed: the main characters and many others in the story were LGTBQ+, the main character is a sex worker which showcased how difficult this might be for a woman, specifically a plus size woman; many of the side characters support her line of work; the SPICE in this book!!; the setting of a Christmas town was fun and the perfect amount of 'fake Hallmark city'

What I didn't like: although it was very pro-sex work focused, it felt like there was no romance between the two main characters, just sexual tension/drive, it really focused on the physical connection between the two and just threw in an emotional connection that didn't 'click' for me

Although this book might have been a little longer than needed, I read it within a week and enjoyed it along the way! I also read this not during the holiday season and still thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book. Definitely would recommend for someone looking for an easy, quirky read that loves a decent bit of heavy steam scenes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this a digital reviewer copy of this book in exchange my honest thoughts.

Beneath this sugary sweet pink Christmas cover is a VERY steamy contemporary romance novel. While I read from very chaste to quite open door as an occasional romance reader, this had me blushing more than once.

The dual author writing was seamless; I'm familiar with Julie Murphy's writing style, but this was my first experience with Sierra Simone. The plot was interesting with some unique twists - unlike any holiday story I've read. I really appreciated the novel's LGBTQIA+ representation and body positivity, and enjoyed the Kansas City references as a lifelong Midwesterner.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the review copy.

Wasn’t what I was hoping. I don’t like insta love so it’s a me thing of why this wasn’t my kind of book. I can see why it would be fun and different to break up the sugary sweet holiday books.

I devoured A Very Little Meet Cute. As a Hallmark movie lover, I enjoyed the story line, character development, and steamy scenes in this book. Looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone, Avon and Harper Voyage, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

LOVED THIS BOOK but definitely not classroom appropriate!!!! So steamy and fun and loved the body diversity. SUCH A WINNER!

I read this over the holidays and after a long semester and even longer retail season, it was so cute and the perfect easy read to help me get out of a reading slump! Murphy and Simone do a great job blending their writing styles and the romance touches on serious topics without losing the fluffyness of the book. As always I love plus size characters in romances and the fact that sex work is talked about in a healthy manner here is so important. This was so cute and I would definitely pick up from this author duo again.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.5/5⭐️⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝: If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like for Hallmark + porn stars to collide…do I have the book for you. A Merry Little Meet Cute is extremely spicy mixed with a little sweet.

The representation felt very natural and inclusive of everyone: a fat/sex worker heroine (who, admirably, did not constantly fixate on shame/dysmorphia), to a bisexual love interest, a bi-polar parent, two lesbian moms, and I’m sure more that I’m neglecting to recall. Bee was confident and owned her career and her actions, and I really loved her character.

This one was A+ on the 🌶 parts.
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𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞: At over 400 pages, this one did drag on a bit longer than it needed to and got pretty dull towards the middle since the romantic connection was pretty shallow. Overall I found this one steamy and amusing, but a bit lacking.

While I really appreciate the premise of the book and the plus-size rep—and the steamy scenes were great!—I’d say overall this book just wasn’t for me. I could see it working for some folks, but I personally didn’t love the style, and I wanted more emotional connection from the characters. I think if you’re looking for something fun and steamy for the holiday season though, it’s worth giving this a try.

Now that a deal has been ratified with HC, I can circle back on my thoughts about this book! What a delightfully funny, sexy holiday rom-com this was — I think Murphy and Simone are a match made in heaven when it comes to balancing the steam with the humor, both of which are very much needed with a premise like this one. Apparently, it’s only the first in a new series from their new author team-up, which means even more to come!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was funny and heartwarming, spicy and charming, and I absolutely LOVED having plus sized main character representation. Truly I laughed, I cried, I swooned…this one has it all

Holy gods, this book caught me off-guard. I absolutely was not expecting a book about a pornstar. I laughed non stop and yes, I swooned a little bit over them. It did made me cringe a little but I did enjoy this book a lot. I would love to read more from this author and see what else Murphy can come up with.

Woooooo.

Do not let this cutesy cover fool you, this book is SPICY. If you plan to listen to this one, make sure you're either alone or wearing earbuds. Lol.

I loved the premise of this one Hallmark Christmas meets the adult film industry and it lives up to everything it promises. Bee is an unapologetically sexy, charismatic plus size woman who just so happens to be a proud sex worker and was the perfect character to challenge societal taboos and antiquated opinions of what a leading lady should be.