**Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & the publisher for a chance to read to & review an ARC of this book!**

Please find my extended feedback below...along with some spoilers (beware).
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Things I Liked:
-I loved the world building in this novel! I want to visit the settings!
-I liked the characters in the story. I felt that they were fleshed out.
-I thought the twist on the Santa legend was interesting.

Things That Didn't Sit Quite Right With Me:
-I did not like the ending. It felt very rushed to me.

Overall, I gave this book 3 stars.

A nice book, flew through the first part of the book but I struggled to get going with it after then. The story itself is fantasy, I'd place it there more than romance anyway, with a long winded inheritance benefactor / rival from Lyla the female lead's father who was supposed to leave his fortune to his daughter but decided instead to leave it to his cold rival in order to some light hearted beyond the grave match making I'm guessing.

Of course, she goes to Yule to try and win back his forgiveness for throwing a Christmas party which he cancelled but she threw anyway with disastrous affects. Staying for 12 days to learn about his family in this magical yet strange winter wonderland village, to make the whole experience more uneasy he introduces her to everyone as his fiancee. Super awkward. Of course, a romance will ensue.

I find it more of a fantasy because it's obviously going to end in romance but of course it has to be so far fetched to even get us there, ergo, fantasy. Not that the magical world isn't well written or inspiring because I'd love to see that.

I'm not sure if I really liked any of the characters. It seems like a Hallmark film which I'm not against but I just didn't really like the portrayal of the characters. It may have been because the book seemed rushed and then the romance section seemed to be serious lacking of something, sure there are whirl wind romances out there but I feel they are more intricately executed, I felt this lacked that expertise handling, I suppose.

Had a lot of potential, but it felt like it missed the bus for me.

Thanks to netgalley and publishers for the free ARC in return for my honest review.


With thanks to Netgalley for my free ARC in return for my review.

DNF unfortunately. I kept putting off this review because I thought eventually I would want to go back and finish the book, but that feeling never came.

This is the first romance book I've read in a long time. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one, half of me thought I would hate it. But I didn't. It was okay. At the beginning, the characters really annoyed me but then the plot started to get really good and I was enjoying my time with it.
The middle part of this book was the best part of it, in my opinion.
The third act conflict was the silliest thing I've ever read and it all kinda went downhill from there. I don't know if I'm satisfied with that ending either.
This looks like a negative review but it isn't!
I didn't like the first bit, I loved the middle and I started to dislike it again toward the end.
So, it was just okay. Middle of the road 3 stars, I'm gonna forget about it as soon as I start reading my next book.

I was hoping to enjoy The Naughty or Nice Clause but unfortunately, I did not connect with the characters and found it to be a bit too sci-fi for a typical holiday read.
Thank you to CallaghanWriter and NetGalley.

Lyla's father was the CEO of their family toy company and upon his retirement she was meant to get his shares of the company. Instead she finds out the company is bankrupt and her father has given her shares to an investor named Mason Klaus. Her only option now is to run the company with him despite their differences. After Mason cancels the annual Christmas party Lyla throws it anyway only to have it result in a fire. Mason offers her a deal in order to forget the mess: she has to join his family for the twelve days of their Christmas holidays. He introduces her as his fiancé and she has to go along with it.
I thought this was a cute sweet Christmas love story. What made it a little different was the fact that Mason was next in line to be Santa and his family lived at the North Pole. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you NetGalley and CallaghanWriter, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for accepting my request to read and review The Naughty or Nice Clause.

Author: Kate Callaghan
Published: 11/08/22
Genre: New Adult | Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy

I requested this as a way to broaden my reading into a previously avoided genre (romance). I saw a fluffy story centered around a holiday. Well, it was but the fun I was looking for wasn't there.

I went back over the synopsis and the usual key words were there: loathing, work against each other, and a ridiculous ultimatum. However, the story backfired. I'm not going to spoil. I will only say, I didn't like anything about the book, storyline or characters.

The cover was darling and inviting.

Thank you NetGalley for The Naughty or Nice Clause!
I loved this book! I thought it was a great holiday read and definitely filled my need for a great Christmas-y book!
The author did an awesome job of allowing readers to relate to the characters and root for them throughout the book!

This was a cute holiday romance! I love grumpy x sunshine and was really loving the Christmas aspects that help put me in the holiday mood during the Christmas season. Overall a cute read!

This was the perfect christmas read for me! I loved the grumpy x sunshine trope and the little recognizable details as well. Such as the bell to travel and the reindeers. I also liked the inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community for one of the main characters sisters'.

I do felt like the beginning was a bit rushed to get to the plot. It felt more like two seperate storylines for me.

All together, I rate this book 4 out of five stars!

This was such a cute book I was checking out new Christmas romances during the holidays and this fit the bill perfectly! Can’t wait to get a physical copy to put on my shelf!

A CEO of a toy company getting whisked away to the secret Real North Pole by her workplace cranky nemesis? Sounds good to me!

This book had so much promise — I’ve been on a low stakes fantasy kick and was really impressed and endeared by the North Pole world that Kate Callaghan has created as a backdrop for this workplace enemies to lovers story. The hero, Mason Klaus, has brought our main character, Lyla, with him back to the North Pole after the passing of his father (YES, his dad is SANTA CLAUS). Mason’s homeland is a secret to all who do not live within its limits, so the two enter a fake engagement to prevent Lyla’s memories from being erased. Lyla becomes enchanted by the small town and all of its holiday spirit. It’s warm, it’s amusing, and it’s very cozy. However, the town is really the only bright spot in this holiday romance.

What starts off promising ends up bogged down by a main character who I had a lot of trouble rooting for in any way, a complete lack of chemistry between the two main characters, and writing that felt stilted and choppy. No amount of Christmas spirit could save it for me and no one is more disappointed than me…

What can I say about this book? It has all the tropes I love: fake dating, enemies to lovers and it takes place on CHRISTMAS!!! what could i not like??

I liked the main characters and thought they had a lot of chemistry. The romance between the characters left something to be desired but just a little, nothing that made me not enjoy the story. And can I say, again, how cool is it that is set on Christmas ? It has that whole Christmas vibe that I love.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC

THE NAUGHTY OR NICE CLAUSE By Kate Callaghan

Lyla was meant to inherit her father's shares in the toy company that has been in the family for generations, instead her father sells his shares to Mason Klaus.

😊What i liked -

✔ Christmas Romance/Fantasy Romance/Enemies To Lovers/Fake Relationship.
✔ I loved the friction between Lyla and Mason, their attraction was equally lovable.
✔ I am so glad I went in blind with this book.
✔ I absolutely loved Mason's family, they were quite different and colourful.
✔ This book gave a whole different perspective on Christmas gifts. This book was emotional, full of christmasy love and lots of smiles.


🤔What could have been better -

✔ Okay not a big could have been better so not mentioning.


📚Who Should read :

👶Beginners
💝Romance Lovers
🎄Christmas Romance
💞Enemies To Lovers


📈My Rating : 4.5/5


Thank you, Kate Callaghan for a copy.

This book came out at the perfect time. One of my favourite Christmas movies The Santa Clause came back with a TV show this year on Disney+ and the premise of this book kind of reminded me of that. Also, definitely the most festive romance I read this year, which is much appreciated.

This book built a good world but the romance was a little lacking for my taste. The ending also felt super rushed and left me dissatisfied in the end.

Cute holiday read, I definitely had some good laughs. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I read this as my holiday book for Christmas

An enemies-to-lovers, fake dating coworkers romance… except one of them is Santa Claus. The two main characters had too many close encounters with no payoff, and I don’t actually understand how or why they fell in love. We went from zero to 60 quickly, but there were a lot of potholes on the way. Plus the fantastical Santa construct just felt flimsy.

Rom-com meets science fiction meets fairytale magic

Lyla inherits her father's toy company only to realize it is not a thriving business. The business is bankrupt and a new co-owner has her father's shares The new owner is not touchy feely and has no plans to run the company with the holiday spirit Lyla wants. Then Lyla discovers a secret about her new business partner , one of magic and Christmas spirit. She is whisked away to another land and now needs to figure out if she can have it all with Mr Klaus

If you like rom-coms that delve into the world of science fiction you will like this book which requires some imagination and a leap of faith

While this book was pretty predictable, I still enjoyed it. It had a great story line and fake relationship romances just… they get me. I wish there was a little more spice in this book, but it was overall a great book to read during the holidays.

Thank you to Netgalley and Independent Book Publishers Association for the early arc!