The Naughty Or Nice Clause by Kate Callaghan was a fun holiday read that had a lot of the things that I enjoy about Christmas books all wrapped up into one.. It was magical and festive without being too cheesy. I thought the dialogue was more realistic than you sometimes find in these types of books and I love a good enemies to lovers story!
All around I enjoyed this book a lot!
Please find attached my more in depth, but spoiler free YouTube book review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2IHDCB9XOc

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

While I absolutely LOVED the premise and setting of this book, and the idea of the Klaus family, I was so let down by the spice in this book.

There was one spicy scene, and it was so short.

The setting was fantastic and SO atmospheric, but it just didn't make it a good read for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Lyla and Mason are two complete opposites who share the same toy company. Lyla loves Christmas, Mason seems to hate the whole ordeal. However, when his dad dies and he receives a letter from her sister, he asks Lyla to come with him. Lyla accepts, but not even in her wildest dreams, expects what she is about to experience.

Mason is from Yule, a magical village in North Pole, and Lyla is about to discover its secrets. Not only that, but Mason announces to everyone that she is his fiancé. She is thrown into this world, and while there, she discovers who Mason really is.

A lovely Christmas tale of romance and magic. Great imagery, beautiful characters, LGTBQ+ representation, elements of magic, and good chemistry between the main characters.

Both characters have their own personal trauma, but will they manage to overcome it?

If you love Christmas, this is a nice story. for the holidays.

The Naughty Or Nice Clause is a feel-good Christmas novel. Overall, it’s a fast and easy read that can put you in the festive mood. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel hooked at all. The romance lacked chemistry and I wasn’t convinced by the dynamic between the two main characters. But on the other hand, the background decor delivers on the whole Christmassy feelings. To sum it up, I have mixed feelings about it.

A nice festive read. Makes me think that Yule is what the north pole really looks like. The characters were loveable and easy to read about.

I really wanted to love this book because I do love everything Christmas. Sadly, it just wasn't my cup of cocoa. The characters seemed stilted, and it was a little dark for a Christmas romance, with the heroine worrying that the family was out to get her.

I did love the premise for the book, and the description was good; it's just not my typical Christmas read.

An enemies to lovers/office romance with a holiday twist. I LOVED it! Lyla Hates Mason! but when he convinces her to help him out with his family over the holidays she gets to see a whole other side to who he really is. This was such a cute holiday romance, it sucked me in !

The perfect Christmas read, full of magic, romance and charm. Suspend your disbelief and whisked off to the North Pole and recapture your childhood wonder !

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I thought it would be just a cute book about Christmas, but it was so much more than that. This book surprised me in such a good way that I couldn't put it down, I literally read it in a day. My type of book is a romance with a bit of spice and some real-life problems, and this book although it didn't have the spice level that I usually read, it was amazing! I definitely loved the dynamic between the main characters and how different yet so alike they were. I laughed, and I sighed a lot too; to me, it was the perfect book to open the holiday season.

The toy company has been in Lyla's family for generations, so when her father decided to retire as CEO, Lyla took over the company, although she expected to receive the entirety of the shares of the company, she discovers that her father's company was bankrupt and her father had given her shares to Mason Klaus. This situation meant that Lyla and Mason would be co-CEOs and have to run the company together.

When the office Christmas party gets cancelled by a certain Mr Klaus, Lyla took upon herself to throw a Christmas party for the employees, which led to a horrible fire, that destroyed the offices and Lyla's reputation. So Mason made her an offer, she would accompany him to see his family for 12 days. During that time Lyla discovered secrets that Mason Klaus kept from her, and took her by surprise when he introduced her as his fiancée and given the mysterious circumstances of his hometown she has to go along with it.

Overall: I loved this enemies-to-lovers book, which also involves family and the sense of belonging to a place and also to a person that you truly love; and of course the beautiful holiday Christmas spirit it provands.

The Naughty or Nice Clause is a cute, quick and fun read meant for the holidays season. It follows the story of Lyla, a Christmas fanatic who’s the daughter of a retired CEO of a toy company. She was supposed to receive her father’s shares of the company, but to her surprise, he sold it to Mason Klaus—an investor known for being cold, and who hates the holidays.
The protagonists didn't get along well and could barely stand each other for too long, and when Mason canceled the company’s annual Christmas party, Lyla decided to do it anyway and things went more than wrong that night. In order for him to forgive what happened, she agreed with his proposal of spending 12 days with him visiting his family. In a blink of an eye, she found herself transported to Yule, a village that's sort of a magical winter wonderland. And for things to get more complicated, Mason introduced her to everyone as his fiancee.
So, finding herself in a very weird situation, Lyla hoped to take some advantage of it. She hoped this unexpected trip would work out for her to get her company back, and if things worked out really fine to find some dirt on Mason too. Everything felt settled for her plan to work…Except that she wasn't expecting to create feelings for Mr. Klaus.
Though it was a fine read, it wasn't meant to my taste I fear. The story felt kinda rushed and way too fast at some points. Also, the romance (which happens to be the thing I like most in books) is sort of…lacking? They had potential, but I couldn't really feel a real chemistry between them, and their attraction sort of came out of nowhere—which is so sad because, as I’d said, there was potential there. And the ending was way too fast, it left me unsatisfied. Still, I want to add that I really liked all the magical stuff and Kevin (Mason’s younger brother, he’s amazing).

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so cute and festive! I loved the holiday vibes of it. I think the one weak point for me was the dialogue at times felt stilted, but it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book.

I really enjoyed the fantasy elements of it, and it really did feel like a warm christmas hug!

Lyla cannot stand Mason Klaus, the man who came in and bought out 51% of her toy company, especially because he wanted to end the Christmas traditions that she loved so much. In a turn of events, however, he cons her into helping him by having her pose as his fiancée when he goes home to Yule, more commonly known as The North Pole. His past is slowly revealed and their relationship becomes more than just tumultuous business partners.

This was a cute romance, and the setting of Yule was perfect. The author did an amazing job of describing what sounds like the perfect Christmas village. There is a small amount of magic sprinkled throughout the book which I appreciated because what is Christmas without magic. I enjoyed this book, but felt like the end of the story was slightly rushed with resolution coming just in the last few pages. I left wanting just a bit more; more about the relationship between Lyla and Mason, more about the town of Yule and the expectations of being Klaus, and probably a bit more steam and tension between the two of them. It was a fun and fast read, and I did enjoy it during this holiday season.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced reader copy of this cute Christmas romance. The opinions in this review are all my own.

3.5 stars for this enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, male-falls-first, closed proximity, sci-fi/magic Christmas story!

"The Naughty or Nice Clause" by Kate Callaghan is more nice than naughty, but that doesn't mean it's bad. This is a cute, mostly fun, magical (but predictable) Christmas tale where Lyla and Mason, the two people running Lyla's father's toy company, must fake-date in front of his family for twelve days before Christmas... but Mason and his family are not who they seem to be. The premise is pretty zany and fantastical, but I found this to be perfectly acceptable for a holiday read. I'm not a Grinch, after all. Lyla and Mason don't make a lick of sense at first, but slowly over time, Callaghan makes readers believe in them. Their attraction/relationship does seem to come quickly and out of nowhere. It bugged me that Mason is always so quick to anger and brooding. I get that he's supposed to be cold and stoic MMC, but I didn't love it because a lot of his issues felt unnecessary. Lyla and Mason aren't my favorite literary couple, but they are a decent pairing despite my issues. Also, Lyla is described as curvaceous, but as far as I can remember, Callaghan never goes out of her way to call her fat or plus-size, so I don't really count this as a plus-size representation.

I also have to let it be known: I refuse to believe that the man with the bag's name could *ever* be MASON. UGH. (*lol*)

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Callaghan, and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy.

This story was so original. I loved the whole premise. Yule is a town that would be a dream to live in. It’s picturesque and magical!

Lyla and Klaus had great conflict in the beginning and it just wasn’t quite believable with how fast they fell in love. I needed a little more push and pull between them to feel like it was real.

My heart broke for Klaus when Lyla’s betrayal was discovered. It made me love him even more, when after all of the hurt she caused him he still stood up for her.

Kevin! I loved him! He was the perfect little brother and made for a fun supporting character.

I gave this 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 because of the originality of the magic and the dreamy town of Yule.

I mean I didn’t expect magic but ok?

This story follows Mason and Lyla, two co-owners of a toy company that despise each other (what a surprise). After a Christmas party gone wrong, Mason asks Lyla to accompany him home to serve as a buffer between him and his family.

Enter jingle bells and magic portals. Even though I was expecting at least one of the characters to have a Christmasy name (Mason Klaus but let me just roll my eyes real quick at Lyla Smurfit) I did not expect him to actually be Santa. He lives at the North Pole in the town of Yule and is managing Christmas along with his family, but now is expected to pick up from his father who passed away.

First off, yay for LGBTQ+ and disability rep. I loved the Klauses and their dynamic, but unfortunately I loved it more than the main couple. One of the things that didn’t click for me was the lack of chemistry between Lyla and Mason. Their dialogue was dry, their banter was lukewarm and their personalities neither crashed nor completed each other.

The description of the town was mesmerizing and it painted a fantastic picture of merry, happy, jolly atmosphere and the way things were done to secure Christmas’ success were fresh and very progressive.

Overall it was a cute and festive read, but I wouldn’t say it’s a romance to remember.

“How could one kiss throw me so off balance?”

Thank you Kate Callaghan and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Lyla’s father retired as CEO of the toy company which has been in their family for generations, she was meant to receive his shares. Instead, she discovers the company is bankrupt and her father has given her shares to Mason Klaus, an investor known in the corporate world for his cold and callous nature. Much to Lyla’s frustration, her only option is to run the company with him, despite their evident loathing for one another. When Mason cancels the annual Christas party, Lyla throws it anyway - only for the event of the season to result in a terrible fire. With the offices and Lyla’s credibility is ruin, Mason offers her a deal: he’ll forget her part in the disaster, but he must join his family for the twelve days of Christmas holidays.

If you love quick and easy reads, with tropes like rivals to lovers and forced proximity, then this is the book for you! I personally wish there would’ve been a little more world and romance building as well as at least an epilogue to see what happens the following year. It was a still a cute Christmas story, but the romance was just sprinkled in. I rated “The Naughty and Nice Clause” 3 ⭐️‘s.

I need a sequel to this or something because I 👏🏻 NEED 👏🏻 MORE!!! This was such a wonderful Christmas story and I didn't want it to end 🎅🏻 I loveeee the Klaus family and all of Yule ✨️ I think Mason and Lyla make such a cute couple but I need more of them. It was giving Hallmark romance vibes (with some spice)...ya know the build up and then as soon as their together or whatever the credits start rolling 😮‍💨 I want to know how things pan out and what her role is in Yule and all of the things!!! I also loved that Lyla owned a toy company 🤖

When Lyla's father retires from his position at the top toy company, Lyla seems to think she will inherit it all. However, he reveals that the company is broke and needing an investor to share management with - who comes in the form of Mason Klaus. Certified Christmas Scrooge, one of Mason's top jobs is cancelling the company wide Christmas party. A lover of the festive season, Lyla pays for a last minute celebration - only for it to end in flames. With the offices and Lyla’s credibility ruined, Mason offers her a deal: he’ll forget her part in the disaster, but she must join his family for the twelve days of their Christmas holidays.

While in the beginning, I was a little worried that this would be another 'office romance', I was immediately hooked the second we travelled to Yule. This read was chosen purely for the romantic Christmas HEA I love for this time of year, however I managed to find a beautiful mild Christmas fantasy that all of us have dreamed of.

Perfect for lovers of Christmas romance;
✔️ Rivals to Lovers
✔️ Forced Proximity
✔️ Christmas Grinch
✔️ M Falls First
✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ Plus size FMC

Mason and Lyla might possibly be one of my favorite Christmas couples. Their extreme opposites gave them a realness that can sometimes be missing from these HEA still novels. All of his 'Grinchiness' was well and truly warranted, and perfectly explained in a fantastic, yet exciting way. I found myself wanting to visit the town of Yule, the world building and descriptions were strong I felt like I had stepped out of my Summer Christmas, into a gorgeous Winter Wonderland. All of the extra characters were well written and blended so well with both of our MC's and we even had disability and LGBTQI+ representations that didn't feel like a social afterthought. This is definitely one to add to your Christmas reading list.

Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year and this book definitely help set the mood with a fun and exciting story! Lyla and Mason work as co-CEO's at Lyla's grandfathers toy company - and they LOATHE one another. When a series of events in the office force Lyla to help Mason with a favour - she finds herself transported to the North Pole to help Mason work through some family drama.

I won't go too far into the plot as I don't want to spoil one bit. Some pieces of the plot were expected and others not so much which made this a really pleasant surprise. I loved the magical fantasy aspect of the book tied in with a little bit of romance. This is your classic enemies to lovers and let me tell you - it is a slow burn (in the best way!) I do find that the ending was a bit abrupt - but really, what classic Hallmark Christmas story doesn't end this way.

I was constantly finding myself wanting to continue reading to find out where Lyla and Mason's story was headed and with the book being so well written it was hard not to put down. Definitely a nice, light and easy read and the perfect book to cozy up with by the tree. Overall, I definitely recommend the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and and Kate Callaghan for the ARC copy - what a treat!

If you’re after a fun, slightly silly, Christmas story with a sprinkle of spice and a happy ending this could be the read for you.

Mason Klaus is ruining Lyra’s Christmas. As the new CEO of her father’s company, he has banished Christmas spirit with cost saving measures that have even included cancelling the Christmas party. Lyra stages a rebellion and hosts a secret party at the office once Mason has left. Disaster hits the office when a fire breaks put and Mason is furious.

The feuding pair clearly fancy the pants off each other despite the fact that they appear to have nothing in common. The problem is amplified when Mason takes Lyra back home with him for Christmas. Mason needs her to pretend to be his girlfriend, in return Lyra will get her business back how she wants it.

Somehow, she is magically whisked to a secret Christmas village where it turns out that the Klaus family have got some pretty big festive secrets of their own.

This is a fun escapism that would make a perfect Hallmark style Christmas movie. I wasn’t a hundred per cent convinced by the romance between Lyra and Mason, but the Klaus family are fantastic, so it didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the book. This is definitely one to snuggle up under a blanket with over the holidays.

Thanks to Netgalley for my gifted digital copy.