Thank you Netgalley and Kate Callaghan for allowing me the opportunity to read The Naughty or Nice Clause! It was so great and I'm so happy I was able to read it. I am starting my Christmas reading a little bit early this year, not that I don't read Christmas romances all year round, they are some of my favorites. This book was the very beginning of my holiday reading and what a great book to start with! Before I get to my review, let's start with the back cover description of the book.


Being Naughty Has Never Been So Nice!

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 Christmas 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 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.

Taken to a fantastical winter wonderland, Lyla hopes that she might discover some of the secrets Mr Klaus is hiding, and maybe even a way to get her company back. However, when Mason introduces her to the secret village as his fiancée, she is horrified to realise she has no choice but to go along with the pretence – because the cost of bringing an outsider to their magical land is far too high.

Can Lyla resist the devilishly handsome Mr. Klaus and the enchanting village to win back her company, or will she give into temptation?

⭐My Review⭐

If you love a cute, Christmas Hallmark-esque movies, (like I do🎄) then you will most definitely love this story!

-What I loved

There were so many things I loved about this story! I'm afraid of accidentally giving spoilers, so sorry in advance if I do! My favorite thing about this book, is honestly the setting. Let's just say there's a little magic involved. While they start out in the city, they end up somewhere amazing and beautiful and very, very far away!

I also really loved Mason's family. While they are grieving they are still so quick to show Lyla a lot of love and acceptance just for putting up with their moody son/brother. Mason's mom is super sweet, and I absolutely adored his brother and sister. I also loved how much Lyla's cat plays a part in the story. Because I love cats but can't have one of my own (allergies).

Lyla, after experiencing the loss of her mother, was so helpful and comforting to Mason's family while they are grieving their own loss. I feel like their shared experience really helped the family. I love that that level of emotion was in this story. It felt like it added another layer to the book.

Oh! And I really liked the spin on the traditional Christmas stories. I loved the idea that Santa doesn't actually bring presents but something different and super sweet instead.

The Naughty or Nice Clause didn't really have a lot that I didn't like. But for the sake of a good review, I can name just a few things.

-What I didn't love

I didn't always love Mason. He's kind of an asshole. Like, he's very hot and cold throughout most of the book and it was minorly getting on my nerves. But when he was being sweet, he was really sweet. Overall, in the end, I didn't dislike him as much so it's all good.

I also felt like both the beginning and the end of this story were very rushed. I felt like maybe one or 2 more chapters going through their daily working relationship would have been nice. Maybe starting it with the actual moment her father retires and sells her shares. Where Lyla meets Mason for the first time, then jump to the next year where the story starts. I feel like the story about her father selling her shares wasn't really told as much as hinted at throughout the book. I would have liked to read about their first meeting. Maybe that's just me though.

And if I had to beg for just one thing in this book it would be an epilogue!!!

I love a happily ever after. But I also like to know a little bit about where the characters end up after the ending. Do they get married? Do they have kids? Was Christmas in fact saved? And why couldn't I share in the Christmas magic!? I loved the place where Mason was from so much, and I would have adored hearing about what happens there on Christmas day! I was really missing that.

All in all, I loved The Naughty or Nice Clause! The setting is magical, the characters are mostly loveable, and the story was very cute. If your looking for a cute, easy Christmas read I highly recommend this book. If you're totally not into cutesy Hallmark-ish Christmas romances, I honestly don't even know why you're still reading this (But thank you!❤), because that is exactly what this book is. At the end of the day, I am so glad that I read it.

This book is a workplace, enemies to lovers trope. I really, really wanted to like it but to me it read like a cheesy hallmark movie (sorry, they’re not my fave😅). I couldn’t get myself to get into the story and I wasn’t crazy about Santa Claus being real. I couldn’t make it real in my mind. I just don’t think it was for me, but if you like romance books with fantastical themes you’ll probably like this one! I think I’m too much of a realist for it. Overall it wasn’t a bad story, just not for me.

I received an ARC for this book, and I went in with medium to high expectations. I loved the Christmas aspect of the book, it was a perfect read to get me in the holiday spirit. I just felt like the connection to the characters were missing, I actually even struggle to consider this a romance read...even though that is what it is meant to be.

It felt like a Hallmark movie. I cute Christmas story, but not much depth into the characters or the plot. I mean a Christmas enemies-to-lovers book is actually pure perfection.

I just want to say thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Swipe for the GoodReads synopsis.

This book was a quick, holiday read. I don’t normally read holiday books (usually because I am stressed out from school) but this was a fun take on one! What I enjoyed about this one was that it was a low fantasy romance. How Yule compared to what we think of the North Pole was a fun take!

Unfortunately, I wish there was more details in the book. The book was so short that I wished we could’ve had another 50 pages to flesh everything out. Even though this was low fantasy, I wish we still had some more magical things going on. Additionally, the romance didn’t seem very organic to me. I felt as though there wasn’t a lot of communication between Lyla and Mason.

Overall, the book was okay. I enjoyed the vibes of it the most and it made me excited for the holidays.

Thank you NetGalley and CallaghanWriter for my eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date 11/8/22

I had so much fun reading this book! For anyone that loves slow burn romance, enemies to lovers and fake dating, then this one is for you!

Klaus being a hard person to deal with, meant we were going to have to break through layers, before we saw any signs of his heart. Those opening scenes with Lyla showed us that she was caring, from the office party to ensuring drunk Klaus got home safely.

With the proposal to accompany Klaus back to his family’s home town, I really wasn’t expecting them to be teleported to a magical place. I honestly thought this might be some Christmas rom com set in New York - I don’t read blurbs going in blind. I liked that it was Dublin and Yule.

The side characters also made this story especially Mrs Klaus. I thought the whole back story of Mr Klaus passing really made everyone come together, realising differences can be set aside, the importance of family, but also allowed all characters to understand what’s important in life. All of them grew to love each other even though it was under and initial lie. They all brought out the best in each other whether it was the MCs or side characters.

This was a pleasure to read and perfect for Christmas season. Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for making this available as an ARC

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Naughty or Nice Clause. This book was an enemies to lovers Christmas romance. Lyla and Mason work together and don’t get along but when they are forced to spend the Christmas holiday in his magical hometown and fake date sparks are ignited.

I really loved the festive Christmas vibes this book gave. It was a fun modern spin on the Klaus family. I felt like I was in the middle of a Hallmark movie while reading this book. It was a little predictable but honestly, that’s what I love about Hallmark movies. Makes for a nice easy read that brings all the good holiday vibes! Although I would have liked a little more from the relationship between Mason and Lyla, I really enjoyed this book. It got me in the Christmas spirit!

Read if you like:
Enemies to lovers
Fake dating
Christmas vibes
Grumpy/sunshine
Magical Elements

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley, the publisher and everyone involved in allowing me early access.

TW: death of parent (off page), grief

“The naughty or nice clause” is a perfect book to get into the holiday spirit. Lyla, a young woman who loves Christmas, will find herself in Christmas land. I won’t give too much of it away, though, as I feel it’s best to discover this book knowing little about it.

I can say it’s a relatively short book (under 200 pages), it’s an enemies to lovers, with fake dating and is slow burn. It makes sense to be slow burn, as the characters need to overcome the hate part and since it’s a small story is a relatively fast read, cute for the holiday season.

This review will also be available on my Goodreads profile and, later, on my Instagram - @cat.literary.world

Lukewarm 3 Stars.
First of all, Suspend your sense of disbelief because magic is involved in this book.
Santa claus is real! Kinda of...a version of him, anyway .
To be honest, I think I wanted Lyla to struggle a bit more with believing what was happening. That being said, I was hesitant for the first 15ish % but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought. Maybe there could have been more romance in the story(?).
I don't know, it was cute overall but the romance was kinda missing in my opinion...

I loved the premise and the way that the characters interacted with each other. It was the perfect cozy romance to curl up with and I read it within one day. The only feedback I really have is that I would have liked a little more development with our two main characters. I felt like I knew a lot about them but not about what was going on in their heads. Overall I would recommend this one!

3.5 stars

This was very cute and although I expected more character development I still managed to enjoyed both the romance and the plot.
The overall plot was interesting and fun. I liked the twist on a story we all know about. It felt new and fun to read and if I'm honest, unexpected.
The romance was sweet and I liked it wasn't instalove yet the ending I wanted more.
Still this was a sweet heartwarming book perfect for the holidays.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book set up the story beautifully, who doesn’t love a festive romance with a hint of magic? However, the romance aspect didn’t quite reach my expectations as it seemed to go from 0 to 100 quickly as opposed to a more realistic progression from hate to love. The writing style also confused me at times with Lyla’s thoughts being in the first person but the main narrative being in third person.

From what we are told about the characters, they were generally lovable (especially Kevin and Mrs Klaus!), however some more character development would’ve been great in order to truly understand them. Especially for Lyla, as all we truly know about her is that she lost her mum and wants to take over the company that’s been in her family for generations.

Overall, the shortcomings of this novel could’ve been avoided if it had been longer with more development of the characters and plot, but I still enjoyed the Christmas vibes that it provided.

A sweet fun Christmas story with good characters about A town called Yule anddifferent take on Santa Clause.
About finding the family connection you lost.
A easy read.
Voluntarily reviewed

A great festive read to put you in the mood for Christmas! If you like Hallmark movies, this is a book for you! The characters were a lot of fun and I enjoyed the banter between Lyla and Mason. Definitely one for your December TBR list!

**Thank you to Kate Callaghan and NetGalley for allowing me to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest reviewer!**
This was such a fun read! I’m pretty hard to please when it comes to Christmas books and there are very few that I can truly say that I enjoyed. This book I very truly enjoyed! It was a fun read from start to finish. I really enjoyed the family aspect of this book as well. It was so heartwarming to see how Mason’s family welcomed Lyla into the family. I didn’t really read the full summary before I started reading because I wanted to be surprised. I’m glad I did because it was a lot of fun to be surprised. I was hoping that she would end up going home with him for Christmas, and there’s something so funny about spending the holidays with someone that does not enjoy Christmas! I really encourage you to read this book if you enjoy Christmas books and are a fan of fun romcoms! It was impeccably written and I had such a fun time reading it.

I felt this book was a little too cliche for my taste. It also required a suspension of disbelief that I was not comfortable with giving.

This was a very cute, though mildly predictable, holiday read. If you enjoy movies like The Santa Clause or Elf, I think you will enjoy this book! It has plenty of Christmas magic, perfect for anyone who is a kid at heart, wanting to believe in all of the joy the holiday season brings!

It was an enemies to lovers romance, which is a trope I enjoy reading, but it wasn't overly heavy on the romance. It was just kind of sprinkled into the story, which was fine with me. Overall, it was a cute story that I'm glad I picked up this holiday season. A very quick read as well as I finished it in less than 24 hours!

It is probably my biggest pet peeve when a book gets marketed incorrectly. Sure this could’ve been a romance. But who decided to publish this? I’m confused

This book is a tough read with unlikeable characters. Not my favorite holiday read and wouldn't recommend it to anyone!

3.5

This is a sloooooow burn.
Like really slow burn, if that isn't your thing then I suggest skipping this one.

I really liked Yule, I thought It was a nice fresh take on Santa Claus and Christmas.

I loved the found family trope, Mason's family were lovely I enjoyed watching them reconnect after so long.

I really wished we got Duel pov, I think seeing Mason's thoughts would have made their relationship more believable.

An epilogue would have tied this all up nicely, seeing how their relationship worked, what happened to Natalie, how they managed Christmas, just something a little extra would have felt more complete.

Over all enjoyed TNONC it just felt like something was missing.

Special thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review

Seriously good! This book was a fantastic romantic comedy, made even better with the holiday spin. I loved it!