Along Came Holly by Codi Hall was a cute holiday romance book.

Quote: "That as long as he had breath in his lungs, he'd do everything in his power to keep every part of her safe, especially her heart".

When I first started reading this book I thought that the names were a little too much considering some of the names were Merry, Holly, Nick and Noel. However, after a few pages they started to grow on me. I completely understood that they truly matched the holiday romance and weren't annoying.

The story takes place during winter in a small town called Mistletoe. It takes place during the holiday season, leading up to christmas. The whole town loves to decorate for Christmas and celebrate big time.
Holly Winters owns the jolliest holiday shop and is known for going all out with her home Christmas display. She also happens to be the neighbor of the Grinchy Declan Gallagher, the owner of the hardware store next door, who also happens to despise anything Christmas-y. She hits a hiccup when she is in a desperate rush to hire someone to set up her display but everyone seems to be busy. She finds herself hiring her neighbor and as much as he despises all the christmas-y stuff, he’s willing to do it because she is going to pay him. But one kiss changes everything.

I couldn't get enough of the main characters and the plot was cute. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to get on the holiday spirit and was a slow burn with some spice.

I want to thank Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me this ARC, thank you NetGalley for accepting my request and thank you Codi Hall for writing this book.

This book is perfect for fans of You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle.
Holly needs the help of her rival and store neighbour Scrooge, Declan. The money is too good for him to pass up and soon enough, he finishes setting up Hollys holiday light display. The two slowly find themselves beginning to like each other, even though they think they shouldn’t.
I gave this book 4/5 stars because it isn’t quite the same as romance books that I have given five stars. It did not have any grand romantic gestures, but it was still good. I really liked the characters and the setting of the book. Its set in a small Christmas town. This book also has some of my favourite tropes which are enemies to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, and small town. I would recommend this book to others. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

A sweet Christmas book with enemies to lovers and cheesy romance. I did find this to be an okay read, I could easily delve into it, but there wasn’t much there. If you’re looking for a light Christmas read to add onto your list for the holidays, you could pick this one up.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca & NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was so excited to read the third book in the Mistletoe Romance series, and I think Declan and Holly’s love story is my favorite!

Holly is the baby of the Winters family siblings, and she is super outgoing and fun. She owns a holiday shop in Downtown Mistletoe & spends her spare time filming for her social media platforms. Next door to Hollys shop is the Hardware store, run by Declan who is her complete opposite. He’s moody, and closed off; and the two of them do nothing but bicker. As their arguments turn heated; they end up in an all out prank war. But at some point they will have to issue a cease fire; and what will happen when they start to realize they actually enjoy spending time together?

Their love story was definitely a slow burn, of enemies to lovers, and it was executed so perfectly! The progression of their relationship felt very natural and real. I also loved that we got to see so many other familiar Mistletoe faces; including Merry, Clark, Nick, and Noel.

I’ve really enjoyed this series, and I think this third book has easily been the best one! Some of the things I enjoyed were
-short chapters
-mild spice
-the friend group
-small town

This is hands down my favorite series of Christmas Romances! I loved that this book didn't have the typical "boy meets girl, they fall in love, some big incident happens that breaks them apart, there's a grand gesture, and they live happily ever after" plot. I'm so fond of the group of characters in this series, and I really hope the author continues with Pike, Tony, and Sam's stories.

I was so excited to get approved for this ARC as I loved the previous two books in this series. This one didn't grab me as quickly as I had hoped and took me a little bit of time to get into, but I thoroughly enjoyed the witty banter, friendly rivalry, and romance between Declan and Holly, and the lovable characters and charming setting. Codi Hall does a great job immersing you in Mistletoe, Idaho, and the Christmas spirit, no matter what time of year you actually read the book.

This is a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers story and I did feel that a lot of time in the first half of the book was spent on building some background to the relationship between Holly and Declan, and while that was important for the plot, I did feel that it really slowed the forward movement of the plot too much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the digital ARC. My review is honest and voluntary.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Along Came Holly by Codi Hall!

Another rom-com-Christmas read. Still enjoyable steamy flirty and good. Solid hallmark Christmas vibes.

This latest Winters love My favorite new tradition is listening to a Codi Hall Christmas book while prepping for the holidays. This latest Winters love story didn’t disappoint. Fun, quirky, and heartwarming didn’t disappoint. Fun, quirky, and heartwarming.

I've enjoyed Codi Hall's other books set in Mistletoe following the Winters family, so I was pleased that this was also a quick, enjoyable Christmassy read. We follow Holly who doesn't get along with her neighbor Declan, owner of the hardware store in town; he gets upset when he hears her Christmas music and she gets upset when he stomps over and complains. They eventually become friends and then more, and their story is a fairly predictable "enemies" to lovers trope. What I enjoy most about this series is how Christmassy the town and overall atmosphere feel. I will say we see a lot less of the extended family in this one than I remembered from past books, which I was a bit disappointed by, and some of the dialogue also felt a bit forced and unrealistic. There was no third-act breakup which I typically love, but in this story it was a bit underwhelming because there was no conflict to wrap the story up, so it felt a bit uneventful as a whole. This was a decent Christmas rom-com though, so I would recommend it if you're a fan of the series!

In love! this was amazing, I love the side characters, the enemies to lovers forced proximity romance, and the neighbors noseyness.

Enemies to lovers- Christmas Sunshine & grumpy Scrooge.

Miss Holly Sunshine owns a Seasonal shop in Mistletoe, Idaho right next door to Mr. Grumpy Scrooge the hardware store owner. A prank war starts between the two and then sparks start to fly. I really loved this book. I laughed out loud numerous times and cried so many happy tears. I'll definitely be adding this book to my collection.

I love a good romance, and this one was wonderful! It had witty banter, and lovable characters. I was rooting for them the whole way through!

I didn’t love this but it wasn’t bad. I liked their banter and relationship with each other. However, there was a bus load of other characters and their interactions discussed. This always overwhelms me and diverts the focus from the main characters.

Holly was a very interesting female character and I really enjoyed reading about her. She was very dynamic.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

A holiday rom com where Holly, who owns a Christmas store in - wait for it- Mistletoe- finds a frenemy in Declan, who has come home to help his father in his hardware store, This is one trope after another but regrettably, at least for me, its also frenetic in spots and a bit annoying. I have a hard time believing that small business owners would engage in a prank war, among other things, Thanks to netgalley for the ARC,. This might make a good movie.

Along Came Holly" is a fun read in regards to it having components of the Enemies to Lovers trope and Sunshine x Grumpy trope. This could totally be a Hallmark Christmas movie, but in a good way! I loved the modern tech that's included in the story to make the story seem as if it really could be someone's story irl.

This is a 3.5 star read for me. I haven’t read the other books in the series and that didn’t have much of an impact except that I love the characters so much I’ll probably go back and read the others. If cheesy holiday romance is up your alley, this is definitely worth a read.

This jolly season read is sure to melt even the grinches frozen heart. Fun and flirty, Holly Winters is the spitfire you d woman we all never knew we needed.

She does it all — running. YouTube channel of wild stunts dressed as nothing better than an elf, and even running a storefront of seasonal gifts in her cozy town of Mistletoe, ID. Now Declan, returning to help his father, happens to be working the hardware store next door. He is the perfect definition of grumpy-sunshine as she does not like Christmas.

Their story starts when she happens to play her music too loud. It only starts a prank war between the two — which. I could definitely see happening. Between all of the pranks and jokes, they fall together, try to pull apart and fail miserably as they keep gravitating right back to one another. He’s the only handyman — she needs his help!

The maturity may not be 100% there but nonetheless I really enjoyed the story and the way it was written out as a whole to be light hearted, humorous and cute. This is the most recent in the series — I did not need to read the previous books to understand or grasp this novel.

A fun and flirty winter romance, Along Came Holly is the third book about the Winters siblings from Codi Hall. A definite treat to read that has me going back to read the first two. Four stars!

*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of "Along Came Holly" by Codi Hall in exchange for an honest review.

Eh, where do I even start?

Holly Winters, third and youngest of the Winters family of Mistletoe, ID, is looking for a change. She's made a decent amount of money as a YouTuber; her character Holly the Adventure Elf does Jackass-style stunts while she's... dressed as an elf. Now, she wants to rebrand, because she (correctly) believes that she can't maintain that shtick forever. Meanwhile, she ALSO owns a gift shop thing called "A Shop for All Seasons" where she sells seasonal stuff. Because of course she does. This girl can do it all, except for long-term relationships. She doesn't do those because they are boring.

Meanwhile, Declan Gallagher is also at a crossroads in his life. He returned to Mistletoe to care for his father after his dad broke a hip. He stayed longer because Dad is also in the early stages of Alzheimer's. So Declan shelves his career as an artist to run the family hardware store and do odd jobs around town to make ends meet. Also of note: Declan hates Christmas because "emotional baggage."

The gift shop and hardware store share a wall, and when Holly turns up her Christmas music too loud for Declan's liking, this somehow sets off a prank-style feud between them. Because as adults and business owners, that's the most logical and appropriate way of settling things. Over the course of this feud, they realize they have the hots for each other. They call a ceasefire and start hooking up (no strings attached, naturally). Then after some silly jealousy stuff, they decide to add strings and live happily ever after.

You may have gotten the impression that I didn't enjoy this story. You would be correct. The plot gets its jump start from the prank war, but once that ends, the story relies on a few other external events to move the plot forward. Holly and Declan progress through their relationship development NOT because they want to spend time together, but because they are constantly thrown together (He's the only handyman in town and she DESPERATELY needs his help putting up her Christmas display! They're in the same wedding party so they get thrown together over and over!)

There's no emotional maturity to be found. Anywhere. Not in Holly, not in Declan, and not in the enormous cast of supporting characters. The prank war is a pretty good example of this. It would be one thing to start off with this childish behavior and see emotional maturity develop over time, but that doesn't happen.

The big final conflict, the one that forces the couple into deciding to make things forever, is only that Holly's guy friend Sam decides to provoke Declan's jealousy. He gets extra handsy AND accuses Declan of only being after Holly's money. Holly is not aware of any of Sam's machinations; she's always been physically (but platonically) affectionate with him and didn't hear what Sam said. Declan gets ticked off and THAT'S what finally pushes him to decide to change his plans and commit to Holly long term. Again, just like mature, responsible adults. It's not (only) because he sees potential and room for growth in their relationship; it's because he's manipulated into confronting his feelings.

I wasn't a fan of the writing style either. I annotated a number of awkward bits, but here's a prime example. Holly is short (duh, elf) and Declan is tall (duh, romance novel man). In discussing her famous temper, Declan has this exchange with another character:

"Please, I can handle your pint-size sister-in-law." Declan held his hand up below his chest. "She comes up to here on me."
"Which makes her the perfect height to high kick you into a eunuch," Clark said, wincing as it pained him to even mention the possibility.
.
The phrase "high kick you into a eunuch" makes me wince too, but not for the same reasons. I wonder if an editor somewhere really thought this was the best to to say "Holly could still castrate you with a well-aimed kick."

At times, I was confused by the cast of supporting characters. I considered reading the preceding two books to have a better understanding of "Along Came Holly" but I decided against it. As always, I want to add that just because *I* didn't love this book doesn't mean that no one will. Preferences and priorities vary, so if you just want a wacky, no-thinking-required, holiday romance, maybe this story will work for you. It was just not my cup of cocoa.

Recommended for folks who enjoy prank wars, stories with boisterous friends groups, and fans of goofy holiday romances.