Both Winnie and Kallum spent their formative years under the spotlight, her the darling of an inspirational (Read: religious) movie studio and him as the least popular member of a hit band. When he took a photo of her he where thought she looked cute, it gets tossed into the media world completely out of context. Just one of the ways her reputation is tarnished with through no fault of her own.

Fast forward, she's left the cheating husband she’d been pushed towards all those years ago and rebuilding her life and career on her terms. First step is a racy movie, costarring none other than Kallum who is weighing decisions about the future of his pizza empire against trying to revive his own fame.

Like I said after reading book one - this one is also “Fun, flirty, a little bit dirty” …more than a little bit, honestly!
More than that, it is also a well-deserved middle finger to purity culture, and love letter to all who have been through it and come out the other side (no little thanks to some education and a lot of therapy)
And even though this one surprised me with a trope I normally avoid like the plague - not saying which because it’s a spoiler - I still regret nothing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper voyager for the arc!

Absolutely loved this story! Julie and Sierra have magic in their fingers to be able to write easy, sexy, and gut wrenching stories! These characters come to life in their books with real issues, funny characters, and enough sexy times to make your heart race!
Kallum was just as awesome as when we first met him in the first book. Winnie was so naive and held back from her controlling family and just wants to figure out life for once on her own terms. Kallum was eagerly along for the ride and made her feel safe and wanted.
The secondary characters were of course awesome and were great to see again. Can’t wait to see if there may be another Christmas Notch book in the works!

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Very enjoyable read, I liked it even more than the first in the series. This is the story of Winnie Baker, a former child star from a very conservative upbringing who is now divorced, the absolute SHAME of her family. She decides to film a movie which some might construe as just this side of Skinemax. That's okay, she's up for it, and so is Kallum, a former boy band member who is playing Santa Claus, of course.

Do they fall in love? Of course they do. Are there angsty plot twists? Of course! Is there pizza? Why, yes, there absolutely is. There is even a dog in this. book, so you know you've got me hooked!

A fun read, just in time for the holidays. Enjoy!

A Holly Jolly Ever After is a downright fun read, featuring smutty Christmas movies and the former child actors who star in them. Once again, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone dive into a world where steamy holiday movies are a joy, even while they upend the love lives of their stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Winnie was good girl child star, and played by all the rules her parents and her producers set for her. Now divorced, she’s acting in a spicy Santa biopic to save her career. Former boy band member and current pizza entrepreneur Kallum figures he has nothing to lose by taking on the title role in the steamy origin story. But when Winnie has a tough time acting out some of the pleasure she’s never experienced in real life, Kallum steps up to help her out. For research only, of course. No way any real feelings, or Kallum’s decade-long crush on her could interfere with these professional endeavors.

I loved this return to zany Christmas Notch! Kallum and Winnie are a great opposites attract relationship. The contrast between Kallum’s laid back approach and Winnie’s overthinking is distinct, as well as their different experiences with fame. Their sizzling chemistry keeps the story going, whether they are rehearsing scenes or visiting everyone’s favorite adult entertainment venue, The North Pole.

I knew I’d like the heat and humor in this book, as these authors are experts with this combination. But, I was unprepared for how much I appreciated both the Jewish representation, and the deep dive into purity culture. Kallum’s Jewish heritage is an important aspect of who he is, and offers a different perspective in a Santa-themed book. And, Winnie’s attempts at undoing a lifetime of “purity values” and misogyny is a tough one. It’s hard to learn to stand up for yourself when the people around just want you to follow their rules.

My only complaint is that my least favorite trope shows up mid-story; it works for this plot, but not for me personally. This book is a follow up to the fabulous A Merry Little Meet Cute, but it easily works as a standalone. (And Slice, Slice Baby is my favorite name for a pizza restaurant ever.)

A Holly Jolly Ever After is a fantastic steamy holiday romcom. If you like well developed characters and a few surprisingly serious topics woven into your holiday humor and spice, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone have written your perfect holiday romance.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.5 stars. Overlong. Could have trimmed at least 50 pages off.
The first half was great but then slammed on the brakes. It felt strongly of two author syndrome.

The epilogue was unnecessary. It didn't even feature our main characters just some c-roll ones that I had a hard time even remembering who they were.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. This review will appear on Goodreads.
I saw these authors in a publisher zoom event recently and was charmed by the book title and description. I wasn’t braced, however, for the spice level. I don’t read a lot of rom coms and fewer Christmas books still, but I throw a few of each every year to keep ahead of things for my patrons.
This one is cute, fun and very spicy. Way beyond what I personally look for in a Christmas read of any kind.
I was a little turned off that it was made to be a Christmas read but is definitely a graphic romance.
3* story
2* shock value
A little to spicy for my taste.

Premise:

Winnie Baker, a former child star with no career prospects after her divorce, is tapped to play the lead in a Hope Channel (After Dark) Christmas movie alongside former boybander and current pizza franchise owner Kallum Lieberman, who will be playing a sexy Santa Claus. The problem is, Winnie has no idea how to go about being sexy on camera...

My review:

I loved the concept of an inadvertently sexy Hallmark movie in A Merry Little Meet Cute, and it seems so did the world at large because now Hope Channel is putting out a softcore Santa biopic (complete with magical peppermint cum) which I think is just inspired.

Winnie grew up in a conservative, Christian environment and was a child star which resulted in her loved ones and the media expecting her to maintain this perfect, god-honoring image. She's recovering from purity culture and has never experienced sexual pleasure due to internalized shame and one terrible partner. Enter Kallum, serial bridesmaid fucker and fresh from a leaked (and later licensed) sex-tape. After an awkward fake orgasm on set, Winnie requests sex lessons from Kallum at first to find her own pleasure, and then it rapidly evolves into them hooking up on the reg.

Similar to Winnie's sexual awakening, she also has this moment of questioning the compulsory heterosexuality she was raised with (at a Christmas-themed strip club lol), and while it didn't go much further than that, I did like the call out.

I liked Kallum more than I was expecting. I'm not usually a fan of himbo heroes, but his easygoing nature and unconditional acceptance of Winnie as she is was lovely to read. He's never infantilized the way some heroes of this persuasion are; a decent portion of the narrative is about him learning to own up to shit he wouldn't have in the past. I also liked the dad bod rep— body diversity in heroes is even rarer than with heroines, so reading about a man who is big, has a belly, and can absolutely get it was a nice change of pace.

I really liked the friendship between Kallum, Nolan, and Isaac. Male friendships is something I don't see often in romance novels. They've been through a lot and are often separated from each other, but they still have the kind of relationship that allows them to hit each other up after months of no communication, and then an hour later they're crying together about unrequited love.

In terms of conflict, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the second half waiting for the ex-husband or Winnie's uber-conservative parents to fuck shit up, but what we got instead was this really interesting moment of delayed uncertainty on Winnie's part regarding the suitability of Kallum as a long-term partner. I wasn't entirely sold on the inciting incident that caused Winnie's doubts, but it felt like such a valid fear and overall, Sierra and Julie did a good job of exploring the potential perils of a himbo partner.

The sex:

I loved reading about Winnie experimenting with masturbation and figuring out what worked for her. It was written in a way that was curious and joyful despite her delayed sexual exploration thanks to being entrenched in purity culture for so long. Basically, the Peppermint Stick vibrator was the gingerbread-scented hand lotion of this book (iykyk).

And once Winnie finally gets going, she and Kallum can't be stopped. There's a subtle emphasis on p-in-v sex not being the be-all-end-all (or a given, at first) which kinda fit the vibe of Winnie's almost high school-esque sexual experimentation with Kallum. Later on, there is, in fact, the rare contemporary romance butt stuff (do I think there should have been pegging at some point? perhaps).

Overall:

I had a lot of fun reading this Christmas-themed romance! It was sweet and sexy, and I look forward to reading the next book which I'm guessing is about Tragic Widower Who Assumes His Late Wife Wanted Him To Have That Threesome, Isaac Kelly.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Rating: 4.5/5

This series is adorable and filthy and I love Julie Murphy so very much. (Sorry Sierra- I’ve only read the two- I’m sure I love you too)

I almost had a hard time powering through the prologue and thought it was going to be too much- trying to jam every single woke point all at once. But glad I kept going.

Having not read the previous book by these authors, I didn't quite know what to expect. I don't feel like I was missing anything (other than more of Nolan's story) but I wasn't expecting the level of the sex scenes to be quite so explicit. It went well with the story and wasn't overkill but I had to get over a bit of my prudishness. :) Winnie and Kallum were great characters for this story. I enjoyed the holiday theme and the idea of a naughty Hallmark style Christmas movie. Highly recommend this one & I hope to read the next one when it comes out.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

A Holly Jolly Ever After by S. Simone and J. Murphy, co-written by both authors, this is the second holiday rom/com after A Merry Little Meet Cute. The book is published by Avon and Harper Voyager.
Kallum is an ex-boy band member, witty and fun, always a goodtimeguy, about to star in a biopic.
Winnie has had the perfect life that just fell apart. She has to start over. So why not participate in a christmas movie.
Kallum and Winnie have known each other for a long time with Kallum having a crush on her and Winnie catching feelings herself.
An highly entertaining witty and fun, flirty read.

She’s a former child star fallen from grace. He’s a former boy band member who now owns a small chain of pizzerias. They both sign on to be the leads in a soft core Christmas film. She’s so awkward with it, that he agrees to be her tutor.
This is a hot romance story about learning to trust and being a dependable and responsible adult. The characters are very likable. They’ve got their problems, but lots of redeeming qualities too. You can’t help, but root for them to work things out. And, let’s just say that things get very steamy between them. Christmas is a minor character in this story. It’s really just a backdrop, so don’t look for it to play a big role in the plot. I’d call it an adult coming-of-age love story. Definitely for those who like their romance novels on the more passionate side. 4 stars

A Holly Jolly Ever After is the second book of the A Christmas Notch series of interconnected standalones. It isn’t necessary to read the first book but I highly recommend! This was a fun and super spicy holiday read and I loved being back in this world. Child star, Winnie, is trying to get back on her feet after leaving her ex husband when she is hired for a spicy Christmas movie. Only problem one problem…she is from a very religious background and has very little experience in the bedroom. Kallum is an ex rockstar and agrees to help Winnie with her little problem. I loved Winnie and Kallum together. Their chemistry and relationship growth were everything I was hoping for. It was beautiful to watch Winnie’s personal growth and to see her learn to love herself. Kallum was such a golden retriever and so sweet and I loved that he had a “dad bod” and isn’t the typical “muscle man” you typically read about in romance books. The only draw back I found with this book was that the ending felt a little rushed. But, overall, it was a great story and I highly recommend!

I did not read the first book in this series and didn't feel like I had missed much except how steamy this book was going to be. I go back and forth between enjoying so much sex on the page and this was a little bit more than I could enjoy at this point in my life but this was still a really interesting story.
Winnie Baker was a shining star of the Hope Channel. She married young, kept Hollywood thin, was a beloved TV character but her marriage still failed. Her husband has convince her that it was all her fault (of course.) Now, having gained a little wait and a very little courage, Winnie is ready to star in a slightly naughty movie for the Hope Channel's steamier side.
Kallum Lieberman was part of a boy band growing up. He was the only one who didn't get a solo deal with the group split up and has settled into a life running a number of pizza parlors and having sex with any number of bridesmaids. He is all in on starring in this movie. Too bad Winnie seems so hesitant. When she asks for help with some homework so that she can convincingly have an orgasm on screen, Kallum is all in.

Four stars
This book comes out October 10, 2023
Follows A Merry Little Meet Cute
ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

3.5 stars

This was on track to be my favorite book of the series so far… and then the (accidental) pregnancy trope was thrown in. Part One and Part Two felt like separate books. Part One was amazing! Part Two not so much. The book kind of went downhill at the halfway point, though I did enjoy the last few chapters.

Winnie and Kallum had amazing chemistry! I loved the interactions between them. And I’m glad we got cameos from Bee, Nolan, Sunny, etc…

I think someone who doesn’t mind (or even enjoys) the pregnancy trope will love this book! I’m just not one of those people 🥲

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Fresh off of "Merry Little Meet Cute", the reader is reintroduced to Kallum and Winnie, who are now starring in their own holiday after dark movie. Winnie is a fall from grace child actor, who has decided to finally take the reigns of her own life. Kallum is the friendly "boy next door", who was also a teen pop idol...and he instantly falls for Winnie...again.
Winnie was his childhood crush and he can't believe his luck when he is finally able to be in a movie with her. Then, Winnie asks him to help her do research for certain scenes of the movie, and let's just say that things get spicier between them.
Now, both are caught in their feelings, and don't know if things will crumble or succeed.
The storyline for this second book in the series is what catches the reader's eye, and you fall in love with the main characters, and watch them try to figure out a way in their lives to have it all.

A Holly Jolly Ever After is the sequel to A Merry Little Meet Cute, which was one of my favorite books from last year. The return to Christmas Notch is cozy familiar from the first book, same setting and supporting characters, but definitely a different lead character vibe. I wasn't in love with Winnie; I couldn't identify with her as her issues were so foreign to me. I hate that she let assumptions derail her relationship w/Kallum, but what would a contemporary romance novel be without assumptions to drive the drama. I did appreciate her growth and change and how she gained the confidence to stand up for herself. I liked Kallum, and I appreciated how the authors wrote him to realize that his actions needed to match his true desires, and that his casual attitude wasn't really what he wanted to portray. Such great themes of found family and loyal friendships. Loved Kallum and Nolan's relationship - friends since middle school. This story also comes with a lot of raunchy, funny scenes. Just funny enough without going into absurd territory.
I feel this book is more enjoyable having read the first one, as not that much explanation is given on supporting character backgrounds and relationships. I hope these authors will continue their writing partnership and write more in this series.

Thank you to Avon via Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Hope After Dark is back to its unintentional match making antics! Winnie Baker is costarring in a steamy Christmas film with former pop star troublemaker Kallum Lieberman in an attempted rebrand. She no longer wants to be seen as the purity culture poster child from her childhood acting career. And then she realizes she can't just fake *certain things* due to her lack of experience... and who better to help her than her hunky costar.


I feel so torn with this one because of my conflicting opinions on the two halves. I was obsessed with the first half/part one. It was sexy and funny. The second half/part two, the pacing just felt a little off for me. I still enjoyed it! But I am just bummed that it didn't keep up with part one because I was livingggg for that. Overall, I definitely still recommend this one.

I didn’t read A Merry Little Meet. Cute before reading A Holly Jolly Ever After and I was able to dive right into this book. It was a bit chaotic, a lot Christmasy, and pretty spicy.

Winnie is ex childhood star who ends up filming a sexy Christmas movie with Kallum, an ex boy band member. She grew up religious and is trying to cope with the messages engrained in her from growing up in purity culture. She’s a good girl gone bad and is struggling filming this sexy movie when she asks Kallum for spicy lessons. And get this- Kallum has had a crush on Winnie for years. How could he ever resist?

A funny, spicy intro to the holiday season! Reading the first book will give you some context, but it's not necessary. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.