This was adorable and spicy and I couldn't put it down. I loved that each character had something to work on, it makes their books so much more believable. I'm never bored of these books because the full cast of characters is so amazing and intriguing. I can't wait for book 3!

In this second book in the Christmas Notch series, actress Winnie Baker has decided to reinvent herself after her seemingly perfect life and marriage have fallen apart. Despite trying to do everything right (mainly meaning doing everything her parents and husband have wanted), she's recently divorced and struggling with her next steps. Since her "wholesome" brand has already been tainted, she decides to really lean into the scandal by agreeing to star in a raunchy Christmas movie.

Kallum Lieberman (the "K" from the hit boy band INK) has opened a small but successful chain of pizza parlors and spends his time having flings with bridesmaids at friends' weddings. Although he's mostly happy with his life, he jumps at the chance to star in a sexy Santa movie, despite his family's objections. As filming begins, the chemistry between Kallum and Winnie quickly heats up even more off-screen.

This is the second book in the series, but I do think it can be read without having read the first one--although some of the minor characters and side plots might be a tad confusing. The book has the same signature spice as the first from this duo, although since Winnie was raised in a religious background, she is discovering pleasure for the first time with Kallum, so there's a lot of instruction involved in those scenes. Given Winnie's background, I felt like the sex between the two of them moved a bit fast. My other quibble is about Winnie's narcolepsy--there's a lot of internal dialogue regarding how she deals with her condition, but at no point does she ever bring this up to Kallum. The book was a little long and the end could have wrapped up a bit more quickly and neatly, but overall, this was a fun, sex-positive romp that readers of these authors' previous books will enjoy.

A fun and spicy holiday romance from the crack team of Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. I hope these two write more books together!

Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone are at it again! More spicy, fun, and addicting romance with the sweetest twists - fans will love!

Very cute and spicy!! I loved the first one so much and loved this one too! I knew it would be good after reading the first one!! I do feel like there were some plot holes and some things that were mentioned but never mentioned again but overall i enjoyed this book so much!

Unlike the first book in this series, I was not as surprised (shocked) by some of the graphic sex content - which is not really graphic but touches on some things that I have never heard about and have to look up (cue the interesting search history on my devices) - compared to the first book in this series where I went in expecting something very different. Like the first book, I really truly enjoyed the story and the characters. Because there are some really interesting characters, and the development of our main POV characters was well done. You get a feel for who they are right from the start, and also what their hangups are that the will have to overcome to mature and develop as people. I was rooting for Kallum from the outset even though he did have a bit of a little boy maturity thing going on. It seemed a shame that he didn't see himself in a positive way despite everything that he had done and the fact that the people around him truly adore him. Winnie was also a wonderful person, but I did find I took longer to warm up to her. Probably because I felt like she was using Kallum at the beginning. Sure, he was enjoying himself, but ....

The story moves well. The characters are well done. All in all well written too. And the love story did not feel too contrived, although no surprises for me. We get some more of the other minor folks from Bee and Nolan's story and a hint of what may be covered in book 3. My one complaint is that I feel like Kallum could have made his pizza parlour success happen within the whole (no spoilers!) Winnie relationship, and that he was the one who made a lot more sacrifices in the end to make their relationship work.

If you liked the first book in the series, then you'll definitely enjoy this one. I liked it a tad better than book 1. If this is the first one in the series you're reading, while it can be a stand alone, be prepared for some of the character connections and the Teddy-Steph plot to be a bit confusing.

Sidebar: This is VERY different from Murphy's other books. It is very much MA.

Second sidebar: I really kind of want Hallmark to take a page from these books and step into a mature romance like these books have with the movies within the books. That would be kind of fun.

Filled with holiday quirks and lots of steamy passion. This Holly Jolly romcom is also filled with tons of heart that hit all the feels.

Kallum Lieberman is the “K” from when he was in the boy band INK. While his buddies, Nolan and Isaac both went on to have independent careers after the band disbanded, Kallum instead went on to become a pizza mogul and also stumbled into making a sex tape. Oops. After his buddy Nolan turned his life around on the Hope Channel making a Christmas movie, that same network reached out to Kallum when they started an after dark series and given his dive into on screen naughty times mixed with his INK fame, Hope felt Kallum was the perfect fit.

Who could possibly be his leading lady except Hope Channel’s fall from grace star than Winnie Baker herself. After divorcing her husband and being accused of cheating, Winnie is practically untouchable in the purity networks, but for the launch into a darker side…well she’s a perfect fit and she also happens to be Kallum’s teenage crush. Win and win.

These two are both adorable, while being super hot together. Here we have Kallum, who has led a typical boy band lifestyle, no permanent relationships or ever being considered for more than one night, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t wishing for more. Psst…he is, he just doesn’t know how to break his sycle.

Winnie is just the opposite, married young and has only been in one relationship. This is her chance to live a little and experience new things…like a hot man who can actually make her…well, you know. Boy does Kallum know how to make Winnie happy. Lucky girl.

While these two may have grown up very differently, they do share a lot of similar insecurities and experiences. They both grew up under a very public spotlight, so, for example, they both never went on proper dates…which is super cute. However, can a future really last outside of shooting their movie?

I loved returning to this world, but I will admit I did miss some of the colorful characters from Ray-Ray’s that came from knowing Bee, but obviously these two are different people and this is a new holiday story with its own set of problems and quirkiness. On the positive, we do get to meet Isaac, the “I” from INK, which I’m hoping means there will be a third book and will complete the full INK book ensemble.

This was an absolutely exceptional book and an amazing follow up to A Merry Little Meet Cute. I would love to see Murphy and Simone together forever as a writing duo, I could not pinpoint when one author's words started and anothers picked up!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for this eARC.

I think Julie and Sierra have really found their groove, because I liked the first one of these during last year's NetGalley Christmas in July, but I thought this one was even better.

Kallum (this year's former member of fictional boy band INK - he was the funny one) and Winnie (a former child actress and victim of purity culture trying to rebrand and reenter the acting world) are honestly so much fun to read about, especially in the first half of this book. They're in Christmas Notch to film a spicy hallmark-esque movie about young Santa trying to find his Mrs. Claus (would watch) and things are spicy both on screen and off. I especially loved Winnie coming to a different understanding of herself than she had growing up with a purity ring (and the absolute biggest loser as a husband). The second part of the book employs a trope I don't always love, but even that really worked for me here! Also, the cast of characters from the first book DO turn up here, always fun!

An actress used to scandal has to restart her career and a former boy band member are reunited years after a scandalous night that left them both in the media and years later they are about to work together on a spicy Christmas romcom! Kallum Lieberman used to be a boy band member but then his sex tape got leaked and now he owns a pizza chain and is also known as the guy that bridesmaids sleep with before they find the one. Kallum wants nothing more than to find The One, but no matter how many bridesmaids he sleeps with he is always going to. be the guy before The One. When his old sex tape gets leaked and goes viral and he is offered the role of sexy Santa for the Hope Chanel he can't say no. Winnie Baker was the good girl, she did everything right from marrying her childhood sweetheart to being the girl in all the home movies. Yet after one disastrous photo of her get wasted is leaked (by none other than Kallum) her image fell, and then her husband cheated on her, and now Winnie has to find a way to pay back the Hope Channel for her lost role in the movie. Yet Winnie is offered the role of Mrs. Claus and it would help get her back in the media and help her tell her side of the story that her ex-husband had created and bashed her. The only problem with staring in this sexy movie is that Winnie herself has never orgasmed or felt true pleasure.... but thankfully there is Kallum there to help her. Kallum's little secret is that Winnie Baker was his teenage crush, the one person whom he absolutely adored and watched all of her movies. Yet what started as just lessons soon blooms into something more but can these two make it work or will it be a complete flop? This was a pretty fun spicy Christmas rom com. Winnie is dealing with a lot, from dealing with religious guilt. to trying to live her new life and just trying to learn to open herself up again. Kallum had a lot of growing up to do in this movie but one thing is for sure, he was in love with Winnie for a long time and it was cute. Overall definitely add this to your Christmas tbr!

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Graphically steamy, very sex positive.

A Holly, Jolly Ever After tells a great story of two people growing up, becoming who they really want to be and taking responsibility for their own lives.

Winnie, freshly divorced and estranged from her parents who controlled her squeaky clean, purity pact childhood acting career. Kallum, fresh off his sex tape release and enjoying his re-found fame after his boy band INK went their separate ways.
The growth journey these two embark upon adds weight to the wacky holiday movie they are starring in together - a soft core Santa origin story, yeah you read that right!

Love the quirky cast of characters that revolve around the productions of Teddy Ray Fletcher for Hope After Dark and the charming town of Christmas Notch.

One quibble is that much discussion in Winnie’s head was her concern about her narcolepsy and its impact on her life, yet never in the book did she share this concern or condition with Kallum.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In A Holly Jolly Ever After, we watch recently divorced Winnie, determined to overcome the internalized shame of the “purity culture” she was raised in, find both herself and her unexpected match in former boy-band star Kallum, whose leaked sex tape made waves in act three of the first Christmas Notch novel, A Merry Little Meet Cute.

Personally, I enjoyed this novel so much more than its predecessor, in part because it somehow manages to achieve a nearly impossible (but utterly satisfying) balance between instantly spicy and slow-burn-ingly sweet. Every smutty scene was not only delicious, but also moved the plot forward in necessary and believable ways. What can I say? This book uses the "sex lesson" trope to perfection! Watching Winnie learn how to experience pleasure, how to ask for what she needs, and how to set boundaries was just...everything—gratifying, empowering, affirming. I loved every minute of it.

As for Kallum, all I can say is, "Yes," and “More, please.” Watching him grow into himself, from a man who vaguely wanted to find his ‘one’ into the man who was willing to work for her, was a treat. And I adore how he's described—with his dad bod, sexual confidence, and dancer's fluidity. It was beyond satisfying to watch as he discovers that being considered the 'funny and fat one' isn't a life sentence, and that the only thing keeping him in that role is insecurity. By the time he and Winne earn their HEA, I sincerely felt like they had *earned* it.

After a personal sense of disappointment with my first visit to Christmas Notch, this novel totally made up for it. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

This was a fun book, and I really enjoyed Winnie and Kallum (perfect spelling, no notes), as characters and as a couple. I also appreciated that because the action takes place over a longer time period than the previous title in the series did, both of them could grow and change as individuals, and their relationship had more space to evolve and deepen. Also, even though they only meet in passing years before the story opens, their history was significant and made for a more interesting backstory in the execution than the "these characters are secretly superfans of each other before they meet" setup of the previous book. Finally, I loved how the depiction of purity culture here doesn't gloss over how messed up it really is! A solid four stars, and I will now be buying the Luca and Angel novella to tide me over until book 3.

Kallum is a former boy-band star who now runs a pizza shop in his hometown. He’s ready to get back in the limelight when his old sex tape gets leaked. He has secretly crushed on Winnie. But she is a straight and narrow girl - living her life as a sort of Promise Keeper-like child star.
Neither of them have had anything approaching a normal or healthy childhood

WInnie has done everything by the book except, well, except for having an orgasm-- a bit of a drawback since she and Kallum are making a sex-filled Christmas movie. So she approaches Kallum for orgasm lessons. As you do. And then….

The side characters are quirky but we sure do recognize them: the aura lady screen writer; the guy who earnestly keeps watch over his dog on a nanny cam while on a shoot, the innkeeper who loves her job, but people/guests? Not so much. The MCs are complicated, funny and hot- and their scenes, hotter. The dialogue is sometimes laugh out loud funny. And the sexy bits are earthy and unrestrained. It is a fun but very erotic read.

But it isn’t all farce.There are some heavy issues that Kallum and Winnie are dealing with. Both of them growing up as child stars scarred them each in different ways. What resonated most for me was Winnie working though the shame she internalized by her fundamentalist religious background and the parents who inculcated her in that mindset. Her breaking out into a sexy movie and all that follows is an act of defiance and self discovery, self recovery.

This book is part of a series but it can easily be read as a standalone. But if you like this, do check out other titles by the duo Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I don’t think there’s anything to say other than mind blowing, show stopping, glorious, spectacular, ingenious etc etc. This book is such a beautiful and hilarious takedown of purity culture in the most anti purity culture way. It’s cutting and tender, with some of the most dynamic leads and secondary cast of characters I’ve read. Winnie and Kallum are so funny and so adorable together. Their dynamic goes from awkwardly attracted but cordial to supportive and loving in such a wonderful way. Loved it!

This was a fun continuation of the series by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. Both characters were very likable and had interesting journeys to get them to the place in life where the book begins. I'm looking forward to more books in this series.

I for one am so glad we get to come back to Christmas Notch this holiday season. My standards were pretty high following the Meet Cute but, boy was I thrilled that A Holly Jolly Ever After exceeded my expectations!
I didn't expect a Christmas romance that is...mostly smut fest to unpack purity culture and to truly teach me a thing about letting love into our lives but!! Boy did it!
This read has second chance love, pure unadulterated fluff and enough steam to start a sauna. This read is sweet, wholesome and will warm you up come Christmas time.

Christmas Notch is back! We meet Winnie an innocent 32 year old who just recently became divorced after 15 years. We also become acquainted with Kallum one of the other bad boys from INK.

Winnie and Kallum are cast to film a naughty Christmas movie for the Hope channels new endeavor, Hope After Dark. However, Winnie runs into some issues with her performance and asks the ever willing Kallum for "research" help.

Julie and Sierra know how to write the best dirty rom-coms. It's the perfect book to keep you warm on a cold winter night as well as laugh out loud. I hope there are more books in the future!

This was a great second book in this series. I know it won't win any awards but if you take it for what it is, a fun and comical holiday story, you won't be disappointed.

I was so looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint. I love Julie Murphy’s writing style, and I think this series with Sierra Simone is really fun and unique. The books get a little intense in terms of the more romantic scenes- anyone looking to read this should know that ahead of time. If you are looking for a mild, closed door romance, this is NOT it. I had fun revisiting the cast of characters from Meet Cute, and I thought Kallum and Winnie were maybe even more likable than Nolan and Bee. Winnie’s storyline with her religious upbringing is unique to the genre and I found it very relatable. I especially love the little vignettes with Teddy and Steph, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the series (hopefully!) goes next.