Being that it is November, I decided it was time to start my holiday reading. I am glad that I started with this one. This was a super cute romantic comedy. Brother’s best friend is one of my favorite tropes, so I had high expectations for this book. I will have to say that it didn’t disappoint me. Everything was included, like a horrible ex boyfriend, great banter and chemistry, and jaded trust issues. All of these are the recipe for a good story.
Nic is a very lovable character. He bakes, which is always charming. He is also very hesitant about having any real feelings for anyone, since his ex-wife only married him for show. Jessie has always had a crush on her family friend, but was always hesitant to give into it because her family is Nic’s second family, and she wouldn’t want there to be any hard feelings if things never work out. Also, the many references to her job are hilarious!
I completely understand the hesitancy on both sides to give in to their chemistry. But honestly, who thought it was a good idea for a holiday fling, knowing that things would be awkward in the future?! I love that everyone else in the family was silently cheering them on and waiting for them to get together. I got frustrated at times, because I was just ready for them to give in to their feelings, not just have a holiday fling. Overall, this was a really cute and funny holiday rom-com. I would give this a solid 4 out of 5.

Holiday Vibes is actually book number two from the ‘over The Top Love’ series of books but can very easily be read as a stand alone without any problems at all.

This book contains the brothers best friend trope and features a very grumpy hero!!

The characters were wonderful and i quickly fell in love with them. They were ‘real’ and likeable and i loved getting to know them and become immersed in their story.

This was such a wonderful story and i thoroughly enjoyed it. The two main characters had great chemistry and they also had such funny banter too.

It was swoony, sweet and spicy - just how i like my books…….

Rating: 4/5
Spice: 3/5

2nd in the over the top love series, can be read as a standalone.

We are in the midst of holiday novel releases and when I came across this and read the blurb I was immediately drawn to it.
This book was SO MUCH FUN!
I am usually not the kind to love a third act breakup due to miscommunication, but in this one? It. just. works.

The Foley family was chaos and loud and unhinged and reminded me a bit of my own family and I adored how they viewed Nic as one of their own. The whole time you are reading this really breathes christmas and the holidays and the title of the book couldn’t be more accurate. I just wanted to curl up with a hot chocolate (maybe spike it with Baileys? I need to try this, it sounds delicious) and sit by the christmas tree reading.
The steam was incredible and that scene where Nic walks into the bathroom and gets caught by Jessie, I was laughing my ass off.

The emotions between Nic and Jessie, their insecurities, how Jessie is desperate to make the relationship with her twin brother better. It’s such a sweet love story of two people trying their best to open up to each other, but being afraid to get hurt yet again. Jessie’s hurt really struck a chord in me and I really felt for her.
This is also where the part comes in where I actually understand the miscommunication and third act breakup. It’s 2 people who have known each other for over 20 years and a lot has happened between them. Hurt people hurt people and when you throw in a ‘frenemies with benefits’ situation in the mix it is bound to go horribly wrong.

Thanks to Netgalley and Victory editing for providing an ARC.

🎄 Holiday Vibes by Sarah Brenton

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5 stars

Meet the MCs:
🤍Jessie (FMC): business woman, sassy & sweet
🤍Nic (MMC): actor, tough on the outside, warm and fuzzy inside

General Thoughts:
If you need to get into the Christmas spirit, this book is for you. Sarah Brenton wrote the perfect brother's best friend, enemies to lovers rom-com with all the gushy feeling and holiday vibes (ha, see what I did there?). The characters are insanely likeable, and their chemistry is seriously off the charts.

Tropes:
🎉 Enemies to lovers
🎉 Brother's best friend
🎉 Great banter
🎉 Holiday romance
🎉 Grumpy MMC

What I loved:
🎄The characters both had their insecurities and other issues but they grew together throughout the book.
🎄The side characters!
🎄The banter, but especially the angst. Whew, that 3rd act breakup was rough.
🎄Jessie's job! When I read the description that's really what drew me in, and boy is it interesting.

Overall:
I really did love this book, and I know I said this already, but it's perfect for the holiday season coming up. Highly recommend, and I definitely will be reading more by this author!

Spice: 🌶🌶🌶️ 3

Thanks again to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the opportunity to offer my honest review in exchange for an ARC! 🫶

3.5 stars. A very steamy, very Christmas-y romance. The Foley family is big and loud and really knows how to embrace the holiday season. I loved them. I didn’t like the hot and cold between Nic and Jessie and the total lack of honest communication. But, this is a great book to read during the holidays. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

I didn't read the first book in this series but when I saw the cover and the blurb I thought it sounded brilliant so I had to get it.

It was such a fun book to read and I loved all the character.

This was pretty dang cute.

Not gonna lie that it took me a little bit to get into it and connect with the characters but once I did, I found myself really enjoying it! I’m not sure I liked either Nic or Jessie at first but once they got over themselves a little bit and stopped “hating” each other, I found them quite adorable.

I liked that Nic was protective of Jessie’s feelings when her family and her brother kind of dismissed them, even when he was outwardly still being a douche to her. I actually did enjoy her family though and I thought their dynamic was precious. They sounded fun and a bit wild tbh.

The spice was mild. There were a couple of open door scenes and they were yummy but they definitely weren’t explicit.

I loved the third act breakup. I’m such a sucker for a “it hurts so good” kinda scene and this one was painful in the best way. I thought the way that the Foldy family came together for both of them was ridiculously precious and the eventual HEA was too cute.

The only thing I wish we’d gotten more of is a glimpse into their future and what that looked like. So much of Nic’s angst was about his future and how they fit into that so it would’ve been nice to have a chapter or epilogue that gave us that. Otherwise this was a cute, slightly wild holiday romance and was easy and fun to read!

My review will be posted to Amazon on release day - https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AHUMQGVPEPDOPCMZTD5D27H5R2DQ?ref_=ya_d_l_profile

Holiday Vibes by Sarah Benton publication 11/24/23
Book #2 Over the Top Love series- can be read as a standalone

Jessica Foley (Jessie) and Dominic (Nic) Fontana have been enemies since they met twenty years ago. They are both home in Connecticut for a 2-week Christmas vacation. Jessie's twin brother and Nic's BFF Timothy announces he's getting married, and Jessie didn't know he had a girlfriend. Jessie and Nic are forced to hang out with the family together and help with the wedding.

The world building is so sweet it reminds me of Christmas as a child. My grandmother and cousins would come to town for the week, and we'd have a ball. The Foleys include their parents Celia and William, their sister Amanda and her wife Hazel with their 2 kids, and Nic. Nic's parents died in a car accident when he was 24, and he has always depended on the Foleys for love and comfort. Celia and Nic share their love of cooking and baking. Jessie is a painter but by day works at a sex toy company called Sploosh! There are so many naughty jokes throughout, and they are hilarious.

The romance between Jessie and Nic is enemies to lovers and forced proximity. They have quite a bit of sex, both declaring it's a fling for these two weeks. Jessie choses the wrong men, her ex-boyfriend Camden an example. He spent one night with her brother and Nic, and broke things off when she thought he was going to propose. Nic's four-year marriage to now ex-wife Addison ended when she cheated on him and told the gossip magazines he cheated on her. They both believe there's no way they could actually be together. Nic is unsure about his career in LA as a superhero in Warwick films (think Marvel), and Jessie lives in NYC. I loved that their family made sure they were always together and bet money on their hook up. Timothy, his wife Mina, and their mom Celia pushed them to get out of their heads and just tell each other the truth.

If you like a family Christmas with plenty of sex toys, innuendo, and mistletoe- this book is for you. I did not read the first book about Timothy and Mina and still enjoyed HV.

Rating 4/5⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC🎄! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Omg I absolutely loved this book!

Brothers best friend, enemies to lovers, Christmas - all my favourites. I really enjoyed reading how Nic blended into his extended family and how he and Jessie really felt about each other once they let their guard down. There were so many times I wanted to shake Nic but so glad he saw what was right in front of him, with a little help from Timothy.

I didn’t realise it was part of a series so can be read as a stand-alone but I will be reading the book before it and can’t wait for the next in the series!

Love love loved it 😍

Holiday vibes
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🔥🔥🔥

I will start by saying I am a huge fan of a festive themed book.
This is the PERFECT Christmas book! It’s funny, spicy, with a great family and cute as hell frenemies to lovers vibe!
I love the sort of outcast of the family daughter and beloved family friend kinda trope. I actually really felt for Jessie feeling a bit like an outcast, I loved her character.
The way they finally come together with the art aspect made me swooooooon.
Brothers best friend is my all time favourite. I had not read book one and this works as a stand alone. Timothy is such a great character though I’ll definitely go back to read it!

-Bros best friend
-Festive as F
-Close knit family
-‘It’s just smex’

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! It gave me all the Christmasy vibes of a Hallmark movie, but way steamier. I really enjoyed Jessie, the FMC. She was really strong and had such a snarky attitude which led to some really entertaining banter. Nic was a good MMC too, but his denial of his feelings frustrated me to no end.

The chemistry between Jessie and Nic was off the charts! Every time they were in the same room together the tension war crackling. I loved all the Foleys. They all added a little something to the story.

If you are looking for a steamy Christmas enemies-to-lovers story than this book is for you!

First off, this ARC was provided by the publisher & author via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This books was absolutely amazing! I absolutely couldn’t put it down and finished it in a day! I didn’t get read book one, but I literally just bought it so I can read it next!

I love how the grumps in this book is Jessie the FMC and even though Nic, MMC, is a tiny grumpy, he’s more like the lovable quiet guy who needs to stop coasting and make a freaking choice! He’s also the her brother’s best friend, and even though they ‘hate’ each other…. Well you know they don’t and its just that tension!

The angst built up to the laundry room scene is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 and danggg can Sarah write some steamy goodness! The story just got better and better and the build up was perfect! And the ending was …. Well you’ll have to read it and see!

One more thing, the Foley family is ABSOLUTELY hilarious! I definitely laughed out loud more than once with their banter and Sarah’s great timely and inappropriate jokes 😂😅 LOVED IT!

I cant wait to read the first book, and now I have to wait for book 3 too!! Eekkk

Publishers have got to stop saying that second-in-a-series books can be read as standalones. Holiday Vibes falls victim to this marketing fail and (maybe because of it) really didn’t work for me. To be fair, the basic plot works without having read the prior book, but you lose a lot of the nuance of character motivation and emotional connection.

I’m not sure if I would’ve liked the story more if I’d read the first book in the series, but thats water under the bridge. As it was, I didn’t really enjoy the relationship between the two main characters. It’s enemies to lovers but even as enemies they are obsessed with each other… and not in a cute way. It reads more as “my annoying friend won’t shut about the dude she supposedly hates” and less “these two clearly have underlying issues to resolve but i love watching them work it out”.

HOWEVER, this book has really great reviews on Goodreads and NetGalley. I’m guessing that with the right set up (ahem, actually reading the first book in the series) this book could be a winner. I like the style of the book and the plot enough that I’ll probably check out the first book to give this series another shot.

TLDR: I didn’t love it. Maybe it’s a good read but definitely start with book 1 (love and other risky business).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted copy.

Working for a sex toy company after failing to make it in the art world, Jessie Foley knows a di—er, phallus—when she sees one. And her brother’s best friend—the reason she can’t paint—is definitely a phallus. She’d rather drink bad eggnog than stay under the same roof as the annoyingly hot celebrity for the holidays, but patching up her relationship with her brother means making nice with his friend.

Nic Fontana’s shirtless smolder rocketed him to the top of a massive superhero franchise even though he can’t act. Reeling from a recent divorce, unhappy in Hollywood, and facing a challenging script and a new director, he needs the support of the closest thing he has to a family now more than ever. What he doesn’t need is a dangerous attraction to his harshest critic, Jessie.

When a pair of mistletoe underwear spark a sexy encounter and the start of a secret holiday fling, Nic and Jessie are forced to come to terms with their complicated past and deeply-buried feelings. But when the holidays end, they’ll have to risk it all to find out if what they have is more than just vibes.

I really enjoyed reading Jessie and Nic's story. Lots of good holiday vibes, loved the dynamics between the two and how the story progressed. (Also, cute cover!) I liked this one better than the first one, and look forward to more books by Sarah Brenton!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

So, if you are in the mood for some holiday steamy romance, brothers best friend / Enemies to lovers, put this one on your list!
It's a double POV with Jessie, an wanna be artist who left it all behind and is now working for a sex toys company. She's going home for Christmas and hopes that her twin brother's best friend, Nic, also a big movie star, wont be there...
She hasn't seen him in 5 years, since he announced his engagement. But this year he got through a really nasty tabloid divorce, and he's back sharing christmas with her family.
And we also get Nic's POV, the actor who doesn't want to act anymore, and being back "home" makes him consider his options, and Jessie could be one.

*Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me an e-arc against an honest review.*

New favorite holiday romance! Swoony and spicy wrapped into one adorable story. I love the characters, chemistry, and the sweet story line. The fast pace made this incredibly hard to put down.

Jessie Foley finds herself working for a sex toy company after her art dreams take a detour. Forced to spend the holidays under the same roof as her brother's annoyingly hot friend, Nic Fontana, a shirtless celebrity superhero with a complicated past, Jessie's reluctance turns into a dangerous attraction. The story unfolds with a humorous twist as mistletoe underwear sparks a secret holiday fling, forcing Nic and Jessie to confront their buried feelings and complicated history. As they navigate their passionate encounter and the challenges that come with it, Jessie and Nic need to figure out if their connection is just festive vibes or something more enduring.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Haha this book really had me laughing out loud even from the synopsis, elt alone the book. I loved the characters, I loved the cheese, there was steamy scenes and sadness and it was just a really good all round feel good book. The way the author describes the MMC had me in bits.

Really enjoyable read that cheered me up and was able to read it in less than a day.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me an advanced copy of Holiday Vibes by Sarah Brenton.

There is one specific type of character that I love above all other - the "unlikeable" FMC. Sarah Brenton writes the perfect example in Jessie Foley. Then, she makes it a 100 times better by pairing her with Dominic (Nic) Fontana and a boat load of chemistry. These two sizzle through the holiday season, burning up the pages and every available surface in the Foley home. This book is a perfect read for the holiday season.

Disclosure: I am friends with the author and read an early draft of this book

This was such a fun read! I’ll admit I’ve been in a recent reading slump, so my expectations were low. I’m so happy this book kept me engaged and put a smile on my face.
The relationship between Jessie and Nic was intriguing and complex. Even when they started hooking up the conflict, self-doubt and misunderstandings lead to a great build up.
The story is set during the December/ January period with all the holiday traditions, Jessie’s crazy family and even a wedding.
Both characters are strong with the MFC having a snarky attitude along with the MMC who after his disastrous divorce is a bit of a grump. But both are battling with their vulnerabilities and their fears of failure. There is open door spice so if you are looking for a hot and explicit book to read during the Christmas season this is a good one to add to your list.
Thank you @netgalley and @victoryeditingngc for this arc in exchange for an honest review.