'How the hitman stole Christmas' is a suspenseful, yet romantic story about how two people get together under quite odd circumstances. Their 'meet-cute' may be a bit unconventional, but this is quite a funny book filled with a who-dunit flair from beginning to end. Eliana and Theo are dynamite together and I love some of the other characters. I hope to see some of them in the next books!

This book was cute, unique, and really fun. I wasn't sure about it at first because how to do you make sure a hitman has redeeming qualities and the heroine can justify being with him. The author did pull it off. Elliana's stalking in the beginning was a bit forward, but it was also kind of funny. I loved this steamy fun holiday book. I was exactly what I was looking for a little get away.

This is a fun, holiday timed (I wouldn't say themed as it's not a huge theme or plot point) novella about Elliana, a software billionaire with voyeuristic tendencies and Theo, a cute hitman with gold retriever energy, They are neighbours and Elliana has been watching Theo (with his knowledge and occasional participation) undress for about a year. When she finally gets up the courage to go and talk to the cute boy she get's the shock of her life to see him in the middle of a hit. Yep, he's a hitman. What's more, he's discovered a hit has just been put out on her and may or may not kidnap her ' to keep her safe".

The first thing you need to know about this book is all the characters are unhinged. There is not a sane or rational one among them (maybe the plot muppet introduced at the 60% mark but even that is iffy) so you have to look at all their actions with the lens of "oh these people are bonkers". With that lens, this book is fun. Without that lens. Not so much.

The second thing you need to know is this is a novella but has almost enough plot points that you could get a full length novel out of it. So it's plot heavy and these plot points are delivered as efficiently as possible. Meaning you get a lot of info dump conversations, you get told a lot of stuff about the character's emotional state and world. I suspect this is also a novella to introduce you to a world of characters and so there are a lot of secondary characters in this for a novella.

This is a romantic suspense and I would say equal time is spent on the romance and suspense. I personally found the suspense the more enjoyable part of the book.

I would recommend this to someone who likes simple plots, instalove and is maybe looking for something to read during a really boring holiday party.

First I wanted to thank Author Collective 20 for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the story of Elliana, ex-marine security company co-owner, who has been not to secretly watching her neighbor. When she decides to finally make contact she learns her neighbor's name, Theo, and that he is a hitman who kills bad people for money. After the first contact Elliana tries to avoid Theo but when he learns someone wants to harm Elliana and decides the best way to protect her is a little light kidnapping. Elliana and Theo learn to trust each other while they work together to find and stop the person trying to kill her.

What I Loved:
- Theo, this guy let Elliana creep on him for MONTHS and as soon as he met her in person he knew she was it for him and jumped in with both feet...swoon
- Elliana, she is unabashedly herself who fights for what she wants, take care of herself but also know when to lean on the people around her
- Spicy, with the odd start to their relationship I think made the spice better since the length of the foreplay before they finally got together
- Theo's family, he has both a family and a found family that play a big role in this story and all of them are amazing and adopt Elliana as their own as soon as Theo brings her around. I'm a sucker for big families
- Series continuation, in Protecting Rebel (Red Stone Security book) you learn about Elliana's odd watching of Theo and I was DYING to know what happed with that and this book definitely lived up to the hype I built in my head

Overall this book had everything I look for in a romantic suspense, great romance, spice, and relationship building between the main characters. Once I started this book it was really hard to put down and I am already dying to get the next book in the Holiday With a Hitman series as there are so many characters to explore. If you love a holiday romance or even just a romantic suspense then PLEASE go pick this one up as soon as you can cause its a fun series starter which is hard to putdown and kept me laughing throughout.

I have posted this review to Goodreads and I will be posting the same to Bookbub and Amazon (bcantu01 username) when available. Then I will be posted a shortened version of this review on instagram @readingwiththecatlady on 10/23 (day before publishing).

Thank you NetGalley, KR Press, LLC and Author Collective 20 for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun, unique and delightful holiday romance novella with a bit of murder and mayhem!! It has your reverse grumpy-sunshine trope with hilarious banter, suspense, action, insta-love(done right), he falls first, possessive/protective MMC, sizzling chemistry and a sweet yet spicy romance! I absolutely loved this book so much and found myself cracking up laughing while reading it😂❤️!!!!This is my first read by Katie Reus and I cannot wait to read more of her books! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Elliana is ex-marine, explosive expert and hates everything Christmas. She uses her drone to spy on her hot neighbor and they have a mutual relationship from afar. When she finally works up the courage to talk to him, she stumbles right into a murder scene that he committed! Theo, her neighbor, doesn't think the murder is a big deal because the dead guy was a terrible person and needed killing. Meanwhile, Elliana is targeted and a hit is placed on her life. Theo decides the only way to keep her safe is to kidnap her! Now the adventure and banter begins...!!!!

Overall, this is a wonderful holiday read!! I do recommend and it deserves ALL the stars🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟!!!

How the Hitman Stole Christmas is the first in a new series by Reus. This is a spicy, quick novella that keeps you moving. I enjoyed the characters and dual POV. I will be looking for the next in the series for sure.

I really enjoyed how it was written and how the relationship evolves between the characters. They're really cute together and even when they weren't a couple I found their chemistry really beautiful and sincere. I had a wonderful time going through this story!

This was such a fun and usual Christmas romance between an explosives expert and a hitman.

Neighbors Elliana and Theo know each other only because Elliana spies on Theo with her drone, and Theo, uh, puts on a show for her regularly. They finally meet in person and things spiral quickly out of control when Theo realizes someone is out to kill Elliana, so he kidnaps her to keep her safe.

Theo fell so fast for Elliana, I loved his irreverence and how sunshiney and wholesome he was (for a hitman). Elliana was much more hesitant, on account of being kidnapped and all, but I loved how easily he broke down her walls.

It’s fun, funny, fast paced and I had a good time reading it. Is it the most logical and realistic plot? No, but that didn’t really matter.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of How the Hitman Stole Christmas by Katie Reus.
Unfortunately I did not love this one. The storyline felt bizarre and was so fast paced it confused me at times - I think this would have been better if it was a full length novel and not a novella.
However, there were aspects of the book I did enjoy. It definitely got me in the christmas mood and I loved the reverse grumpy/sunshine trope - a ‘cinnamon roll hitman’ is something I’ve never read before!

I'm really bummed to be giving this book 1 star...but I honestly didn't even think I was going to finish it. With the book only being 166 pages, there just simply wasn't enough time to do...anything worthwhile. The relationship between our main characters comes on STRONG within the first few pages, and never slows down. I didn't really see how our FMC being an explosives expert had much to do with anything, and she was super quick to accept the fact that she is "in lust" with a literal hired killer. The conversations between them fill less pages than the pages filled with their sexual escapades, and the dialogue is amateur at best.

All in all, I wish the book had been longer, had been more fleshed out, and had better dialogue. It just wasn't the book I was hoping for.

Who’s Stalking Whom?

Such a fun, witty short read with lots of simmering passion which is about to explode with some action thrown in.

Another page-turner from Ms Reus, I just couldn’t put it down, it had me engrossed from page one.

I loved all the characters and everyone of them took the story to another level.

Simply a brilliant read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a fun read! The characters are great together, and I loved their chemistry. The plot was interesting, moved quickly, and I loved the humor sprinkled throughout the book. This felt like a unique story, which I always appreciate. I'm excited to see that this looks like a series, so I'm looking forward to more!

What an absolutely FUN read. This was the perfect length, nice and short but still, nothing felt rushed. I laughed and giggled and snickered so much. The banter was amazing between Theo and Elliana. Their whole relationship was hilarious from the beginning.

Her stalking him, him stalking right back, being a hitman, it had so much potential and this book really went for all the romcom bits and slayed them in the best ways possible.

I'm not necessarily fan of Christmas books but this is definitely something I'd recommend for those who aren't after the traditional holiday romances.

Super fun, sexy romantic thriller! It was short and to the point, which I liked. The characters were enjoyable to read, and the plot was unique and engaging.

This is not your typical romantic suspense. It was full of witty banter and laughs. Just under 130 pages it was a quick read. I felt you got the full story even with it being on the shorter side. A hit man who bakes, sold! For having a dangerous job Theo was a big marshmallow. Ellianna was the tough graham cracker and her friends and his family were the chocolate that tied them all together for the perfect s’more. Thank you for the advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my opinions on this book.

How the Hitman Stole Christmas is a fun, short romance novel about Elliana (our grumpy), and how her flirtations with her neighbour Theo (our sunshine) lead her into an unusual situation.

I think this is the first Christmas novel (so far) that has left me feeling satisfied from beginning to end. The characters had a morally grey viewpoint which satisfied my murderous urges towards certain characters in the book.

The plot was so engaging that I didn't want to put it down. The insta love trope was used, but it was done quite well (they had fantastic chemistry together) and made me smile. Definitely a perfect read to enjoy on cozy Christmas day! (or even as a comfort novel)

Thank you so much to Katie Reus and NetGallery for the ARC, these are my honest thoughts.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Author Collective 20, and especially, Katie Reus for granting me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Never in my life have I read a romance like this. I loved the Grumpy/Sunshine trope as always, and fell in love more when it was the girl that was grumpy. It’s refreshing to see that. I loved the Christmas vibes, the hit man aspect - murder is acceptable, cheating is not. A lesson has been taught and taught well. The reason it’s four stars? I wanted more. It was too short! I mean, the ending was beautiful, but I wanted to see more after everything! Perhaps someday. Till then, I will recommend this book for the holiday vibes, as well as the plot.

Hitman and Christmas. An odd pairing you say? Yes, and it works. This book is an offshoot of the Red Stone Security series and the start of a new series of hitmen. Wow, it sounds great. I loved the reverse grumpy sunshine story. It is action packed and kept me on the edge of my seat. There is morally gray characters and morally grey characters. So which one are these group of hitmen? It is left up to us to decide and that makes this an interesting read. Loved it (and loved seeing Rebel and Weston).

A delightful Christmas romance with a reverse trope I never knew I needed.

I identify closely with Elliana’s views on Christmas and adored how grumpy she was. I equally adored Theo’s unabashed joy for the season and how he went about spreading the good tidings 😆

Murder, mayhem and romance in a short and sweet yet spicy romance, highly enjoyably interlude from a great author

How the Hitman Stole Christmas is just the right amount of everything romance, laughter, action, suspense and a must read love it.
I received a advance readers copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.