The story took off in an interesting direction. I didn't quite expect it but it was fun.

I often did feel tangled in all the legal and political details which slowed the story down and wasn't really for me.

Banning Santa is a blend of Washington politics wrapped in a festive bow with some Hallmark magic thrown in. When politicians from opposite sides of the aisle, each with their own motivations, decide to join forces and ban public images of Santa in the United States, chaos ensues. A hearing is scheduled with expert witnesses and legislative aides Stowe and Wyatt are forced to work together to find the best witness: a believable Santa Claus. Their respective representatives are also on opposite sides of the aisle to try to kill the bill and prevent ruining Christmas for many Americans. What ensues is a wild Santa chase across the globe, a behind the scenes look at politics and a slightly unexpected ending. This is a cute holiday story if you enjoy politics and what stands out is that political parties and affiliations are never named and allows you to draw your own conclusions.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

A unique Christmas story that had me smiling. Politics and Christmas? This tale was a perfect blend and shows true spirit.
Many thanks to Warrington Publishing and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved this book! So wish I would have read it closer to the Christmas season. It addresses the issues of the commercialization of the Christmas holiday by blaming the image of Santa Claus. It also looks at how partisan our politics have become. Carlson does not call out either party and this is really not a "political" book. With election season upon us, it really highlights how big the perceived differences in opinion have become and how the media helps to drive the wedge in further. This book highlights the need to have respectful conversations about difficult topics. We may not always agree on a issue, but we can still be respectful and even friends.
I love the imagery of Christmas and the "real" Santa. It made we want to visit Lapland and see the northern lights! When you are finished, read the author's note. It helps to explain his reasoning behind writing this book and I discovered there is another book (and maybe two!) featuring Wyatt and Stowe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Warrington Publishing for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A political romance (politics and romance aren't really my favourite genres) but Christmas always takes my fancy so I had to give this one a go. A quick and easy read it is also charming and a crazy mix of two people, Wyatt and Stowe, which makes it more fun and interesting.

So take away the politics and romance, we have a story of Christmas really and that is what I really enjoyed. This is a well written book and one that brought the traditions and history of Christmas to the front with the rest as a back drop. A great read.

Thank you NetGalley and Warrington Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a great twist on a holiday book. Most holiday books have a formula which includes someone leaving a big city to find love in a small town - Banning Santa breaks this formula and could be read at Christmas or any time of the year. It is a satire on American politics as a Congresswoman Camilla Guzman introduces a bill to ban Santa after the antics of a bad Santa at a local mall. Her actions are done more to raise her own political profile than passion over a "cultural issue".

Rep. John Knutson doesn't agree - he loves Santa and Christmas and sets his aide Wyatt Huffman from Montana and Stowe Besette, aide to his friend Rep. Angela Pratt on a wild adventure to find an actual Santa Claus to testify to counteract the traction the bill is getting and to save Santa a few days before Christmas.

Wyatt and Stowe must work together for the sake of Christmas - but Wyatt and Stowe have issues - mostly with hating each other and also with family that are heightened by their quest to find someone to testify before Congress as Santa. They visit Santa schools that train mall Santas, but fail to find someone who exhibits the Christmas spirit.

Wyatt and Stowe's hunt takes them on a long journey around the country and around the world and on the eve of testimony, it looks like all is lost because they cannot convince Santa to testify. When all is lost - can they count on a Christmas miracle? Can they bury their mistrust of each other and become friends or even fall in love?

This book was so well-written and the characters were so developed. No political parties were mentioned, but anyone would get a small education on how legislation goes through Congress and how party politics works by reading this book.

Much more importantly, the book is about the miracles of Christmas and the history of Santa Claus and our Christmas traditions and there is plenty of new information to be learned about the origins of some of our Christmas traditions. This is a feel good book that really held your interest. I would definitely read another book by this author. I am glad I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

The concept of this book was unlike anything I've read before and quite honestly out of my comfort zone being so political but I enjoyed it. I think it has a great feel for the holiday season. There were many characters which in the beginning made the story hard to keep up with.

Banning Santa, you say? Why would anyone want to ban Santa? I have never read a book written by Mikael Carlson before, but this one was actually humorous and so funny. Set aside the political views despite this book being about two representatives trying to ban Santa Claus. This book is about setting aside political views and finding love where you least expect it. This book was so funny I had to finish it in one day. Why would you ban Santa? Well, everyone knows how malls have Santa's where you can take picture with them, well the Santa is this book went viral for something he did at the mall and a bill has been brought to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. I can't recommend this book enough, it will make you laugh out loud so many times.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND WARRINGTON PUBLISHING FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

Given the current state of our politicians' bickering, I was so intrigued by this book. These days it seems like just about everything is "banned" so why not Santa too? I was constantly shaking my head or nodding along as the story unfolded because the situation and its real=life possibilities were so surreal! What started with a mall Santa-gone-viral then blew up into a bill on the house floor, ultimately bringing two opposing politicians together to save it all. I am absolutely recommending this to my husband, and anyone with an open mind and a love (or Scrooge-y heart) for Christmas!

This book is a multiple POV lighthearted and fun fluffy holiday romance. There’s a lot of humorous banter and I appreciated the plot line (a Congresswoman attempts to ban public displays of Santa Claus through legislation right before Christmas). It did feel a bit too “Hallmark” and predictable for me so I didn’t end up finishing it, but I think it’d make a great holiday romance read for those who find this genre to be more their style!

(Thank you NetGalley, Warrington Publishing, and Mikael Carlson for a free e-ARC in exchange for this honest review!)

This book was such a pleasantly unexpected curveball. I had ideas about what it might be about, but it went in a different direction that was far more enjoyable than what I'd anticipated.

At its core, this is a feel good holiday story. There's some romance, sure. There's some magical mysticism surrounding Santa. There's also a LOT of political background, but not in an overwhelming way. It's almost like "Politics for Dummies" is a backdrop to the actual plot itself, so that it drives the tension, explains the games being played, and offers insight into character motivations.

There's a pretty large cast to keep track of, but it's easy to pick out the "good guys" and recognize that party lines aren't always an indicator of true character. Good pacing, solid incorporation of multiple story lines.

Overall: 4 stars

I'll tell my students about: supernatural?, language, parental death

**Thank you to NetGalley and Warrington Publishing, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

I want to preface this review by saying that I don't just rank novels with five-star ratings unless I absolutely love the book. It has to be one of those stories that hooks me in, and devours my time because I can't put it down.

I absolutely loved Banning Santa.

To best describe this story, imaging an episode of The West Wing told in Hallmark movie form, with the wittiness of the former and the charm of the latter. It had a nice blend of "aw shucks" romance, with clever political banter in he best possible way.

There are a lot of things about this novel that check off my fiction preferences. The plot is strong, it's incredibly well written, the four main characters are well-developed, the romance is believable and organic in the way it occurs, and the author weaves all of that together seamlessly. Without going too deep in the plot weeds, I loved Wyatt and Stowe. Like the trope was there, sure, but it was executed so well. I BELIEVED in the development of this relationship.

I hope to read more, and the author hinted that this is book one of a trilogy for Wyatt and Stowe. I eagerly await the next book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. (And I honestly say that I love this story, and will go buy a hard-copy for my shelf!)

wonderful book for the festive season.

this gave me all the festive, cozy vibes i needed to get into the festive spirit this time of year.
I loved the atmospheric prescence of it being set in DC and loved the fact that it was a multiple POV book.
The book wasn't that long for me which is perfect for a festive read and thourougly enjoyed every minute reading this book and the part at the beggining of the book in the mall made me laugh so much!

The nightly news has been full of bipartisanship feuds across the DC population of politicians. So when a Congresswoman sponsors a bill to ban any public representations of Santa, you expect to see a dirty fight where thera are no rules. And honestly, you will see some of that but in BANNING SANTA, you'll see more people reaching out to show their holiday spirit than those who would kill Christmas.

This book is funny, entertaining and heartwarming while along the way to being one of the best hoilday stories I've read in a very long time. If you are looking for a holiday book, but want something different, this is it!!! A great 5 star read that you'll share often and read again next year. 5 easy stars

Banning Santa is a wonderful story that in part is reminiscent of Miracle on 34th Street and our unfortunate ongoing gridlock in present day Washington D. C. where nothing gets done due to winning being the overriding goal. I really enjoyed this story. It was warm and rewarding.

The plot is in part a satire of the inner workings of Washington D. C. combined with the history of Christmas. As with most Christmas movies a romantic plot with two staffers on opposite sides of the issue are thrown together and forced to find Santa. Their searches take them to New England and Finland where they see other parts of the world in their beautiful splendor and find Santa. They try to persuade Santa to come back to D. C. to testify before a committee. But with Christmas being only days away Santa is a little busy.

The hearings commence with each side doing their best to tear down the other. Stowe and Wyatt return to D. C. after their trip to face the music with no Santa for the hearings.

Mikael Carlson is a wonderful writer and does not disappoint with this holiday story. I have really enjoyed his Michael Bennit series and was so happy to have been approved to read this ARC from NetGalley. He has a way with words that create stories that hold your attention from the very beginning until the very last word and this one is no different. I highly recommend reading this story as it will make you smile.

I was intrigued by the concept and pleasantly surprised by the nicely flowy writing style. If I initially found the dive into the political inner workings interesting, it quickly bored me unfortunately. The whole santa banning project was quirky and seasonal though.

“Let’s ban santa” what a hot take! Definitely was expecting something much more political but this was a fun hallmark style read!! I are up every page!!

Book review 📚
Banning Santa by Mikael Carlson - 4/5 ⭐

Okay, so this was not AT ALL what I was expecting! I thought I'd take a chance and get myself a Christmas book to read as I don't really read by events or seasons. So I went out on a whim here and was expecting some romancy book based around Christmas.

So what Carlson decided to do with this book is make Christmas political! Basically turned about and said "screw it lets just ban Santa"! It was not what I was expecting and I honestly loved every second of it. I laughed so often, it was actually comical. The fact we've mixed politics into comedy is just pure brilliant.

This is one of the best books I could of read at Christmas time, as a Scrooge myself, it was brilliant and I don't think I'll ever read another Christmas book that tops this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Warrington Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

this was a fun story for me to read! I’m really into politics, political drama, romance, and christmas so this book really had everything in it :)
this was a fun story to read as the characters battle a cynical politician trying to ban santa, and they use their political and media ties, inroads, connections, etc to stop the bill, all while being cute lil romantics falling for the holiday season romantics. this felt like a modern political retelling of A Christmas Carol, where they have to convince the cynic that they can have love and happiness and friends during the holidays too :)

thank you for the arc :)

I was on a cruise when I started reading Banning Santa and I swear people must have thought I was weird chuckling to myself. Mikael Carlson is one great writer and has a deep understanding of how Congress works, I swore he must have been a staffer himself.

The premise of this story is, that a video goes viral, an obscure Congresswoman sees the awfulness of a drunk Santa punching a teenager and decides that Santa is the bane of Christmas and the cause of, in the words of Alfred in the movie A Miracle on 34th Street, "make a buck, make a buck, make a buck". She, the congresswoman, decides to write a bill and get bipartisan support from across the aisle to co-sponsor the bill. The bill is then opposed by a bipartisan duo who loves Christmas, loves Santa, and is ticked off that someone would use him as the bane of the holidays so they put their best staffers on the case to find Santa and bring him to the public hearing to show Santa is not the problem. All of this spins into hilarity, romance, and a tweaking familiarity to A Miracle on 34th Street's endearing Santa with a twist.
Honestly, I could see this happening in Congress right now.

If you love a good Hallmark Christmas story, you will love this book. If you love Holiday reads, you will love this book, if you hate politics, this book might piss you off even more, but you will still love this book. It's a quick read, it's entertaining and you won't regret picking it up at your local independent bookstore.