This one didn't really hit the mark for me. It wasn't horrible, but it felt rushed and I didn't really connect with the characters. Lexie is returning home with a broken heart and she sees next-door neighbour Sean in a whole new light.
There was too much instant love for me, it just didn't ring true or make much sense. I didn't really feel the connection between them and to be honest, Sean came off like a creepy stalker type. It also annoyed me that her parents seemed more interested in if she was getting married than if she was happy.
Maybe I was just in the wrong mood or the wrong audience for this one, it did seem a bit childish and undeveloped.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Lexie and Sean are so cute together! I really loved them and I wanted them to be together. Lexie returns from the big city to her small home town for the holidays. Living next door to her parents is the man who went to school to with her. That was the house he grew up in, when she first sees him she doesn't recognize him and introduces herself to him. Her dad is shocked, because Sean is someone that Lexie should remember having grown up next door to him. Lexie has a boyfriend, Jack who's still back in the city and she finds herself thinking about Sean though.

It is a short spicy Christmas romance that kept me reading until the end. There is something magical in this season and stories are placed in this time of the year. The pacing was good, and the story itself was perfect, but the graphic smutty scenes can be off for some readers who love to read more clean and sweet stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penelope Gerhardt for an eArc in exhange for my honest review.

For the most part a cute short, sweet and steamy holiday read. There were some moments I wasn't sold by Sean so that kind of soured it for me a bit, but again it's a novella and there isn't as much room to really flesh a story out. Overall, if you are looking for a fun holiday read I would say give it a try.

I wanted to love this book but it really just felt rushed and very cliche. It had the potential to be cute with the return to home premise but the execution fell short. This isn't one I would recommend to readers.

Christmas it is the magical time of the year when the wishes come true.
The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover, then I read the description and something told me that it hides much more than a beautiful cover with Christmas theme (by the way, I'm crazy about everything Christmas related and this period is my favorite) and a love story. As usual my instinct did not deceive me at all. This book is STEAMY and HOT!
Dear reader, you have to be prepared for this short and spicy as you enter Lake Mistleloe, Lexie's hometown. She's back for her best friend's wedding but gets so much more when doesn't recognize the boy next door. Sean has had a crush on Lexie as long as he can remember and finds her just as beautiful now as she was then.
Lake Mistletoe provide the perfect mix of Christmas cheer, small town romance, family bonds, cherished friendship, highschool cruch and passion love with the neighbor next door. It reads very fast. The short novella is more excited to read because it was written from two perspectives, that of Lexie and that of Sean. I savored it from the first word to the last point in the last chapter. If you want to read a holiday book that reads quickly and gives you the sensation of butterflies in the stomach, then I recommend this wonderful short novella.
Thank you to NetGallery and Penelope Gerhardt Author for the temporary ARC that I received in return for my honest review.

I wanted to like this but found it lacking across the board. The characters were not evolved, the storyline was far-fetched, and the dialogue felt like it was written by AI. The events seemed disjointed and everything moved at an unrealistic pace.

The Christmas Crush is a fast paced romance and checks all the boxes. I do think a few things were a bit odd with the former boyfriend and also Sean being so obsessed and her being unaware. But it does come together in the end.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a nice steamy christmas novella. If you’re looking for a quick small town book with some steamy scenes, you’ll enjoy this.

After about 40-50% I did start to get a little creeped out by how obsessed Sean was given that Lexie didn’t even remember him and he’d been planning their wedding and first borns name basically. I know I would be freaked out if i found out some guy from my high school that I never spoke to was thinking that for all these years. Also how quickly she said I love you after like three days?

I’m assuming there will be more stories given how many of the characters were being paired up as potential love interests. I didn’t like how obvious it was, but I would probably still read the follow up books.

I decided to read this holiday romance based on the blurb. It was also my first Penelope Gerhardt romance read. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛 features Lexie, a young woman who returns home after her live in boyfriend steals from her and cheats on her. Sean is the geeky boy who lives next door to her parents. I was game till here. I can’t say I was impressed by either main character and wasn’t really feeling the story. I’m sure this is the perfect read for someone else, for me, it was just okay but not my favourite. I will check out other books by this author and see how it goes.

Definitely a too hot to handle novella - The Christmas Crush brings Sean and Lexie together years after high school. Sean appreciate Lexie so much more than her current boyfriend and high school crush who seems to think her womanly curves should not be there. Love seeing the quiet guy win. Lexie deserves someone who sees her and enjoys the woman she is now!

loved it, it was short, sweet and spicy. I love Christmas and books that are based around Christmas. I'm glad I was able to read it.

Small town romance - the golden boy didn't turn out so golden and the quiet boy next door blossomed - one got the girl and the other always wanted her. Home for a wedding, and everything changes - at a very fast pace. Not really a holiday story - but a short and fast-paced "crush I always wanted" romance. Some explicit scenes.

This was hot and steamy, and a cute read. I was super turned off by how Sean kept calling Lexie “my girl” though. Especially when it was like every other thought in his head. Once or twice would’ve been good, but it seemed super creepy to me that it was constant. Overall, this was a fun read, and I like that it was short and sweet. I’ll definitely try more books by this author.

I received an advance review copy of The Christmas Crush for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this book.