I DEVOURED this book. It was exactly what it promised to be: a light, fun holiday romance. It was a little on the nose at times - Coal, Kris, Iris, Hex...But it was HYSTERICAL. I loved all their fashion choices, and I loved seeing Coal come into his own as a member of the royal family and as the crown prince of Christmas. I loved all the character's relationships, I loved the storyline, and the resolution. I had so much fun with this book, I definitely intend to buy a copy and reread it twice a year.

I am ALREADY handselling this book to everyone who has spoken to me - I expect to have multiple preorders because this was just so fun. What a great way to kick off the holiday season!

The Nightmare Before Kissmas was really highly anticipated. I love the cover and the idea of the story, but I struggled to get into the writing style. I really wish that this style had been refined more before being published. I can see where the author is trying to be kitschy and blend urban fantasy with this fantastical holiday world, but the blending isn't seamless.

The narration is really odd and clunky. While it smooths out somewhat, it really starts off pretty rough. The main character, Coal, has already done something we know nothing about and is sitting in a bar drinking his woes away. Starting off in this part really skips over the action that already happens and doesn't become exciting. Raasch hints at what happened over and over, but it's all through Coal's narration. The narration in itself is really incongruent. The dialogue between Coal and the other characters (Kris, at first) reads like it's just interjected between Coal's stream of consciousness. It almost feels like Coal's breaking the 4th wall the way he keeps jumping in to respond to and over-explain each piece of dialogue, thought, and action. The fact that there are no speech tags in the beginning really adds to this as well. It comes across as "*record scratch* - yeah, that's me, so let me tell you how I got here." But then the audience isn't actually told anything about what happened.

I can appreciate that Raasch is trying to create a character that's a bit funny and self-deprecating, but Coal takes that a bit too far without actually giving us much substance. The author circles around what Coal did and WHY he did it, but Coal's motives aren't clear. He did something because he didn't like that Christmas was one day and made no real impact? I thought maybe he was upset about how commercialized Christmas has become, but I don't even think it's that deep. So Coal just randomly giving out gifts and money doesn't make sense to me -- why would he do that? Did he just want to have a second day of Christmas? Is that a meaningful difference compared to ONE day of Christmas? It feels watery and unstructured. It's supposed to be the catalyzing incident for the story, but I just don't get his motive/rationale.

Coal is too self-deprecating across the board. In his own mind, when he talks to Kris, when he refers to Iris probably hearing from Lily (who we have no idea who she is at this point) that Coal is a screw-up, and then again when he meets our love interest! He just info-dumps the same circular, self-deprecating info onto Hex. Hex is supposed to take this as cute, but it's really just frustrating for the reader because we're hearing the same info AGAIN. Maybe it's because Coal's motive and frustrations aren't clear (because he never comes out and says WHY he did what he did and WHAT he was trying to change), but Coal seems immature and whiny.

I'm currently struggling with this book, but I think the Christmas World/Holiday World idea is really cute. The PR aspect is a nice spin on other holiday fantasy stories we've seen before (such as Tim Allen's The Santa Claus 2 where the Holidays meet at a "board meeting."). I just wish the PR aspect was clearer from the beginning and Coal's actions/mistake was made to try and combat that more strongly (rather than just give out more gifts and money).

This was such a cute read. I loved this so much and couldn't stop smiling as their romance blossomed. I loved how their holidays helped to show their differences but also helped bridge them together because it was so cute. It would be so good to read during the holidays, but honestly, it also is great to read even when it's not the holidays. It was a great romance and I thought it was so cute

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch was a delight to read - MM romance that was quirky and fun! Coal is next in line to be Santa - he's supposed to marry his best friend, Iris (the Easter Princess, obviously!), but he has a run-in with a hot stranger. Said stranger is Hex, the Prince of Halloween. A competition began, and the banter was top-notch. Super fun!

Look does the world building make a ton of sense? No, not really. Is there magic that also is just for giggles? Yep, totally. Did I have a lot of fun and really enjoyed myself? Definitely. I'll read the next one too, hell, I hope there are even more after that, it's just fun and I liked the holiday puns and why not, let these prince boys kiss.

Very strange tone, I feel like this book never really quite got it's footing. Very odd character choices, odd sentence structure, repetitive lines, and boring prose. I was really hoping to enjoy this but found where there should be heart there was humor, and where there was humor it never quite hit.
It felt extremely childish and then suddenly wanted to be sexy, and I just couldn't click with it.

This was a fun read that delivered on the promise of campy holiday coziness. I enjoyed the unique worldbuilding and the political tensions between the holiday "courts", and I was enchanted by the romance between Coal and Hex. I found Coal to be hilarious and loveable, and I was rooting for him and his HEA.

This book was so adorable & fun and delivered more than it promises. I went into it with expectations for a fun romcom with nods to Nightmare Before Christmas and I got all of that and a seriously satisfying world building all centered around holiday kingdoms, rivalry, politics, AND a tension filled romance between 2 princes??

I loved this story, I loved the characters and the drama and I am fully invested in book 2! I can’t wait to read more about these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bramble for this book to review!

This book was so much fun! This is the perfect mix of steamy and funny and I fell in love with the characters and the romance.

Self-proclaimed trainwreck Christmas Prince Coal briefly meets sexy and brooding Halloween Prince Hex and sparks immediately fly. The only problem is, Coal didn't know who Hex was. Two years later they meet again under political turmoil within the Holiday realm, with the King of Christmas pitting the two princes against each other for the honor of marrying the Easter princess.
With tense family dynamics, fraught Holiday politics, and a warm-hearted friend group full of busybodies, The Nightmare Before Kissmas is a multilayered confection tailor-made for fangirls and fanboys alike. The speedy quips shared in group chats and agonizing adoration between love interests will keep readers oscillating between laughing out loud and swooning. Pacing in the overarching Holiday relations plot felt a little off at times, but in the end the author pulled it all together into an interesting story. The holiday vibes are immaculate, and I would definitely recommend this to a fan of romantasy or cozy fantasy that is looking for a fun holiday read.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch was a cute, quirky and entertaining read. It definitely felt like instalove but I was able to get past it because it was a different romance from everything else that's out right now. I thought the relationships between all the characters was well done and felt very real. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I guess because the title and being a fan of NBC I kinda thought this book would be a little eccentric, fantasy ish and dark holiday theme. But I think that’s was completely my mindset and assumptions. There was a lot of different aspects in this book that I feel didn’t quite come together well and didn’t interest me.

The love story was a cute story( I didnt really expect that), some politics involved, I’m not interested in reading politics so I will say there were moments for me I was up and down on interest. The book starts out good, real attention grabber, then after a while I definitely swayed back and forth with my feelings. There’s some circling involved as well. When it comes to holiday books I really like to gravitate towards cute, cozy, feeling and I can definitely see where the author was heading in that direction, but it didn’t hit any holiday feelings for me. I think there was probably too many dynamics in this book that has a lot of potential, and just didn’t hit it for me. I think that’s this book could definitely be loved but it didn’t meet my expectations and it wasn’t for me.

A fun read that goes at a jaunty pace, this is a good read for people who don't mind an instantaneous love story. The book's true strength lies in the platonic relationships—there is real chemistry in their interactions and you can feel how much Coal loves his friends and brother. The story seems to struggle to balance the world-building, political plots, and romance at times, which is the only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars, but I still highly recommend it for any fans of romance.

I try to go into books meeting them where they are. From the summary, this books seemed like it would be a fun, ridiculous love story. Unfortunately that’s not really what it is and the book just never came together.

The world building for this story is really strange. Each holiday has a royal family that works to spread joy from their holiday. Usually, I’ll handwave the fact that I’m not exactly a fan of monarchies in real life, but the way some of the holidays were absolutely had me thinking “Are you SURE your family should be the head of this holiday?” specifically, Easter. Religion was also brought up a few times in a way that felt odd. Coal just says they leave the religious parts of their holidays alone, which is kind of impossible practically? Christmas is a Christian holiday even if it’s also celebrated by people who are not Christian or barely see themselves as such. Easter is also heavily religious. Honestly, I think it would have made it less noticeable if the author just didn’t bring up religion at all. It wouldn’t work for everyone, but putting the reference directly in the text absolutely brought it to the front of my mind for a long time.

Wrapping back around to Easter, I was really sad that Iris, one of the only prominent female characters in the book was so intensely passive. She’s willing to go along with whatever her father decides to try and keep the peace for Easter, but unfortunately, no matter how many times the story says “She’s a pawn and that’s not right!” it doesn’t make her not a pawn and she doesn’t do much other than be a cheerleader to the Coal or help him try and handle Hex’s appearances. The other prominent woman, is Coal and Kris’ mother, who isn’t really in the story at all, but who left them when they were young and is positioned as cause of Coal’s father (aka Santa) becoming a tyrannical jerk who heavily controls his son’s lives and makes them miserable. There are a few minor female characters, but they are largely just their job (Santa’s assistant, cook).

The romance felt kind of bolted on. Hex isn’t a terrible character, but I didn’t feel like we ever really got to know him fully. I didn’t see why Hex and Coal were so into each other so quickly. Also, for a couple that is trying to stay under wraps, they sure did have a lot of moments pretty much directly next to groups of people, including Coal’s father/Santa. They sent explicit texts while at a stuffy dinner. It made no sense. Even the writing itself changes when the romance is brought up or during sex scenes. It felt a little overwritten and very different than the rest of the book.

Finally, this isn’t even a big deal, but Hex says that Halloween is also called Mischief Night, which is absolutely isn’t. Mischief Night is a very minor holiday that happens usually the night before Halloween (with a few other options as well, but none of them being Halloween). The only reason this bothered me was simply because this is a novel about holidays. I would hope the holiday would be correct. Overall, I really struggled with this book. I loved the premise, but can’t get behind the execution.

"Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas" in the brief description caught my attention, and I enjoyed both, so I had to read this one! It was a very fun, cute read, regardless of the holiday season. It was charming, funny, dramatic, and romantic. It touched on politics, family, abandonment, friendships, coming out, and cultural differences. I enjoyed all the characters, though I have to say that Hex was my favorite. The ending definitely leaves you wanting more, so thankfully, there's going to be a sequel.

Great meeting of Nightmare Before Christmas and Red White & Royal Blue. Campy and fun but also feels relatable and real with some tasteful spice added to the mix. Enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend to others as a fun seasonal read, only lacking was the need for more! As well as parts feeling very fast with the storyline and progression of events happening very very quickly.

Coal - the Christmas prince - struggles with the direction of his holiday. When his father announces his engagement to the Easter princess (something neither of them want) he has two weeks to figure out how to turn everything around. The complication: Hex - the Halloween prince - they guy Coal has been daydreaming about for 2 years, in on the premises and is also supposed to be courting Easter. Can the holiday heirs come together to foil Santa's plans for world domination?

Cute characters, witty dialogue and magic touches make this a delightful holiday read. I would highly recommend this.

Sara Raasch notes in both the dedication and the acknowledgements that this book's purpose is to bring joy, and I am here to confirm that it 100% does! What first drew me to the book is the unique premise of having royal holiday families who are all working to bring joy (which turns into a kind of energy source) back to their holiday lands. The book delves into the politics surrounding the holidays, centering on the heirs to the holidays, who are currently in college. The main love story between Coal (Christmas Prince) and Hex (Halloween Prince) can be considered insta-love, as they meet once and continue to think of each other until their next meeting over a year later, however that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the romance. A highlight of the book was the friendships between Coal, Kris (his brother) and Iris (Easter Princess). Coal, Kris, Iris and Hex all end up working together to stop an arranged marriage that no one wants, and while the catalyst for the issues wasn't my favorite, this book did entertain me for the entire time. Overall, I really had a good time reading this story, and as the world itself was one of the most interesting parts to me I was excited to see that we may get another book set here! 4.5⭐

To be honest, it was not my cup of tea. It was well written, but the premise of the story wasn't something I could get into.

I felt like the plot never quite got off the ground, but wasn't super bothered by that, since I was less interested in the plot than the interactions between the two MCs. You definitely get what's on the tin here, which is a more-than-welcome creative interpretation of the classic grumpy/sunshine trope.

I'll probably return to this universe for the next one.