3.5 stars - A sweet Christmas romcom full of holiday cookies! Rival bakery owners fall for each other. Lawrence is a hot, introverted baker. Elena is a creative boss babe. Closed door but still a little steamy. Overall an enjoyable holiday read.

In *The Christmas Crush* by Noelle Douglas, ambitious Elena arrives in New Hope to open a Sparkle Cookie branch, facing resistance from the townspeople who fear losing their charm. Lawrence, the local baker of Sweet L's, sees this as a threat and is determined to stop her.

Their rivalry heats up at a town hall meeting but takes an unexpected turn when a cookie competition forces them to work together. As they collaborate, their tension transforms into attraction.

This cozy holiday romance combines cookies, rivalry, and Christmas cheer. While the pacing felt slow at times and the romance leaned toward insta-love, the author’s vivid descriptions of baking and festive decorations brought the town to life. The characters were enjoyable, though some traits felt mismatched. Overall, it was a nice read, but I wished for more depth in their connection.

The author’s name is Noelle! I knew I was going to love this book, and I was right. It was sweet, gooey, and romantic. I seriously couldn’t get enough of the sweet characters and wonderful town!

DNF around 45%. This novel isn’t bad, but it never really engaged my interest. I think it’s too new-adult for me with too much of a Hallmark Christmas feel.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

2,5 ✨️

Prior to diving into this book, I was genuinely excited about it. Sadly, despite its promising premise, it ended up being quite disappointing.

I was really engaged by Lawrence and Elena's journey; their dynamic pulled me in, and I found myself invested in their relationship. However, after reaching the halfway point, the narrative lost its appeal. The book became bogged down with lengthy descriptive sections that felt excessive. I tend to enjoy more dialogue; while some description can enhance a story, here it felt overdone.

Another significant drawback was that the story felt overly clean and it didn’t quite work for me. I was expecting to see a natural progression in their relationship, but it felt like we kept hitting a barrier whenever things started to heat up.

While my critique is based on personal taste, I don’t want to dissuade anyone from picking up this book. Some readers might enjoy the style and content more than I did. However, I wouldn't be inclined to recommend it to my fellow book friends. I believe everyone has different preferences, and perhaps this one just wasn’t the right fit for me. If you enjoy a gentler approach to romance without explicit scenes, it might still be worth a read for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove, and Noelle for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 🤎✨️

A cute, feel-good rivals to lovers small town romance debut that sees a baker and the woman who works for his new competition falling in love as they are forced to spend time together over the holidays participating in a cookie competition. Good on audio and perfect for fans of books like The cookie wars by Eliza Evans. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

The Christmas Crush by Noelle Douglas is a sweet holiday enemies-to-lovers romance!
Elena and Lawrence were compelling characters and the farther along I got the more hooked I was. I thought the character growth in this was excellent and the relationship was realistic.
Douglas‘ engaging writing and relatable characters make the narrative both enjoyable and impactful.
A humorous small-town romcom that kept me engaged throughout the entire story.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Noelle Douglas, and Alcove publishing for free ebook ARC copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

My Rating: 🌟🌟💫 (2.5 rounded down to 2 due to GR and NG ratings)

Spicy Rating: -🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 (negative spice, very closed door, which if you're into that cool 😎 But I felt a bit let down :/ )

Leading up to reading this book, I was very excited to dive in. A few reasons were: 1.) it takes place in Pennsylvania, and as a Pennsylvanian, I love the representation! 2.) the last holiday romance I read was had a Christmas baking theme and left me feeling cutesy and fuzzy. Sadly, with all the potential this book had, it let me down hard.

The first half kept my attention and had me invested in Lawrence and Elena's story. But soon after the halfway mark, it just lost its luster. There were so many descriptive paragraphs. I more like dialog, I don't mind some description of scenes, but this was excessive. There was a TWO PAGE suspense scene that I found very unnecessary. I also was put off by Lawrence's pet names for Elena; sweetie and baby..just ew.

My main issue with this book may have also been that it was too "clean." This was my first "closed door" romance and I wasn't a fan, it felt like I was leading up to developments in their relationship then 🚪 you shall not pass, but that's a me thing. Don't let me stand in your way of giving this book a try, but this would not be a book I'd recommend to my booksta friends.

This book is all the comfort we love from Hallmark movies with better banter and implied spice. The setting and storyline are adorable. The characters are gorgeous. The book itself emulates the comfort of Christmas cookies and cocoa under the holiday lights. A perfect book to get into the spirit if you are looking for a closed door, enemies-to-lovers Christmas story.

Such a delightful holiday romcom!

This book was so cute and enjoyable. I absolutely devoured this book. I really enjoyed the author's writing and could not put this down.

Elena and Lawrence were total opposites but had the best chemistry. I love rivals to lovers trope and it was done to perfection here. I had so much fun watching these two interact. We get the rivalry plus some angst which is always a plus. There were definitely a lot of "aww" moments between them. I liked the reversal of the male main character being the baker as well. Lawrence was so lovable too. I could relate to Elena.

The small town and holiday vibes were done well too.

This is the perfect book if you love Hallmark Christmas movies.

Lawrence owns the bakery in New Hope and has been doing well since he opened, but with the chain cookie store, Sparkle Cookie, opening on Christmas Eve he’s afraid he’s going to be run out of business. Elena is the VP of Marketing for Sparkle Cookie and her goal is to see the New Hope store thrive. Tasked with going to New Hope to promote the opening of the franchise and smooth the small town complaints, Elena falls in love with more than just the small town. Will Elena and Lawrence be able to make a relationship work or will their respective jobs ruin them before they have the chance to begin?

The cover of this book pulled me in and I got the Hallmark Christmas romance I was looking for in this book. This is a sweet small town holiday romance that will be perfect for fans of Hallmark Christmas movies. I thought this was a cute, sweet romance that was the perfect way to dive into my holiday romance reading. I enjoyed the characters and liked the reversed gender roles where Lawrence was the baker and Elena worked for the big corporate company. As I was reading this book I could easily see it playing out as a Hallmark movie on my screen. If you are looking for a sweet, clean holiday romance to get in the holiday spirit this is a great book to try!

"The Christmas Crush" is a cute holiday rivals-to-lovers romance where marketing exec, Elena, comes to small-town Pennsylvania to drive enthusiasm for the new branch of the nationwide cookie company, Sparkle Cookie. To her frustration, she faces resistance from local smalltown baker and business owner, Lawrence, who worries about keeping his family business afloat with this new competition in town. Can they find a way to both succeed and keep their romance separate from their businesses?

This was a great holiday romance for fans of "You've Got Mail" and "The Great British Bake Off." The townspeople were adorable and welcoming to this business outsider and the story included lots of fun smalltown stories and details. The tension between Elena and Lawrence's competing goals kept the book interesting and sets it apart from other holiday stories. Their romance and support of each other was also endearing.

*** I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ***

This is a delightful small-town romcom, featuring a broody baker, Lawrence, and corporate career driven woman, Elena. She bulldozes into town on a mission to prove herself and successfully launch Sparkle Cookie's new branch in New Hope. Lawrence is determined to protect his beloved bakery from Sparkle Cookies. There's banter, there's tension, and there's even a cookie competition. Their chemistry is electric, combined with the magic of the holiday season, it is the perfect cozy rom-com for the holiday season.

I went into this book looking forward to some romance and spice. I was a bit disappointed as there wasn't any spice. The characters seemed flat to me. Good overall story but it seemed to be lacking somethings.

Thank you to Net Galley, Noelle Douglas and Alcove for the opportunity to preview this title, the opinions expressed are my own.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

A wonderful Christmas rom com! I love bakery love stories. The setting, storyline and characters are all amazing and perfect for a festive holiday read. The chemistry and fun of this book was just a delight from start to finish. I loved watching Elana and Lawrence develop actual feelings for each other with the tension, the witty banter, and all the angsty moments. A funny and heartwarming read. I really enjoyed this story!

Elena thought bringing Sparkle Cookies to town would be easy but she didn't count on Lawrence who has his own bakery. This is a light, fun, albeit trope-y read filled with good characters and a positive small town vibe. And with Sugar the dog. This will remind you of Hallmark movies but that's not a. bad thing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good one for a lazy day.

Such a sweet & cozy Christmas read! I can’t wait to reread it around the holidays. Elena and Lawrence are the epitome of Christmas joy & love and I very much hope enjoyed reading their story!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc copy of this book!

I was very lucky to receive an ARC through NetGalley for this book! I really, really enjoyed it! It was such a sweet and easy read! Both of the main characters, Elena and Lawrence, were absolute sweethearts! I loved how Sugar the dog was such a big presence throughout the book! Nana was the best! The book had such nice secondary characters as well! The Christmas and small town vibes combined with the cookies were simply wonderful! It had brief mentions of social anxiety that were handled beautifully!
All in all the perfect Christmas read and I definitely recommend it! 🎄

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun Christmas book. I enjoyed it a lot!