If you’re looking for a holiday romcom with lots of spice, go to Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone!

Recluse Isaac and extrovert Sunny are the focus of this book. This is the third book of the Christmas Notch series, but can be read as a standalone (book 2 is featured in the photo as well).

Things I liked: the humor interspersed with heavier topics, how relatable the characters are, LGBTQIA+ rep, holiday theme

Things I didn’t like: too much spice, not a fluid plot, the prologue seems out of place even having read the other books, too many characters introduced too quickly, side plots were a bit messy. I wanted to love this more but I just didn’t connect to this one 😞

⭐️⭐️ (this books was not for me, but it may be right for you!)

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“What’s up, tampon strings?” This book was a turn off from the very first line of the story.

I kept reading in the hopes it would get more classy and less trashy. It did not.

This isn’t a romance, rom-com or spicy book. It’s a smut book, and packaging it with Christmas just feels wrong.

The title is cute. The cover is cute. The contents are not.

I was interested in this book because I wanted to see how the series ended, and I think this might be the spiciest of the bunch. The spice seemed to overtake everything else in the first half of the book, and I just wanted a little more substance to the story in that part. Unlike the other two books, there wasn't a film in this one, but rather Sunny trying to write a screenplay and Isaac trying to make an album.
There were some appearances from past characters but lots of time with just these two.

A jingle bell mingle by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone is about sunny trying to write a screen play while also ignoring her brother. Isaac also lost his muse and needs to finish writing his Christmas album. Together they help eachother however they can, and I mean however. The spice from this was amazing but also showed life is still worth living even with great loss. Although this book was a first from these two authors together, I will definitely read whatever they write.

I'm not sure how to review this book. It's part of a series, and had I known that, and read the previous books at least I would've known what to expect. Instead, I went in blind.

Let me preface the rest with this; I'm not a prude. AT ALL!! If you knew what I grew up with you'd be shocked. That said, this book was way too raunchy to be considered a romance, in my opinion. If it had been labeled erotica it would've made total sense. Instead, you think you're going to read a romance, and instead you get very dirty talk and sex scenes. Again, I'm not against them, but the books containing that kind of material should be labeled appropriately.

Oh, the prologue! I almost forgot to mention it. I read a lot of books. Not the most ever, but lots & lots. Never before have I read a prologue that made me not want to read the book. This prologue had an insane amount of information. So much so, I almost cried and gave up. I hope I never read another prologue like it.

I'm not sure this book was for me. I think it's labeled incorrectly, and wasn't what I was looking for in a Christmas book. I wouldn't recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

I wasn't really feeling this until about halfway through, yeah of course the steamy parts were well done and steamy for sure, but I wanted more of a connection like I felt for the other couples. At the end this is a heavier topic and I really enjoyed the way it ended and everyone came together.

Thanks to Avon, Netgalley and the authors for access to an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

We’re at the wedding of Bee and Nolan (from Book 1) and start with a second one night stand for adult film actor Sunny and widowed boy-band member Isaac. And then Sunny’s motel room floods and she ends up staying at Isaac’s mansion while she’s working on a screenplay. Meanwhile Isaac needs to finish writing one more album to fulfill his contract with his music studio and the dead wife card just isn’t working anymore. They peacefully cohabitate with Sunny’s cantankerous cat and try really hard not to fall in love. High steam, high chaos, and high emotion here with both Sunny and Isaac dealing with their separate feelings of grief and figuring out how to move on with their adult lives.

This is was a cute spicy story of our main characters Isaac and Sunny who have had prior one night stand coming back together at the wedding of each of their best friends to each other for a repeat one night stand… or possibly more.

It’s a Christmas time wedding one bed, I’m lonely you’re lonely let’s hook up type of story, it’s not something I am not whole heartedly into. The writing was great, the story was cutesy, very what you expect from a “holiday spicy” story it however just did not grab me like I was hoping it would from the blurb, and that’s fine, I think the holiday tropey stories just are not my thing. If it is something you are into and enjoy this is the books for you.


Thank you to Netgally and HarperCollins Publishing for my e-arc.

2 Stars

Listen, I know there is an audience of people who will love this book. The reviews speak to that! But this was absolutely not for me.

First off, I had no idea it was part of a series! And it’s not a series that can be read as a stand alone in my opinion. There were so so many characters and I was completely lost on who they were & couldn’t keep them straight. The main characters also have some history and it was briefly mentioned but I felt so behind on the extent. Bottom line, you need to read the other books in this series! Don’t make my mistake.

Second of all this was one of those books that I would deem spice >>> plot. More spice than plot. Which I know some people love. It just missed the mark for me and I couldn’t get into it no matter how hard I tried!

Thank you to NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of A Jingle Bell Mingle!

Isaac Kelly and Sunny Palmer are both stuck in their own creative ruts. Isaac is the music industry’s resident Sad Boy after being widowed years earlier, trying to write one last album to finish out his contract. Sunny is at a standstill trying to write a screenplay she accidentally sold to the Hope Channel. After a post-wedding one night stand and a sketchy motel room, Isaac invites Sunny to stay with him in his historic Christmas Notch mansion, where they are both hoping to find some inspiration. The pair end up spending the coming weeks being not only inspired by the local Christmas miracle, but by each other too.

Ok so I know it’s been 2 years since I read it, but I don’t remember A Merry Little Meet Cute being THIS corny?! I think I maybe just didn’t really enjoy Sunny’s character. It felt like she was always just trying SO hard to be funny and that feeling stuck with me throughout the story. It was also so extremely cringy that she was immediately googly-eyed around any attractive person she saw. Like girl, calm down please.

I wasn’t really feeling the chemistry between Isaac and Sunny, but I did love that they both had their own grief to work through - separately and together. For what seems like a fun Christmas romcom, that was a nice addition for some depth. And of course, the openness and inclusivity around sex, sexuality, and body positivity are great!

Not my favorite of this series, but definitely a fun little not your typical holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy!

Another fun book in this series! These characters always make me laugh, and I dream that Christmas Notch was a real place with a strip club called The North Pole. Alas...it isn't, but this book made it feel real.

This conclusion to the series follows Isaac and Sunny as they try to move on from their grief in order to see the love in front of them. Sunny is hilarious. Isaac is brooding, but in a fun way??

Ok, it's almost a little too spicy for me, but I knew what I was getting myself into. It was a fun ride. All of the favorites from the other books are back. It was a satisfying conclusion.

This fantastic romance is fun, flirty, fiery and fabulous! I adored Isaac and Sunny, and their mega feels love story. Scorching heat, laughter, emotions, drama, swoon, heart, and mystery are skillfully combined into an enticing tale that I found irresistible.

I adored this book; Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone have done it again! We finally get to focus on sad boy Isaac, the third member of INK, who has purchased the mansion in Christmas Notch and accidentally on purpose invites Sunny (Bee's best friend) to move in as his roommate after their second one night stand. He needs a muse and she needs somewhere to stay, should be perfect, right? Of course, it's never that simple, no matter how sizzling their bi-for-bi chemistry is. This book is hot, funny and just the campiness we've come to expect, and the characters are endearing, unique, and frustrating, just like real people. Plus, there's a story within a story that develops so beautifully and brought tears to my eyes. I loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Avon and Harper Voyager (shout out to Danielle!) for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was a delightful and steamy romance that will be sure to make you swoon. I enjoyed the chemistry between Sunny and Isaac and it was a delight to visit Christmas Notch yet again for another wonderful holiday season. I would recommend this book to fans of Emily Henry and Tessa Bailey.

Many thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book. Thia book is available now!

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I love this big-hearted, queer holiday romance series. This latest in the Christmas Notch books sees two friends and former one-night stands becoming roommates with benefits. It's a beautiful opposites attract, grumpy x sunshine, friends to lovers romance that has excellent mental health and grief rep (Isaac is still grieving the loss of his wife) and Sunny has her own grief over her dead parents and is dealing with family problems involving her brother and their company plus has ADHD. There's lots of forced proximity, TONS of steamy SPICE, a mystery involving a love triangle in the past and lots of tender moments too. Great on audio and highly recommended. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Super cute, a bit spicy and just a great Holiday romance read! Pick this up if you want a binge worthy read.

Thank you NetGalley, Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone Avon and Harper Voyager and Avon for giving me this ARC!

Julie and Sierra can do no wrong. This was a spicy fun continuation of their Xmas series.

Sunny and Isaac’s relationship was so cute and spicy. I giggled my entire way through it.

Nothing makes me happier than the little map of their Christmas universe

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this amazing e-arc.

What do you get when you mix grief, found family (with special talents), reclusive tendencies in a small winters town, a dash of secret online detectives, and a secretive small town love story from WW2. The sweetest, “just one more time,” shmexy love story.

The personal growth was amazing. The banter between Sunny and Isaac was even better.

DNF at 40%.

I loved the mystery behind Sunny's movie, I loved the roommates with benefits trope, and I loved watching Isaac come back from "the dead".

However, while I think the premise was super cute, and the steam was fantastic, I just did not enjoy the characters enough to continue with the story. I also felt like this was supposed to be an interconnected standalone, where you could not have read the earlier books and still had plenty of information about past characters given in this book to make sense, but that was not the case. Within a very short amount of time, there were about 10-15 characters introduced by name like I should have known them who I very much did not. There were also characters referenced throughout the portion of the book I read that I had no idea who they were or their significance. A refresher for those who have read it and a simple introduction for those picking this book up first would have gone a long way imo.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone for the opportunity read a copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions above are honest and my own.

A Jingle Bell Mingle was just okay for me. I did like the story, but felt that I was expected more of a rom-com, which this didn't feel like to me. It was heavier and much more sexual-forward, which was fine, just not what I expected. That's not the authors fault by any means, so just because this wasn't my favorite story doesn't mean others won't love it.