𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: I’m always down for an enemies to lovers romance, throw in best friend’s little sister and I’m sold! I know it’s not the holidays anymore but you can’t go wrong with a snowed in story in February especially when the groundhog sees its shadow. If you want a quick, cute, mildly spicy read this week: this one’s for you!

Nina loathes her brother’s best friend since day one he’s teased her and called her a gremlin. So when her brother brings the dark prince of evil to her family Christmas it means game on. But being snowed in with your enemy, who you may also have a crush on can only go one way. Let the prank wars begin.

Tristen just realized his best friend’s little sister is gorgeous, wow she’s grown up. When his family bails on him yet again, being accepted into his besties family means a lot. But Nina is making this holiday difficult, she’s insisting on a war and he can’t let her win. But as each day passes they keep upping the antics the lines between hate and love blur.

But you can’t have feelings for your best friend’s little sister because if he finds out there is only on choice and it’s not her…

𝑭𝒂𝒗 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆: “What are we doing?” “We’re falling, Nina...falling into something real, something that scares the hell out of me, but something I can’t resist.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Best Friend’s Little Sister
* Enemies to Lovers
* Snowed in for Christmas
* Prank Wars & Nicknames
* Forced Proximity
* 5yr Age Gap
* Found Family
* Dual POV
* Spice

💥💋🎄❄️ 💥💋🎄❄️ 💥💋🎄❄️ 💥💋🎄❄️💥

This Christmas rom com is indeed a Holiday Romance. But I enjoyed that it was trying to be tongue in cheek.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. I don't know I was looking forward to this one but I did not like any of the main two characters...maybe the male main character but the female was awful! She was very selfish, childish and just...well annoying. I didn't find any of the pranks they did to each other funny, it just all started getting more and more absurd. Sadly this was a pass for me.

This was everything I want in a holiday rom-com book. It is like a watching a hallmark movie. I appreciated that the tension between them was due to how they viewed their childhood. Often we only think about an experience from our point of view and miss that the other person might see the scenario completely differently. It was a fun and unique spin on the tension of a brother's friend romance.

This book has it all: enemies to lovers, Christmas, family traditions! I was swept up and enjoyed it in the best way!

A fantastic Christmas rom-com from Camilla Isley! Enemies to lovers, with a hilarious prank war in between. I loved the steamy chemistry between Nina and Tristan - and the plot is the perfect blend of romance and humor! Can't wait to read Isley's next book! 4.75 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

All Nina Thompson wants for Christmas is to avoid her brother’s best friend, Tristan. Tristan is seriously hot, but ever since he embarrassed Nina as a teenager, she has been getting revenge through pranks. But this Christmas she will have a break and be able to relax with her family.

Then the doorbell rings and there is Tristan. When they are trapped together in a snowstorm, their chemistry can’t be ignored. But Nina isn’t ready to forgive and Tristan doesn't want to betray his friend so they decide this is just a secret Christmas fling and definitely not a holiday romance!

Beyond the fun premise, the novel offers surprising depth, exploring Nina and Tristan on a deeper level that made their story so much better.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy of "This Is Not a Holiday Romance” by Camilla Isley.

I liked the premise and trope of this book a lot. Enemies to lovers plus add in the fact the main male character (Tristan) is the best friend of the main female character's (Nina) brother. it is a win win. However, I think the attitude and lack of emotional depth Nina has just wasn't a good fit for my personal reading tastes. I completely understand that the comments Nina overheard Tristan say were devastating for a young girl. I even get harboring those feelings into adulthood. Nobody says forgiveness is a given or even a right, but Nina acted like a severely petulant child throwing tantrums through most of the book. It was a little hard for me to get past that. There were some nice spicy scenes, and some laughs throughout, but overall it wasn't the cute holiday romance I wanted/expected.

Camilla Isley did what she did best in this one. She writes fun short and cute rom-coms. While I sometimes found the FMC to be insufferable at times, especially in moments when it was obvious that Tristan was trying to be nice, but as always, she turned it around, and I had a lot of fun with this one! I chatted about this one on my Booktube channel. Overall, 3.5 stars!

Nina and Dylan, fight all the time, like they are five year old siblings. Nina also wants to avoid Tristan, Dylan’s roommate and friend, as mucha as she can, but during the spirit of the holiday season enemies turn to something else.
I love this funny story, it’s my first book by the author and I really enjoyed it.

This is a really cute seasonal romance, I love the enemies to lovers and brother's best friend tropes so I was excited for this and I think it was entertaining if a little cringey! A quick easy festive read.

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this. It was light hearted, enemies to lovers romance novel. It was funny and heartwarming at the same time. I need a part 2 with Rowena's story.

I have never read anything by this author, but I will be looking out for other books they write in the future. I really enjoyed the story as well as the pacing of the story.

I love a good enemies to lovers romance, but this one wasn’t for me unfortunately. The pranks Nina and Tristan play on each other felt very childish and their whole chemistry/connection felt very forced. These are characters in their late twenties and early thirties but especially Nina kept behaving like a teenager. While I can understand her hurt and insecurities I cannot believe that this is how an actual adult would behave (even considering that we might be transported back to our teenage selves during the holidays in our hometowns). Tristan was a bit more mature but not so likeable either. He’s known this woman for 15 years and has never before realised that cruel words can hurt another person? Jeez …

If you're looking for a cosy, light hearted Christmas romance, this is maybe worth a shot. However, whilst I initially liked this book and the banter between the two MCs, like most enemies to lovers books, once they reached the relationship stage it just became really boring. The switch up was also just kinda sudden and drastic, so I didn't particularly care for the couple at all. It also didn't help that the two were SO immature for their age (a thirty year old calling her nemesis the prince of darkness?!?), it almost would have been better if they were college students.

This is a perfect quick, witty read for the holiday season! Something you can read in a single setting or over a few days! It's also part of a new series! Thank you to Camilla, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC!

What to Expect:
⭐ Enemies to lovers
⭐ Brothers Best Friend
⭐ Holiday Romance
⭐ Comedic Pranks
⭐ Snowed in forced proximity story of love, truth and healing past trauma

My Thoughts:
Main Characters (Nina + Tristan) start with straight avoidance but find themselves building a friendship neither expected. Their pranks are funny, but at the heart of it all is hurt and baggage. This story had me laughing out loud at points until you realize some of it is super childish. Which is all due to literally them being kids when it all started. I understand why SO many readers felt it was "cringe" but you have to go beyond that stuff to the heart of it wall. Who knows what their story could have been if they had hashed out all the baggage of the past way earlier in life!

There is heat between these two from the get go! You can tell that underneath the angst and hurt from the teenage years there is more to what their story is. While the story feels like a insta love the story is built over their journey being in forced proximity growing up thanks to Tristan being her brothers best friend. So while the current situation also has them forced together there is a mutual story shared with history. So it's not rushed!

There were moments that weren't my top favorite, things that were a bit over the top BUT all in all for a holiday read I loved it! I'm looking forward to some of the others including book 2 coming out in 2025!


Synopsis:
Nina Thompson has one Christmas wish: to avoid her brother’s obnoxiously handsome best friend, Tristan, like the plague. From the moment he humiliated her as a teenager to their escalating revenge schemes, Nina and Tristan’s relationship can only be defined as an all-out prank war! And there is yet to be a winner.

But it just so happens the ghost of Christmas present has other ideas. When Tristan unexpectedly crashes her family’s Christmas, Nina’s dreams of a peaceful holiday vanish faster than Santa up a chimney. Determined to end their rivalry for good, she braces herself for one last prank-filled showdown.

But when they find themselves snowed in, with no way of avoiding each other amongst the holiday festivities, they discover their heated exchanges have been masking a different kind of sizzle. Caught in a snow globe of holiday romance, they decide to let their fiery chemistry burn bright—but this is absolutely and unequivocally nothing more than a secret fling destined to melt with the snow, this is not a forever romance…

This Is Not a Holiday Romance is an enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend, forced proximity rom-com perfect for fans of Sarah Adams, Abby Jimenez, and Lynn Painter.

This bok had me hoked. I loved all of the pranks, even though they felt a little immature and something a middleschooler would I was very entertained.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for the copy 💕

The book took a little while for me to get into at first but I really did love it once I did! I loved the enemies to lovers dynamic that Nina Tristan had throughout as well as the threat of brothers best friend and how it could affect their relationship. It was super cozy and absolutely perfect as a Christmas read

This was a cute, quick read filled with holiday fun! Enemies to lovers and forced proximity are some of my favourite tropes and this book delivered. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun Christmas read!

Favorite Quotes:

This close, I catch a whiff of his scent— he smells like a promise of dark nights and
broken hearts. It’s intoxicating,

If looks could kill, my ex would be already playing chess with the Grim Reaper.


My Review:

This may be my favorite Camilla Isley book of all time. This Is Not A Holiday Romance was cleverly amusing and unfailingly entertaining. I always enjoy Ms. Isley’s wit and snarky banter; she has undoubtedly topped herself with this offering. The characters were well-textured, realistically flawed, and endearing.  I enjoyed this one so much that I am scheming to treat myself this holiday season by indulging in more of her clever arrangements of words and am off to scour her Amazon page for any I haven't yet read.