This was an enjoyable read. Isley crafted a compelling enemy-to-lovers, close-proximity, closed-door romance with a lot of playful pranks between the main characters, which added a fun dynamic. However, I had two minor qualms: I usually appreciate an epilogue, but this one felt a bit unsatisfying, introducing a challenging situation rather abruptly. Additionally, there were moments of miscommunication that made me want to shout, "Just talk to each other already!" Despite these issues, the book was still a fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an early copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.

This Is Not a Holiday Romance was in fact a holiday romance but wrapped up in the classic enemies to lovers elements of great banter and light revenge that resulted in great banter - in addition to some high heat.

Nina and Tristan find themselves trapped together for Christmas which sees their prank war, which Nina has escalated to get back at Tristan for his teasing when they were younger, hit its zenith. I loved the characters (as in every Camilla Isley book) being more than just on the surface. While Nina was a little hard to handle at the start of this book as soon as things hit their stride I grew to love her and Tristan (and their romance).

You can’t go wrong with a Camilla Isley book, and while this took place at Christmas it’s the perfect read year round because it’s truly more about the characters and the exploration of their relationship, past and present, than it is the setting that brings them together.

I have to admit it took me some time to get into this story because I was kind of annoyed with Nina. She took some time to grow on me. She seemed pretty immature in the beginning. I do think both her and Tristan were at first but Nina took the cake for being the worst. But when they finally stopped with the pranks and hating and got together I really enjoyed her. Together these two make a cute pair. A good enemies to lovers story. It was a quick read of me. The story takes place around Christmas time but it doesn’t focus a lot on actual Christmas. Over all a great story. Any story my Camilla Isley is a great story to me!

A cute Christmas romance, with brothers bestfriend and eninemes to lovers. Funny moments and great tension. A nice short read that gives you just enough for the Holiday feeling.

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 was such a treat to read! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this was fun and funny all the way through! The chemistry between Tristan and Nina was hot, the side characters were amazing, and the plot pulled me through this very enjoyable holiday gem!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

This Is Not a Holiday Romance is a new romance story from Camilla Isley. It's packed full of a few classic tropes (enemies to lovers, brother's best friend, forced proximity) and combined with the Christmas setting it will make a great holiday read!

Nina Thompson has an ongoing feud with her brother's best friend Tristan. Believing his teasing from her teenage years is rooted in malevolence, Nina has always taken revenge upon him as often as possible. But now that the pair are unexpectedly snowed in together at her family's home for Christmas the prank war escalates to a new level, followed by a very startling realisation that they are actually attracted to one another.

Determined to keep their newfound feelings hidden from Nina's brother, the pair's exchanges become heated in a different way now. But will this just be a holiday fling, or is it destined to become something far greater, and what will happen when their secret romance is revealed?

A fun romance story, but also featuring some real discussions on friendship and families.

I enjoyed every part of this book! This Is Not A Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley was great.
This book is a perfect beach read. The characters were likable and made me want to be friends with them all.
Nina and Tristan have known each other almost their whole life. Tristan is best friends with Nina’s brother. She had to tolerate him no matter how much she wanted to avoid him when he was around.
When he showed up for the Christmas holiday at Nina’s family’s house, she just knew that the holiday was not going to be fun. She did not look forward to having to tolerate him. But she would do the best she could just to make the time pleasant for everyone.
The more they were around each other the chemistry between them was so strong that as I was reading it jumped off the pages.
I loved how they interacted and when things changed, they both knew they had to hide it from her brother.
This is a fun, easy and enjoyable book that I recommend it to everyone who wants an escape from the world around them.
Thank you NetGalley, Camilla Isley, and Boldwood Books for the ARC of This is Not A Holiday Romance. This is my personal review.

Despite the title, This is Not a Holiday Romance is indeed a holiday romance, and a great one at that. I loved it!

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this.
I love Camilla Isley's books. They are always quick, fun, easy reading, and just adorable. Her characters are well developed but not overly complicated, which I've always loved. This one is no exception. Easy 3 stars for me.
Nina and Tristan have known each other much of their lives: Tristan is her brother's best friend and the bane of her existence. They have spent alot of their lives playing elaborate jokes on each other, which I found really funny and completely believable. But after seeing her naked and being stuck together over the Christmas holiday, they both quickly realize their 'enemies' status is really just heavy attraction.
Do Tristan and Nina transition really quickly from enemies to instalove? Yup: its a little whiplashy, but I honestly don't care. When I read a holiday book I'm typically looking for that syrupy sweetness, and this completely delivered. Its PG, maybe PG-13 at most, and the 'third act breakup' did not last long, which is great. I really loved their banter and some of the supporting characters: maybe a solo story for Dylan is on the way?

This IS a holiday romance with enemies-to-lovers + brother's best friend tropes. Nina and Tristan engage in "revenge" antics/prank wars to get back at each other. However, I thought that Nina's tantrums and pranks were immature and I had trouble relating to and liking her character. With Tristan, I know we're supposed to feel bad for him because of his family history, but I was largely unimpressed with how oblivious he was to his treatment to Nina in the beginning. Is nicknaming someone "Gremlin," which stemmed from the time you made fun of her looks, FOR YEARS meant to be taken as adorable? I don't think so. I felt like he also displayed an enormous lack of maturity during the third-act breakup that left me with a huge ick and emotional whiplash. Their personalities got better as it went on, but in the beginning, I was definitely cringing.

Pros: it was short and sweet, fast-paced. Tristan and Nina had good chemistry and I liked the evolution of their dynamic as the book progressed. They had good banter. Great side characters (I would really like to see Rowena and Hunter's stories!).

This book wasn't my favorite, but overall, a cute read with Christmas/holiday vibes.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book.

This is Not a Holiday Romance is a romcom that will make you laugh, smile, and get attached to the characters. It is the story of Nina who hates Tristan (her brother's best friend), and they have to live together during the Christmas holidays at Nina's family's house.

It was such a fun read. Their banter was everything, and their sensitivity as well. I absolutely loved her mom, especially towards the end. Her speech almost made me cry...

As you can expect in romance novels, there were some miscommunication: at the beginning, but it was rather quickly resolved, and then towards the end. I find it off-putting sometimes, but in this book, it was fine for me.

As for the structure of the book, there were short chapters (always a plus), mixed media with some text messages, and the book has the point of view of the two main characters and their pov are both in a first-person narrative, which was really nice as you get to know what they are truly thinking.

I would 100% recommend this book if you are looking for an easy, light, and fun read.

I think Camilla Isley's my go-to author whenever I want a quick and fast-paced books. I read her previous works and it's a hit-or-miss for me, but it's easy to follow along.

Nina and Tristan's been 'enemies' since day one. Pranks and banters are their language. However, one dare changed it all and when Tristan joined Nina's family during the holidays, things changed.

This is your typical brother's best friend romance but add in the holiday season, and it's magical. We saw the characters' dynamic right off the bat, and how it slowly changed during the holidays. The yearning, the overthinking, the long glances and stolen touches were so good. The tension was great too! I love them together and it's so good.

Overall, a quick read, great book and it's perfect for the holiday season.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! (l

All of Camilla Isley's books are must-reads for me and I have read and loved most of them. This book is no exception: I devoured the book in one day and I loved it so much. It really has it all: great characters, funny pranks and so much chemistry. I laughed out loud reading how Nina and Tristan pranked each other. I enjoyed how they started dating in secret and I really felt for both when they broke up, eben thoigh I knew the HEA was just around the corner.
Another great book by Camilla Isley that I will be sure to reread in December - a perfect christmas romance!

This Is Not a Holiday Romance is the Christmas rom-com you've been waiting for this year. There is tension, pranks, love to hate (but really love) and Christmas! Camilla Isley is a great author and definitely hit it out of the park with this book.


Thank you netgalley for an arc of This Is Not a Holiday Romance by Camilla Isley

Fun and sexy.

This is the kind of Christmas novel I like to read in July!

With a great mix of love and humour, I found myself thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

Don’t save this one until Christmas to read, it’s a belter! I loved the banter and teasing between Tristan and Nina, watching the realisation of what is right there under their noses all the time.
Made me laugh out loud and almost made me cry. I loved it

It was a cute fast paced Christmas romance. I like a good enemies to lovers story. I enjoyed the pranks. One thing that was off for me was their insta-love. It didn’t make sense on his side. Otherwise it was a cute story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC of This Is Not A Holiday Romance in exchange for an honest and independent review.

Nina Thompson’s idea of a relaxing Christmas at home with her family has just been blown to smithereens when her brother, Dylan, walks through the door with none other than Satan incarnate, Tristan. Tristan has been her brother’s best friend for years and her arch nemesis and childhood crush for just as long. Tristan has always treated her like the obnoxious little sister who never deserved his time or attention. He made fun of her looks and personality to no end, which lasted long into their adulthood and drove a firm wedge between them. They now only coexist for Dylan’s sake when absolutely required.

Nina cannot believe Dylan would have invited Tristan home without telling her. If this is how he wants to play it, Nina thinks two can play that game. In the coming days, Nina and Tristan engage in an all out prank war in hopes of throwing the other off their game. What they didn’t expect was the gasoline fueled fire that sets ablaze anytime one is near the other. Nina obviously doubts Tristan’s intentions but she cannot help but slowly bring down her walls for Satan’s spawn himself. Maybe he isn’t so bad after all? Maybe there’s a chance they could make this work, if they could just figure out how to tell Dylan…

Tristan and Nina spend the holidays sneaking around counting down the seconds until they are alone once again in the depths of night and in their own little bubble where they can just be themselves. Everything comes crashing down when Dylan discovers their relationship before they are able to tell him. Who will Tristan pick? Dylan or Nina? Is there room for romance in each other’s messy lives and will Nina believe he honestly cares about her after years of teasing and pranks?

Although many romance novels claim the title of “rom-com” I never actually find myself laughing out loud at the dialogue. This one however, has banter that had me dying of laughter more than just a few times. The conversation is so effortless that you feel like it’s all playing out on a screen before you. The one liners are great and the chemistry between Nina and Tristan is off the charts. You can feel it in every sense of their dialogue. I read this one in one night because it just read so easily and I could not put it down. If you’re looking for a fun read and enjoy close proximity romances mixed with the enemies to lovers trope that ACTUALLY falls in the rom-com category, pick this one up September 4th and thank me later!

A wonderful story wrapped in a pretty red bow. The banter was amazing, the enemies to lovers tension irresistible. I loved every second of this story and couldn't put it down.

I identified with Nina being a little bratty as she got home, I feel like whenever I go back to living under the same roof with my parents I'm back to being a sulky teenager. But I also loved how she evolved out of her everything-is-unjust feelings and matured.

Tristan--awww. I'm still swooning. I swear. The Prince of Darkness is rated into my top book boyfriends now. His angst, The shadows in his past. I loved him even for his mistakes.

His friendship with Dylan was another great aspect of the story. As was the found family which I always love.

When the magic of a Hallmark movie blends with the perfect amount of sugar and SPICE and everything nice. This was such a fun book to read. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. The enemies portion of this book had me giggling and the lovers portion had me swooning. The found family had me wanting to visit for Christmas. I read this in July and was able to completely immerse myself in the story, so I can only imagine how delightful this story would be if read during the Christmas season. If you are looking for a feel good book that makes you feel as if you have fallen into a Hallmark movie while giving you a glimpse behind some of those close door scenes...this is the book for you. I highly recommend this book and am already eager to dive into the future romances that we see blooming in the epilogue. 1.5 spice level

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.