If you enjoy holiday rom-coms, then I recommend you pick up this book.

"This Is Not A Holiday Romance" is a cute and quick read, just under 250 pages. It's an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, brother's best friend, and it is dual POV. It did seem a little insta-lovey, but overall, it was a fun and enjoyable read. The ending leads me to believe this may be the first book in a series. I look forward to reading any future books in this series, and I plan to pick up other books by this author.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

4/5⭐️

I'd recommend this if you enjoy:
- Brothers best friend
- Best friends sister
- Christmas vibes
- Forbidden love
- Forced proximity
- Dislike to lovers
- Banter and nicknames
- Cute family and friend group dynamics

This book follows Nina "Gremlin" Thompson and billionaire Tristan "Prince of Darkness" who do not get along and play childish pranks on each other to express their distaste of one another. They've known each other for ages and would rather avoid each other's presence but when Nina's brother Dylan brings Tristan home to their parent's house for Christmas, the hatred quickly dissolves into lust. With only one wall between them, it gets more difficult to pretend that their attraction isn't there and soon they're doing more than arguing.

I binged this book in one sitting and I liked it more than I thought I would. I've wanted to read one of this author's books before so when I saw this on Netgalley, I decided to give it a go. Their writing is easy to comprehend and the plot is fast-paced yet still filled with emotion readers can find relatable. I enjoyed the moments between the characters and I found that I enjoyed how this author wrote spice. It's still there but it isn't totally open-door meaning it's detailed up until they actually do it then it fades to black. I liked this element of the story and it felt natural as well. I liked that they got to know one another still and express their apologies for the nicknames/pranks leading to an understanding. The side characters were fun too and we got sprinklings towards the end of the book as to what the tropes may be for Hunter, Rowena and Dylan.

One of the reasons why it wasn't a 5 star was because they go from hating each other to falling in love in a matter of days which I'm not a huge fan of. I could ignore the speed of it all because of how long they've known each other but it did feel kind of unrealistic. The other reason was because the third-act break-up felt a bit unnecessary and was resolved pretty quickly. If the book were a bit longer to show the development more and the third-act conflict wasn't there, then I would probably have given it a higher rating.

Overall, I would recommend this novel, especially if you enjoyed 'Better Hate Than Never' by Chloe Liese (it gave similar vibes and was a 5⭐️ of mine), and pick up another one of Camila Isley's books.

ARC Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Nina Thompson loves the holidays. But when she learns her brother is bringing along his roommate Tristan, her mortal enemy, she begins counting down the days to their departure. With tensions mounting the two can’t help but push each other’s buttons. What started out as a prank war quickly turns physical. Can the two survive the holiday without killing each other, or will their secret hookups lead to a peace treaty?

Camilla Isley’s latest novel, This is not a Holiday. Romance, is the first book in the Funny Feeling series. It combines two of my absolute favorite things, romantic comedies and Christmas.

As with all of Isley’s books, it is made up of outstanding characters and a compelling plot. I was immediately captivated by the writing and couldn’t put it down. I read the entire thing in a single sitting.

While Isley usually writes more closed door/ fade to black romances, this is one of her spiciest stories. There is no denying Nina and Tristan’s chemistry. It is palpable and jumps off the page.

I recommend reading this book if you enjoy:
-enemies to lovers
-forced proximity
-witty banter
-brother’s best friend
-dual POVs (Tristan/ Nina)

Special thanks to Netgalley, Boldwood Books, and Camilla Isley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

In this fun, spicy, brother’s best friend, and enemies-to-lovers romance novel, Camilla Isley brings the holiday cheer to her latest book! Nina Thompson has never gotten along with her brother’s best friend Tristan, and they’ve had bad blood since she was a teenager humiliated by his teasing. With a long history of pranks and getting on each other’s nerves, Nina does not want Tristan to crash their family Christmas holiday and ruin her chance at a peaceful holiday. When they are all snowed in and cannot avoid each other any longer, will Tristan and Nina realize that their vitriol and snarky pranks have been covering up other feelings after all this time? With fantastic characters who have great chemistry with each other, the alternating perspectives between Tristan and Nina really allow readers to see their relationship change over the course of the novel. The banter and sexual tension are top-notch, and readers looking for all the best holiday tropes will love Camilla Isley’s latest novel. With a great heart and some fantastic twists and turns throughout the novel, readers might know where the novel will end, but they will not know how Nina and Tristan resolve their differences and make it to the end of this fantastic story.

I can always count on Camilla Isley's books to be satisfying reads. This Is Not a Holiday Romance is another captivating novel that features the enemies to lovers trope and Isley's signature writing style. Highly recommend!

This is one of my quickest, most entertaining reads and an instant five-star rating without hesitation! Why do I ever reconsider my ratings? I am obsessed with the enemies-to-lovers trope, and the well-constructed heat, volatile chemistry between the main characters, increased by the tension of forced proximity and witty banter. In this book, the holiday spirit, best friend’s little sister, smart and hilarious pranks involving glitter, and several Casio watches make it irresistible! I laughed so much and enjoyed the immature yet perfectly hot encounters between Tristan and Nina! I truly loved it and couldn’t put this book down, turning it into my guilty pleasure (it’s worth skipping daily errands to bury my head in the pages).

The story revolves around Nina Thompson, who is planning to spend a peaceful Christmas with her family, reading her book, munching on her favorite snacks, and drinking gallons of hot chocolate. But when she finds out her bane of existence, the "Prince of Darkness" as she saved his name in her phone, her brother Dylan’s best friend and roommate Tristan, is invited to spend the holiday with her family due to weather conditions that caused his flight to San Diego to be canceled, things take a turn.

Tristan and Nina have known each other for nearly 15 years, and their tumultuous relationship involves too many insults, revenge plots, and nonstop pranks that rekindle their hatred and annoyance. Nina hates him calling her "Gremlin" since her childhood, and Tristan has no idea how his words impact her or how his actions are judged by Nina from a negative perspective.

As soon as he reaches the house, the nonstop pranks start—the game is on! But when their screaming contest starts to threaten the family’s peace, Tristan realizes he has never gotten Nina out of his head since the day she dared to drop the towel around her body in front of him. Nina also notices her childhood crush, who has turned into her arch-nemesis, giving signals that confuse her mind. Their hatred starts turning into hyperventilating attraction, which means they have to get each other out of their systems. Could one night together solve the problem at the risk of getting caught at a family gathering? But what if one night is not enough and their attraction is more than sexual, something more concrete that they cannot deny anymore?

Overall, this book is hot as hell, an easy, very entertaining, humorous read with a well-executed version of my favorite tropes! I had an amazing time, and yes, I wholeheartedly recommend it! Grab your margaritas, daiquiris, or any of your favorite refreshments as you lie on your couch, sipping them while you flip through the pages! Enjoy the full experience!

Pretty cute enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, *not a* holiday romance.
I loved the tension, the play, the evil guy turned sweet. However i do feel like some parts might have been a bit cringy, such as how incredibly in love they suddenly were after like 3 days. Still definitely fun read and i recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

I've read a lot of Camilla Isley's books now and I think this would be one of my favourites. It's the first in the "Funny Feelings" series which I'm assuming will follow three best friends and flatmates. This book follows Nina and her brother's best friend Tristan.

Nina hates Tristan with her entire being and has done since the first night her brother, Dylan, brought him home for the holidays and she overheard him making fun of her ears and calling her a gremlin. From that moment on, the two would constantly bicker and pull pranks and dares on one another. For Nina it was a war, but for Tristan it was just a bit of fun - I think he's always had some kind of feelings towards Nina but could never understand her hostility towards him.

It's Christmas time again and Dylan once again brings Tristan home with him to spend the holidays with their family and Nina tears into Dylan about bringing him which is overheard by Tristan and her parents so he vows to keep his distance from her but he can't resist messing with her when she messes with him. Eventually things come to a head when a prank Nina pulls causes Tristan to knock over a family heirloom vase, smashing it to pieces. Her mother blames her and she can't stand that no one will take her side and storms off to her room.

Eventually she gets hungry and leaves her room only to find Tristan trying to piece the vase back together with superglue so she offers to help. It's at this point they start discussing why she's always hated him and he realises that what he thought was affectionate teasing actually became something hurtful for Nina. Once he realises this, he does whatever he can to make her realise that he was an idiot and never meant it be hurtful.

Things go well until Dylan finds out about them and forces Tristan to chose between him and Nina before kicking him out of the house. It takes a talking to from his mother for Dylan to realise that he has no say in Tristan and Nina's relationship.

I liked Nina but I thought she was a bit ridiculous at times and incredibly childish for a 28yr old. Screaming at the family that no one takes her side and storming off to her room when she's angry is dramatic! But it seems like Tristan brings out the worst in her, because she lets it, but still. She calms down a bit once they get together and she realises he was never intentionally trying to hurt her.

Tristan was my favourite character though. He is supposedly some billionaire playboy but with Nina he was all in and the perfect book boyfriend - despite coming from a family who never loved him, he's surprisingly good at loving those close to him.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

THIS IS NOT A HOLIDAY ROMANCE By Camilla Isley

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…

What i liked -

Enemies To Lovers/Brothers Best Friend/Forced Proximity/He Falls Hard/Rom-Com.
OMG Nina and Tristan's banter or should i say pranks was a hoot. I have laughed so much.
Their chemistry was equally Spicy.
I liked the whole secret meet and all.
I liked Tristan and did feel a bit sad for him.
 


What could have been better-

Though I did laugh in the book, I did find Nina quite childish. That did bring the mood of the whole book down.



Who Should read :
Beginners
Romance Lover
Enemies To Lovers Romance
He Falls Hard Romance
   

My Rating : 3/5

Thank you, Camilla Isley, for a copy.

This is my second Camilla Isley book. And I loved it. It's the story of Nina and Tristan ( I am biased towards the name ❤️). Nina has always hated Tristan, for everything he stands for, she literally calls him the prince of darkness ( hmmmm.. interesting). And Tristan has always liked annoying Nina and giving back to her for her elaborate pranks on him. Everything is going great until Dylan, who is Nina's brother and Tristan's best friend decides to bring Tristan along for Christmas to their parents'home.

I loved the banter, the silly pranks and everything that goes on between them.
I loved the slow burn, the dilemma, the forced proximity, found family, and Enemies to lovers trope. It is a perfect holiday romance! It's like a hot cinnamon bun on a cozy christmas evening!
Thank you netgalley for the review copy!!

This is a holiday themed enemies-to-lovers, brother’s best friend rom-com featuring pranks, snarky comments, and enough childish behavior to make you question the age of the main characters.

Nina has despised her brother’s friend, Tristan, since she first met him and he made a joking comment about her ears. Yes, you read that right, she hates him - even after all these years - because he made fun of her ears. When they are snowed in together at the Thompson family holiday retreat, things begin to change and the sparks between them are undeniable.

I generally love Camilla Iseley’s books because they are fun and filled with romantic tension. This is no exception. It missed the mark a bit because of the immaturity exhibited by the FMC. Nina couldn’t get past an old teasing comment that hurt her feelings and her subsequent behaviors remained too childish for her age. The characters moved from ridiculous pranks to insta love in a heartbeat which did not feel genuine. As with all Ms. Iseley’s books, the banter is top notch and there were plenty of entertaining moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

4,5 stars
I really enjoy Camilla's stories. They are light and fun and the characters seem to jump off the page. This story had two very different main characters Nina and her brother's best friend Tristan. They had been enemies since they were teenagers, pranking each other to extremes, especially when they get snowed in at her parents' house over Christmas. I literally cringed and laughed out loud several times due to their pranks. Overall it was a sweet will they, won't they end up together because despite the pranks there was real chemistry and Nina's family was lovely!

Thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and the author for the chance to read this book.

This was a fast read. It's an enemies to lovers storyline that starts out with some misunderstandings during teenage years and continues for 15 years! When the attraction happens, it's quick and irresistible. There's some drama with the MMC being best friends with the MFC's brother, but that just adds to the spice with them trying to hide their newfound attraction. Overall, I enjoyed the story and sped through the book in almost 1 sitting.

I can't get enough of holiday reads and was so excited to read "This is Not a Holiday Romance". This book was so fun, full of forced proximity, and enemies-to-lovers and lots of humor. This would such a fun read!

The line between love and hate couldn't be more thinner than between Nina and Tristan. And what better way to clear it than with some holiday pranks and an enemies to lovers forced to be close to each other? Disaster? Not in this case! A trully funny and delíghtfull holiday read.

This was so fun! I had been craving a good brother’s best friend romance and this delivered!

I loved the forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers trope and I absolutely sailed through this in less than 48 hours. And I love that the author sets us up for two more books in the epilogue (including a marriage of convenience!).

My only notes: it’s a little insta-love for my liking though the characters have known each other for many years so it was a little more believable. I wish that the emotional connection had been more deeply developed, too.

But this was a great read with a holiday feel to it. It was highly entertaining and I will definitely read the next two books in the series. In fact, I wish I had them in my hand right now!

i didn’t particularly enjoy this one because the plot felt a bit flat for me! i love enemies to lovers but the actual reason for them hating each other rubbed me the wrong way and kind of make the book fall boring for me

This book was definitely black mirror inspired if you’re into that vide technology fast paced erotica. With vibrant colors and illustrations. If you’re not interested in spice, I would not recommend this book because it was definitely spicy but still focused on the plot moving with the technology really fun story.
Even though the story definitely kept pulling me in. It took me a while to read this book because of the level of erotica and how young they look. It just made me feel a little weird. So I can’t give it any more than three stars.. that being said, the art style was so beautiful if I can give like half stars, it would be like 3 1/2 just for how beautiful it was.

Holiday season ✔️
Forced proximity ✔️
Brother's best friend ✔️
Enemies to lovers ✔️
Miscommunication ✔️
Pranks ✔️
Dual POV✔️

Cute story of Nina and Tristan as the navigate being snowed in for the holidays with Nina's family. As they spend more and more time together they realize maybe they don't have each other as much as they thought🥰

Thanks NetGalley for this festive read!

This book is an enemies-to-lovers, brother's best friend plot narrative. While I "love" enemies to lovers, and found the reason of their hatred (at least of the FMC ) justified, it felt a little blank to me; it was almost childish and unreasonable the way they pranked each other; and the fact that he never really knew that she hated him, just thought of their relationship as a prank-not-giving-in relation.
The premise of the book was great, I love a cozy christmas story. However, the FMC acted as a teenager for the first 30% of the book almost to the point it got annoying. Tristan was actually ok, he was mature (for the most parts) and really centered. His background story was interesting and I wish they could explore it a bit further. I get his loyalty towards his friends, but seemed out of the blue he valued it too much.

The book is a fast read, and you can read it if you want to have a relax time, easy read. The book is written really good that makes it easy to digest and to finish it in one sitting.