This was a fun audiobook - super enjoyed this one. I definitely had a few laugh out loud moments, enjoyed the characters, enjoyed the spice and tropes.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I LOVED this book. Easily one of my favorites of 2024. The moment I finished, I wanted to turn around and start reading it again.

I started expecting a cute and silly romcom. But I was pleasantly surprised by the depth that Raasch added to the characters. Our main love interests are dealing with a lot of grief over different things and -no it wasn't the main point of the book- but it made the characters so much more real and relatable for me. The romance was exactly what I look for. This book contained the perfect level of spice for my taste and watching our two princes fall in love had me squealing and kicking my feet so many times. And you could tell that this WAS love for them. Often in romances, it seems too instantaneous to be love. They often read more like lust. And while there is an instant attraction between these two characters, I definitely felt their relationship was based on mutual love and respect for one another.

I really enjoyed Raasch's writing as well. Since I had the audiobook, I don't have any specific examples I can point to, but I feel that often romances can get a little repetitive. Raasch perfectly portrayed the awkward humor of the Christmas price, while writing the scenes between him and Hex with beauty and grace. This book has definitely made me want to read all the other books she has written!

I also cannot end this review without GUSHING over Ellis Evans' performance. If you are deciding between the physical and the audiobook for this one- I highly recommend the audio. Evans captured the humor, awkwardness, and charm of Coal so completely. And then he transformed when he read for Hex. It felt like two separate people. I also have been looking up the other books he has narrated as Evans has instantly became one of my favorite authors.

The only negative I can say is that I wish this book was longer (which I can't really count as a negative). I wish there was at least an epilogue to give us some closure between Coal and his family and maybe see him meeting the Halloween court. I know there is a second book coming out in March 2025, so I am hopeful Raasch will be tying up the several loose ends of the family drama in that book. That said, it appears to be focusing more on Coal's brother Chris, so I don't know how much more of Coal and Hex we will see in that book.

In closing, I can't say enough good things about this audiobook if you want a fun and festive read. Sara Raasch has become an autobuy author for me and I cannot wait for the next book.

I love love love this book! It pulls on your heartstrings but also made me laugh So much! The narrator did a great job!

I am absolutely enchanted! This audiobook is a whimsical blend of holiday magic and a touch of spookiness that kept me captivated from start to finish.

Raasch’s storytelling is both charming and engaging, perfectly capturing the essence of the holiday season with a delightful twist. The characters are wonderfully quirky, and I loved how their adventures unfolded in a world that feels both familiar and refreshingly unique. The narrator did an incredible job bringing each character to life, making the experience even more immersive!

What really stood out to me was the perfect balance of humor and heart. The witty dialogue had me laughing out loud, while the deeper themes of friendship and self-discovery added a lovely emotional layer. I found myself rooting for the characters as they navigated their challenges, and the festive atmosphere made it feel like a cozy holiday treat.

If you’re looking for a fun, festive listen that’s perfect for the season, "The Nightmare Before Kissmas" is a must! It’s the kind of story that leaves you with a warm heart and a smile. So grab your headphones, find a comfy spot, and get ready to be swept away into this magical adventure! 🎄💖

I loved this audio!! It was so well narrated and fast paced. I couldnt put it down! It is going to be a must read during the holidays. I would love to get more stories about these characters.

To say I adored this novel is an understatement. The romance was sweet and sexy, and the chemistry dipped off the page. The friend group was top-tier. Ellis Evans's narration is fantastic.

The idea of holidays as royal courts is such a unique premise. I was nervous about picking it up and kept putting it off because I was nervous that it would be overly cheesy, but Raasch executed it perfectly. The political intrigue was engaging and balanced well with the romance.

I also did not expect to laugh as much as I did, but the banter was fantastic. I love a good pun, and the text conversations between the friends did not disappoint.

Coal and Hex are so perfect. Their conversations were great. I loved how they worked through things together. Hex is the gothic character of my dreams - he wears a corset vest and is sarcastic as hell. I was born in the wrong era.

This story leans more into Christmas. So, it is an ideal romance for the holiday season. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A cute Christmas romance filled with magic and a touch of spice. I liked how it stayed campy but had a deeper story beyond the romance.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas- Sarah Raash
Narrated by Ellis Evans

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️
Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧

This was so cute and funny and witty. It had a great message about what Christmas joy is really about and standing up for what’s right, even if it is against your own parents. And a fun love story along the way with the prince of Christmas and the prince of Halloween. I honestly can’t want for book two for Kris’s story!

Ellis did a great job narrating this one. It was single pov so he did a good navigating all the characters voices.

i saw this one getting hyped before it even released, and it did not disappoint. such a fun and magical read! it left me feeling warm and light of heart.

the place where this book truly shines is the romance. a missed connection meetcute at the beginning followed by some truly funny circumstances (the prince of christmas and the prince of halloween?? like it has me giggling) and some even funnier magic (iykyk). this was everything i needed to get some holiday cheer into my life. i can’t wait to read more from the series

Red, White, and Royal Blue is a good comp, but add in some holiday magic. I loved Nick and Hex (the prince of Christmas and the prince of Halloween). Nick's dad (Santa) is obsessed with power and is manipulating the other holidays to keep it.

The love story was fantastic. However, there was just way too much time spent on Nick's terrible relationship with his dad. I get it, he's evil and greedy. This book could have been half as long. Or the same length but give me way more Nick and Hex! The holiday plot was pretty YA but the bedroom scenes were definitely adult.

On the plus side, the narrator was fantastic!

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch is one of the cleverest & unique romance that I’ve read in a long time. The concept of basically having royal families for all the major holidays is incredible. Then add in family turmoil, holiday struggles & a spicy romance between the prince of Christmas & the prince of Halloween & I am there with bells on.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is great for those looking to read..:
❤️ MM Romance
❤️ Holidays
❤️ Forced Proximity
❤️ Forbidden Romance

This has me in awe, smiles & giggles right from the start. This was such a fun story, even though it tackled emotional moments, drama & more so well. This was a breath of fresh air in the genre. I loved this world & there are so many other stories that I am anxiously waiting to read!

I listened to the audiobook of this one & it was so good. The narrator did a fantastic job of bringing this intriguing , quirky & fun story to life. I listened at 2x & it was magic for my ADHD brain.

If you’re looking for Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas, I highly recommend the Nightmare Before Kissmas!

Massive thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio & Tor for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

This was a cute, fast read that had all the holiday elements you love to see. I enjoyed seeing the festivities happening at the North Pole for Christmas and thought the characters were all cute. What worked less for me was the corporate politics nature of this - I see what Raasch was trying to do but it didn’t captivate me as much as I want from a holiday rom com.

When Coal, heir to the Christmas throne, is forced into an engagement with his best friend, the Easter princess Iris, he doesn't see any option other than to go along with it. He's had too many screw-ups in the past to ruin this last chance of proving to his father that he can run Christmas. Then he meets the Halloween Prince. Hex is a committed to his holiday as Coal would like to be, but even with an engagement on the line, neither can ignore the sparks between them. So when it turns out Hex's presence there to "compete" for Iris's hand is just as much as sham as the engagement, they decide they might as well enjoy the time they have together. But does Coal really need to prove anything for his domineering father--or is it enough to take the reins for himself for once?

What an adorable fantasy holiday romance. I love an overdramatic king, and Coal is that on steroids. Obsessed with this book and the whole premise of holiday royals so much that I'm already reading the sequel about the younger Christmas prince, Kris, and his St. Patrick's Day rival. If Iris doesn't get a book after that and fall for, like, the New Year's Princess or something, I'll be deeply upset. But honestly I just want as many books in this series as Sara Raasch is willing to write.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is a fun, quirky holiday romance that brings the spirit of the season with a unique twist. Set in a world where each holiday has its own royal family, we follow Coal Claus, the rebellious Prince of Christmas, who’s suddenly commanded to court the Easter Princess—though he’s secretly drawn to Hex, the Prince of Halloween. With holiday politics, royal family drama, and plenty of laughs, this story balances humor with heartwarming themes of friendship, romance, and self-discovery. The romance between Coal and Hex is both spicy and sweet, and the audiobook’s narration brings their chemistry to life. This book is a perfect holiday escape, filled with charm and festive cheer.

4.5 stars! The Nightmare Before Kissmas was so much fun! This was described as The Nightmare Before Christmas meets Red, White & Royal Blue (a book I thought was only okay) and so I went in with kinda low-but still excited-expectations and was so pleasantly surprised! It totally gave all the NBC vibes but also delivered on so much more.

I really enjoyed the way the holidays work in this world, basically all the holidays are kind of their own courts and have their own prince and princesses and have heirs and all the royal court things. There is also like holiday politics involved with other holiday courts and I was just so invested with how it would all work out.

Nicholas “Coal” Claus is the heir to the Santa namesake and the Prince of Christmas. He has made a lot of mistakes and caused a lot of scandals, so he’s currently on his father’s (aka Santa’s) naughty list. But Coal’s presence is requested home for the holidays where he’s thrown front and center when his dad calls for press and surprises everyone with an announcement that Coal is courting Iris, the Easter Princess, and an engagement will be coming soon. The only problem is Coal is very much not courting Iris, who happens to be his best friend, and they have zero plans to marry. Things get even more complicated when the Halloween court finds out about the possible merger between Christmas and Easter so they say it’s only fair they send in Hex, the Halloween Prince, and toss him in as a possible suitor for the Easter Princess’ hand too. But instead, Hex and Coal are the ones falling for another!

This book sounds so wildly quirky and bonkers, but it was so entertaining and fun. I was invested in the politics between the holiday courts and all the royal things happening. The romance and characters were good too, but I do think I was more invested in the plot overall cause it was just so fun and strong! Very much filled with alllll the holidays, in the best way. I’m excited now for more coming in this world.

This started giving me the ick. I had hoped that it wasn't like so many other gay stories written by straight women, but it started feeling like that and I won't be finishing it.

When I first found out this novel took place in a world, where each holiday had a royal family I was sold. Then I found out that it was about the Prince of Halloween and the Prince of Christmas, I was more than excited to read it.

This book follows Nicolas "Coal" Claus who is the local Christmas fuck up, after another recent fuck up he is drinking his worries away, which than leads to him being entangled in a drunkenly make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar. But that is all forgotten when the heir to Christmas is commanded to marry his best friend, Iris, who is the Princess of Easter. She is also her younger brother's crush, which makes this situation a huge disaster. Although things go to worst, when the mystery man from behind the bar is actually the Prince of Halloween, who is there to challenge Coal's hand at marriage. Now the two princes have to fake a competition between the two while trying to keep their hands off of each other.

When I first saw this novel, I assumed because of the cute cover that this novel was YA, oh boy did I realize quickly that this novel was defiantly not young adult. This book is spicy, and full of moments that will turn your face red. Even though the novel is spicy it doesn't take away from the romance. If anything it was the perfect amount of spiciness that was placed at the perfect moment.

As for the romance, I loved Coal and Hex and their bickering. I loved how from the start they had so much chemistry from the start. I also really appreciated how much Coal was trying to help Hex but kept on messing up. Meanwhile Hex, is doing everything in his power to hold it together. I was a bit worried when I started this novel that the bickering and enemy part was going to last too long. Instead we have Coal, who is constantly apologizing and Hex just shaking his head.

I listen to this novel as a audiobook, at first I couldn't really get into the narrator's voice but slowly I really started to enjoy it. But more importantly I just think I was obsessed with this book.

I honestly enjoyed the storyline of this novel but more importantly I really liked the world. I am so excited to read the second book in this series which follows Coal's brother Kris and the crown prince of St. Patrick.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Bramble for giving access to the audiobook!

PS: This book is going to be apart of my 25 days of holiday books series I'm going to be posting on tiktok in December!

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. I thank you for the opportunity.

The only thing that could have made this better is if it was dual point of view. Other and that it was the perfect book amazing adventure beautiful storytelling and absolutely hilarious.

4.5/5

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

Read if you:
- Liked RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE
- Enjoy the holidays
- Appreciate found family
- Go for all the spice ;)

Wait I loved this book??? The premise was sooo out of the box that I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found it very clever and fun with the holiday "royalty" at the center of this story. The romance was steamy and sweet and I enjoyed the meet-cute foreshadowing to start the book. While romance was the centerfold of this story, there were also amazing coming of age, character development and found family themes that made this so much more meaningful than the shallow romance it could be. I loved each of the main characters and all of their friendships/relationships. This was truly a spicy and heartwarming story that had everything I love in a romance. Highly recommend and can't wait for #2!

This was such a fun, cute, and romantic read! Coal and Hex were amazing together, but I almost enjoyed the brotherly bond between Coal and Kris and the overall friendship between the group even more.

There was so much to love about this book. I particularly enjoyed how the funny moments were so well balanced out by the serious moments. It was fantastic how the characters grew and developed throughout the story with Ellis Evans there all the way through narrating this wonderful audiobook. He brought the characters and this story flawlessly to life.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is a great way to start your holiday reading!

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, for this ALC. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.