This was a cute holiday palate cleanser. The shop was perfect! The romcom vibes were 10 out of 10. Only reason I didn’t give it. Five stars is because it was a little cliché.

DNF

I went into this expecting some resemblance to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I was disappointed. Instead, it focused heavily on goofy holiday politics and a romance that focused more on physical attraction than I typically prefer. Ultimately, I decided not to finish it and dnf’d pretty early.

I think this book is definitely meant for a certain demographic of readers: romance, sci-fi, slow-build. However, I found this story pretty boring and I had a difficult time staying engaged. I feel like there was a lot of political discourse between the holidays and the romance was lacking. Perhaps if this story had multiple points of views instead of just Coal’s, it would have been more engaging.

Honestly, what kept me going was the narrator. Personally, I feel like I probably would have DNFd this book if I was only reading a physical copy instead of listening to the audiobook.

I truly had the lowest expectations, and I was blown out of the water. I was pleasantly surprised by the world building and the political plotlines. I think that it being a romcom is honestly second to the actual plot of the book which was about Joy and like family. I think that overall it was incredibly fun and fresh while still feeling familiar.

Thank you for the audio ARC. This book wasn’t for me. It wasn’t what I expected and seemed like it would be more interesting for a young adult audience.

This book has a truly unique and fun concept and was surprisingly more layered than I anticipated. I particularly enjoyed the narrator and thought his performance added a lot of humor and depth I would have otherwise missed in written format. I’m looking forward to the next book!

This was an interesting take on there being a holiday world where there is a royal over each of the holidays. This book has the royals from Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. The story takes place in the Christmas kingdom, where some shady stuff is going down. You get to see these characters grow and their flaws. The interactions between all of the characters were great to see, I just loved this story.

*The Nightmare Before Kissmas* introduces us to Coal, the reluctant heir to Christmas, who has never quite found his place in the holiday tradition. In his attempts to spread Christmas joy, things go hilariously wrong, earning the disapproval of his father, the current Santa. While grappling with the fallout, Coal meets a mysterious stranger at a bar who lingers in his thoughts. Years later, just as Santa announces plans to involve Coal in the family business in an unexpected—and unwelcome—way, the stranger reappears, complicating Coal’s life amid new family drama.

The sibling and friend dynamics in this story are a highlight, adding warmth and humor, while the romance between Coal and Hex is adorably endearing. Coal’s "down bad" energy is a delight!

The audiobook narration truly elevates the experience, with a voice perfectly suited to the main POV character and distinct adjustments for others. The narration’s clarity and flexibility in pacing made it a joy to listen to—even at higher speeds, which is a must for me.

I received The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch from @Macmillan.Audio through #Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.

Everything about this book is creative. I love the names, and the whole set up of the holidays and how they all work. We even get to see a different side of Santa! The book is light, humorous, and as the author says, “zany”, but there are heavier topics as well.

Twenty-two-year-old Nicholas “Coal” Claus, the Prince of Christmas, has a wonderful relationship with his brother Kris and his friends. He doesn’t have the best relationship with his father, and in my opinion the book is mostly about that. There is little romance in the first half of the book, but in the second half we get to know Hex, the Prince of Halloween better and the romance kicks up a notch or two. They have a nice relationship for people so young, and they are very mature with their communication and consent.

Narrator Ellis Evans is INCREDIBLE. He is so talented; you’d think he’d be performing every other book by now. I love his voice, his expressiveness, the difference between his characters, and how he perfectly captures the humor, the serious moments, and everything in between in this book.

I really enjoyed the NetGalley The Nightmare Before Kissmas book club packet and I would do anything to have more, more, more of these book club packets! The packet starts by warning us that there are spoilers within. It goes over content warnings, a note to the readers, an author interview, discussion questions, PRINTABLE BOOKMARKS, “Bites & Sips” for your book club meeting, including RECIPES. There is e a playlist curated by the author, activities, “Kiss, Marry, Banish” match-ups and more. As a member of a monthly book club, I truly hope these book club packets are the wave of the future. Thank you #WeAreBookish !

The next book in the Royals & Romance series, Go Luck Yourself, publishes March 11, 2025 and I will be reading it!

4/5 stars
12 hours 23 minutes at 1x on audio
Open door

The Prince of Christmas, Cole, is in trouble that for once he didn't cause: his dad has decided he's getting married to Iris, the Princess of Easter while pretending to be in a competition for her hand with Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

The holiday royalty's politics played a much larger role in this book than I originally anticipated, but it was a different twist on a holiday romance that I really enjoyed. I enjoyed the growth both Cole and Hex made to learn to balance what they want with what they're capable of doing for their holiday.

This was beyond cute!! The prince of Christmas and the prince of Halloween end up meeting each other under sketchy circumstances and fall into instant like. I loved all the holiday characters we met, but especially loved the interactions between Coal (prince of Christmas) and his brother). This was such a fun, cute holiday read and I could not stop listening!

Re-post from my review of the e-arc!

This is one of my favorite holiday books of the year! Not only did it give cute and cozy vibes; it also had the perfect amount of social commentary regarding politics and capitalism.

I love Coal so much. The narrator, Ellis Evans, makes Coal come alive. His emotions bleed through the pages, making me feel the range of emotions he felt. The representation throughout the novel was also something I adored. For example, Hex is Latine, his mom represents Dia de los Muertos and he goes to university in Mexico. There is also wonderfully, chaotic bi-rep that had me squealing with delight. If you like spice with your romance, this is sprinkled throughout and is done with the utmost consent presented by both parties.

Overall, it's a fun and thought-provoking holiday read that will squeeze your heart in the best of ways!

I wanted to love this, I heard nothing but great things but I just couldn’t get into it. I tried several times but my interest was non existent.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas had all of the Christmas magic and cute queer love that hooked me in this festive romance novel.
I was pleasantly surprised at how expansive the world building was in this book and it truly felt like it had very high stakes. I think fantasy romance is a bit out of place to classify this in but it certainly had more fantastical elements with stakes than pure romcom, which I commend it on. It is so easy to get lost in the plethora of holiday themed romances, but this truly sets itself apart from the others due to its world building focus.
The characters were adorable and so lovable, and the side characters felt flushed out and real, unlike the 2d occasional cameos that can be common with less stellar writing.
My biggest critique was that it felt a tad too long, but perhaps they cut down on the length for the published work.
I definitely recommend reading this for a festive romance and am interested in what the sequel holds.
4 stars

A delightful little story with more spice than I was expecting but it was most welcomed. The concept of Christmas and Halloween being rivals and their sons becoming romanticly involved was a cute holiday romcom that transcended one particular holiday. Also loved the aspect of Santa being a bad guy

I’m looking forward to the rest of this series. I love how it was laid out and the implications of what has happened in this one.
It did read a bit slow in the beginning but once it picked up it was really enjoyable.
The audio was enjoyable and the narrators added to the characters.

Just what you need to fill the gap between Halloween and Christmas.... but really it can be an any time of the year read. If you need some holiday romance to brighten your days, then look no farther! This is the story of a boy who meets a cute boy at a bar... but he doesn't know a thing about him and doesn't run into him again until much, much later. And when they meet again... sparks... I mean... embers fly.

What I loved: Coal's Eeyore vibe with a twist of doing the right thing, but having it all go wrong, everything there is about Iris - if I could be her - I would, Hex's smolders and intentional prodding of Coal, Chris's steadfast brotherly love.

Are there a few flaws in the plot? Of course. But if you come just for a fun romance, you won't be disappointed. Don't think so hard. Just enjoy the sleigh rides.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

Well...I did not expect this to make me so dang emotional. I was ready for a cute little romcom full of laughs and boy was I wrong. BUT I was not disappointed. These characters were so absolutely real and all too raw, and that made everything so much more meaningful. It was truly a Christmas story full of the spirit and magic of Christmas itself, but the spirit of holidays in general made everything so special.

My one and only complaint was that it felt like it was far too long for a romcom. Once you get further into it, it doesn't seem to feel as long, but I was definitely feeling the length in the first 3rd of the book.

The humor of this book is perfectly balanced with the depth, and I appreciate that in so many ways. There was a lot of emotion to be grappled with, and the humor truly kept it from becoming too much to handle. The characters were perfect matches for one another in a way that did not become too much as it often can.

I cannot wait to read more in this series and see where the love goes!

⭐️⭐️💫 (2 1/2) It was cute but I was bored 🥱 Christmas themed books might be too cute/cheesy for me, the narrator was pretty good at portraying the characters' personality

And it had some good points sprinkled within the drama about overconsumption, and the way Christmas has been turned into a holiday about things instead of acts of service. The reason it added to it feeling like a YA read is because it handles these topics in a very surface level. It poses the questions but doesn’t go too deep about the answers.

It read like YA but with spicy scenes 👀

I thought it was YA so the spicy scenes came at me out of nowhere. Anyways, not YA! Pretty sure there was a set up for a sequel between Ivy (best friend) and Coal’s brother, Chris. I will not be reading, but if you liked this just know there is more incoming :D

I’m out.