Alright, I was a little hesitant to read this one but I'm really glad I did. I'm a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas so I had very high expectations for this. While it didn't quite meet by ridiculous expectations, it was honestly really cute and funny. This is a ya queer romance perfect for spooky season. The plot was engaging and fun, full of holiday games and challenges. I enjoyed the funny banter and laugh out loud moments. I especially like how the Halloween magic reacting to cursing. The romance was pretty adorable. Ellis Evans did a great job with the audiobook narration too.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this! It was quirky and fun. The dialogue was hilarious and as funny as it was, it balanced the sweet and emotional very well. College age, new adult - with a solid handle on the erraticness of young emotions.

Coal and Hex are both amazing leads and I loved getting the glimpses of their strong, but shy personalities and was honestly surprised how the charactesr flipped the script on what I initially expected them to be like.

The writing is an amazing mix of in your face debauchery and lyrical prose and you'll be laughing one moment and then reaching for the tissues next. The idea of different Holiday Royalties and how they interacted was really neat and it was executed so well.

I listened to the audio and the narration was done really well. This is a must buy!

"We are Joy in the darkness - We are Christmas" ::cries::

I thoroughly enjoyed this rom-com! Not only is the premise unique and fun, but Sara Raasch's writing style continues to delight! The main character, Coal, has a distinct voice that is very relatable. The pairing of Coal with Hex worked so well. Each had their loveable traits along with flaws to overcome.

I was hesitant at first about the cheeky holiday stereotypes and the “Prince of Christmas” main character, but then!! I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of feeling, the family and found family relationships, the grief rep, and the queer joy.

Cole (Nicholas) the Christmas Prince might have been a bit of a playboy, but he does truly care about the future of the holiday. His father has this plot to marry him off to the Easter Princess (who he likes but doesn’t love). Then enters the Halloween Prince, Hex. He is as darkly sexy as you’d imagine, and he just might have the hots for Cole, too. They hatch a plot to save the Easter princess from a loveless marriage, and make the Christmas king see that his power-hungry plans aren’t what makes the season joyful.

I will say this ended kind of abruptly?? So I really hope there’s a sequel. I came to love all the young royals from each holiday and the Red, White and Royal Blue type antics from these young adult holiday heirs.

This audiobook was so much fun! The narrator is fabulous and I would listen to anything he reads again. The story had top tier banter and authentic inner voice. I enjoyed the creativity of it too. Pacing was good, but the first half did have a bit more momentum. But I still enjoyed this one and will recommend it for sure. Thank you so much for the audiobook preview!

2.5 Stars

I was really looking forward to listneing to this book and at first I was having a good time but then it turned too much to Christmas trying to take over the Joy from the Winter Holidays. Also there was way too much talking when it came to the steamy scenes.

I was hoping for a fun Gay romance and this was just not it for me

I love this book so much that I've read it twice! Once via a physical ARC and now via audio. The premise of the book is just perfection - I mean, c'mon. The Christmas Prince falls for the Prince of Halloween?? Tell me less. I usually get pretty grumpy when a book is compared to RWRB because I just feel like it never lives up to my expectations. However - this book really and truly did!!!

This book is so funny - if you liked Alex in RWRB I think Coal is really similar in some ways but also distinctly himself! This book is also full of banter between Coal and Hex as well as many other characters. And though this book is funny, it does also tackle some tougher themes that make it feel really well rounded. Coal is so sweet and cares so much, even if others can't always see his true self behind the facade.

I loved the narration by Ellis Evans and would absolutely listen to his narration again. He really brought all the characters to life, which is really important in a single POV story.

I'm really excited to see where this series goes and could not recommend this enough!

Thank you @macmillanaudio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book....was unlike anything I have ever read and I mean that in the best way possible. I instantly fell in love with Coal. His internal dialogue was so insanely funny that I was in tears within minutes of this book (and throughout the rest of it, too). I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of Coal kissing someone drunkenly the night everything blew up for him and not having any idea who he was until he met him under very different circumstances. Watching Coal and Hex start to really form a connection and bond amidst being set up against each other was everything. The description of this being RWRB meets The Nightmare Before Christmas is so insanely accurate so if you love those things....you should definitely read this book.

Now on to the narration. I have only ever listened to Ellis Evans in one other book and LOVED his voice so I was beyond excited to see that he was narrating this book as well (the main reason I went for an audio ARC vs e-arc). He did an AMAZING job as Coal. I feel like he so perfectly conveyed his humor and the dialogue and it made the experience of reading this book that much better. 5/5 stars for the narration alone.

I will be posting a review/edit of this soon on my instagram page @_readtherainbow

This is a very entertaining story that is inspired by the traditions of Christmas and Halloween. The play on these holidays is cute and I enjoyed the personalities of Hex and Coal and the way they fell for each other despite their families being enemies. I also enjoyed the secondary characters and I'm hoping they get their own story. The audiobook was a delight to listen to and the narration by Ellis Evans is perfection.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and is now one of, if not my #1, favorites. It is the perfect mix of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Truly everything down to the names of the characters was fantastic. I was hooked from the first sentence of the book. No notes!!

I loved this book so much. Like listened to it all in one sitting, couldn't stop smiling and giggling. I'll be forcing all my friends to read this ASAP.

I loved this book! It's cute, funny, and sweet but it's also has a small plot of overthrowing a misguided holiday monarch.

I love Coal and Hex! They are so sweet and spicy together - the anguish of their longing just got me.

But honestly, I really want a book about Chris and Iris - because I'm convinced that they are perfect for each other (whether they are or not is yet to be determined).

Conceptually cute and spicy, in execution however... This story involves so much talk of school and child abuse and parental manipulation that it is hard to see the characters as adults. The book reads like a YA novel which made the spice uncomfortable for me to read.

Also a little uncomfortable with how white and colonialist this book feels. The first 50% of the book is western Christian holidays with zero reference to other seasonal holidays from around the world. In the second half we get vague references to Dia de Los Muertos, but it's almost referenced as an extension of Halloween and not really given much detail. The story is presented as royalty, but also businesses? But it reads more like a mafia romance about white colonialists trying take over everything else. There is an unsettling vibe lingering over a lot of the book which made it hard for me to read.

The cute parts are very cute, but the vibes are off if what you're looking for is a low stakes holiday romance.

This was a perfectly cute contemporary romance with a fantastical setting. It felt like Red, White, & Royal Blue so I think it would be perfect for fans of that book.

Because of the fantastical setting, the plot can get a little more outrageous and the villain can be much more nefarious than in a Contemporary novel. And for obvious reasons, they spend more time talking about holidays, the feelings they give you, and participating in various holiday traditions.

I thought the Christmas puns were funny, but feel a little betrayed that we didn't also get Halloween puns.

The audiobook was exceptionally well done and I think I might've DNFd if just reading the book, but the narrator was charming and kept me going.

Nicholas “Coal” is the heir to Christmas, and a little bit of a hot mess. He’s fairly well known for being a screw up. When his father, Santa, publicly announces that Coal is engaged to marry his best friend, Iris, the princess of Easter, Coal is outraged. Iris is Coal’s brother’s crush, and Coal has no desire to marry her. He’s still swooning over a guy he drunkenly kissed in an alley over a year ago. Even more chaos ensues, when that guy, the Prince of Halloween, shows up to compete for Iris’ hand in marriage.

This book was full of Christmas puns, hysterical banter, and fun. I loved that each holiday had their own royal family and that there were some politics involved too. The friendship between Coal, Kris, and Iris was absolutely adorable. While the romance between Hex and Coal felt a little bit insta-lovey, it was paced well enough that it wasn’t a turn off for me. There was so much tension between them! I also loved all of the Christmas vibes and magic sprinkled throughout this book.

Ellis Evans did a fantastic job narrating the story and creating clear voices for each character.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copy!


This review will be posted to my instagram page (@babsreads18) on release day.

Wow, is Santa a complete and total asshole! Honestly, that is my main takeaway from this whole book (j/k!) I really really enjoyed this book! It was way more complex of a story then I thought it was going to be. I assumed it would be a cozy holiday romance, with the Prince of Christmas falling in love with the Prince of Halloween. And I do really love the romance between the two. Their banter is top notch. But there is so much more to the story! Mental health and self esteem issues are, in my opinion, handled very well. I really enjoyed seeing the progression of Cole's character, and how he really comes into his own in the book. I also enjoyed all the political intrigue and machinations in the book as well. The side characters were great, I loved the dynamics between Cole and Chris and Nora, some of their interactions made me laugh out loud. I cannot wait to see their story continue in future books!

The narration of this book was amazing, the narrator really brought Cole and the other characters to life.

TW: Parental abandonment and emotional abuse, sibling death (off page, in the past), sexy times

I really had no idea what to expect going into this book but as someone who begins feeling in the spirit for Halloween July 5th, this was a funny, easy and delightful descent into the holiday season madness.
Holidays being run by royal families, a fake competition for the Princess of Easter's hand in marriage, family secrets, bi/gay joy... what's not to like.
There is shockingly very good detail into the royal system setup. I loved the silent pining between the prince of Halloween and prince of Christmas. Definitely a slow burn with a good pay off.
Think of this as an emo Halmark movie with a little more 🔥
A solid listening experience 4/5 content & book 4/5

I had the privilege of receiving a free audiobook ALC from #NetGalley and #MacMillanAudio

This was cute! I enjoyed the narrator and the clever world-building of the holiday courts. The concept is so fun! However I wanted more character development - some of them just sort of fell flat for me. I also felt like the pace slowed way down about halfway through, when I really wanted things to be ramping up. Despite that, it's an enjoyable holiday(s) romance.

This book was absolutely ridiculous from start to finish in the best way possible. The themes of family and healing and dedication are serious but balanced perfectly by holiday drama and sibling rivalries. This is the perfect hallmark-meets-emo bridge between Halloween and Christmas reads.

Thanks to McMillian audio, Sara Raasch, and Netgalley for the ALC.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas has such a wonderful premise! A chaotic good main character, who is often misunderstood, paired with someone who always follows the rules.
I loved seeing the relationships and friendships bloom so naturally. Nothing seemed forced.
The story is unique, while also feeling familiar. It felt like a warm hug while listening. The narrator was pretty good but I would have loved hearing a duet style narration.