Do you remember the movie Rise of the Guardians from 2012? The movie with all of the holiday characters (Santa, Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, Sandman, etc.)? Have you ever wanted similar vibes in a rom-com, that's also an LGBTQ+ love story AND has spice?!?!? It was something I never knew I wanted or needed but BOY it was such a cute and entertaining story! 🥹
The back and forth between the two male main characters (Cole and Hex) was so confusing but fell into place by the end, the personal growth that both characters experience, the family love, the themes of joy, holidays, grief, family, and so much more makes this an extremely strangely well-balanced rom-com! Also, the narrator does a great job of expressing the emotions and the different themes of the story!
Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for an early copy of this audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review! 💖

4☆
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Nicholas "Coal" Claus, low-key was very immature, cringy, annoying, irritating, with a little humor to him. I wanted to like his character so badly, but he was just too immature for me with daddy issues.
The audiobook was good, which I would give 4 ☆. The narrator did a great job bringing this story to life. The narrator was very easy to listen to and understand.
The storyline would be 3.2 ☆.
Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR facade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle. But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess. Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬
•Quirky Romcom
•Queer Romance
•Holiday Theme
•Fake Competition
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 Oct.8
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Thank you, Netgalley, and MacmillanAudio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

A little like The Santa Clause 2 meets Red, White, and Royal Blue. Coal, the prince of Christmas falls madly in love with Hex, the Halloween prince in an attempt to save both of their holidays out from under the controlling thumb of the reigning Santa. Once you get over the initial cheesiness, it was a cute story.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did! And now I really can’t wait until March for the sequel!!

The synopsis perfectly captures what this book is about but I’ll add that the reigning Santa (Coal and Kris’ father) is basically a mob boss extorting joy from other holidays so that Christmas can be the supreme cause of joy in the world. He’s also trying to be the supreme controller in Coal’s life by negotiating an arranged marriage with an Easter Princess, Iris, who’s also his best friend. And not anyone that he wants to marry.

Throw in The Prince of Halloween, Hottie Hex, as an extra contender for Iris’ hand in a “The Bachelorette”-type contest and the sparks fly when Coal falls for Hex, the mysterious boy he kissed behind a bar a year and a half ago and never heard from again.

Can Coal save the holidays and his future from his power-hungry father and win the boy of his dreams? Well, Christmas is the time of miracles.

Things I loved the most:

- the world-building: contemporary but each holiday has a royal court whose royals possess magical powers
(and pesky paparazzi)

- the brotherly bond between Coal and Kris and their friendship with Iris

- the Christmas time setting

- and, of course, the adorable and steamy romance between Hex and Coal (I’m hoping to see more of them in the sequel!)

This book is well written, well paced, and flawlessly narrated by Ellis Evans!! I absolutely enjoyed it and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet MM holiday romance!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my advanced listening copy.

It’s Red, White, & Royal Blue meets Santa Clause. The overall story is cute, but having a White woman write from the POV of a bisexual man, who in turns falls for a the Prince of Halloween, who is mixed blood, just seems wrong in 2024. Overall, I give a 3 out of 5.

Genre: contemporary holiday rom-com with a little magic

Coal is the heir to Christmas, and while he's known for being jolly, he's also known for his pranks going just a little too far. He finds himself in a bind when his father (the reigning Santa Claus) arranges a marriage for him to his best friend, Iris, daughter of the ruling family of Easter. Iris is great, but Coal isn't in love with her and he thinks his younger brother Kris is. But Coal can't get the stranger he made out with in the alley a couple years ago out of his head... until one day that stranger walks into the Christmas palace and Coal discovers he's the heir of Halloween. Hex is mysterious and dark and everything Coal wants in a guy, but Hex is also supposed to be there to woo Iris. (It's a love quadrilateral when you explain it, but don't worry all the emotion goes between Coal and Hex.)

This was a lot of fun to read. The MCs (and their behavior) skew a little younger than I prefer, but it fits so well with the overall tone of the narrative. Nightmare Before Kissmas was a near perfect surface level read where I suspended a lot for "romance reasons" and let myself enjoy the spicy holiday book. I giggled quite a bit over the friend groups’ antics and group texts, and love that they’re all looking out for one another.

I loved the audiobook and think the narration from Ellis Evans adds to the overall book. His voice acting gives the story and characters an energy lift. I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions while listening to the audiobook, and highly recommend reading the book this way.

This book is so well-rounded. There is an exploration of friendship, brotherhood, grief, family duty, finding one's place, and reframing what brings you JOY!

This book opens with so much juicy, hot mess drama that leads Coal, the Prince of Christmas, to drunkenly kiss a stranger in a bar ally after he accidentally granted an entire country's Christmas wishes leading to chaos. Fast forward to a year or so later when Coal begrudgingly goes home for the holiday seasonal duties and his father springs an arranged engagement to the Princess of Easter (one of his BFFs). To prevent this alignment between a spring and winter holiday, in comes the Prince of Halloween, Hex, to also try and win the Princess' hand in marriage. Unbeknownst to all the scheming adults fighting over power and monopoly over joy, Coal and Hex were the ones who shared that kiss that neither can seem to forget, and are both 100% down bad for one another. Thus unfolds a few weeks of sleigh rides, ice skating, holiday movie marathons, secret hook ups, and all the cozy holiday magical feels. But there are real threats here, as both Coal and Hex are torn between family honor/duty while trying to navigate court politics and posturing. Both men are also grieving and wanting to redefine how their holidays can create joy for everyone beyond the commercialism. Coal's relationship with his brother Kris was so solid and full of love, and I adored them standing up for each other and cannot wait for Kris' book which is next in the series!
This book will have you cackling over hilarious group chats, witty banter, and fun holiday competitions, but will also warm your heart. Such a fun concept, unique magical world, and full of heart!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced readers copy of this audiobook.

Will the Prince of Christmas finds his own "ho ho ho" in the Prince of Halloween...?
Yes and so much more!

While this holiday-themed romcom might seem like all sugar plums and candy corn on the outside, there's a darkness at the center of the story. A tale of devious politics and manipulative parenting under the cloak of cute holidays.

The current Santa is determined to strongarm the other holidays to fit his agenda, co-opting all the joy, all while maintaining his title of controlling father. The eldest Prince of Christmas, Coal, is the self-proclaimed family failure, hellbent on being the disappointment everyone expects him to be. Followed with younger brother, and Spare Santa, Kris bringing up the rear (always so dependable!)

Enter Hex, the Prince of Halloween. The instant connection between Hex and Coal is enough to make anyone feel all tingly inside... and turn everything Coal knows about himself - and Christmas - on it's end. With the declaration of the arranged marriage between Coal and the Princess of Easter (his BFF and brother's love), Christmas will never be the same.

Major points for the fluidity of the sexuality among the characters (Hooray for Bi-representation!) and eventual acceptance and processing of parental trauma. We love to see supporting friends and family along with people getting to be their true selves.

Also, I'd love to see someone fashion sketch all of Hex's ensembles. *swoon* (I'm a little jealous of all the corset vests, TBH.)

Overall, 8/10 - cute, deep, spicy, and now I'm ready for Halloween!
Ellis Evans gets a 10/10 for the narration!

📚Trope(s): He falls first, Secret relationship, MM, HOLIDAYS!
What you get: 🎅🏻🎃🐰🍆✨
⭐️Plot: 4/5
🔥Chemistry: 4/5
🌶️Spice: 4/5

5/5 stars
2/5 spice

Tropes:
Holiday romance
Christmas & Halloween
Arranged marriage
Secret relationship
LGBTQIA rep
Single POV

I had so much fun with this one. There was definitely room for more stories to develop from side characters, and I'm so excited to see what the author releases. Coal and Hex were just adorable together. They had instant chemistry, and their interactions were sweet and spicy. I loved how they came together and worked together to bring joy back to the holidays. This was a fun twist on the holiday theme and the Christmas legacy. Overall, I just really enjoyed the vibes, and the narrator did an amazing job bringing all the characters to life.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

This was such a cute and quirky romcom and I'm here for it! I loved the holiday world that Sara Raasch has created in this story and has me wanting more stories about all the holidays! I appreciated that the holiday world and the real world were mixed together but still felt like two different worlds.

The relationship between Christmas Prince Coal and Halloween Prince Hex was perfectly written and gave me all the "Red, White, and Royal Blue" feels. This books also brought more spice than I expected and I am here for it!

While I really enjoyed this book I do wish there had been Hex's POV through this book.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the performance by Ellis Evans.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 463 / Genre: Romance
Audiobook Narrator: Ellis Evans
Duration: 12 hours 23 minutes
Release Date: October 8, 2024

In this fun, inventive Christmas story, Santa is an evil PR madman, who wants to capitalize on the joy from all the other holidays by creating a powerful alliance with Easter. Unfortunately, this means marrying off his eldest son to the Easter princess, even though he has fallen head over heels in love with the Halloween prince.

This sexy little romcom is filled with hilarious characters and witty banter. And the representation of all the holidays in human royalty family form is such a fun and unique perspective. I loved it!

I listened to the audiobook and Ellis Evans did a great job narrating.

Thank you, @NetGalley, @macmillan.audio, and @Sara_Raasch for my gifted copy.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but it was not this! I was pleasantly surprised with the story and the characters. It was fun mixing in other holidays and showing that Santa is not necessarily the nice guy he is always portrayed to be. Loved the romance and the mystery, and I look forward to another story in this world!

Ok - I wasn't excited for this one, but dang was it fun and good!

It was such a pleasant surprise and will be so perfect for cozy season. It was funny, cute, quick, and just like a warm hug. I'm so in love.

Is this book for real? It was AMAZING. I couldn’t get enough of Nicholas and company. This book was so good! I feel it almost bordered on YA because I automatically connect it with my childhood’s Nightmare Before Christmas, but at the same time here I am a grown adult still watching NBC almost weekly. The themes of the story are perfectly appropriate for the upcoming fall and winter month reads. And the narrator? Ellis did a fantastic job.

The conflicts in the story are what keep the story on the adult side, in my opinion. I absolutely loved the world Sara created and wanted to live in this world though, I wanted to be best friends with Easter and go gaga over Halloween.

It’ll suck you in from the start. I wasn’t expecting it to begin the way it did, but I think the confusion of that is what kept me invested.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Festive and fun with a wonderful voice and perspective, I love seeing where the characters finally ended up and will reread around the holidays

This was so fun! I love all the holiday fun and the puns, oh the puns! It was a bit spicier than I expected, but I’m not complaining—Hex and Coal’s chemistry was intoxicating. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel when it comes out.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audio galley of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This book was so much fun. Not only was a cute and cozy fantasy read but it was quirky with tons of banter and just the right amount of sexy!
I had not ever listened to books by this narrator before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Let me tell you, Ellis Evans had the perfect voice for this story. If I didn't want to give the story 5 stars before, Evans's narration would have pushed it there. He has just the right amount of tension to make you fall in love with the main character, Nicholas "Coal" Kringle. I also enjoyed how he changed his voice for the other characters in the story but it wasn't cheesey. I will be looking into other books by this narrator as I really enjoyed how he brought this story to life.
The premise of the book with it's roots in holidays is truly unique. I loved the idea of holidays being courts ruled by royalty. It reminded me a bit of fae courts. Even the magic the characters exhibited by the characters had a sort of fairy quality to it. I will say I would have liked to see this idea explored a bit more. While the story line was good, I feel like the world building needed to be tightened up a bit. The idea of Santa being a king and Christmas ruling all the other holidays was nothing like any other book I've read. But a background of the courts and how they came to be would have been a nice edition to the storyline.
I enjoyed the LBGTQ+ representation in this one, as well. The characters were very fluid. And I didn't feel like their sexuality defined them but was just a part of who they were.
The interesting part of this book for me was the fact that Raasch grounded a lot of the story in reality by including things like college and majors and what life will look like after graduation. It really cinched the coming of age portion of the book by showing these young adults who are still trying to find their place in the world. The depiction of their confusing emotions as they try to navigate adulthood is spot on.
Raasch fleshes out her characters very well. Coal is the "screw up" of the family who is set to inherit the position of Santa. But he's not sure what that entails as he's really been kept out of the loop by his dad. His brother, Chris, is truly his best friend. The tenderness and bond in their relationship is palpable throughout the story. Iris I liked but wish I could have seen more from her. While she's also Coal's best friend, I feel like she was more of a background character in this book. Her character is not as fleshed out as the others. Almost like Raasch is saving that for the next story. And Hex, my goodness, talk about swoon worthy. He knows all the right things to say but is also just shy enough to keep you wondering where he'll go next when he speaks.
The pacing of this story if fairly fast. Each chapter moved along at a good clip and I was never bored. Raasch gave us drama and mystery and humor all rolled into a cozy blanket of fun holiday fantasy.
I think one of the best parts of this book was how detailed the author was with her descriptions. When the characters were in the Christmas palace, it was so easy to picture it in my mind. When they were outside in the cold with snow falling, I could feel that chill. She did a wonderful job with putting me in the thick of things as the reader.
The romance was tender and sweet but also there's a quite a bit of spicy to it that had me squirming a bit. I think I may have even blushed! But the connection between Hex and Coal is very solid so their experiences together are all the more heightened for it.
There is a lot of hope in this book. Hope that Coal and Chris will be happy. Hope that Hex and Coal will work out. Hope that Coal can change the climate of his holiday by standing up and enacting change.
The story is fun with a lot of humor, a bit of drama and mystery, plus a whole lot of fun sexy times. It blends the spooky season of Halloween with the joyful season of Christmas in a way that me want to experience all the joys those holidays bring right now! I'm really looking forward to more installments in this series; there have to be some, right? because the ending of this book totally leaves you hanging for what other characters might experience in the future! If you're looking for a cozy fantasy with some spice, this one is a great pick!

I had SO MUCH FUN listening to this book!!! This is a silly royal romantasy with a hefty helping of holiday spice.

The Crown Prince of Christmas, Coal (short for Nicholas) is kind of a f*ck up. (See that nickname, chosen expressly to annoy his father.) He's a bad student about to graduate with his bachelor's, dodging the holiday paparazzi and trying to forget the last time he took his job seriously because he almost ruined a whole country's economy. His father calls him home for the holidays and announces that he's arranged Coal's marriage to Iris, part of the royal court of Easter. Iris is his best friend, but Coal does NOT want to marry her ... but he can't see any way to get out of the situation without making things bad for her. When the Halloween court finds out about the possible Christmas/Easter merger, they protest. As a compromise, the Crown Prince of Halloween, Hex, is sent to "compete" for Iris's hand. But there's something rotten in the state of Christmas, and it's not just that Coal finds Hex irresistibly hot.

So yeah, this is an absolutely ridiculous setup. I know that I am on the record as someone who just doesn't love New Adult romances OR the first person, present tense POV that often goes along with them. And yet listening to this was a supremely enjoyable experience. Narrator Ellis Evans does the absolute most with Coal's dramatic/anxiety-ridden inner voice, and managed to sell me lines like "Joy tithes. These Holidays send a percentage of their accumulated joy to Christmas" with the perfect mixture of tension and a sense of the ridiculous. Truly, the narration adds a full star to my rating.

Look, this is fun, funny, has a lot of spice (my ears were burning), and takes itself exactly as seriously as it should (meaning that I believed that Coal realizing his dad was kind of a capitalistic Grinch was both a revelation to the character but also did not stop me from laughing at the whole situation. This is perfect for spooky season, Christmas, and all of the holidays in between.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the audiobook.

This was kick-your-feet good fun. I was a big fan of Red White and Royal Blue, and this was exactly what my holiday-heart wanted. It's SO PERFECT to read this time of year (entering the Halloween season, of course with Christmas on the horizon) since it covers both holidays! The prince of Halloween and the Price of Christmas? Can you say gay-Nightmare-Before-Christmas vibes with so much heart, giggling good fun, and all the magic of both holidays? My gosh I absolutely loved this. Audiobook was chef's kiss!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this audiobook eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so cute and funny! I ate it up in one sitting! The different holiday characters were such a fun concept. I could not get enough of Coal and Hex.

Nicholas “Coal” Claus, the Christmas prince, is kind of a hot mess and can’t seem to please his father. Coal is heir to the Christmas throne, but he can’t seem to behave long enough to prove his competence to his father. With a father motivated by magic and controlling more than just his fair share of holidays, Coal finds himself betrothed to his best friend Iris, the princess of Easter (who his little brother is in love with). Once the announcement gets out, the Halloween court sends in one of their own to fight for the hand of Iris. Enter in, Hex, the forbidden prince of the Halloween court, whom Coal drunkenly kissed one night a year ago. Not knowing who he was. Thus ensues a steamy secret romance, while Coal tries to find his own way amongst his court and to stand up to his father. Delicious steamy spice that had me kicking my feet and squealing. A tender romance. Parental hidden agendas for controlling more magic. Holiday world building and details. This was such a good read and the start of a new series I will absolutely be watching out for. And okay fine I’ll go read Red, White and Royal Blue because I see people comparing these two.