The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
Narrator: Ellis Evans
Rating: 5 stars
Steam: 2 chilis
Pub date: 10/8

Thank you to Bramble Romance for my gifted copy, and to Macmillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook! #macaudio2024

Nicholas “Coal” Claus has mixed feelings about becoming the next Santa. He’s not feeling Christmas anymore, especially with his dad (the current Santa) forcing him into an arranged marriage with Iris, the Easter Princess—who also happens to be his best friend. But things get really interesting when Hex, the Prince of Halloween, shows up to compete for Iris’s hand. What starts as a competition quickly turns into something steamy between Coal and Hex, and you can’t help but root for them.

I loved this one! The dynamic between Coal and Hex is so well done. They have incredible chemistry and their story is full of sweet, sexy moments that make their connection feel real. Hex is everything you’d want in a Halloween prince—mysterious, witty, and totally charming—and he’s the perfect match for Coal, who’s trying to figure out his place in the whole holiday world.

The friendship and brotherly love between Chris, Coal, and Iris, is heartwarming, and I just loved how they were always there for each other. The banter and pranks were hilarious and had me laughing out loud.

The story has clever nods to holiday traditions, and the idea of how the holidays feed off joy is like a fun spin on Monsters Inc. (Which my son pointed out to me when I was explaining the plot of this book). It’s the perfect mix of romance, humor, and holiday magic. If you’re into Red, White, and Royal Blue or The Nightmare Before Christmas, you’ll love this one. It’s witty, heartfelt, and just the right amount of steamy—definitely a must-read for the holiday season!

I absolutely loved this book on audio! The narrator had the perfect tone for Coal and made this book incredibly fun to listen to.

Read if you like:
*The Nightmare Before Christmas
*M/M romance
*found family
*opposites attract
*single POV
*open door spice

What a fun twist on a holiday romance! It's got star crossed lovers, a forced engagement, royal families and a touch of mafia-ness to it. I loved listening to Coal and Hex build their relationship and deal with outside forces impacting their relationship and their holidays. I cannot recommend this book enough and once you listen to it (or read it), you will want the next book featuring Coal's brother. This book fills a need for both a christmas romance and a halloween romance.

4.5 Stars

I am OBSESSED with this book. It’s sweet, funny, engaging, cute, romantic, and fun all rolled into one. I loved the premise, loved the characters, and I love that there’s going to be a second one!

I would like to thank the publisher for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. It's basically Nightmare Before Christmas with royalty and Hallmark Christmas movie vibes.

Coal and Hex were absolutely adorable. I loved how they met, and the way they continue falling for each other despite "competing" to marry the princess of Easter is hilarious and sweet. There was a lot of banter, a lot of really interesting and unique worldbuilding -- the whole holiday magic thing was so cool!! -- and there was a lot of cute romance. It does get a little spicy, but it's mild and not 100% on the page.

I absolutely adored this book. And how did I not know this was going to be a series?! NOW I NEED BOOK 2!!! Fantastic book, fantastic audiobook. Overall, I enjoyed this, and I would not only recommend this book but throw copies of it at people so they could experience how adorable this was.

Overall, a very fun read! What I loved:
- Coal and Hex were so sweet together and I loved seeing how Hex supported Coal and helped him believe in his strengths
- Hex in general was just so lovely!
- All the fun tidbits about each holiday and holiday family were fun to read about. The structure of the holiday structures were clever as well.
- The banter!!! I was definitely laughing out loud many times
- The door was left open for sequels and I am excited to read more

While I did end up having fun with this by the end, I think I would have enjoyed it more initially with slightly different marketing. There was a lot more political intrigue and intricacies of the political structure of the holiday families and lot less romance than I expected. The characters are also in school and there is a lot of discussion about school and family dynamics. Because of this, it read more like YA, which did make the amount of sexual content uncomfortable for me personally.

The narration was fantastic! The narrator did a great job of delivering the humorous lines perfectly and adding emotion to his voice in all the right places. I would definitely recommend the audiobook for this one!

I would have been o.k with the gay romance if it hadn't been so YA feeling. Also the swearing and just the writing felt juvenile to me.

I hope this finds it's audience, it's definitely not for me.

Since I did not finish the book I will not publish on purchasing sites

Is it a Christmas book? Not completely. Is it a Halloween book? Also not really — just like the Nightmare Before Christmas.

This has moments of funny, moments of sad. It feels like a feel good holiday story you’d read as a kid mixed with a dash of hallmark.

Overall, I found it really cute but there are parts that dragged on. Hence the four stars and not five.

2.75
okay.... so this book is not bad. it is a silly, lighthearted story that you will probably enjoy if you like christmas hallmark movies.

but i have just one too many issues with the book itself and the way that it's marketed for me to rate it 3 or higher. they are as follows

- this is not a retelling of The Nightmare Before Christmas or anything close to that in any way other than one of the main love interests is the "prince" of Halloween. that isn't a huge deal UNLESS you are like me and wanted to read the book for the NBC references and so on

- this book is marketed as a romance but its just not. its a fantasy book about the intense ethical & political structures between Christmas and other holidays with a romance subplot

- Coal as a MC doesn't really do much for me. I think this would be a lot better if it was dual POV but to be fair I feel that way about all romances I read pretty much. It just felt like he "changed" and improved as a person way too fast and without anything actually happening to make it believable to the reader. He kind of just magically becomes a better person because he likes Hex

- there seems to be one too many plot things going on between the fake marriage battle, Coal reforming his behavior/preparing to become Santa, the wild stuff that his dad has been doing, and then Coal planning a coup to overthrow him, and so on

- I also think this book might take itself a little too seriously given the subject matter

-last but certainly not least THE TOY GHOST MANIFESTING DURING A SMUT SCENE????? hard pass

all that being said I do think I will read the sequel. i mean its about st. patrick's day I HAVE TOO!!!

thank you to netgalley for the ALC!

The Nightmare Before Kissmass is a romcom that mixes the vibe of Red, White, & Royal Blue with The Nightmare Before Christmas. It tells the story of Coal Clause, the Prince of Christmas, who used to love the holiday until his dad turned it into a PR facade. Now, he's being pushed to marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess. However, things take an unexpected turn with the arrival of the Prince of Halloween, leading to a competition for Iris's hand in marriage. Meanwhile, the two-holiday princes have a secret love affair that could disrupt everything around them. This sweet, sexy, and messy Christmas story is a compelling read, and the audiobook narration adds to the enjoyment. I highly recommend it to other readers!

This was such a cute book! I loved it!

The romance was sweet and loving and sexy. There was only a tiny bit of angst, the problems were really just the situation they were stuck in. Mostly it was just them being so cute together. Also being so hot together, because the sex scenes were so lovely and full of just as much sweetness and care as the rest of the relationship.

The sibling and friendship relationships were sweet too.

I was a bit worried from the description that the third person in the marriage arrangement might be getting hurt, but no, she’s best friends with Coal and doesn’t actually want to marry him either, and she’s supportive of Coal and Hex.

There was also a nice hopeful story about someone enacting change and standing up to his abusive, controlling dad.

The holiday stuff was fun! I’m not actually a big Halloween person, but this author made the Halloween stuff sound so cool. A+ aesthetics. I was always a Christmas person, but I think I wanna go hang out with Hex and his court.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Ellis Evans was wonderful! He did such a perfect job of bringing Coal to life. It sounded natural and conversational and engaging and really suited all the voice and personality the character had.

Overall, I had a great time listening to this and loved both the sweet romance and the hopeful story!

Looking for your next 5 star read? Then preorder this one because I cannot get enough of it. I feel like I need to get everyone to fall in love with Hex and Coal with me. The banter, the snark but also the prose.

The Nightmare Before Kissmas has me pausing so I can write down lines in notes. Audiobooks are fantastic but I need the physical trophy so I can highlight all my favorite lines. Chapter 16 will be completely highlighted. I gave up trying to remember each line. Sara Raasch this book is literary gold. I’m in love.

Where can you find this book? It comes out October 8th and honestly it’s a travesty you can’t get it sooner. I need friends to chat about this one with. We can make t-shirts and make it our next fall obsession.

When it does come out I think you should buy it in both the audiobook and paperback because the narrator Ellis Evans is perfect. The paperback because shelf trophy🏆

Don’t believe me? The hook for this book is accurate:
Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky rom-com where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween.

Thank you MacMillan for my ALC. I adore it. I’ve been telling everyone they need it.

I honestly wanted to not like this one because it seemed cheesy but I needed up really enjoying it. There was a lot of witty banter and downright hilarious moments. I thought the author did a great job with trying in the holidays and giving meaning to what they do. It was definitely a unique twist on holiday joy, too!

Very cute holiday book. I can easily see it being made into a rom-com holiday movie. Fast paced, family drama, romance and competition what more could you want.

This is specifically about the audio version. The man who narrates the book has a very nice voice and has a lot of emotion when speaking. It was very wonderful to hear and I feel like his voice fits the main character well.

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