Coal Clause is the prince of Christmas. Coal once loved Christmas but then he started to love creating chaos more. Now that Coal is older he wants to get more involved in the family business, Christmas. Coal quickly realizes that his father has turned Christmas into a monopoly rather than a holiday of joy.

Coal’s dad promises his hand in marriage to his best friend, Iris, the princess of Easter. That is until Hex, the prince of Halloween, shows up to court her as well. Too bad that Hex is the mysterious man Coal kissed behind a bar one night and hasn’t stopped thinking about

My two favorite holidays fall in love?! What’s not to enjoy! This was a really fun audiobook to listen to. Coal and Hex have amazing chemistry. I loved their connection and banter. You can’t help but root for them.

I also really enjoyed the relationship Coal has with his brother, Chris, and his best friend, Iris. Their group chat had me laughing. I love how they call each other out for their nonsense.

While there are a lot of humorous parts, there are also emotional moments too. I liked seeing how their family dynamics played out and how Coal came into his own as the prince of Christmas.

The portrayals of the holidays and the families that run them was really interesting. I enjoyed the concept and thought it was well executed.

My main issues were that parts were pretty cringey and not in a good way. The story and the characters also come off as immature at times. This book felt a little YA but with spice.

I highly recommend if you’re looking forward to Christmas but still want to hold on to spooky season.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

This was very much not at all what I'd expected. I was somehow under the impression that this was both Young Adult and also a Nightmare Before Christmas retelling. It is NEITHER of those things. Not that this is a bad thing, but just a heads up.

Despite this book being not at all what I expected, I did enjoy it. (mostly.) I absolutely adored Coal, he is so precious and the way he talks about consent and after care and being vulnerable and safe with Hex was so healing for me. Coal's open and direct communication with Hex was such a refreshing change from so much that I've read- I love him.

I also expected this book to be much funnier than it was, however this book covers some real big heavy topics- grief and loss, the need to find oneself, found family, and controlling manipulative relationships. It also touches on the was consumerism and capitalism has taken over the holidays.

This book was WAY spicier than expected, especially because as mentioned before I thought this was going to be a YA read + zero spice. I WAS WRONG. BOY WAS I WRONG. I listened to the audio of this book and there was at least one scene that was over 30 min long- which was just...too much for me. (I don't mind spice in a book but this just energizer bunnies and kept going and going and going.) Though there were breaks in the scene where the characters talked about important emotional and physical and mental boundaries and needs and such- really the moments were beautiful, but it just sort of dragged.

What a perfect book to read for Halloween or during Christmas time. It literally has the best of both worlds. Amazing food descriptions and our protagonists have a stunning sense of fashion. This story is so much more than the romance, even though it was so incredible, it reminds us of what celebrating holidays with family really means.

We meet Nicholas “Coal” Claus, and his father is the big man the none other than Old Saint Nick. Unfortunately something happens to the family and the spark of Christmas goes away from Santa Clause. While drowning his sorrows in a bar, Coal comes across a mysterious and sexy stranger, none other than the prince of Halloween “Hex”. After a year of thinking he imagined the whole encounter, their lives come across and they’ll team up to save each other’s holiday and oh so much more. This story was so original and charming. It’s full of love, sacrifice and lots of Halloween and Christmas cheer.

had a blast with this fresh,super fun romcom just in time for the holiday season. This LGBTQ MM romance was hilarious,cheeky and sweet. I fell in love with Cole,as the quick witted prince of Christmas,who has always followed his dad’s commands. Until he finds himself in an arranged engagement with his best friend,Iris,the princess of Easter. This time Cole puts his foot down, because he has fallen for the Halloween prince himself, the dark and broody Hex.
Needless to say, rebellion,blackmail and antics ensue.
The characters are charming,funny and the banter is top notch- and Cole and Hex had such chemistry, yet were so sweet and tender as well. Not normally a reader of spice,I thought the scenes were pretty hot in my opinion- I give it 4 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️. You can’t help but root for the two princes as they struggled with fighting for what they believe in,taking care of their respective kingdoms and dealing with grief,all while falling in love.
Ellis Evans was immediate perfection as the narrator,bringing the different characters to life in a distinctive way- letting each personality shine through.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a story for pure enjoyment or just wants to lose themselves in a sweet and festive romantic fantasy. What an original,fresh take on a classic Christmas story.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE KISSMAS, A Royals and Romance Novel
Sara Raasch, author
Ellis Evans, narrator
Romance / LBGTQ+

Prince Coal is ordered to wed the the Princess of Easter by his father. Things start to go haywire when the Prince of Halloween shows up, leaving the hierarchy of the holidays all mixed up.

This book shows a cute look at what it might be like if there were Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses. It also introduces a hierarchy within the holidays that is quite intriguing. While this was my first MM romance, I found it quite tasteful. I would give this books a solid 5 out of 5 stars.

The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch


The Christmas Prince is being forced by his father to marry the princess of Easter… But Halloween isn’t happy about the arrangement and sends in the prince of halloween to vie for her hand. Trouble is, both princes have met before and shared a steamy kiss. Can they keep their growing attraction at bay to keep the peace in the lands?

This book was funny! I loved all the banter. I loved every loaded second. The group chats were my very favorite parts!!!

I loved all the holiday politics. It was awesome. It was a lot of fun and watching the book blend two of my favorite holidays in this cute read made my day! Could have done with some more backstory though on the brothers and Cole’s engagement to Iris.

-Holiday Romance CHECK
-Forbidden Love CHECK
-Mixing genres CHECKKKKK

4 stars and the audiobook was phenomenal!!

Such a fun Christmas mixed with Easter and Halloween lore book! Really enjoyed rhw banter between all the characters, but especially between the two MMCs. I wish the ending had been a bit longer and drawn out in regards to the wrapping up (no pun intended) of the plot line. It did feel a bit rushed at the end, but otherwise was a delightful light-ish Rom-Com with queer representation all around. Cannot wait to read the second book in this series (please tell me there with be a story of the Easter Princess and Spare Heir Christmas Prince!!!???). This ARC totally turned me onto this new-to-me author and can’t wait to read more!

🎧Song Pairing: Christmas Eve Montage - Danny Elfman

💭What I thought would happen:

Tbh at first glance I cannot tell if the Halloween person is a man or woman so colour me curious😉

📖What actually happens:

The prince of Christmas, Coal, has done it again, disappointing Santa daddy for the last time. An arranged marriage with the Easter princess/best friend it is. But why is Hex the prince of darkness looking so darn hot and smouldering while staying in his family home.

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

Like many I’m sure others were sucked in by the punny title. I mean come on! Perfect! This one gives serious big screen vibes but would the title be kept?!

Okay so I loved the whole bullshit holiday patriarchy but Oh my god it was longer than it needed to be. Why sooo long ugh.

I wanted more Halloween less Christmas but c’est la vie! Hex was hawt, Coal was kind of annoying.

Read if you:
🎄Christmas is your personality
🏳️‍🌈Love gay romance
🖕🏼Have Santa daddy issues
🎃Want merging holidays

10/10 Highly Reccomend
A new favorite holiday read.
The Nightmare Before Kissmas is a lot like the love child of the Nightmare Before Christmas x The Santa Clause with a sprinkling of Schitt's Creek.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Ellis Evans, and it was fantastic. Literally LOL-funny. Sarah Raasch wrote the perfect, supernatural Christmas Rom-com, and Evans brought it to life. Quippy and often inappropriately funny dialogue sets TNBK apart from most holiday reads and is delivered effortlessly by Evans. The characters are lovable, and the relationships are believable.
Definitely needs to be a yearly Christmas read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook!

I received a copy of this audiobook from netGalley for a honest review.

I loved the concept of holidays having princes and royal houses. The complex world of magic through the joy each holiday creates is a fun idea. The corruption of Christmas is a surprise but the romance between princes Cole, of Christmas, and Hex, of Halloween, is wonderful. They are both supposed to be vying for Iris The princess of Easters hand in marriage but that's obviously never going to happen. Cole's brother Chris is in love with Iris but considering the next book is about him falling for the St Patrick prince I don't think it's going to work out!

I can't wait for the next in the series and to see how many holidays the author bring into this world!

I haven’t had time to read this yet — I’m so sorry. I plan to read it when Libby has the audiobook available.

Great narration. Cute concept. Well balanced romance and plot and spice. Maybe 2 peppers. Narration was enjoyable and fresh and easy to listen to at 2x. Definitely more Christmassy than Halloween. A lot more family drama/crappy parent trauma than I was expecting.

I struggle with this being compared to RW&RB. These books are vastly different. This book does not have any of the bantering but does have the family politics / forbidden love aspect. But it's not really fair to compare them. Both are good, but that is just too high a bar to achieve.

Love the writing style and will devour the next book I am sure.

This book was not as I anticipated. I thought it would be a fun Christmas story but it was dark. Santa has 2 sons who, since their mother left, lived with a father driven concerning the success of his holiday. A startling twist about Santa but the story drew me in. Santa decides his elder son would marry the Easter princess. Two problems arise since Nicholas Claus and Iris are best friends but not in love. Complicating this are the sparks that are flying between the Halloween prince and Nicholas. The worldbuilding is fun with a universe made up of holidays and seasons. A sequel looks to be coming with the story of Chris Claus. Looking forward to it.

I felt for the main character because he tried so hard but always failed. The romance was 🔥. The banter was good. But at times I found the story annoying and repetitive. Still an enjoyable read and I liked the narration. The fun spooky season read I didn’t know I needed.

Were some of the jokes a little cringy? Yes. Was this actually an enemies-to-lovers romance? No. Do I care? Definitely not.
The Prince of Christmas (Coal) has always wanted to spread as much joy as possible. After a big screwup trying to help out one Christmas causes an international incident, Coal has stayed far away from the family business. While his mistake haunts him, he is also plagued by the memory of a mysterious man he met that night who disappeared after a drunken kiss. When Coal is called home for Christmas two years later, he is furious when his dad announces Coal’s own engagement to his best friend Iris, the Princess of Easter. To avoid angering another holiday, Santa invites the Prince of Halloween to the North Pole to engage in a fake competition to win her hand. No one is more surprised than Coal to find out that Hex—the Prince of Halloween—is the same hot guy from two years ago that he hasn’t stopped thinking about. What could go wrong?
❤️ What I loved: Fun characters, great chemistry between our romantic leads, and a whimsical world made this book a delight. Despite being a generally lighthearted book, I appreciated that they touched on the imperialist/colonialist nature of global power relations and how that intersects with issues of consumerism and culture.
This is an easy recommendation for fans of queer romantic comedy—it’s a must-read for the season! Looking forward to the next book in our series about our other Christmas Prince.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 (4-4.5)

Acknowledgments & Disclaimers
✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Sara Raasch, and Macmillan Audio, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book. ✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. ✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

Enjoyed this SO MUCH! Even though I had the audio-arc and was more than halfway through on release day, I was at the bookstore when the opened on pub day to buy a physical copy! It’s SO FUN - witty and spicy with a bit of magic mixed in. I’m not sure who I have a bigger crush on - Coal, Hex, or Iris! Strong 4.5 stars

(4.25/5 stars)

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch is a fun queer holiday romance with a lot of heart and the author's adult debut.

I initially picked this up because it was comped to Red, White, and Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas and I was completely sold. I really enjoyed reading the former and the latter is one of my top ten favorite movies. Also the cover is AMAZING and the paperback has red sprayed edges! I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed listening to Ellis Evans narrate.

I always have fun when books have mixed media elements, and in these books there are text chains between various characters. It was a little easy for me to tell that this was an adult debut; it felt like it leaned a little YA, especially at the beginning. But it's definitely an adult book, even if it leans on the New Adult side for me.

Overall this was very cute and there was great chemistry between both our MCs but also throughout their friend group. I loved the emphasis on the importance of communication in both romantic and platonic relationships, too. It's always great to see clear, explicit consent being sought for steamy reasons. I liked the worldbuilding and want to learn more about the different holiday kingdoms.

You might be asking yourself if this is a spoopy season book or if it is a winter holiday season book. It is absolutely the latter, but I think you could have a fun time reading this at any time of year. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!

Tropes in this book include: forced proximity, forbidden, disaster bisexual

CW: toxic parent, absent parent, death of sibling (prior to book), processing grief

I was a bit disappointed by this book. The pacing of the first half was too slow for me and there was too much politics for my taste. I enjoyed the storyline, character banter, and vibes of the second half of the book much more. I wish the beginning of the book had a little less politics, as it seemed to be discussed repetitively, and focused more on progression on the relationship, I would have enjoyed it more. However, I did enjoy the second half of the book enough to continue on with the series and hope I will enjoy the next book better.

I want to make sure to include that the audiobook narrator did a great job and would recommend the audiobook to others who are interested in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

Okay. Listen. I expected to love this book and I was NOT let down. My only regret was getting this book early so I wanted to get it read before December. But this book would have been PERFECT for December, close to Christmas. I loved that this book was so much more than just a cute romance, though it definitely was that as well. I knew I wanted to read it going in (obviously), but I didn't know what to expect from it and I was blown away. I felt like the balance between the romance and the overall plot of the story was pretty well done. It did feel a bit like insta-love to me, but I think that it still managed to make me love the couple and feel their romance blossom. The family dynamics. The friendships. It all just worked so well for me and I definitely recommend this one for the holiday season.