The Christmas Crush is what happens when a burly baker goes head to head with a cookie conglomerate marketing woman who happens to be an artist at heart. It was easy to see the sparks flying between the two main characters from their very first meeting despite being on opposite sides of Sparkle Cookie coming to town. I loved the small hometown rivals to lovers vibe of the story with the burly man who loves his family as the baker in town. It was such a nice spin on the Hallmark Christmas movie vibe. I also really enjoyed how Douglas encompassed so many different aspects of the holiday season into this story. There’s also nothing better than seeing the jerk boss get what he deserves by the end. This is just the right amount of a comfort read where it’s different enough from other cozy Christmas romance reads while still using the same tropes. I read this via audiobook and enjoyed Churchill’s narration. It fit well with the overall vibe of the story and kept me engaged. I would recommend the audiobook to get in the holiday spirit.

I loved The Christmas Crush, it is so sweet, and heartwarming. Hallmark please make this into one of your holiday movies. Meet Lawrence who is the handsome bakery owner/ baker of the only bakery in his small town of New Hope. He is very concerned when a trendy cookie chain Sparkles plans opens up in town. The woman in charge of opening Sparkles is Elena and there is an instant attraction between Lawrence and Elena. This is a wonderful rivals to lovers romance and has all of the small town vibes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener copy. Kim Churchill was a wonderful narrator, and could not stop listening to this audiobook. I highly recommend The Christmas Crush for your holiday reading, it gives you all the feels.

This was perfect for a long car drive. Very festive and the description of cookies? Perfect. Loved the main characters and the growth both go through in the story. Subplot helped and added to the story. Narrator was very enjoyable.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice rating: 🌶️/5

Tropes:
Slow burn
Enemies to lovers
Small town
Cookies/baking

First of all, thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for a review.
This book was adorable and totally got me in the mood for Christmas and all the yummy goodies that come with it. Elena and Lawrence are very cute and the author wrote them in a way that made them both very likable without making it too cliche. This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I did enjoy it, but I felt some parts were kind of boring. It was missing that extra sparkle. I’d still recommend this book though! Especially for the holidays.

“Hot like whiskey, sweet like honey. She parted her lips and all his worries slipped away.”

Overall vibe: Christmassy, small town charm with a distinct villain to hate. It’s mostly cute and feels like the season. However, I had some issues with the characters that made it hard for me to root for their relationship.

Pros: It was charming and I love a bakery and a small town setting. Very easy listening. Plus there’s a nice little revenge subplot that is pretty satisfying.

Cons: Both the FMC and MMC are painfully naive. It was almost difficult to listen to this audiobook when it was so easy to see exactly what the problem was going to be. I kind of just wanted the MMC to dump the FMC from halfway through the book. Her reaction to his reaction to her perceived betrayal was also pretty unredeemable. It also always makes me cringe when 20-somethings have “VP” jobs. Based on how this job is explained in the book, she sounds like a Marketing Coordinator — one of many entry level or slightly higher employees at a massive company. It’s a pet peeve of mine. I could go on.

Rating: 2.5 stars

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

This book was great! I loved the writing style and I loved the characters and their chemistry. I loved the Christmas vibes. Great book!!

The perfect Hallmark Romance! A career woman from the city comes to the small town to open a new cookie chain store that will disrupt the small towns local cookie shop. Of course this local cookie shop is run by no other than Lawrence, a large lumberjack man, who has no intentions of letting Sparkle Cookie take over. Elena and Lawrence assume they have nothing in common but they have insane chemistry. Elena is so unhappy at her job but she has no where else to turn.

It was very cheesy and corny, but cute! Elena and Lawrence did have a bit of instalove or insta attraction which is a little over the top for me, but it worked for this Hallmark style romance.

The Christmas crush. Can a small town bakery owner find love with a woman who works for a cookie chain that is invading his town and his customers

This one was cute and sweet. It didn’t completely grab me, but it was enjoyable. It’s my first time reading this author. It had a fun, Hallmark feel all the way. I love that the baker is a big, burly guy. Lawrence is a small town baker and Elena works for a big time cookie making company—Sparkle. Sparks definitely fly in this one. I struggled a bit with the connection between the hero and the heroine. It was kinda imstalove/enemies to lovers. There was good conflict and writing. The narrator did a fine job bringing this one to life.
3.5 stars

Huge thanks to Dreamscape and Netgalley for allowing me to listen and review this book.

DNF 20% I couldn't connect with this story. Told in the 3rd person. I may try again next month. Local bakery vs chain bakery coming to town.

I really loved this closed door Christmas romance! Gave me all the Hallmark vibes and I was here for it!

Do you count down every year to the Hallmark Christmas movie season? Then this book is perfect for you. It’s a warm, cozy, sweet closed door romance with the small town boy/big city girl trope we all know and love. Narration was well done and pleasant to listen to.

Ok so it took me awhile to gather my thoughts on this one (read: a full 24 hours) and I needed to evaluate whether it was truly a four star read for me or if I'm simply a sucker for baker love stories and Christmas love stories (hint: this one hits both categories). Now that a full day has passed and I've read a book in the in between, I can accurately say this one still hits the 4 star marker for me. Dare I say even a 4.25.

Now that my intro is out of the way, I must thank both NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

Let's chat about this fluffy holiday romance...

First up, tropes -- we've got:
- Rivals to Lovers
- Big city corporate lady meets a small town baker
- Snowed-in
- Fade to black romance
- Hallmark levels of Christmas charm
- More that has escaped my lil brain

From the get-go, there's a connection between our couple but I love the tension that's added once they find out they're rivals and have that little will-they-or-won't-they moment. I adored both Lawrence and Elena and their chemistry was great. I'm also so glad that her boss ended up getting his in the end. That man was the absolute WORST. The narrator did a fantastic job as well!

This is a really cute/sweet Christmas-themed story for anyone who loves a made-for-TV-type romance and enemies to lovers theme.
Competing small business owner, the hunky baker quickly falls for the young corporate Marketing exec who is bringing a corporate cookie company to town. I really liked how the characters banded together and I love to bake, especially at the holidays, so appreciated the theme.
Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher, for access to this audio ARC.

The Christmas Crush by Noelle Douglas follows Elaina and Lawrence, it’s read in 3rd person which I normally don’t enjoy but, with it being an audio book I was able to push through. This book throws major hallmark movie vibes and I love that. It’s very fast paced and with that being said I was very surprised with how good the writing was. Noelle does a great job of introducing the characters without dragging their back story’s on for multiple chapters. I’d recommend this book to anyone looks for a quick cozy Christmas read.
All of these thoughts are my own.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this audiobook.

Rating: 3.75/5

The Christmas Crush by Noelle Douglas, is the perfect holiday read/listen. I have never craved cookies more! A small town bakery goes toe-toe with a large cookie conglomerate.
This has all the warmth I want from a Christmas read. A quaint, Hallmark worthy small town, two charming characters, enemies to lovers vibe, good pace, baked treats and a happy ending. A definite recommended Christmas read.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this sweet 🍪 audiobook.

If you love baking and the holidays you will eat this up!

Lawrence grew up baking with his Nana and after attending culinary school he borrowed the money from her to start his own bakery.

Elena is the marketing director for a corporate cookie company that’s moving into small town New Hope, PN threatening the livelihood of Lawrence’s small bakery.

What you’ll find:
Rivals to lovers
A dog named sugar
Gilmore girls references
Ginger latte cookie
Crème brûlée
An artist
Cookies that taste like love

The story has the charm of a Hallmark Christmas movie but the story was more heartfelt with deeper characters.

I loved the chemistry between Lawrence and Elena and I loved that they brought the best out in each other. Lawrence found the courage to do more things and Elena found her voice to stand up to a toxic boss and her family.
It’s always fun to read stories set in a small town and see how well they watch over and care for one another.

The audio narrator did a fantastic job!

Romance Content: Fade to black - closed door - some language

Thank you to the author and Dreamscape media for my gifted ALC!!

This had all sorts of Hallmark movie vibes but was sugary sweet, with the big bear of a bakery owner going up against the formidable but small painter turned marketing director of a cookie store that is trying to move into the small downtown of New Hope, PA. Elena's boss is horrendous, an absolute Grinch of a person who takes credit for everyone's work and controls everything down to each employee wearing company colors. There is no room for error or grace. His high expectations are as low as bar can go. Elena, a creative painter who is in marketing solely to be on her parents' good side, is suffering and will lose her job if the launch of their new store doesn't go well but first she needs to overcome the hurdle of the current bakery in town. Meanwhile Lawrence, the baker in question, is trying everything he can to not lose his bakery to rising prices and costs amid the holiday season. Will they team up to boost the bakery, can they find a way to make both companies work, and can Elena find a way out from under this boss? You can find out with all the warm and cozies of Christmas in a little town.

#arc
#netgalley
#thechristmascrush

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC. Elena works for a corporate cookie company opening a chain in New Hope. Lawerence owns New Hope’s small town bakery. He’s ready to fight against the new store coming into town but quickly falls for Elena. This book includes a fun and heartwarming cast of side characters, including an adorable dog companion, Sugar.

This was really cute, very fluffy, and an all around fun holiday rom com. I was pleasantly surprised that this ended up being closed-door. I don’t think open-door spice would have suited the story. It had a very Hallmark/cutesy feel. There were also quite a few Gilmore Girls references, which I loved!

I do think the 3rd act breakup could have gone better. The resolution ended up being “we agreed not to be mean to each other when fighting” and that was pretty much it. Overall I think the characters were cute together but didn’t have very much chemistry.

I think the bakery scenes were my favorite part. It really added to the cozy winter ambience. And now I really want to try a gingerbread latte cookie!

This is a sweet holiday romance set in a small town. Elena is a successful career woman who is working for a large cookie conglomerate that is opening a new location in New Hope. Lawerence is the local bakery owner who is ready to fight against Sparkle Cookies coming into his town.

Elena and Lawerence immediately had sparkles flying but they also quickly team up to hopefully save both of their careers. This novel is filled with adorable romcom moments, holiday cheer and lovable characters.

I enjoyed the narrators tone of voice and expressiveness. Thank you Dreamscape media for the ALC.