A fun Christmas short perfect for an evening of holiday cheer.

4.5 STARS

Cute story that sucks me in and makes me want to read more Ali Hazelwood.

I voluntarily read an early copy.

I loved this tooo much. ali hazelwood never stop writing, pls. I was very curious to read something by the other authors

I loved Ali Hazelwood's story so much! It was cute and charming. Tessa Bailey's story was okay, but it didn't really hook me. The other stories were cute and I enjoyed them, but they didn't enchant me as much as Hazelwood's story did. This was perfect for quick holiday reads and there was something for every romance reader in this collection. Overall-delightful!

This collection did its job, providing romantic and lighthearted holiday fun, but none of these stories made a huge impact. For me, Ali Hazelwood's story was the best of them, with actual depth and a backstory for the romance that just made sense. I love a best friend's brother story, and this was a good one, although the photo element came off as creepy. Still compared to the others it was a real treat. Dade, Bellefleur, and Daria's stories were are fairly middle of the road, although I hated the setup of Olivia Dade's, and thought that Bellefleur's was super fun up until the smut. I think I maybe just don't love smut and that's what these mostly are, but I don't seem to be the only person that disliked Tessa Bailey's. I've had horrible luck with her work before and should've known better than to try again, but I figured a story this short couldn't be this bad. I was wrong. This man is so big he needs custom jeans? They're madly in love after meeting twice? They're letting a 7 year old babysit a 4 year old so you can do the nasty? Yikes to it all.

Ultimately, this is what it'd said it would be. If you like romance and steam, these will work for you, but feel free to skip around. Ali Hazelwood, Alexandria Bellefleur and Alexis Daria's stories are worth the read, if you want quick, holiday fun!

Omg this book was a perfect collection especially with Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey's stories. It was also fun reading something from the other three authors since they were new authors to me so thanks for letting me reading something written by them.

𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒐𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗔𝗹𝗶 𝗛𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗹𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱
𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘆
𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗕𝘆 𝗠𝘆 𝗘𝗹𝗳 𝗢𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗮 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗲
𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶-𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘂𝗿
𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮

I was excited to read this along with @tandemcollectiveglobal group! I was looking forward to these short stories. They all ended up being good, some better than others. I gave Ali Hazelwood and Alexis Daria’s stories 4 ⭐️ and the rest 3⭐️

This was a fun Christmas collection and if you’re looking for some quick spicy holiday reads this is for you.

Overall I would say that these are the perfect little stories to kick off the winter holiday season. They are each quick and easy to finish in a day! I loved the collection as a whole but Ali Hazelwood & Alexandria Bellefluer's piece really stood out to me! For most of them I was left wishing there was more to read, but not necessarily wanting more, in the sense that they were lacking.

A collection of Holiday Short Stories, each one bringing the spice, while also set to bring the joy and magic.

The first 3 books in this series, I truly question who thought these would be a good addition to the collection - none of them bought the Festive vibes and were all trying to pack too much into such short stories. Cruel Winter With You was possessive and toxic. Merry Ever After’s spice made me cringe and don’t get me started on All By My Elf and the Weiner Mobile 🙄

Thank god for Merriment and Mayhem - this bought all the festive vibes, while being sexy, sweet, fun and I couldn’t resist the fireman with his whit and acts of kindness.

Thank-you NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and the above authors for this Digital Advanced Readers Copy, in exchange for an honest review.

➳ 3.5

This was a good collection!! Not surprisingly the Ali Hazelwood story was my fav one—never knew how much i needed best-friend's-brother childhood friends to lovers romance from Ali until I got it. The one I liked the least was the Tessa Bailey one - I just don't think her writing is for me, I always find her dialogue super cringy and this wasn't an exception.

➳ Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood - 4.5 ⭐️
➳ Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey - 2 ⭐️
➳ All by My Elf by Olivia Dade - 3 ⭐️
➳ Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur - 4 ⭐️
➳ Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria - 4 ⭐️

Eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

I had really high hopes for this collection after reading the Valentine’s collection last year. But overall, I was really disappointed. The stories were so short that they felt a little rushed and incomplete. The first two were really hard for me to get through. The second one was my least favorite. The last three were better, but in my opinion they were still lacking. The character development and overall storyline was more refined in the last three stories. They just didn’t feel realistic - only one or two provided depth and backstory to make the interaction relatable - the others felt like insta-love without much basis for the relationship. .

What more could you want in a book!?! Some of my favourite authors all in one place. I absolutely devoured this collection loving every single moment.

Average rating: 3.3⭐️

Individual ranking/ratings:

1. Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood - 4⭐️
Fantastic writing and story by Ali!! The only thing that kept me from rating it 5⭐️ was the “I’m not good enough for you” trope - not a favorite of mine.

2. All by My Elf by Olivia Dade - 4⭐️
Classic Olivia Dade! Loved the background story and the “awkwardness” of the characters. Very sweet novella.

3. Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur - 3⭐️
This one was funny but ultimately kind of forgettable.

4. Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daris - 3⭐️
I feel like I would’ve enjoyed this more if it was a fully fleshed out novel instead of a novella but still a fun read!

5. Merry Ever After - 2⭐️
Tessa what was this

These were mostly a miss for me. I really, really enjoed the Ali Hazelwood short story. The others were not for me.

Love all of these authors and their holiday novella’s did not disappoint! The perfect additions to easily meet my reading goal!

Absolutely loved this! Enjoyed the stories and collection from different authors. Excited more will be reaped next year. For sure will be keeping my eye for them!

I thought that these stories were the perfect holiday treat and I loved being able to read the different vibes. I think that these stories will be my go-to for the holiday seasoning and I'd love for Amazon to continue this series next year. Make this collection a holiday tradition.

Such a fun, festive collection for the holiday season! Overall, this was a great time, but some novellas stood out above the rest:

Cruel Winter With You 5/5 stars
I’ve read everything Ali Hazelwood has published so far and I’m still yet to be disappointed. I loved that even though this is a novella, thee was so much history between Jamie and Marc that their love story felt as developed as a full length novel.

Merry Ever After 4/5 stars
I actually loved the ridiculous plot and unrealistic romance. Sometimes you just need some silly fiction, especially during the silly season. Plus most adorable baby. Also, as an Australian, it was kind of nice to read a holiday romance that isn’t set in a winter wonderland.

All By My Elf 2/5 stars
I felt so little chemistry from Nina and William. It kind of just seemed like they were stuck together so *shrugs* why not?

Merriment and Mayhem 3/5 stars
A hot (literally) meetcute with the local fireman and a string of incidents continuing to bring them together, the sparks clearly flying between Everleigh and Griffin (even if their names leave a lot to be desired).

Only Santas in the Building 4/5 stars
Love the title! And loved how thoughtful the hero is with homemade Christmas ornaments and how incredibly giving he is (both out of the bedroom and in it). The perfect balance between sweet and steamy.

‘Under The Mistletoe’ was a great start to the month of December and the Holidays! Thank you @tandemcollectiveglobal @amazonpublishing for the opportunity to read these delightful, funny and cute stories!

Each of these short stories were unique in its own way but two of my favourite were ‘Cruel Winter With You’ and ‘Only Santas In The Building’. I haven’t read other novels by the authors who wrote those two stories but I would love to!

If you’re looking for something cozy and short to read or listen to over the holidays, these are great picks!

Christmas is just around the corner, any other Holiday books I should be reading?

As much as I wanted to love this collection of short stories by these powerhouse female authors I just couldn’t get past the third story. Ali Hazelwood’s was the best of what I read, but I had way too many eye-rolling moments in the second and third story that I just couldn’t give any more of my time to it.

I generally enjoyed the Under the Mistetoe collection, but particularly loved Ali Hazelwood and Alexandria Bellefleur's novellas. The stories are all quick, holiday spirited, and have a great variety of romance. There's angst, sexiness, misunderstandings, sweet love, and of course, a lot of christmas outfits.