Cruel Winter With You:
Oh my gosh this was my favorite of the whole collection! I adored these two characters and I would have loved a whole book about them. The pining was top-tier and the angst was absolutely delicious. The prose was also very funny. I found it cute and heartfelt. Definitely recommend checking this one out if you're looking for something quick and festive!

Merry Every After:
This was too instalovey for me. These characters needed more time to develop a satisfying connection. As it was the main things we know are that Evie is a single mom and Luke is so huge he can't fit into any pants. That would have been fine if the ending was a HFN but instead the author tried to shoot for a full HEA that just wasn't believable. I will say it was dual pov and the male narrator was absolutely delightful. His narration added some tension to the story for me which was very much appreciated.

All By My Elf:
This was so cute! I absolutely loved watching two coworkers get snowed in together and be forced to face their mutual pining. It was absolutely adorable and the narrator really brought out the silliness of the predicament of the situation they were in. It can be tricky to pace a short story but since these two were already close there was just enough room for some satisfying romantic admissions and some sexy times. I had a great time with this story!

Merriment and Mayhem:
This was a cute, steamy story. I wasn't as invested in these characters as I was for some of the other stories though. If you love a fireman story this one might be for you though. The narrator pulled me into a story I was otherwise just so-so on so props to them.

Only Santa's In the Building:
This was another one that didn’t quite hit the mark for me. There were too many Christmas puns for my personal taste and once again, not enough development for a satisfying story. The pining was fun and it was very cute and steamy. If you're looking for something to get you in the holiday spirit this could definitely be a quick way to achieve that. The narrator brought the quirky main character to life so I'd definitely recommend the audio for this one.

I loved the Valentine collection so I was so excited for this Christmas collection. Unfortunately, it just did not hit the same at all. Disappointing!

These were....bad, unfortunately. Perhaps I shouldn't compare them to the Meet Cute Valentine's Day collection that Prime did, since it's a different group of authors, but that collection was so cute that I was expecting the same tone. Instead, each one of these seemed to be a race to the spicy parts, and then a competition for how spicy each one could get - to the point that some got downright vulgar (and I like spice!). While I'm a big fan of a couple of these authors individually, these weren't my favourite efforts from them, and I can't really say this got me into the festive spirit.

I’m glad Amazon put out another series of novellas with some iconic romance authors. I blew through these in 2-3 days.

Though they were short, all of the stories felt well rounded. There was a lot of insta love and plenty of spice, but they were easy and enjoyable.

My favorites were the ones by Ali Hazelwood and Alexis Daria.

It’s like a hallmark movie marathon in book form! Except definitely spicier. Love this as a method of discovering new authors, and their voice, as well as revisiting ones you love! I wasn’t familiar with the authors of stories 3-5 but this definitely made me want to check out their work.

I will say this was a bit harder to read unedited. I think the formatting came through a bit strange compared to how it likely is with the Amazon interface. And there were some random letters and symbols and story titles interspersed with the story.

Cruel Winter With You
- Typical Ali hazelwood tropes which I enjoy so not complaining!

Merry Ever After
- Hot and heavy quick. Typical Tessa fashion!

All By My Elf
- Very deep feelings and personal observations for a short story
- Funny!

Merriment and Mayhem
- This story had a great hook!

Only Santas in the Building
- So cute!!
- Liked the depth of the characters, felt more like a longer romance book packed into a short story. The other stories felt a bit rushed compared to this one.

These were fun little romances to get you in the Christmas mood. I especially liked Cruel Winter with You. I fully acknowledge that the MMC is a complete fantasy of a man, but it's a fun daydream to have someone completely aware of your faults yet infatuated with you since childhood.

🎅🏼 A fun collection of holiday stories! All worth a quick read! My two favorites were Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur & Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria (both 5⭐️). I need to go see what else they have written!

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood - 4⭐️
Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey - 3⭐️
All by my Elf by Olivia Dade - 3⭐️

Many thanks to Net Galley & Amazon Original Stories for providing me an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

❄️ Under the Mistletoe Collection ❄️

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories for the gifted copy.

Cruel Winter With You
Ali Hazelwood
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Narrator: Vivienne LaRue

Best friend’s brother, childhood friends to lovers, second chance romance, he falls first, snowed in together… I mean do I even need to say more? Ali Hazelwood reigns supreme in this short story anthology. She made her story a tiny bit longer than the others and that extra time paid off in better pacing and development of the relationship. The chemistry, banter, and pining was *chefs kiss* and the 🌶️ was well done. By far my favorite story in this collection!

*********************************

Merry Ever After
Tessa Bailey
⭐️⭐️💫

Narrator: Summer Morton & Connor Crais

Thrift shop employee, single mom, hopeful entrepreneur meets farmer. Lots of assumptions are made. MMC is apparently inhumanly large? Can’t find clothing that fits? The 🌶️ was cringe and the dialogue during was even more so.

*********************************

All By My Elf
Olivia Dade
⭐️⭐️✨

Narrator: Andi Arndt

Two adjunct professors working a side gig get stranded in the snow in a weenie-mobile. A game of never have I ever leads to confessions and things get 🔥. This story was pretty awkward BUT the spice was less cringy than some of the other stories. We also get plus size rep in our FMC which was nice!

*********************************

Merriment and Mayhem
Alexandria Bellfleur
⭐️⭐️✨

Narrator: Amelie Griffin

Damsel in distress meets firefighter and instalove sparks fly. He falls hard. She jumps in a river. The 🌶️ is cringey. The ending is abrupt with an implied conclusion.

*********************************

Only Santas in the Building
Alexis Daria
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Narrator: Ruby Corazon

Evie is a comic book illustrator (love the bookish rep!) grieving the loss of her grandmother. She harbors a secret crush on her neighbor Theo. They both attend a building Christmas party, there is conveniently placed Mistletoe, and the rest is history. Theo was a really sweet MMC, the build up here felt more natural than some of the other novellas in this series. The spice was much less cringe. Overall my favorite so far.

This collection was perfect to continue my holiday reading and mood! Each of the authors involved in this collection I have adored their other stories so when I saw them all pairing up together, I couldn't wait! Each story had their own unique storyline and had a different trope to them. They each left me wanting more to the stories too because I wanted to see how the story continued, not because the stories didn't feel complete. Thank you to Amazon Original Stories for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

3.5 stars. A good collection of Christmas theme shorts from 5 different authors. My two favorites were Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood and Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur. Those two I would have rated 4s on their own.

If you enjoy any of the included authors or are just looking for a nice variety of Christmas theme romance short stories, check this out.

I devoured this series about calamitous love during the holidays by some of the most beloved authors of the romance genre. Each short novella was sexy and full of holiday feels. This is the kind of content I want from the megalith that is Amazon. Overwhelmingly enjoyed!

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

I'm loving, maybe even too much, these collection of mini stories, published by Amazon. I find them very cute and maybe too short (in a good way). The last necklace released is precisely the Christmas one, and who doesn't love a beautiful Christmas story? Or rather five? The best authors of modern Romance have joined together to delight us this Christmas with very romantic stories (some super spicy) perfect for this season. My absolute favorite is Ali Hazelwood's. Amazon please continue with these collections!!

Overall, I was slightly disappointed by this collection.

Many of these authors are ones that I love and I usually love their books. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that they were constrained to just short stories or that they all had to be Hallmark Christmas movie-esque, but they all mostly missed the mark for me. The one I enjoyed the most was Ali Hazelwood’s.

4⭐️ Cruel Winter With You
-“I deserve you least of all. But I want you the most.”

This was so cute!!!! It maybe went on a little too long, a little too repetitive for a short story. But dang it, I just love the best friend’s brother trope!!! It’s so cute every time!!!! The pining!!!! The longing!!!!!


2⭐️ Merry Ever After
-This just confirms men ain’t shit.
He was jacking off to her and thinking way too much about it!!!

They literally just met and she’s walking into his house with her literal 5 month old baby !!!! Just bc he’s attractive !!!! This is how serial killers work !!!!!

Also it wouldn’t be classic Tessa Bailey if the dialogue wasn’t cringey


3⭐️ All By My Elf
-This was …….. fine. Which is disappointing because I usually LOVE Olivia Dade’s books but I just felt absolutely zero chemistry between the two main characters and I also really didn’t ask to read about a sex scene taking place in a weinermobile


3⭐️ Merriment and Mayhem
-I can’t tell if I actually really enjoyed this one or if it was just leagues better written than the last two I read in this collection, but I’m leaning towards a little bit of both

3⭐️ Only Santa’s In The Building
-this was cuuute. But nothing outstanding

Overall, my one-word review of this collection is: Underwhelming. After the *amazing* line-up that was the Meet Cute Valentine's Day Collection, this set was just a disappointment.

Cruel Winter With You by Ali Hazelwood - 3 stars
The potential was there with friend's brother, second chance, boy next door tropes... But there were too many creepy cougar vibes and too little plot development.

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey - 2 stars
Smut, smut, a pair of jeans, smut, smut, bicycle, smut, baby, smut, smut, smuuuuuuuut.

All by My Elf by Olivia Dade - 2 stars
The puns were rockin, but overall it was just too hokey for my taste.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur - 3 stars
Would have made for a good full-length novel, but it was just an insta-bang and then it was over.

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria - 3.5 stars
The most promising of the bunch, I would have happily read this as a fully-developed full-length novel.

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Cruel Winter with You - Ali Hazelwood (4 stars)
What a cute little reconnection story! Such a perfect way to show the “It’s always been you” in the novella with few words, but you feel every one of them.

Merry Every after by Tessa Bailey (2 stars)
This was fine. I wasn’t invested in either character because I didn’t care about their (minimal) backstory. I get it’s a novella, which can sometimes be even more challenging to write, but it was still too insta-love. Banter wasn’t bad either. Tessa always writes good banter.

All By My Elf by Olivia Dade (3 stars)

I liked the hero and his motives for why he didn’t want to pursue a relationship immediately with the heroine. However, it’s so short it’s hard to feel the connection, and I struggled with that. It is believable to the point where I can continue on the story in my head of their individual growth.

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandra Bellefleur (3 stars)

What a cute little meet cute novella! The way that Alexandria has this set up is like just getting the fun flirty start of a relationship set up in a short novella. However, there’s nothing beyond the physical side of why they want to be together to make you believe beyond that. It’s just hopes for an HEA that makes you feel that.

Only Santa’s in the Building by Alexis Daria (3 stars)

I like the premise of this story, but I wanted more! Scheming neighbors and a normal meeting is the perfect setup for this story. Unfortunately, I just wanted more. I wanted to see how she broke through her loss. I wanted to see how their lives would start to work together.

Overall, this collection gets an average of 3 stars from me, and I think it’s mainly that Romance Short Stories aren’t meant for me. If you want to love quick snippets of a story, or a fun meeting, that’s great! I typically love the depth in a relationship, which you can’t quite get in a short story.

📖 Cruel Winter with You
✍️ Ali Hazelwood
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

Fast paced and fun. Ali Hazelwood is one of those authors you either love all of her books or only like some of them, I am one who only likes some of them. This one of the ones I liked! The plot line of younger brother having a crush on his older sister’s best friend was everything. She could give me a full length novel of these characters and I wouldn’t be mad.

📖 Merry Ever After
✍️ Tessa Bailey
⭐️/5

No. Just no. Sadly I think Tessa is one of those authors that just isn’t for me. I’ve only liked two of her books the rest I’ve DNF. The MMC in this book was the absolute worst, think Gaston meets a farmer who just absolutely thinks he’s the shit and quite literally he’s not. I would’ve DNF this one if it weren’t 80 pages. I want to erase this from my brain.

📖 All by My Elf
✍️ Olivia Dade
⭐️⭐️/5

Sex in a hot dog truck? Do what now? At least make it festive and bend her over a sleigh or something. What was that? Gosh this series sucks.

📖 Merriment and Mayhem
✍️ Alexandria Bellefleur
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A Christmas fireman romance, done right. Short but packed full of steam and the chemistry between the two characters felt natural. Very hallmark after dark vibes and I loved the heck out of it.

📖 Only Santa’s in the Building
✍️ Alexis Daria
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This one was cute too. Another Hallmark vibes kind of book. They live in the same apartment building and both have crushes on each other. The building throws a Christmas party and it all comes out. This felt more like an actual book than a novella as we got a plot with this one.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I wish I could give this more stars but unfortunately this series just didn’t do it for me. I felt some of the story lines were a bit far fetched. I had a hard time honestly getting through the series. Maybe short stories like these are simply just not for me!

4 stars!

"Cruel Winter with You" by Ali Hazelwood: not gonna lie... I loved this novella. I have been hot and cold about Ali Hazelwood, but this was excellent. She uses her small amount of space to pack an emotional punch with her characters. I loved the forced proximity aspect of the story. *This* is the proper way to do friends-to-lovers! It made me laugh, it made me swoon, and most importantly, it got me invested in the characters quickly! 5/5.

"Merry Ever After" by Tessa Bailey: unfortunately, this was my least favorite of the bunch. Sure, it's short and spicy, but the insta-love was a bit much for me. Tessa Bailey does much better when she can write an expanded story, in my opinion. There is a lot of pining. This is your typical Tessa type of story (read; teeny tiny woman, large, looming man). He's a farmer, she's a shopgirl but there's *~more to both of them than meets the eye.~* Spicy, but too much so for such a short story. Ehh, it's ok. 3/5.

"All by My Elf" by Olivia Dade: This is a short, cozy, sweet forced proximity, friends-to-lovers novella full of banter and quick wit with an unfortunate reliance on the miscommunication trope. I found myself a little confused in the beginning, but all became apparent towards the end. I managed to laugh throughout this story at the silly vehicle Nina and William drive around to make some extra cash. It's a little light on chemistry and a little heavy on unnecessary detail, but I found myself drawn to the characters regardless. I wouldn't say that this story *screams* Christmas, though, so you can read it at any time of the year. A decent way to kick off the holiday season! 4/5

"Merriment and Mayhem" by Alexandria Bellefleur: Fabulous chemistry between characters here. A firefighter and an unmitigated disaster meet, banter, fall quickly, and change each other's lives. Loved the Christmas light part! Insta-love, but make it strangely believable? Enjoyed this one. It is SPICY, too! My one complaint is, oh, another terribly clumsy main female character. It gets a little old. 4/5.

"Only Santas in the Building" by Alexis Daria: This novella is the most fleshed-out, with a full plot and excellent backstory. It felt the most realistic to me. I loved the holiday vibes here, featuring mistletoe and homemade ornaments. I loved the characters, the tension between them, the banter between them, and the sweet and spice balance. Alexis Daria can do no wrong! 4.5/5.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey, Olivia Dade, Alexandria Bellefleur, Alexis Daria, and Amazon Original Stories for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I read two of the novellas in here:
All By My Elf which I enjoyed, but wish it had been longer so there was more time to develop the characters! It felt a bit rushed and not as romantical as I would have liked because of that.

Only Santas in the Building which I loved! So cute! It was fun, it was festive, it felt like these two were really going to be together forever! I would gladly read more about them!

I have to say that three of these authors were new to me, and one I had honestly given up on.

I was surprised how much I truly enjoyed all these stories and I will be looking into Alexandria Bellefleur and Alexis Daria backlist along with upcoming books for sure.