Did I sign up for an ARC of the entire collection just for more Ali Hazelwood stories? Yes, yes I did.

4.5/5 stars

It has all the same elements that have made her books so popular (but oh so good), like a self assured and obsessed MMC, a messy, slighty crazy FMC, some quick misunderstanding and of course a happy ending.

I only take the 0.5 stars off because this book doesn’t have an epilogue which I usually love, the ending was very abrupt but it is a short story too, so maybe that was intended.

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood
4.5/5 - Man, this was romantic. I do like the ‘it’s always been you’ trope and I do think that was done really well here, but I feel like there’s a fine line with that and mentions of other people they’ve been with. His explanation about some of that was good, and I do think overall this was really well done. So even thought it may sound like I’m complaining a bit, I feel like my rating does show how much I enjoyed this book.

Tbh I normally don’t really like the way Ali Hazelwood writes sex scenes but I liked this! Maybe the shorter length just works best for me with her books / sex scenes. Things got a little rushed at the end (which makes sense considering it’s a short story) but this really was lovely, and I’m glad that I read it. Not very Christmas-y though, which is fine, but figured it was worth mentioning.


Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey
2.5/5 - As someone who went to school in Calgary, Luke mentioning his sister that lives there was a fun little detail for me. But overall this was a little too insta-love for me.

It was definitely cute, which is why I’m giving it a 3, but just didn’t really win me over. Takes places over Christmas but I didn’t think there was anything actually Christmas-y about it.


All By My Elf - Olivia Dade
No Rating - This story simply was just not for me. I’ve been hit and miss with Olivia Dade’s writing before so this isn’t necessarily a surprise, but is a bit of a bummer! But unfortunately I just didn’t care for the story, writing, or characters.

This is the third story in the connection that I read and I’m quickly realizing they don’t seem to actually be about the holidays, they just seem to take place in the winter and Christmas and/or snow is mentioned. Which is fine, just not what I expected.


Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur
2/5 - This was… fine. Griffin basically immediately came off a bit too cocky for my liking, but then I got a bit more into the story and the romance, but then things seemed to turn spicy very suddenly. Like I get why Everleigh changed her mind but it seemed very 0 to 60 to me once she did.

The ending also came off quite abrupt to me. I know it’s a short story but after multiple pages of just hooking up, more than two lines of dialogue regarding romance / a future would have been more preference.

This story felt a little bit more Christmas related than most of the other stories in this collection, but still not so much. It took place in December, some holiday activities were mentioned, and that’s about it.


Only Santas in the Building - Alexis Daria
3/5 - I’m kinda torn on my thoughts about this story. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between the main characters after things happened physically. The first kiss was good, the sex was good, but the open communication between them afterwards is what finally made me actually see a connection between them. But once I did, I liked this story a lot more.

This was the last story in this collection that I read and by far the most Christmas-y, which I really appreciated!


Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this collection! I voluntarily read this, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Holiday novellas are literally my favorite thing!!! And I love every single one of these authors SO MUCH!!

These were such a treat and I’m happy to have gotten to read them!!

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC I exchange for an honest review!

4.5 stars

This is the most consistently delightful Christmas collection I've read in a long time! The Olivia Dade and Ali Hazelwood novellas were my absolute favorites, but not one of these novellas is anything but entertaining. Really, really fun and perfect holiday reading.

Ok! This are so darling! I love anything Christmas & these are just the icing on the cake! Not even sure I could pick a fave! I hadn’t red Ali Hazelwood before but now I’m adding her books to the top of my list. & Tessa Bailynos always a fave! Thanks for the opportunity to read these Christmas shorts!

Ali Hazelwood:
This was a 10/10 cute holiday story!! Snowed in, cozy vibes❄️☃️. Drinking game🍻, best friends brother/childhood friends to lovers. The pining.. literally everything I would want out of a short story. 👏🏻👏🏻

Tessa Bailey:
I feel like the novella went from 0 to 100 real quick with their feelings for each other, but I thought it was still good.

I love a strong, independent FMC, and I loved the dynamic they both had about wanting to take care of each other since they are always the ones taking care of others. Very cute.

And the spice? Wow wow wow.
This has definitely made me want to read more from this author.

Olivia Dade:
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. My fav ❄️snowed in☃️ trope was present, along with playing never have I ever. The humor was top notch.

Oh and of course the “let’s cuddle to stay warm” thing always does it for me🥰👏🏻

I was not expecting to read about a giant meat mobile 😭😂
It was a very cute, low spice level holiday romance.
Definitely recommend!!

Alexandria Bellefleur:
Me reading this: “Spectacular, give me 14 of them right now.” 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Oh my god this novella was sexy and flirty and just everything I needed. It gave the best rom-com vibes and had the wittiest banter.

I finished it and wished there was more to it, it was that good! Who doesn’t love a sexy firefighter with an accident prone hot mess *emphasis on hot* woman he keeps saving?

Alexandria Bellefleur genuinely never misses. I love her and her writing so much.

Highly highly recommend this holiday romance☃️❄️💙

Alexis Daria:
It was a super cute read! I loved that the FMC was an artist for comic books and was all cute and nerdy. Mixing that with her sexy lumberjack handyman type neighbor was 10/10.

I loved the sexy holiday puns throughout the novel, and the classic mistletoe kiss👏🏻👏🏻

Highly recommend this one y’all☃️❄️

The Under the Mistletoe collection is a compilation of holiday romance novellas written by various authors, some are long-time favorites of mine and others are new to me. These stories are perfect if you are in need of a quick Holiday Rom-Com. I love that Amazon is publishing this mini-series and others like it. This collection is filled with the perfect holiday vibes, fun storylines, and sweet romances! I love that this is a simple way to sample new author’s work before jumping into their backlog of novels.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you to netgalley for sending me a copy of this book for early review. As soon as the authors announced these books I knew I had to read them, this is a bindup of five novella written by Ali Hazelwood, Tessa Bailey, Olivia Dade, Alexandria Bellefleur and Alexis Daria. I'm going to be honest I didn't rate every book individually but as a whole bind up and wow these didn't disappoint. Each book was short and sweet and perfect for the Christmas season, I think everyone should read them.

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood - 4*
Short, sweet, gave me butterflies, and features a man who is determined and takes control.
I think this might be my favorite novella from AH.

Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey - 3.5*
This one suffered from the novella syndrome: establishing a long-lasting relationship in few short chapters, where they go from not knowing each other to a serious relationship within weeks. They were hot for each other though.

All by My Elf - Olivia Dade - 3*
Short sweet, fun.

Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur - 4*
My face went from its usual RBF to having a goofy smile on it as soon as Griff uttered his first couple of words while grinning. Griff was charming and flirty, competent and reassuring. I loved him with Everleigh.

Only Santas in the Building - Alexis Daria - 3.5*
This one was cute!

Such a cute collection of short stories!

I like the selection of authors. Each writes romcoms and have similar sense of humor. I think their voices meshed well in an anthology. I think my favorite was definitely Tessa Bailey's but she's a favorite author so I may be biased haha.

A great way to get into the holiday spirit.